SMART RADIO-FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION (RFID) INFRASTRUCTURE AND METHOD

• US 20080079578A1
• Filed: 09/14/2006
• Published: 04/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kim, Moon J., Yee, Eric C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,659,821 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/572.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/18 between terminal devices

Abstract

The present invention provides a smart RFID infrastructure and method. Specifically, under the present invention, the infrastructure includes a set (e.g., one or more) of smart RFID tags adapted to communicate with one another, wherein each operating smart RFID tag is adapted to create an individual table of information pertaining to operation of other smart RFID tags. In addition, the infrastructure includes a set of writeable RFID tags adapted to communicate with and receive the individual table of information from each operating smart RFID tag, wherein each of the set of writeable RFID tags is further adapted to create a master table of information based on the individual table of information received from each operating smart RFID tag.

Claims

1. A smart Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) infrastructure, comprising:

a set of smart RFID tags adapted to communicate with one another, wherein each operating smart RFID tag is adapted to create an individual table of information pertaining to operation of other smart RFID tags; and

a set of writeable RFID tags adapted to communicate with and receive the individual table of information from each operating smart RFID tag, wherein each of the set of writeable RFID tags is further adapted to create a master table of information based on the individual table of information received from each operating smart RFID tag.

2. The smart RFID infrastructure of claim 1, wherein the set of smart RFID tags and the set of writeable RFID tags are passive RFID tags.

3. The smart RFID infrastructure of claim 1, further comprising:

a RFID reader adapted to communicate with and receive the master table of information from each of the set of writeable RFID tags; and

a server adapted to communicate with and receive the master table of information from the RFID reader.

4. The smart RFID infrastructure of claim 3, wherein the set of smart RFID tags are activated with a low RF frequency and communicate with one another using a high RF frequency.

5. The smart RFID infrastructure of claim 1, wherein the set of smart RFID tags comprises a plurality of smart RFID tags positioned on a plurality of adjacent objects.

6. The smart RFID infrastructure of claim 1, wherein each of the set of smart RFID tags are adapted to communicate with adjacent smart RFID tags.

7. A smart Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) method, comprising:

providing a set of smart RFID tags adapted to communicate with one another, wherein each operating smart RFID tag is adapted to create an individual table of information pertaining to operation of other smart RFID tags; and

providing a set of writeable RFID tags adapted to communicate with and receive the individual table of information from each operating smart RFID tag, wherein each of the set of writeable RFID tags is further adapted to create a master table of information based on the individual table of information received from each operating smart RFID tag.

8. The smart RFID method of claim 7, wherein the set of smart RFID tags and the set of writeable RFID tags are passive RFID tags.

9. The smart RFID method of claim 7, further comprising:

providing a RFID reader adapted to communicate with and receive the master table of information from each of the set of writeable RFID tags; and

providing a server adapted to communicate with and receive the master table of information from the RFID reader.

10. The smart RFID method of claim 9, further comprising activating the set of smart RFID tags with a low RF frequency.

11. The smart RFID method of claim 7, wherein the providing the set of smart RFID tags comprises positioning a plurality of smart RFID tags on a plurality of adjacent objects.

12. The smart RFID method of claim 7, wherein each of the set of smart RFID tags are adapted to communicate with adjacent smart RFID tags.

13. A smart Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) method, comprising:

a set of smart RFID tags positioned about a set of adjacent objects communicating with one another to determine a functionality of each of the set of RFID tags;

each operating one of the set of RFID tags creating an individual table of information pertaining to the set of RFID tags;

a writeable RFID tag communicating with the set of RFID tags and receiving the individual table of information from each of the operating one of the set of RFID tags; and

the writeable RFID tag creating a master table of information based on the individual table of information received from each of the operating smart RFID tags.

14. The smart RFID method of claim 13, further comprising:

a RFID reader receiving the master table of information from the writeable RFID tag; and

a server receiving the master table of information from the RFID reader.

15. The smart RFID method of claim 13, further comprising activating the set of smart RFID tags with a low RF frequency.

16. The smart RFID method of claim 13, wherein the set of smart RFID tags comprises a plurality of smart RFID tags, and wherein the set of adjacent objects comprises a plurality of adjacent objects.

17. The smart RFID method of claim 13, wherein each of the set of smart RFID tags communicates with adjacent smart RFID tags.

18. A Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) infrastructure, comprising:

a set of RFID tags positioned about a set of adjacent objects; and

a set of writeable RFID tags positioned in proximity to the set of RFID tags, wherein each of the set of writeable RFID tags are adapted to communicate with the set of RFID tags and create a master table of information pertaining to operation of the set of RFID tags.

19. The RFID infrastructure of claim 18, wherein the set of RFID tags and the set of writeable RFID tags are passive RFID tags.

20. The RFID infrastructure of claim 18, further comprising:

a RFID reader adapted to communicate with and receive the master table of information from each of the set of writeable RFID tags; and

a server adapted to communicate with and receive the master table of information from the RFID reader.

21. The RFID infrastructure of claim 18, wherein the set of RFID tags comprise a plurality of RFID tags positioned about a plurality of adjacent objects.

22. The RFID infrastructure of claim 18, wherein each of the set of RFID tags communicates with adjacent RFID tags.

23. A Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) method, comprising:

positioning a set of RFID tags about a set of adjacent objects; and

strategically positioning a set of writeable RFID tags in proximity to the set of RFID tags; and

each of the set of writeable RFID tags communicating with the set of RFID tags and creating a master table of information pertaining to operation of the set of RFID tags.

24. The RFID method of claim 23, wherein the set of RFID tags and the set of writeable RFID tags are passive RFID tags.

25. The RFID method of claim 23, further comprising:

providing a RFID reader adapted to communicate with and receive the master table of information from each of the set of writeable RFID tags; and

providing a server adapted to communicate with and receive the master table of information from the RFID reader.

26. The RFID method of claim 23, wherein the set of RFID tags comprise a plurality of RFID tags positioned about a plurality of adjacent objects.

27. A method for deploying a smart Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) infrastructure, comprising:

providing a set of smart RFID tags adapted to communicate with one another, wherein each operating smart RFID tag is adapted to create an individual table of information pertaining to operation of other smart RFID tags; and

providing a set of writeable RFID tags adapted to communicate with and receive the individual table of information from each operating smart RFID tag, wherein each of the set of writeable RFID tags is further adapted to create a master table of information based on the individual table of information received from each operating smart RFID tag.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the set of smart RFID tags and the set of writeable RFID tags are passive RFID tags.

29. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

providing a RFID reader adapted to communicate with and receive the master table of information from each of the set of writeable RFID tags; and

providing a server adapted to communicate with and receive the master table of information from the RFID reader.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising activating the set of smart RFID tags with a low RF frequency.