Tracking RFID tags with overlapping antennas
First Claim
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1. A system comprising:
- an electronics cabinet housing a plurality of assets having respective RFID tags, wherein the plurality of assets are arranged at predefined intervals in the electronics cabinet, said predefined intervals having a dimension that extends at least one predefined measurement unit;
a reader device having a plurality of loop antennas positioned on the electronics cabinet such that portions of at least two of the plurality of loop antennas physically overlap each other and are in approximately the same plane, wherein pairs of the overlapping loop antennas are positioned with respect to respective RFID tags of the plurality of assets, such that each of the RFID tags is within both signal fields of a respective pair of overlapping antennas; and
wherein the reader device is configured to selectively activate the plurality of overlapping antennas to thereby selectively interrogate the RFID tags, and wherein the reader device is configured to use the selective interrogation of the RFID tags to deduce the locations of the RFID tags and the plurality of assets upon which the RFID tags are provided with respect to the electronics cabinet.
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Abstract
A system for tracking RFID tags with a reader device having a plurality of antennas. The antennas are positioned such that portions of at least two of the plurality of antennas physically overlap each other and are in approximately the same plane. A pair of overlapping antennas are also positioned so that an RFID tag is positioned within both signal fields of the pair of overlapping antennas. In addition, the reader device is configured to selectively activate the plurality of overlapping antennas to thereby selectively interrogate one or more of the RFID tags, and the reader device is configured to use the selective interrogation of the one or more RFID tags to track the locations of the RFID tags.
60 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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an electronics cabinet housing a plurality of assets having respective RFID tags, wherein the plurality of assets are arranged at predefined intervals in the electronics cabinet, said predefined intervals having a dimension that extends at least one predefined measurement unit; a reader device having a plurality of loop antennas positioned on the electronics cabinet such that portions of at least two of the plurality of loop antennas physically overlap each other and are in approximately the same plane, wherein pairs of the overlapping loop antennas are positioned with respect to respective RFID tags of the plurality of assets, such that each of the RFID tags is within both signal fields of a respective pair of overlapping antennas; and wherein the reader device is configured to selectively activate the plurality of overlapping antennas to thereby selectively interrogate the RFID tags, and wherein the reader device is configured to use the selective interrogation of the RFID tags to deduce the locations of the RFID tags and the plurality of assets upon which the RFID tags are provided with respect to the electronics cabinet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of tracking a plurality of assets having respective RFID tags, wherein the plurality of assets are arranged at predefined intervals in an electronics cabinet, said predefined intervals having a dimensions that extends at least one predefined measurement unit with a reader device having multiple loop antennas, said method comprising:
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arranging the loop antennas on the electronics cabinet to be in relatively close proximity to respective RFID tags of the plurality of assets, such that portions of at least two of the loop antennas physically overlap each other and are approximately in the same plane and that the respective RFID tags are within signal fields of more than one of the overlapping loop antennas; selectively activating the overlapping loop antennas to emit radio frequency (RF) signals to interrogate the RFID tags in the overlapping fields; determining whether a response is received from at least one of the RFID tags to thereby track the locations of the RFID tags; and tracking the locations of the assets with respect to the electronics cabinet based upon responses received from the at least one of the RFID tags. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An electronics cabinet comprising:
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a plurality of assets having respective RFID tags housed in the electronics cabinet, wherein the plurality of assets are arranged at predefined intervals in the electronics cabinet, said predefined intervals having a dimension that extends at least one predefined measurement unit; a reader device having a plurality of loop antennas, said plurality of loop antennas being positioned on the electronics cabinet such that portions of at least two of the plurality of loop antennas physically overlap each other and are in approximately the same plane, wherein pairs of the overlapping loop antennas are configured to be positioned with respect to respective RFID tags of the plurality of assets, such that each of the RFID tags is within both signal fields of a respective pair of overlapping loop antennas; and a controller configured to selectively activate the plurality of overlapping loop antennas to thereby selectively interrogate one or more of the RFID tags, and wherein the controller is configured to use the selective interrogation of the one or more RFID tags to deduce the locations of the RFID tags and the plurality of assets upon which the RFID tags are provided with respect to the apparatus electronics cabinet.
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Specification