Thermal Management within Mobile RFID Readers through the Application of Temperature Governed Variable Non-Emissive Intervals
First Claim
1. A system for optimizing the operation of a radio frequency identifier (RFID) reader, comprising:
- a thermal sensor configured to detect a temperature of an operating environment of the reader;
a controller configured to selectively turn off one or more components of the reader for a period between read operations, wherein a length of the period is based on the detected temperature.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A thermal management system and method to control temperature in an RFID reader is described herein. In particular, by inserting variable periods of inactivity (or latency) at the beginning or at the end of each read cycle, proportional to an instantaneous temperature value of the RFID reader, over-heating and damage of RFID reader electronics is prevented. The RFID reader includes a thermal sensor and determines when the high power RF electronics is enabled. If the RFID reader is in an over-heated condition, it can be turned OFF and during this period any requests received on an interface to the RFID reader to perform a read of tag(s) are not processed.
48 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A system for optimizing the operation of a radio frequency identifier (RFID) reader, comprising:
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a thermal sensor configured to detect a temperature of an operating environment of the reader; a controller configured to selectively turn off one or more components of the reader for a period between read operations, wherein a length of the period is based on the detected temperature. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for optimizing the operation of a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader, comprising:
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sensing a temperature associated with an operating environment of the reader; determining whether the sensed temperature indicates that the reader is operating in a non-optimal region; and if the reader is operating in a non-optimal region, selecting a length for a time period during which the reader is inactive, wherein a length of the time period is based on the sensed temperature; and placing one or more components of the reader into an inactive state for the duration of the time period. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for optimizing the operation of a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader, comprising:
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means for sensing a temperature associated with an operating environment of the reader; means for determining whether the sensed temperature indicates that the reader is operating in a non-optimal region; and means for selecting a length for a time period during which the reader is inactive if the reader is operating in a non-optimal region, wherein a length of the time period is based on the sensed temperature; and means for placing one or more components of the reader into an inactive state for the duration of the time period.
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Specification