RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION COMMUNICATION AND APPLICATIONS THEREOF

• US 20120224076A1
• Filed: 03/01/2012
• Published: 09/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brian Joseph Niedermeyer, Terrence Patrick Niedermeyer
• Original Assignee: Brian Joseph Niedermeyer, Terrence Patrick Niedermeyer
• Inventors: Niedermeyer, Brian Joseph, Niedermeyer, Terrence Patrick
• Granted Patent: US 9,218,515 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/211.2
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/00 Methods or arrangements for effecting co-operative working between equipments covered by two or more of main groups G06K1/00 - G06K15/00, e.g. automatic card files incorporating conveying and reading operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/0022 arrangements or provisious for transferring data to distant stations, e.g. from a sensing device "transfer between computer elements G06F13/00 "; data-transmission H04L
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/01 Details
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10019 resolving collision on the communication channels between simultaneously or concurrently interrogated record carriers. collision between the communication channels used by wireless communication devices, where the solution is not particularly adapted for RFIDs or the like, H04W74/08
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/661 Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure describe devices, methods, computer-readable media and system configurations for communicating and utilizing data received in radio frequency identification (“RFID”) signals to perform various actions. For example, a query signal may be transmitted to a plurality of RFID tags associated with a plurality of objects. A plurality of reply signals may be received from the plurality of RFID tags. Various actions may be performed based on one or more of the reply signals. In various embodiments, an RFID query device may include components such as a camera to capture image data and/or a global positioning system (“GPS”) component. Data from one or more of these components may be used in conjunction with received RFID data to perform various actions. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

transmitting, by a radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) device, a query signal to a plurality of RFID tags associated with a plurality of objects;

receiving, by the RFID query device, a plurality of reply signals from the plurality of RFID tags; and

determining, by the RFID query device or another device, information about at least one of the plurality of objects based on at least one of the plurality of reply signals.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting, by the RFID query device or another device, an output based at least in part on RFID data contained in the at least one of the plurality of reply signals; and

outputting, at an output device, the selected output.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein outputting includes rendering the output on an electronic display on the RFID query device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein outputting includes rendering the output on a speaker of the RFID query device.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein outputting includes rendering the output on an electronic display on a roadside billboard.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of objects includes products, and the output is an advertisement related to the one of the plurality of objects.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying, by the RFID query device, a strongest reply signal of the plurality of reply signals, wherein the determining comprises determining, by the RFID query device, information about one of the plurality of objects based on the strongest reply signal.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising associating, by the RFID query device or another device, the determined information with data associated with an individual in a database.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising receiving, by the RFID query device, from a portable electronic device possessed by the individual, a unique identifier.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the unique identifier is a MAC address or telephone number of the portable electronic device.

11. A device, comprising:

a processor;

memory operably coupled to the processor;

a control module to be operated by the processor and configured to;

facilitate transmission of a query signal to a plurality of radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) tags associated with a plurality of objects;

facilitate reception of a plurality of reply signals from the plurality of RFID tags; and

determine information about one or more of the plurality of objects based on RFID data contained in one or more of the plurality of reply signals.

12. The device of claim 11, further comprising an antenna configured to transmit and receive the query and reply signals.

13. The device of claim 11, wherein the control module is further configured to:

facilitate selection of an output based at least in part on the RFID data; and

facilitate output of the selected output, on an output component of the device or on an output component of another device.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the output is selected based at least in part on a commonality identified between the plurality of objects.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the selected output is a targeted advertisement.

16. The device of claim 13, wherein the output component is an electronic display or speaker of the device.

17. The device of claim 13, wherein the output component is separate from the device.

18. The device of claim 11, wherein the control module is further configured to identify a strongest reply signal of the plurality of reply signals and determine information about one of the plurality of objects having an RFID tag that produces the strongest reply signal.

