System and method for identifying a radio frequency identification (RFID) device

• US 7,545,256 B2
• Filed: 11/28/2006
• Issued: 06/09/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Round Rock Research LLC
• Original Assignee: Keystone Technology Solutions, LLC
• Inventors: Ovard, David K., Tuttle, John R., Rotzoll, Robert R., Lowrey, Tyler A., Tuttle, Mark E., Higgins, Brian P., Yu, Shu-Sun, O'Toole, James E., Devereaux, Kevin M., Pax, George E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Holloway, III; Edwin C
• Application Number:
  US11/607,117
• Publication Number:
  US 20070139164A1
• Time in Patent Office: 924 Days
• Field of Search: 340/10.1, 340/10.2, 340/10.4, 340/10.5, 340/572.8, 340/10.33, 340/10.51, 340/10.34, 340/572.1, 340/825.56, 370/310, 370/311, 342/42, 342/44, 342/51, 375/130, 455/343.2, 455/343.4
• US Class Current: 340/10.2
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0707 the arrangement being capable of collecting energy from external energy sources, e.g. thermocouples, vibration, electromagnetic radiation G06K19/0702 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0712 the arrangement being capable of triggering distinct operating modes or functions dependent on the strength of an energy or interrogation field in the proximity of the record carrier active means for hindering electromagnetic reading or writing G06K19/07336
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0716 at least one of the integrated circuit chips comprising a sensor or an interface to a sensor
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0723 the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0726 the arrangement including a circuit for tuning the resonance frequency of an antenna on the record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07749 the record carrier being capable of non-contact communication, e.g. constructional details of the antenna of a non-contact smart card
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07758 arrangements for adhering the record carrier to further objects or living beings, functioning as an identification tag
• 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 7/10059 transponder driven
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/2225 used in active tags, i.e. provided with its own power source or in passive tags, i.e. deriving power from RF signal
• CPC Class Codes: H03L 7/0995 the oscillator comprising a ring oscillator
• CPC Class Codes: H03L 7/148 said digital means comprising a counter or a divider

Abstract

To identify an RFID tag in a field of RFID tags, an interrogator sends a series of commands to implement an arbitration scheme. The commands include differentiation, selection, and modulation information. The tag uses the differentiation information to differentiate commands sent by the interrogator from commands sent by other interrogators that may be within communication range of the tag. The selection information is used by the tag to determine if the tag is a member of a group selected by the interrogator for response to the interrogator. If the tag is a member of the selected group, the tag may send a reply that is modulated using a modulation type selected by the modulation information. In accordance with one of the modulation types, one of three different pulse waveforms is selected by the interrogator via the modulation information to multiply with the baseband waveform of the reply from the tag.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

controlling an interrogator using an application program on a host computer to receive data from the interrogator;

transmitting, from the interrogator of a plurality of interrogators, a forward link signal to implement an arbitration scheme to determine an identification code of a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag from among a plurality of RFID tags contained within an RF field of the interrogator, the forward link signal comprising a first parameter to differentiate the interrogator from a different interrogator, a second parameter to select a group of RFID tags from the plurality of RFID tags, and return link configuration information;

processing, via the RFID tag attached to an item of inventory and storing the identification code to track the item via the host computer, at least a portion of the forward link signal to differentiate the interrogator from a different interrogator using the first parameter and to compare the second parameter to a value stored in the RFID tag to determine if the RFID tag is a member of the group; and

transmitting, from the tag, a return link signal modulated in accordance with a modulation scheme selected by the return link configuration information, wherein each bit of the return link signal is multiplied by a selectable one of at least three subcarrier sequences selected by the return link configuration information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the forward link signal comprises a CRC.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the modulation scheme selected by the return link configuration information is one of:

Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK), Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS), On-Off Keying (00K), and Modulated Backscatter (MBS).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the value stored in the RFID tag is at least a portion of a random number generated by the RFID tag.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the forward link signal is in accordance with frequency hopping spread spectrum in a frequency range that includes 915 MHz.

