DETECTION AND TRACKING OF ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- a plurality of carriers for storing articles sensitive to electrostatic discharge (ESD), wherein each of the plurality of carriers includes a device having a sensor to sense one or more environmental parameters, wherein at least one of the environmental parameters comprises an ESD parameter;
a plurality of radio frequency (RF) receiving devices; and
a coordinator unit to which each of the plurality of RF receiving devices communicates by a wireless network according to a wireless networking standard,wherein the plurality of RF receiving devices are configured to obtain data associated with the sensed environmental parameters from the devices of the plurality of carriers via wireless communications according to the wireless networking standard, andwherein the plurality of RF receiving devices are configured to route the data obtained from the devices of the plurality of carriers to the coordinator unit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system includes a plurality of carriers for storing articles sensitive to electrostatic discharge (ESD), wherein each of the plurality of carriers includes a device having a sensor to sense one or more environmental parameters. At least one of the environmental parameters comprises an ESD parameter. The system also includes a plurality of radio frequency (RF) receiving devices and a coordinator unit to which the RF receiving devices communicate according to a wireless networking standard. The RF receiving devices are configured to obtain data associated with the sensed environmental parameters from the devices of the plurality of carriers via wireless communications according to the wireless networking standard. The plurality of RF receiving devices route the data obtained from the devices of the plurality of carriers to the coordinator unit.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a plurality of carriers for storing articles sensitive to electrostatic discharge (ESD), wherein each of the plurality of carriers includes a device having a sensor to sense one or more environmental parameters, wherein at least one of the environmental parameters comprises an ESD parameter; a plurality of radio frequency (RF) receiving devices; and a coordinator unit to which each of the plurality of RF receiving devices communicates by a wireless network according to a wireless networking standard, wherein the plurality of RF receiving devices are configured to obtain data associated with the sensed environmental parameters from the devices of the plurality of carriers via wireless communications according to the wireless networking standard, and wherein the plurality of RF receiving devices are configured to route the data obtained from the devices of the plurality of carriers to the coordinator unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system comprising:
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a plurality of carriers for storing articles sensitive to electrostatic discharge (ESD), wherein each of the plurality of carriers includes a device having a sensor for sensing one or more environmental parameters, wherein at least one of the environmental parameters comprises an ESD parameter, and wherein the device includes a first integrated circuit for radio frequency identification (RFID) communication at a first frequency and a second integrated circuit for communication at a second frequency according to a wireless networking standard; a plurality of RFID portals configured to transmit a signal at the first frequency; and a plurality of RF receiving devices that serve as wireless access points within a wireless network in accordance with the wireless networking standard, wherein each of the plurality of RF receiving devices communicates by a wireless network with a coordinator unit, wherein the devices are configured such that when the first integrated circuit detects a signal transmitted at the first frequency by one of the plurality of RFID portals, a portion of the device wakes from a sleep state and transmits data associated with the sensed environmental parameters to one of the plurality of RF receiving devices at a second frequency in accordance with the wireless networking standard by way of the second integrated circuit, and wherein the coordinator unit obtains the data associated with the sensed environmental parameters from the one of the plurality of RF receiving devices, and wherein the coordinator unit is coupled to a computing device configured to store the data obtained from the one of the plurality of RF receiving devices. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A method comprising:
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sensing one or more environmental parameters with a device having a sensor within a carrier for housing articles sensitive to electrostatic discharge (ESD), wherein at least one of the environmental parameters comprises an ESD parameter; detecting a signal with a first integrated circuit of the device at a first frequency in accordance with a radio frequency identification (RFID) standard; upon detecting the signal, waking a portion of the device from a sleep state; and transmitting data relating to the sensed environmental parameters at a second frequency in accordance with a wireless networking standard with a second integrated circuit of the portion of the device having been awoken from the sleep state.
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16. A semi-active RFID tag with continuous active sensing, comprising:
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a sensor front end component that includes a sensor for continuously sensing for one or more environmental parameters, wherein at least one of the environmental parameters comprises an electrostatic discharge (ESD) parameter; a converter that converts the sensed environmental parameters to digital data; a microcontroller that stores the digital data to an external RAM memory and transfers the digital data from the external RAM memory to a tag memory; a battery that powers the sensor front end and a portion of the microcontroller; and an RF transceiver that detects a signal transmitted by a radio frequency identification (RFID) portal and transmits the digital data from the tag memory to the RFID portal by an RFID communication in response to detecting the signal; wherein the RF transceiver is powered by energy received from the signal transmitted by the RFID portal, and wherein the microcontroller is configured to operate in a sleep mode in which the microcontroller does not transfer the digital data from the external RAM memory to the tag memory when (i) the sensor does not detect one or more of the environmental parameters and (ii) the RF transceiver does not detect a signal transmitted by the RFID portal within a time period. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A method comprising:
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receiving a radio frequency identification (RFID) signal with an RFID circuit of an RFID tag; responsive to receiving the RFID signal, awakening a wireless networking circuit of the RFID tag; and upon awakening the wireless networking circuit, sending a wireless networking communication with the wireless networking circuit of the RFID tag.
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Specification