FINDING SENSOR DATA IN AN RFID NETWORK

• US 20100188197A1
• Filed: 11/16/2009
• Published: 07/29/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intermec IP Corporation (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Intermec IP Corporation (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Ackley, H. Sprague
• Granted Patent: US 8,810,369 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.100
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10366 the interrogation device being adapted for miscellaneous applications
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 using a radio link
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/47 using RFID associated with sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/75 by polling or interrogating the sub-stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom

Abstract

A system and method of selectively reading sensor data from a memory device is able to search the memory device for an indicator that identifies the sensor data, and read only the sensor data identified by the indicator from the memory device. In this way, interrogating devices are able to sort through sensor data stored in a network of memory devices, such as an RFID network, and report specific data of interest despite the existence of a variety of data types in the network. In some embodiments, flags are stored and associated with specific types of data, such as various sensor data, thereby allowing numerous memory devices and sensors to operate and be read efficiently in the same environment.

Claims

1. A method of selectively reading sensor data from a memory device having data stored therein that includes the sensor data, the method comprising:

searching the memory device for an indicator that identifies the sensor data; and

reading only the sensor data identified by the indicator from the memory device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicator that identifies the sensor data comprises a flag stored in the memory device that identifies certain data stored in the memory device as the sensor data.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein searching the memory device for the indicator that identifies the sensor data comprises searching for the flag that identifies the sensor data stored in the memory device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the data stored in the memory device includes a directory of data types stored therein, and wherein searching the memory device for the indicator that identifies the sensor data comprises searching for a data type in the directory that corresponds to the sensor data.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the flag stored in the memory device is encoded in the memory device in the same format as the sensor data.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the flag stored in the memory device is an out-of-channel identifier stored in an out-of-channel portion of the memory device separate from the data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicator that identifies the sensor data comprises a pattern in the data stored in the memory device that identifies certain data stored in the memory device as the sensor data.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising a time stamp stored in the memory device with the sensor data to identify an acquisition time of the sensor data.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising GPS location data stored in the memory device with the sensor data to identify an acquisition location of the sensor data.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein reading only the sensor data identified by the indicator from the memory device comprises accessing only particular subsets of the sensor data stored in the memory device based on additional information associated with the sensor data, the additional information being selected from the group consisting of a data type of the sensor data, an acquisition time of the sensor data, an acquisition location of the sensor data, an encoding standard of the sensor data, and warning information associated with the sensor data.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the memory device is an RFID tag.

12. A method of storing sensor data in a memory device that allows selective reading of the data from the memory device by data type, the method comprising:

acquiring the data;

determining a data type of the data acquired;

creating a flag for the data type of the data acquired; and

storing the data in the memory device with the flag indicating the data type.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein acquiring the data comprises operation of a sensor that records signals related to a sensed physical parameter.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein acquiring the data comprises receiving input from an external device.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein acquiring the data comprises employing an out-of-channel command to capture the data from a sensor.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

acquiring at least one data parameter with the data that is related to the data acquired.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one data parameter includes at least one of an acquisition time, an acquisition location, and warning information.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the data type of the data acquired comprises receiving an indicator with the data when it is acquired that identifies the data type.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the data type of the data acquired comprises reading a header received before the data is acquired that identifies the data type of the data that follows the header.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the data type of the data acquired comprises examining the characteristics of the data.

21. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

creating a directory listing the data types stored in the memory device.

22. The method of claim 12, wherein storing the data in the memory device with the flag indicating the data type comprises executing an out-of-channel command to store the flag in a separate memory device or portion of the memory device for certain data.

23. The method of claim 12, wherein the memory device is an RFID tag.