RF Object Index

• US 20100159986A1
• Filed: 12/19/2008
• Published: 06/24/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lewis, John, Cenciarelli, Fulvio, Mikan, Jeffrey, McNamara, Justin
• Granted Patent: US 8,718,669 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/557
• 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 7/10386 the interrogation device being of the portable or hand-handheld type, e.g. incorporated in ubiquitous hand-held devices such as PDA or mobile phone, or in the form of a portable dedicated RFID reader
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces

Abstract

The system may include a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and a mobile telephone. The RFID tags may be affixed to one or more personal objects, such as a key, a watch, a wallet, a purse, a medicine container, or the like. The mobile telephone may be associated with the plurality of RFID tags. A display of the mobile telephone may indicate whether each of the RFID tags is in communication with an RFID reader. For example, the RFID reader may be embedded in a drawer lining, embedded in the mobile telephone itself, or embedded in a handheld wand. The mobile telephone may generate an alert when at least one of the plurality of RFID tags is not in communication with the RFID reader. For example, a trigger RFID may be affixed to a doorway. The trigger RFID may cause the mobile telephone to alert the user to a missing item.

Claims

1. A mobile device associated with a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, the mobile telephone comprising:

a display configured to present a representation associated with a first RFID tag of the plurality of RFID tags;

a processor configured to receive an first indication of whether the first RFID tag is in communication with a RFID reader, wherein the processor directs the display to change the representation in accordance with the first indication and the processor associates a first time with the first indication; and

a datastore to store data indicative of the first time and the first indication.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the data is configured to store a historic list of times associated with when each of the plurality of RFID tags is in communication with the RFID reader.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein display is configured to present event data associated with the time.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein the event data is a data from a personal information management module.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the display is configured to present a calendar object associated with a second time when an RFID tag of the plurality of RFID tags, that is no longer in communication with the RFID reader, was in communication with the RFID reader.

6. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the RFID reader is in wireless communication with the mobile device.

7. The mobile device of claim 1, further comprising the RFID reader.

8. A computer-readable medium having computer instructions stored thereon that when executed perform a method, comprising:

associating a mobile telephone with a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, wherein each RFID tag is associated with a personal object;

receiving first data, from an RFID reader, indicative of whether each RFID tag is in communication with the RFID reader;

displaying a representation in accordance with the first data; and

storing second data indicative of when each of the RFID tags is in communication with an RFID reader.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises receiving second data indicative of whether the RFID reader is in communication with a trigger RFID, wherein the displaying comprises displaying responsive to the second data.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises generating an alert when at least one of the plurality of RFID tags is not in communication with the RFID reader.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the receiving first data, from the RFID reader, comprises receiving first data via a wireless channel.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the second data is indicative of a time of said receiving first data.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises presenting event data from a personal information management software module having been correlated with the historic data.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises presenting a calendar object associated with a time when an RFID tag, that is no longer in communication with the RFID reader, was in communication with the RFID reader.

15. A system comprising:

a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags; and

a mobile telephone associated with the plurality of RFID tags, such that a display of the mobile telephone indicates a time when an RFID tag of the plurality of RFID tags, that is no longer in communication with an RFID reader, was last in communication with the RFID reader.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the RFID reader is embedded in a drawer lining, and wherein the RFID reader is in wireless communication with the mobile telephone.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the RFID reader is embedded in the mobile telephone.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the RFID reader is a embedded in a handheld wand, and wherein the handheld wand is in wireless communication with the mobile telephone.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein at least one of the plurality of RFID tags is associated with any of a key, a watch, a wallet, a purse, or a medicine container.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the display presents a calendar object associated with the time.