Secure tag reader

• US 7,462,840 B2
• Filed: 11/16/2005
• Issued: 12/09/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NCR Corporation
• Original Assignee: NCR Corporation
• Inventors: Ross, Gary A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sung; Christine
• Application Number:
  US11/274,968
• Publication Number:
  US 20070108392A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,119 Days
• Field of Search: 250/458.1
• US Class Current: 250/458.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/12 using a selected wavelength, e.g. to sense red marks and ignore blue marks

Abstract

A reader for a secure tag. The reader comprises a first excitation source (such as one or more LEDs) that stimulates at least one transition in the secure tag. The reader also comprises a second excitation source that stimulates more transitions than were stimulated by the first excitation source. The reader has a detector for detecting luminescence from the secure tag in response to excitation from the first excitation source and in response to excitation from the second excitation source to ensure that luminescence is detected at a pre-determined wavelength in response to the second excitation source but not the first excitation source.

Claims

1. A reader for a secure tag, the reader comprising a first excitation source that stimulates at least one transition;

and a second excitation source that stimulates more transitions than the first excitation source; and

a detector for detecting luminescence from the secure tag in response to excitation from the first excitation source and in response to excitation from the second excitation source to ensure that luminescence is detected at a pre-determined wavelength in response to the second excitation source but not the first excitation source; and

a processor for processing the detected luminescence to determine if an acceptance criterion is fulfilled,

wherein the acceptance criterion comprises a first set of luminescence values in response to excitation from the first excitation source, where the first set of luminescence values includes no luminescence being detected at the pre-determined wavelength; and

a second set of luminescence values in response to excitation from the second excitation source, where the second set of luminescence values includes luminescence being detected at the pre-determined wavelength.

2. A reader according to claim 1, wherein the first excitation source is selected to stimulate luminescence using an Anti-Stokes shift phenomenon.

3. A reader according to claim 1, wherein the second excitation source comprises a broadband source.

4. A reader according to claim 1, wherein the secure tag comprises dopant ions in a host, and the second excitation source stimulates a plurality of transitions in both the dopant ions and the host;

whereas, the first excitation source stimulates one or more transitions in the dopant ions but not in the host.

5. A reader according to claim 1, wherein the luminescence detected at the pre-determined wavelength in response to the second excitation source results from a transition that merges with another transition in a luminescence spectrum to give a broader luminescence peak than the luminescence peak detected in response to radiation from the first excitation source.

6. A reader according to claim 1, wherein the first set of luminescence values includes no luminescence from one wavelength in addition to no luminescence being detected at the pre-determined wavelength.

7. A reader according to claim 6, wherein the second set of luminescence values includes no luminescence from one wavelength, which is different to the pre-determined wavelength.

8. A reader according to claim 1, wherein the reader includes a port for outputting luminescence information to a computer or other processing device.

9. A reader for a secure tag, the reader comprising (i) a first excitation supply that stimulates at least one luminescence peak from the secure tag, (ii) a second excitation supply that stimulates more luminescence peaks from the secure tag than the first excitation supply, (iii) a detector for detecting luminescence from the secure tag in response to excitation from the first excitation supply and in response to excitation from the second excitation supply, and (iv) a processor for processing the detected luminescence to determine if an acceptance criterion is fulfilled,

wherein the acceptance criterion comprises no luminescence being detected at a predetermined wavelength in response to excitation from the first excitation supply, and luminescence being detected at the predetermined wavelength in response to excitation from the second excitation supply.

10. A method of authenticating a secure tag comprising:

exciting the secure tag at a first wavelength to stimulate a plurality of transitions;

detecting luminescence from the secure tag in response to the first wavelength excitation;

exciting the secure tag at a second wavelength, lower than the first wavelength, to stimulate more transitions than for the excitation at the first wavelength;

detecting luminescence from the secure tag in response to the second wavelength excitation;

comparing luminescence at a pre-determined wavelength resulting from the first wavelength excitation with luminescence at the pre-determined wavelength resulting from the second wavelength excitation;

authenticating the secure tag in the event that the second wavelength excitation stimulates luminescence at the pre-determined wavelength and the first wavelength excitation does not stimulate luminescence at the pre-determined wavelength.