Methods and systems for automatic device provisioning in an RFID network using IP multicast
First Claim
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.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
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.
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Citations
22 Claims
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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. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
- RFID”
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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. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
- RFID”
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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. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
- RFID”
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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. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
- RFID”
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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.
- RFID”
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22. A personality class appliance comprising:
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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.
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Specification