Method and system for improving function of reading information from RFID tag

• US 20070200686A1
• Filed: 02/13/2007
• Published: 08/30/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Limited (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Jung, Hee-Jae
• Granted Patent: US 7,868,739 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.510
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0008 General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0095 Testing the sensing arrangement, e.g. testing if a magnetic card reader, bar code reader, RFID interrogator or smart card reader functions properly testing of electrical circuits G01R31/28

Abstract

A system and method for improving a function of reading information from a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag. The system includes RFID tags installed on a variety of objects, each RFID tag storing information of its associated object and upon detection of a signal based on an effective frequency range, transmitting the information; writers spaced apart at regular intervals and installed near the RFID tags, the writers writing an instruction of informing whether an area is one where it is possible to read the information from an RFID tag; and a terminal having a read-write tag in which the instruction by the writers is written at a time of entering the area where the RFID tags are installed, a terminal controller for determining a start or stop of the read function based on the instruction of the read-write tag, and an RFID reader for starting to read the information from the electronic tag based on the effective frequency range upon receipt of a start command from the terminal controller.

Claims

1. A system for improving a function of reading information from a Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) tag, the system comprising:

RFID tags installed on a variety of objects, each tag storing information of its associated object and upon detection of a signal based on an effective frequency range, transmitting the information;

writers spaced apart at regular intervals and installed near the RFID tags, the writers writing an instruction informing whether it is possible to read information from an RFID tag in an area; and

a terminal having a read-write tag in which the instruction by the writer is written at a time of entering the area where the RFID tags are installed, a terminal controller for determining a start or stop of a read function based on the instruction of the read-write tag, and an RFID reader for starting to read the information from the RFID tag based on the effective frequency range upon receipt of a start command from the terminal controller.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the writers are installed one by one at an entrance side of an IN direction and an exit side of an OUT direction, respectively, in the area where the RFID tags are installed.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein a writer at the entrance side of the IN direction writes the instruction informing whether it is possible to read the information from the RFID tag, and a writer at the exit side of the OUT direction writes an instruction informing of exiting the area where it is possible to read the information from the RFID tag.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the terminal controller stops the read function of the RFID reader based on the instruction written in the read-write tag if the instruction by the writer is written in the read-write tag at the time of exiting the area where the RFID tags are installed.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein, in an area where the RFID tags are installed, the writer is installed at an entrance side of an IN direction, and writes time information, together with an instruction of informing of being the area where it is possible to read the information from the RFID tag, in the read-write tag of the terminal to enter the area where the RFID tags are installed.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein if the time information is written, together with the instruction by the writer, in the read-write tag at the time of entering the area where the RFID tags are installed, the terminal controller starts the read function of the RFID reader, determines whether a predetermined reference time is exceeded on the basis of the time information, and upon an excess of the reference time, identifies exiting the area where the RFID tag are installed and stops the read function of the RFID reader.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the RFID reader starts or stops the read function according to a command from the terminal controller.

8. A method for improving a function of reading information from an RFID tag, the method comprising:

writing an instruction by a writer that is installed within a distance where the RFID tag is identifiable when moving to an area where the RFID is installed;

determining whether the area is one where the RFID tag is installed, based on the written instruction; and

executing the read function when the determination result is that the area is one where the RFID tag is installed.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising stopping the read function when the determination result is that the area is not one where the RFID tag is installed.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

starting the read function when time information is written by the writer together with the instruction;

determining whether a reference time is exceeded based on the time information; and

identifying exiting the area where the RFID tag is installed and stopping the read function when the determination result is that the reference time is exceeded.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein in the step of writing the instruction by the writer installed in the area, at the time of entering the area where the RFID tags are installed in line, an instruction of informing of being in the area where it is possible to read the information from the RFID tag is written by the writer that is installed at an entrance side of an IN direction.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising writing an instruction informing of exiting the area where it is possible to read the information from the RFID tag by the writer that is installed at an exit side of an OUT direction at a time of exiting the area where the RFID tags are installed.