6. A method, comprising:

transmitting an interrogation signal from an interrogator of a plurality of interrogators to a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag of a plurality of RFID tags within a communication range of the interrogator, the interrogation signal comprising

a first parameter to distinguish the interrogator from another interrogator of the plurality of interrogators,

a second parameter to select a group of RFID tags from the plurality of RFID tags, and

return link configuration information; and

receiving a reply signal from the RFID tag if the RFID tag determines that the RFID tag is a member of the group based on comparing the second parameter to a value stored in the RFID tag, the reply signal being in accordance with one of a plurality of modulation types selected using the return link configuration information, wherein in accordance with one of the plurality of modulation types the return link configuration information is used to select one of at least three different pulse waveforms to multiply with a baseband waveform.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the interrogation signal further comprises a preamble comprising at least one data bit-0 and excluding any data bit-1'"'"'s, and wherein the reply signal comprises a preamble comprising a plurality of data bit-0'"'"'s and a plurality of data bit-1'"'"'s.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

communicating a kill command from the interrogator to the RFID tag to disable a transmitter of the RFID tag while leaving the receiver functional.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the reply signal further includes at least a portion of an identification code of the tag.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein a length of a first of the pulse waveforms is at least twice as long as a length of a second of the pulse waveforms;

and the length of the second of the pulse waveforms is at least twice as long as a length of a third of the pulse waveforms.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein the reply signal includes a parameter to indicate how many bytes are included in at least a portion of the reply signal.

12. A method, comprising:

receiving an interrogation signal from an interrogator of a plurality of interrogators, the interrogation signal comprising

a first parameter to distinguish the interrogator from another interrogator of the plurality of interrogators,

a second parameter to select a group of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags from a plurality of RFID tags within a communication range of the interrogator, and

return link configuration information;

storing the first parameter in an RFID tag for use in subsequent comparisons;

comparing the second parameter to a value stored in the RFID tag to determine if the RFID tag is a member of the group; and

transmitting a reply signal from the RFID tag in accordance with one of a plurality of modulation types selected using the return link configuration information, wherein in accordance with one of the plurality of modulation types the return link configuration information is used to select one of at least three different pulse waveforms to multiply with a baseband waveform.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

storing an identification code in a first memory, wherein the tag comprises a second memory dedicated for read/write data storage, and wherein the reply signal includes at least a portion of the identification code;

storing a tag identifier to indicate tag manufacture information; and

storing a tag revision number in a third memory.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

generating a random number, wherein the value stored in the RFID tag is at least a portion of the random number.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

decrementing a counter in the RFID tag, wherein the tag refrains from transmitting the reply signal if the counter is greater than zero.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the reply signal includes a parameter to indicate how many bytes are included in at least a portion of the reply signal.

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

a host computer coupled to an interrogator;

a plurality of interrogators, including the interrogator coupled to the host computer, wherein the interrogator is configured to transmit commands to implement an arbitration scheme to determine an identification code of an RFID tag from among a plurality of RFID tags contained within an RF field of the interrogator, the commands comprising differentiation information, selection information, and modulation information;

an item of inventory; and

the RFID tag attached to the item and storing the identification code to track the item via the host computer, the tag configured to use the differentiation information to differentiate the commands from the interrogator from commands from a different interrogator, to use the selection information to determine if the RFID tag is a member of a group of tags selected by the interrogator, and to communicate a reply modulated using a modulation type selected from a plurality of modulation types by the modulation information, wherein in accordance with one of the plurality of modulation types each bit of the reply is multiplied by a selectable one of at least three subcarrier sequences selected by the modulation information.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising:

a label attached to the item, the label having a front side and a back side, the front side of the label having visual information, and the RFID tag attached to the back side of the label.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein an RF carrier of the commands transmitted from the interrogator operates in a frequency range that includes 915 MHz;

and wherein the interrogator and the tag are configured to operate in accordance with frequency hopping spread spectrum.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the commands include a preamble comprising at least one data bit-0 and excluding any data bit-1'"'"'s;

and the reply comprises a preamble comprising a plurality of data bit-0'"'"'s and a plurality of data bit-1'"'"'s.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the tag stores the identification code in a first region of memory, the tag further comprises a second region of memory dedicated to user memory for read/write data storage, the tag stores a tag revision number in a third region of memory, and the tag further stores a tag identifier to indicate tag manufacture information.

