SEQUENCED ANTENNA ARRAY FOR DETERMINING WHERE GAMING CHIPS WITH EMBEDDED RFID TAGS ARE LOCATED ON A BLACKJACK, POKER OR OTHER GAMING TABLE & FOR MYRIAD OF OTHER RFID APPLICATIONS
First Claim
1. A system for obtaining information associated with objects, the system comprising:
- an RFID device associated with each of a plurality of the objects, each of the RFID devices comprising unique information;
an optical bar code associated with each of the plurality of objects, each of the optical bar codes representing information related to a respective object with which the respective optical bar code is associated;
at least one antenna positioned at a given location to transmit interrogation signals for receipt by RFID devices associated with the objects and to receive interrogation response signals from the RFID devices associated with the objects responsive to the interrogation signals;
means associated with the given location for reading the optical bar codes associated with the objects and obtaining respective information represented by a bar code associated with a respective object; and
means coupled to the at least one antenna for providing the interrogation signals and for receiving and processing interrogation response signals to obtain the unique information associated with respective RFID devices.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An improved antenna system, method and apparatus for interrogating and locating RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags and other RF (Radio Frequency) devices, and various applications therefore and thereof, are disclosed. One embodiment is for reading and locating the physical position of RFID tags (such as is made by Phillips, Siemens'"'"'s Infineon and Texas Instrument) that may be embedded in gaming chips (RFID gaming chips, such as is made by Gaming Partners International Corp.) used in a casino, TV or movie studio or elsewhere for wagering at table games and other gambling games including Blackjack, Poker, Craps, Baccarat and Roulette, but the invention may be used for various other RFID applications.
46 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A system for obtaining information associated with objects, the system comprising:
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an RFID device associated with each of a plurality of the objects, each of the RFID devices comprising unique information; an optical bar code associated with each of the plurality of objects, each of the optical bar codes representing information related to a respective object with which the respective optical bar code is associated; at least one antenna positioned at a given location to transmit interrogation signals for receipt by RFID devices associated with the objects and to receive interrogation response signals from the RFID devices associated with the objects responsive to the interrogation signals; means associated with the given location for reading the optical bar codes associated with the objects and obtaining respective information represented by a bar code associated with a respective object; and means coupled to the at least one antenna for providing the interrogation signals and for receiving and processing interrogation response signals to obtain the unique information associated with respective RFID devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for obtaining information associated with objects, each object having associated therewith an RFID device comprising unique information and an optical bar code comprising information associated therewith, the method comprising:
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at a given location, transmitting interrogation signals for receipt by RFID devices associated with the objects and receiving interrogation response signals from the RFID devices associated with the objects responsive to the interrogation signals; processing the interrogation response signals to obtain the unique information associated with respective RFID devices; and at or associated with the given location, reading optical bar codes associated with the objects and obtaining respective information represented by a bar code associated with a respective object. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A system for obtaining information associated with objects, the system comprising:
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an RFID device associated with each of a plurality of the objects, each of the RFID devices comprising unique information; two or more antennas positioned at a given location to transmit interrogation signals for receipt by RFID devices associated with the objects and to receive interrogation response signals from the RFID devices associated with the objects responsive to the interrogation signals; and means coupled to the two or more antennas for providing the interrogation signals and for receiving and processing response signals to obtain information comprising unique RFID information which is associated with at least one RFID device which is associated with at least one of the plurality of the objects. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification