System for multi-standard RFID tags
First Claim
1. An interrogator for a radio identification system having a plurality of tags, selected one of said tags operating at a first frequency, and said other tags operating at a second frequency, said interrogator comprising:
- (a) a first radio frequency module having a transmitter for transmitting an output signal at said first frequency to said tags, and including a receiver for receiving return signals transmitted by said tags operating at said first frequency and modulated with a first protocol, and said receiver including means for dividing said return signals into multiple channels and means for converting said return signals into pulses;
(b) a second radio frequency module having a transmitter for transmitting an output signal at said second frequency to said tags, and including a receiver for receiving return signals transmitted by said tags operating at said second frequency and modulated with a second protocol different from the first protocol, and said receiver including means for dividing said return signals into multiple channels and means for converting said return signals into pulses;
(c) a controller module coupled to said first and second radio frequency modules, said controller module including means for controlling said transmitters for transmitting said output signals to said tags, and including decoder means for decoding said return signals received from said tags, said decoder means including synchronization means for synchronizing the frequency of said pulses and means for extracting information from said pulses according to the protocol associated with the tag transmitting the return signal, and said decoder means including code checking means for checking said pulses and means for selecting the channel without code violations.
11 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A reader for a radio frequency identification system capable of simultaneously reading tags operating a multiple frequencies. The reader includes a radio frequency module for each operating frequency of the tags. The radio frequency modules are coupled to a bus which is connected to an interrogator control module. Each of the radio frequency modules receives the return signal from the tags at the associated operating frequency and converts the return signal into a pulse sequence. The interrogator control module locks to and decodes the pulse sequence according to the protocol associated with the tag type.
-
Citations
6 Claims
-
1. An interrogator for a radio identification system having a plurality of tags, selected one of said tags operating at a first frequency, and said other tags operating at a second frequency, said interrogator comprising:
-
(a) a first radio frequency module having a transmitter for transmitting an output signal at said first frequency to said tags, and including a receiver for receiving return signals transmitted by said tags operating at said first frequency and modulated with a first protocol, and said receiver including means for dividing said return signals into multiple channels and means for converting said return signals into pulses;
(b) a second radio frequency module having a transmitter for transmitting an output signal at said second frequency to said tags, and including a receiver for receiving return signals transmitted by said tags operating at said second frequency and modulated with a second protocol different from the first protocol, and said receiver including means for dividing said return signals into multiple channels and means for converting said return signals into pulses;
(c) a controller module coupled to said first and second radio frequency modules, said controller module including means for controlling said transmitters for transmitting said output signals to said tags, and including decoder means for decoding said return signals received from said tags, said decoder means including synchronization means for synchronizing the frequency of said pulses and means for extracting information from said pulses according to the protocol associated with the tag transmitting the return signal, and said decoder means including code checking means for checking said pulses and means for selecting the channel without code violations.
-
-
2. A radio identification interrogator associated with a plurality of protocols including a first protocol and a second protocol, comprising:
-
a radio frequency module having a transmitter and a receiver, the transmitter being configured to send an output signal, the receiver being configured to receive a return signal associated with the output signal and being modulated according to the first protocol; and
a decoder coupled to the receiver of the radio frequency module, the decoder having a first output channel associated with the first protocol and the second output channel associated with the second protocol, the second output channel being configured to decode a signal modulated according to the second protocol. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4)
the first protocol is associated with a digital identifier stored on a first tag, the second protocol is associated with a digital identifier stored on a second tag different from the first tag.
-
-
4. The radio identification interrogator of claim 2, wherein the radio frequency module is a first radio frequency (RF) module, and
further comprising a second radio frequency (RF) module coupled to the decoder, the second RF module having a transmitter and a receiver, the transmitter of the second RF module being configured to send an output signal, the receiver of the second RF module being configured to receive a return signal associated with the output signal associated with the transmitter of the second RF modulator and modulated according to the second protocol.
-
5. A radio identification interrogator associated with a plurality of protocols including a first protocol and a second protocol different from the first protocol, comprising:
-
a first radio frequency (RF) module being associated with its own frequency band and having a transmitter and a receiver, the transmitter of the first RF module configured to send an output signal having a carrier frequency within the frequency band associated with the first RF module, the receiver of the first RF module configured to receive a return signal associated with frequency band of the first RF module and associated with the first protocol from the plurality of protocols;
a second radio frequency (RF) module being associated with its own frequency band and having a transmitter and a receiver, the transmitter of the second RF module configured to send an output signal having a carrier frequency within the frequency band associated with the second RF module, the receiver of the second RF module configured to receive a return signal associated with frequency band of the second RF module and associated with the second protocol from the plurality of protocols; and
a decoder coupled to the receiver of the radio frequency module, the decoder having a first output channel and a second output channel, the first output channel being associated with the first protocol from the plurality of protocols, the second output channel being associated with the second protocol from the plurality of protocols. - View Dependent Claims (6)
the first protocol is associated with a digital identifier stored on a first tag; and
the second protocol is associated with a digital identifier stored on a second tag different from the first tag.
-
Specification