RFID communication system and the search method thereof

• US 7,009,518 B2
• Filed: 04/27/2004
• Issued: 03/07/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sunplus Technology Co., Ltd
• Original Assignee: Sunplus Technology Co., Ltd
• Inventors: Liao, Tung-Tsai, Lee, Hsin-Chou, Chen, Wu-Shin
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, Daniel
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tai T.
• Application Number:
  US10/832,386
• Publication Number:
  US 20040257204A1
• Time in Patent Office: 679 Days
• Field of Search: 340/572.1, 340/10.2, 340/10.1, 340/10.21, 340/10.33, 370/254, 370/256, 370/346, 455/41, 455/70, 455/88
• US Class Current: 340/572.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0008 General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10029 the collision being resolved in the time domain, e.g. using binary tree search or RFID responses allocated to a random time slot

Abstract

A radio frequency identification (RFID) communication system and the search method thereof are disclosed, which apply search instructions and reads instructions to communicate between a read and a plurality of transponders. Each transponder generates a random number for comparison with received search instructions. When the random number meets with the number of received search instructions, a response request is sent by a corresponding transponder such that the reader can read the content of the corresponding transponder.

Claims

1. A radio frequency identification (RFID) communication system, comprising:

a reader, to produce at least one search instruction and to send the search instruction to a communication region; and

a plurality of transponders, each, with built-in data, having a first receiver, a first transmitter, a counter, a random number generator and a first controller,

wherein when the transponders enter the communication region, in each transponder, the random number generator generates a random number and the counter starts to count search instruction received by the first receiver to thus obtain a counting value; and

when in one of the transponders, the counting value meets with the random number, the first controller sends a response request to the reader through the first transmitter, such that the reader after receiving the response request does not send the search instruction but sends at least one read instruction to read the built-in data.

2. The RFID communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each transponder has a comparator to compare the counting value and the random random.

3. The RFID communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reader has a second receiver, a second controller generating the search instructions and the at least one read instruction, and a second transmitter sending the search instructions and the at least one read instruction to the communication region.

4. The RFID communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transponders start power via magnetic field, thereby starting the first receiver, the first transmitter, the counter, random number generator and the first controller each.

5. The RFID communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one of the transponders receives the at least one read instruction and sends the built-in data through the first transmitter to the reader according to a number of the at least read instruction.

6. The RFID communication system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first transmitter performs error detection after the built-in data is sent and next enters a mute mode.

7. The RFID communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein after the reader sends the read instructions, remaining transponders which do not send the response request pauses counting performed by their counters until the reader sends a plurality of search instructions again.

8. The RFID communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein when at least two transponders send corresponding response requests to the reader and thus occur a collision, the reader does not send the at least one read instruction but sends a plurality of search instructions and the at least two transponders generate a new random number and reset counter for next searching, respectively.

9. The RFID communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reader further generates a random length instruction to control bit number for random numbers generated by random number generators of the transponders.

10. A search method for RFID communication system, comprising the steps of:

a search step, which uses a reader to search at least one transponder in a communication region by means of a plurality of search instructions;

a transponder start step, which starts the at least one transponder in the communication region in order to generate a random number and receive the search instructions for counting and further obtaining a counting value;

a comparison step, which compares the random number with the counting value such that a response request is sent to the reader as the random number meets with the counting value; and

a read step, which uses the reader to send at least one read instruction to the communication region such that one transponder corresponding to the response request sends its built-in data to the reader, remaining transponders do not count until the built-in data of the transponder is sent completely, and the remaining transponders repeat the transponder start step, the comparison step and the read step until all built-in data is read by the reader.

11. The search method as claimed in claim 10, wherein in the read step, the one transponder sending the response request receives the at least one read instruction sent by the reader, sends its built-in data to the reader according to the at least read instruction first transmitter, performs error detection after its built-in data is sent completely and enters a mute mode.

12. The search method as claimed in claim 10, wherein in the read step, after the one transponder'"'"'s built-in data is sent completely, the reader sends a plurality of search instructions again and the remaining transponders retrieve counting to thus repeat the comparison step and the read step.

13. The search method as claimed in claim 10, wherein when occurring a collision or detection error, the at least one transponder performs the transponder start step in order to generate a new random number and performs the comparison step and the read step based on the new random number.

14. The search method as claimed in claim 10, wherein when a collision frequency exceeds a threshold, the reader issues at least one random length instruction to the at least one transponder, thereby changing a length of the at least one transponder'"'"'s random number.