22. The system of claim 17, wherein the tag further comprises a counter configured to prevent the tag from communicating the reply if the counter is greater than zero.

23. The system of claim 17, wherein the commands farther comprise a kill command to disable the tag and to prevent the tag from communicating replies.

24. The system of claim 17, wherein the reply includes at least one of:

a CRC, a portion of the identification code, a random number generated in the tag, and a parameter that describes how many bytes are included in at least a portion of the reply; and

the tag is configured to use the random number and the selection information to determine if the RFID tag is a member of the group of tags selected by the interrogator.

25. The system of claim 17, wherein the commands further provide a parameter that describes a length of at least a portion of the commands;

and wherein the commands are modulated using amplitude shift keying.

26. The system of claim 17, wherein the differentiation information includes a first parameter and a second parameter equal to the first parameter;

wherein the first and second parameters are configured to distinguish the interrogator from one or more other potential interrogators within communication range of the tag.

27. A system, comprising:

an interrogator configured to transmit an interrogation signal to implement an arbitration scheme to determine an identification code of a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag of a plurality of RFID tags disposed within an RF field of the interrogator, the interrogation signal comprising differentiation information, selection information, and modulation information, the differentiation information to distinguish the interrogator from a different interrogator;

an item to be tracked;

the RFID tag attached to the item, the tag configured to store the differentiation information,

determine if the RFID tag is selected using the selection information, and

communicate a reply signal having a baseband waveform multiplied by a pulse waveform selected by the modulation information from at least three different pulse waveforms; and

a host computer coupled to the interrogator to receive and process the identification code.

28. The system of claim 27, further comprising:

a label affixed to the item, the label having a front side and a back side, the front side of the label having visual information, and the RFID tag attached to the back side of the label, wherein the visual information includes text.

29. The system of claim 27, wherein the tag comprises:

a plastic sheet;

an antenna disposed on the plastic sheet to receive the interrogation signal; and

an integrated circuit storing the identification code associated with the item;

wherein the tag is configured to compare the selection information to a value stored in the integrated circuit other than the identification code.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the tag is configured to compare the differentiation information with a parameter in the interrogation signal and to transmit the reply signal if, at least in part, the differentiation information matches the parameter in the interrogation signal and the selection information matches the value stored in the integrated circuit.

31. The system of claim 29, wherein the value is the random number generated by the tag;

and the reply signal includes the random number;

the interrogator is configured to operate in accordance with frequency hopping spread spectrum in a frequency range that includes 915 MHz;

the interrogation signal further comprises a preamble comprising at least one data bit-0 and excluding any data bit-1'"'"'s; and

wherein the reply signal comprises a preamble comprising a plurality of data bit-0'"'"'s and a plurality of data bit-1'"'"'s.

32. The system of claim 27, wherein the tag further comprises a counter configured to be decremented and to prevent the tag from communicating the reply signal if the counter is greater than zero.

33. The system of claim 27, wherein the interrogation signal further comprises a kill command to disable a transmitter of the tag while leaving the receiver functional.

34. The system of claim 27, wherein the reply signal includes a parameter to indicate how many bytes are included in at least a portion of the reply signal;

and the reply signal includes at least a portion of the identification code.

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

a first interrogator configured to transmit a first interrogation signal to perform collision arbitration, the first interrogation signal comprising differentiation information, selection information, and modulation information;

a second interrogator configured to transmit a second interrogation signal to perform collision arbitration;

a plurality of items; and

a plurality of RFID tags affixed respectively to the plurality of items, each of the RFID tags configured to

determine whether being selected by the selection information,

use the differentiation information to distinguish the first interrogation signal transmitted by the first interrogator from the second interrogation signal transmitted by the second interrogator, and

when selected, communicate a reply signal having a bit represented by a waveform sequence length selected by the modulation information from at least three different waveform sequence lengths.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the differentiation information has a first parameter and a second parameter that is equal to the first parameter;

and wherein each of the RFID tags is configured to transmit the reply signal to the first interrogator if, at least in part, the first parameter matches the second parameter and the selection information matches a respective value.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein the respective value is a random number generated by a respective one of the plurality of RFID tags;

and the reply signal includes the random number.

38. The system of claim 35, further comprising:

a plurality of labels affixed to the plurality of items respectively, each of the plurality of labels having a front side and a back side, the front side having visual

information, one of the plurality of the RFID tags being affixed to the back side, wherein the visual information includes text.

39. The system of claim 35, wherein the first and second interrogators are configured to operate in accordance with frequency hopping spread spectrum in a frequency range that includes 915 MHz.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the first and second interrogation signals further comprise a preamble comprising at least one data bit-0 and excluding any data bit-1'"'"'s, and wherein each respective reply signal comprises a preamble comprising a plurality of data bit-0'"'"'s and a plurality of data bit-1'"'"'s.

41. The system of claim 35, wherein each of the plurality of RFID tags is configured to:

store a respective identification code in a respective first region of memory,

store respective tag revision information in a respective second region of memory,

store a respective tag identifier to indicate tag manufacture information, and

dedicate a respective region of user memory for read/write data storage.

42. The system of claim 35, wherein each of the plurality of RFID tags further comprises a respective counter configured to be decremented and to prevent a respective tag from communicating a reply signal while the respective counter is greater than zero.

43. The system of claim 35, wherein the first interrogation signal further comprises a kill command to disable a tag.

44. A system, comprising:

a first interrogator configured to transmit a first interrogation signal to implement arbitration;

a second interrogator configured to transmit a second interrogation signal to implement arbitration, the second interrogation signal comprising

differentiation information to distinguish the second interrogation signal from the first interrogation signal,

selection information, and

modulation information;

a host computer coupled to the first and second interrogators to track a plurality of items; and

a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags attached to the plurality of items respectively, the plurality of RFID tags including an RFID tag attached to an item of the plurality of items, the tag storing an identification code associated with the item, the tag configured to communicate a reply signal to the second interrogation signal if, at least in part, the tag determines that the tag is selected by the selection information, wherein the reply signal includes at least a bit represented by a waveform sequence selected by the modulation information from at least three waveform sequences of different lengths.

45. The system of claim 44, wherein the tag is attached to the item via a label having a front side and a back side, the front side having visual information including text, the tag being attached to the back side.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein the tag comprises:

a plastic substrate;

an antenna disposed on the plastic substrate; and

an integrated circuit storing the identification code;

wherein the integrated circuit is further configured to store a value other than the identification code and to generate a random number.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein the tag determines whether the tag is selected by the selection information by comparing the selection information to the value;

wherein the value is the random number; and

wherein the tag is further configured to include the random number in the reply signal.

48. The system of claim 44, wherein the second interrogator is configured to operate in accordance with frequency hopping spread spectrum in a frequency range that includes 915 MHz.

49. The system of claim 44, wherein the second interrogation signal further comprises a preamble comprising at least one data bit-0 and excluding any data bit-1'"'"'s, and wherein the reply signal comprises a preamble comprising a plurality of data bit-0'"'"'s and a plurality of data bit-1'"'"'s.

50. The system of claim 44, wherein the tag stores the identification code in a first region of memory, a tag revision number in a second region of memory, a tag identifier to indicate tag manufacture information, and the tag further comprises a third region of memory dedicated to user memory for read/write data storage.

51. The system of claim 44, wherein the tag further comprises a counter configured to be decremented and to prevent the tag from communicating the reply signal if the counter is greater than zero;

and the tag is further configured to be disabled in response to a kill command transmitted by the second interrogator.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein the tag is further configured to include a parameter in the reply signal to indicate how many bytes are included in at least a portion of the reply signal;

and the tag is further configured to include at least a portion of the identification code in the reply signal.

53. The system of claim 44, wherein a length of a first of the waveform sequences is at least twice as long as a length of a second of the waveform sequences, and a length of the second of the waveform sequences is at least twice as long as a length of a third of the waveform sequences.