19. The device of claim 11, further comprising a digital camera operably coupled to the processor;

wherein the control module is further configured to;

cause the digital camera to capture digital image data; and

facilitate association of a portion of the captured digital image data with at least one datum of the RFID data.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein the control module is further configured to associate a hyperlink with the portion of the captured digital image data, the hyperlink based at least in part on the determined information.

21. The device of claim 19, wherein the control module is further configured to:

identify one or more objects in the captured digital image data; and

discard RFID data received in RFID reply signals from RFID tags on objects that are not identified in the captured digital image data.

22. The device of claim 11, further comprising a global positioning system (“

GPS”

) component operably coupled to the processor;

wherein the control module is configured to associate a geographic coordinate obtained by the GPS component with at least one datum of the RFID data.

23. A computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a plurality of instructions configured to cause an apparatus, in response to execution of the instructions by the apparatus, to perform the operations of:

transmitting a radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) query signal to a plurality of RFID tags associated with a plurality of objects;

receiving a plurality of reply signals from the plurality of RFID tags; and

facilitating determination of information about one of the plurality of objects based on RFID data contained in one or more of the plurality of reply signals.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the apparatus to perform the operations of:

facilitating selection of an output based at least in part on the RFID data; and

facilitating output of the selected output, on an output component of the apparatus or on another output component.

25. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the output is selected based at least in part on a commonality identified between the plurality of objects.

26. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein the selected output is a targeted advertisement.

27. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the apparatus to perform the operations of:

capturing digital image data with a digital camera of the apparatus; and

facilitating association of a portion of the captured digital image data with at least one datum of the RFID data.

28. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 27, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the apparatus to perform the operations of:

associating a hyperlink with the portion of the captured digital image data, the hyperlink based at least in part on the determined information.

29. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 27, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the apparatus to perform the operations of:

identifying one or more objects in the captured digital image data; and

discarding RFID data received in RFID reply signals from RFID tags on objects that are not identified in the captured digital image data.

30. A computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a plurality of instructions configured to provide an apparatus, in response to execution of the instructions by the apparatus, with a control module, wherein the control module is configured to receive, from one or more radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) devices, data including a plurality of tuples, wherein each tuple includes RFID data associated with an object and a geographic coordinate of the object.

31. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 30, wherein each received tuple further includes a timestamp, usable in conjunction with the RFID data associated with the object and the geographic coordinate of the object, to determine that the object was at the geographic coordinate at a time represented by the timestamp.

32. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 31, wherein the control module is further configured to track a route travelled by at least one object having an RFID tag based on tuples received from one or more RFID query devices that queried the RFID tag of the at least one object.

33. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 32, wherein the control module is further configured to determine whether the at least one object is counterfeit based on the tracked route.

34. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 31, wherein the control module is further configured to calculate a velocity of at least one object having an RFID tag based on tuples received from one or more RFID query devices that queried the RFID tag of the at least one object.

35. A device, comprising:

a processor;

memory operably coupled to the processor;

a control module to be operated by the processor to cooperate with one or more other devices to track movement of an object having a radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) tag, the control module being configured to;

facilitate transmission of a query signal to the RFID tag;

facilitate reception of a reply signal from the RFID tag, the reply signal including RFID data associated with the object;

hand off tracking of the object to a first of the one or more other devices; and

take over tracking of the object from a second of the one or more other devices.

36. The device of claim 35, wherein the control module is configured to hand over tracking of the object to the first of the one or more other devices where the control module determines that:

the object is closer to the first of the one or more other devices than the device;

or

the object has a trajectory towards the first of the one or more other devices.

37. The device of claim 35, wherein the control module is further configured to facilitate transmission of a request to the first of the one or more other devices to take over tracking of the object.

38. The device of claim 35, wherein the control module is configured to take over tracking of the object from the second of the one or more other devices where the control module:

determines that the object is closer to the device than the second of the one or more other devices;

or

receives a communication from the second of the one or more other devices requesting that the device take over tracking of the object.