Methods and systems for automatic device provisioning in an RFID network using IP multicast

• US 20070109100A1
• Filed: 02/03/2006
• Published: 05/17/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Streifthau, Reed, Jett, Kenneth
• Granted Patent: US 8,698,603 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.400
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10366 the interrogation device being adapted for miscellaneous applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/189 in combination with wireless systems selective distribution or broadcast in wireless communication networks H04W4/06

Abstract

Methods and systems for automatic provisioning of RFID devices in an RFID network are described. A device, such as a Reader, has within its read field a special EPC Identity (ID) Tag that is specifically encoded for that Reader. When the Reader boots up, it reads the special ID Tag. The Tag has fields formatted according to the EPCglobal standards and certain bits within one of the fields indicates that the Tag is an EPC ID Tag and the data contained in the Tag will be used to provision the Reader. The Reader transmits an IP multicast packet containing data from the Tag to a network device referred to as a personality class appliance which receives the IP multicast packet. Thus, the Reader is an IP multicast sender and the appliance is an IP multicast receiver. Upon receiving the packet, the appliance retrieves configuration parameters for the Reader. These parameters collectively make up a personality class for the Reader. The personality data are transmitted back to the Reader via a unicast message. Once the Reader receives the configuration data, it provisions itself, becomes connected to the RFID network, and is ready for operation. RFID Readers and other devices can be provisioned automatically for a specific role when turned on, without requiring any manual configuration or data entry.

Claims

1. A method of provisioning a radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) device, the method comprising;

reading an affixed RFID Tag;

transmitting a first data packet via IP multicasting containing data stored on the affixed RFID Tag; and

receiving a second data packet containing configuration parameters, wherein the parameters enable automatic provisioning of the RFID device for a specific function.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein receiving a second data packet further comprises receiving the second data packet via unicast IP.

3. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein receiving a second data packet further comprises receiving the second data packet via IP multicasting.

4. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising transmitting an acknowledgment message upon completion of provisioning.

5. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising identifying the RFID tag as an Electronic Product Code (“

EPC”

) identity tag.

6. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising creating a first data packet from data stored on the affixed RFID tag.

7. A method of provisioning a radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) device, the method comprising;

receiving a first data packet via IP multicast from an RFID device having a specific role;

retrieving configuration parameters based on data in the first data packet;

transmitting the configuration parameters to the RFID device, wherein the configuration parameters enable automatic provisioning of the RFID device to perform for the specific function.

8. A method as recited in claim 7 further comprising reading a personality class value in the first data packet.

9. A method as recited in claim 7 wherein transmitting the configuration parameters to the RFID device further comprises transmitting via unicast IP.

10. A method as recited in claim 7 wherein transmitting the configuration parameters to the RFID device further comprises transmitting via IP multicast.

11. A radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) Tag comprising;

a first field for identifying the RFID Tag as a certain type of Tag;

a second field for classifying an associated RFID device; and

a third field for storing a serial number that uniquely identifies the RFID Tag.

12. An RFID Tag as recited in claim 11 wherein the first field is a filter value field

13. An RFID Tag as recited in claim 12 wherein a reserved binary encoding in the filter value field classifies the Tag as an EPC identity Tag.

14. An RFID Tag as recited in claim 11 wherein the Tag remains at one position in the RFID network.

15. An RFID Tag as recited in claim 11 wherein the Tag is affixed within a read field of the associated RFID device.

16. An RFID Tag as recited in claim 11 wherein the Tag is affixed to an antenna of the associated RFID device.

17. An RFID Tag as recited in claim 11 wherein the Tag is affixed within read fields of a plurality of associated RFID devices.

18. A radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) network comprising;

at least one RFID device having a read field;

at least one EPC Tag associated with the at least one RFID device and within the read field of the device; and

a network component having access to configuration parameters for the at least one RFID device, wherein connectivity between the RFID device and the network device is IP multicast enabled.

19. An RFID network as recited in claim 18 wherein the RFID device is an IP multicast receiver.

20. An RFID network as recited in claim 19 wherein the network component is an IP multicast sender.

21. A radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) device comprising;

an Electronic Product Code (“

EPC”

) Tag storing a first value indicating that the EPC Tag is an Identity Tag and a second value indicating a personality class of the device; and

a destination IP multicast address of an external source.

22. A personality class appliance comprising:

a first storage area storing personality class values;

a second storage area storing configuration parameters for configuring readers according to a personality class; and

a third storage area storing pairings of Electronic Product Code (“

EPC”

) Identity Tag serial number and personality class.