DETERMINING ITEM LOCATION WITHIN A SPACE BASED ON FEEDBACK FROM RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION (RFID) READERS AND TAGS
First Claim
1. A method for determining location of an item within a space, the method comprising:
- providing a plurality of fixed Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers in the space, wherein each of the fixed RFID reader is fixed at a particular known location within the space;
transmitting interrogation signals from each of the fixed RFID readers;
transmitting a response signal from a first RFID item tag upon receiving a first interrogation signal from a first fixed RFID reader of the plurality of fixed RFID readers; and
receiving the response signal at the first fixed RFID reader, anddetermining that the first RFID item tag is located in the space within a first coverage area of the first fixed RFID reader.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present disclosure describes a system, methods and apparatus for determining location of an item within a space. Each particular item is associated with a particular Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) item tag that uniquely identifies the particular item. A plurality of fixed Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers are provided in the space, and each of the fixed RFID readers is fixed at a particular known location within the space. Each of the fixed RFID readers can transmit an interrogation signal. Upon receiving a first interrogation signal from one of the fixed RFID readers, a first RFID item tag transmits a response signal. The first fixed RFID reader receives the response signal transmitted by the first RFID item tag, and can therefore determine that the first RFID item tag is located within a read range of the first fixed RFID reader.
43 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for determining location of an item within a space, the method comprising:
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providing a plurality of fixed Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers in the space, wherein each of the fixed RFID reader is fixed at a particular known location within the space; transmitting interrogation signals from each of the fixed RFID readers; transmitting a response signal from a first RFID item tag upon receiving a first interrogation signal from a first fixed RFID reader of the plurality of fixed RFID readers; and receiving the response signal at the first fixed RFID reader, and determining that the first RFID item tag is located in the space within a first coverage area of the first fixed RFID reader. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for determining relative location of a particular item within a retail store that comprises a plurality of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers, the method comprising:
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transmitting, in response to a command to search for the particular item, interrogation signals from each of the RFID readers to interrogate RFID item tags within a read range of each of the RFID readers; transmitting a particular response signal from a first RFID item tag upon receiving a first interrogation signal from a first RFID reader of the plurality of RFID readers; receiving response signals at each of the RFID readers, the response signals including the particular response signal; communicating the response signals to a monitoring server; and determining, at the monitoring server, that the first RFID item tag is located within a first coverage area of the first RFID reader. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for determining relative location of a particular item within a retail store that comprises a plurality of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers, the method comprising:
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transmitting, in response to a command to search for the particular item, interrogation signals from each of the RFID readers to interrogate RFID item tags within a read range of each of the RFID readers; transmitting a particular response signal from a first RFID item tag upon receiving a first interrogation signal from a first RFID reader of the plurality of RFID readers; receiving the particular response signal at the first RFID reader and determining that the particular item is located within read range of the first RFID reader; communicating a signal from the first RFID reader to a monitoring server over a wireless communication link, wherein the signal indicates that the first RFID item tag is located within a first coverage area of the first RFID reader; and determining at the monitoring server based on the signal that the first RFID item tag is located within the first coverage area of the first RFID reader. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification