Interference monitoring in an RFID system
First Claim
1. A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag data acquisition system, comprising:
- at least one RFID tag interrogator operative to transmit at least one first RF interrogation signal for interrogating RFID tags;
a plurality of RFID receivers, each of said plurality of RFID receivers including an RF receiver component and an RF monitoring component, said RF receiver component being operative to receive RF signals including said at least one first RF interrogation signal transmitted by said RFID tag interrogator, said RF monitoring component being operative to determine at least one characteristic associated with said RF signals received by said RF receiver component; and
a controller communicably coupled to said at least one RFID tag interrogator and said plurality of RFID receivers,wherein said plurality of RFID receivers are operative to generate information indicative of said at least one characteristic, and to forward said information to said controller,wherein said controller is operative to utilize said information in at least one of;
a) a determination of the operational status of said at least one RFID tag interrogator;
b) control of said at least one RFID tag interrogator;
c) control of said RF receiver component; and
d) control of said RF monitoring component,wherein each RF receiver component is operative to receive RF signals on at least one frequency channel, and wherein each RF monitoring component is operative to monitor said at least one channel for at least one external RF interference signal, and to determine at least one characteristic associated with said at least one external RF interference signal on the at least one monitored channel,wherein each RFID receiver is operative to generate information indicative of said at least one characteristic associated with the at least one external RF interference signal, and to forward said information to said controller, said controller being operative to utilize said information indicative of said characteristic associated with the external RF interference signal in at least one of the control of said RFID tag interrogator, the control of said RF receiver component, and the control of said RF monitoring component,wherein each RF receiver component has a respective channel associated therewith, wherein each RF receiver component is operative to receive RF signals on said channel associated therewith, and wherein each RF monitoring component associated with the respective RF receiver component is operative to monitor said channel for at least one external RF interference signal, and to determine at least one characteristic associated with said at least one external RF interference signal on the monitored channel, andwherein each RF monitoring component is operative, in response to monitoring at least one external RF interference signal on said channel associated therewith, to sample said at least one external RF interference signal at a predetermined sampling rate over a predetermined time interval, and wherein said information forwarded to the controller by each RFID receiver includes information indicative of at least one characteristic of the external RF interference signal sampled at the predetermined sampling rate over the predetermined time interval.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for monitoring and characterizing various sources of RF interference within an RFID environment, and for adjusting the operational characteristics of an array of RFID readers within the system based on these interference characterizations. The system examines the received transmissions from readers in the network by controlling a calibration cycle or while they are operating as interrogators to determine interference parameters, and to verify the operation of the readers in the array. The system also examines outside sources of interference, and signal dependent interference. The interference characterization can also be estimated from a combination of calculations and co-monitoring.
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Citations
75 Claims
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1. A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag data acquisition system, comprising:
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at least one RFID tag interrogator operative to transmit at least one first RF interrogation signal for interrogating RFID tags; a plurality of RFID receivers, each of said plurality of RFID receivers including an RF receiver component and an RF monitoring component, said RF receiver component being operative to receive RF signals including said at least one first RF interrogation signal transmitted by said RFID tag interrogator, said RF monitoring component being operative to determine at least one characteristic associated with said RF signals received by said RF receiver component; and a controller communicably coupled to said at least one RFID tag interrogator and said plurality of RFID receivers, wherein said plurality of RFID receivers are operative to generate information indicative of said at least one characteristic, and to forward said information to said controller, wherein said controller is operative to utilize said information in at least one of; a) a determination of the operational status of said at least one RFID tag interrogator; b) control of said at least one RFID tag interrogator; c) control of said RF receiver component; and d) control of said RF monitoring component, wherein each RF receiver component is operative to receive RF signals on at least one frequency channel, and wherein each RF monitoring component is operative to monitor said at least one channel for at least one external RF interference signal, and to determine at least one characteristic associated with said at least one external RF interference signal on the at least one monitored channel, wherein each RFID receiver is operative to generate information indicative of said at least one characteristic associated with the at least one external RF interference signal, and to forward said information to said controller, said controller being operative to utilize said information indicative of said characteristic associated with the external RF interference signal in at least one of the control of said RFID tag interrogator, the control of said RF receiver component, and the control of said RF monitoring component, wherein each RF receiver component has a respective channel associated therewith, wherein each RF receiver component is operative to receive RF signals on said channel associated therewith, and wherein each RF monitoring component associated with the respective RF receiver component is operative to monitor said channel for at least one external RF interference signal, and to determine at least one characteristic associated with said at least one external RF interference signal on the monitored channel, and wherein each RF monitoring component is operative, in response to monitoring at least one external RF interference signal on said channel associated therewith, to sample said at least one external RF interference signal at a predetermined sampling rate over a predetermined time interval, and wherein said information forwarded to the controller by each RFID receiver includes information indicative of at least one characteristic of the external RF interference signal sampled at the predetermined sampling rate over the predetermined time interval. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
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67. A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag data acquisition system, comprising:
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at least one RFID tag interrogator operative to transmit at least one first RF interrogation signal for interrogating RFID tags; a plurality of RFID receivers, each of said plurality of RFID receivers including an RF receiver component and an RF monitoring component, said RF receiver component being operative to receive RF signals including said at least one first RF interrogation signal transmitted by said RFID tag interrogator, said RF monitoring component being operative to determine at least one characteristic associated with said RF signals received by said RF receiver component; and a controller communicably coupled to said at least one RFID tag interrogator and said plurality of RFID receivers, wherein said plurality of RFID receivers are operative to generate information indicative of said at least one characteristic, and to forward said information to said controller, wherein said controller is operative to utilize said information in at least one of; a) a determination of the operational status of said at least one RFID tag interrogator; b) control of said at least one RFID tag interrogator; c) control of said RF receiver component; and d) control of said RF monitoring component, wherein each RF receiver component is operative to receive RF signals on at least one frequency channel, and wherein each RF monitoring component is operative to monitor said at least one channel for at least one external RF interference signal, and to determine at least one characteristic associated with said at least one external RF interference signal on the at least one monitored channel, wherein each RFID receiver is operative to generate information indicative of said at least one characteristic associated with the at least one external RF interference signal, and to forward said information to said controller, said controller being operative to utilize said information indicative of said characteristic associated with the external RF interference signal in at least one of the control of said RFID tag interrogator, the control of said RF receiver component, and the control of said RF monitoring component, wherein each RF receiver component is operative to receive RF signals on an associated plurality of channels, and wherein each RF monitoring component is operative to monitor the associated plurality of channels for at least one external RF interference signal, and to determine at least one characteristic associated with said at least one external RF interference signal on the plurality of channels associated therewith, and wherein each RF monitoring component is operative, in response to monitoring at least one external RF interference signal on at least one of the plurality of channels associated with the respective RF receiver component, to sample said at least one external RF interference signal at a predetermined sampling rate over a predetermined time interval, and wherein said information forwarded to the controller by each RFID receiver includes information indicative of at least one characteristic of the external RF interference signal sampled at the predetermined sampling rate over the predetermined time interval. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70)
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71. A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag data acquisition system, comprising:
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at least one RFID tag interrogator operative to transmit at least one first RF interrogation signal for interrogating RFID tags; a plurality of RFID receivers, each of said plurality of RFID receivers including an RF receiver component and an RF monitoring component, said RF receiver component being operative to receive RF signals including said at least one first RF interrogation signal transmitted by said RFID tag interrogator, said RF monitoring component being operative to determine at least one characteristic associated with said RF signals received by said RF receiver component; and a controller communicably coupled to said at least one RFID tag interrogator and said plurality of RFID receivers, wherein said plurality of RFID receivers are operative to generate information indicative of said at least one characteristic, and to forward said information to said controller, wherein said controller is operative to utilize said information in at least one of; a) a determination of the operational status of said at least one RFID tag interrogator; b) control of said at least one RFID tag interrogator; c) control of said RF receiver component; and d) control of said RF monitoring component, wherein each RF receiver component is operative to receive RF signals on at least one frequency channel, and wherein each RF monitoring component is operative to monitor said at least one channel for at least one external RF interference signal, and to determine at least one characteristic associated with said at least one external RF interference signal on the at least one monitored channel, wherein each RFID receiver is operative to generate information indicative of said at least one characteristic associated with the at least one external RF interference signal, and to forward said information to said controller, said controller being operative to utilize said information indicative of said characteristic associated with the external RF interference signal in at least one of the control of said RFID tag interrogator, the control of said RF receiver component, and the control of said RF monitoring component, wherein each RF receiver component is operative to receive RF signals on an associated plurality of channels over a predetermined time interval, the RF receiver components receiving said RF signals on said channels associated with the corresponding RF receiver components at staggered time intervals, and wherein each RF monitoring component is operative to monitor said associated plurality of channels for at least one external RF interference signal, and to determine at least one characteristic associated with said at least one external RF interference signal on the plurality of channels associated therewith, and wherein each RF monitoring component is operative, in response to monitoring at least one external RF interference signal on said plurality of channels, to sample said at least one external RF interference signal at a predetermined sampling rate over the predetermined time interval, and wherein said information forwarded to the controller by each RFID receiver includes information indicative of at least one characteristic of the external RF interference signal sampled at the predetermined sampling rate over the predetermined time interval. - View Dependent Claims (72, 73, 74, 75)
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Specification