RFID material tracking method and apparatus
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of detecting a presence or absence of an identification tag, comprising:
- providing one sensing antenna positioned at a storage location remote from an interrogator, the sensing antenna coupled to the interrogator;
exciting by the interrogator the sensing antenna to interrogate, the sensing antenna being separate from the identification tag;
decoding a detected signal in the interrogator, the detected signal responsive to the exciting of the sensing antenna and generated from the identification tag; and
storing information indicative of the presence or absence of the identification tag based on the detected signal, including storing timing information related to the identification tag.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for tracking items automatically is described. A passive RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tag is used with a material tracking system capable of real-time pinpoint location and identification of thousands of items in production and storage areas. Passive RFID tags are attached to the item to be tracked, remote sensing antennas are placed at each remote location to be monitored, interrogators with several antenna inputs are connected to the sensing antennas to multiplex the antenna signals, and a host computer communicates with the interrogators to determine item locations to an exacting measure.
247 Citations
60 Claims
-
1. A method of detecting a presence or absence of an identification tag, comprising:
-
providing one sensing antenna positioned at a storage location remote from an interrogator, the sensing antenna coupled to the interrogator; exciting by the interrogator the sensing antenna to interrogate, the sensing antenna being separate from the identification tag; decoding a detected signal in the interrogator, the detected signal responsive to the exciting of the sensing antenna and generated from the identification tag; and storing information indicative of the presence or absence of the identification tag based on the detected signal, including storing timing information related to the identification tag. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A method of detecting a presence or absence of a plurality of identification tags, comprising:
for each location of a plurality of locations near a plurality of storage spaces configured to store objects to which the identification tags are attached, wherein a plurality of sensing antennas are disposed at the plurality of locations respectively, providing a sensing antenna disposed at the location, the sensing antenna coupled to a remote interrogator; exciting the sensing antenna to interrogate an identification tag in vicinity of the sensing antenna, the sensing antenna being separate from the identification tag; and based on whether a signal from the identification tag is detected and decoded via the sensing antenna, storing information indicating a presence or absence an object to which the identification tag is attached, wherein the information includes timing information related to the identification tag. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
22. A tangible computer readable medium encoded with a computer program to cause a computer to perform a method of detecting a presence or absence of a plurality of identification tags, the method comprising:
for each location of a plurality of locations near a plurality of storage spaces configured to store objects to which the identification tags are attached, wherein a plurality of sensing antennas are disposed at the plurality of locations respectively, providing a sensing antenna disposed at the location, the sensing antenna coupled to a remote interrogator; causing exciting of the sensing antenna to interrogate an identification tag in vicinity of the sensing antenna, the sensing antenna being separate from the identification tag; and based on whether a signal from the identification tag is detected and decoded via the sensing antenna, storing information indicative of a presence or absence an object to which the identification tag is attached, wherein the information indicative of the presence or absence of the object includes information related to arrival or departure of the object. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
-
33. A method to detect a presence of an object, the method comprising:
-
providing one sensing antenna at a location, the sensing antenna coupled to a radio frequency (RF) communications apparatus; exciting, by the RF communications apparatus, the sensing antenna to wirelessly communicate with an RF device, the RF device physically associated with the object and storing an identification code, the sensing antenna being separate from the RF device; decoding a detected signal in the RF communications apparatus, the detected signal responsive to the exciting of the sensing antenna and generated from the RF device physically associated with the object; and storing information indicative of the presence of the object based at least in part on the detected signal, including storing timing information related to the object. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
-
-
42. A method to detect a presence of a plurality of objects, the method comprising:
-
providing a sensing antenna at each location of a plurality of locations, the sensing antenna connected to a respective radio frequency (RF) communications apparatus; exciting, by the respective RF communications apparatus, the sensing antenna to wirelessly communicate with a RF device in vicinity of the sensing antenna, the RF device storing an identification code and being physically associated with a respective object, the sensing antenna being separate from the RF device; and based on a signal from the RF device, detected and decoded via the sensing antenna, storing information indicating a presence of the object with which the RF device is physically associated, wherein the information includes timing information related to the object. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
-
-
53. A system to detect a presence of a plurality of objects, the system comprising:
-
a plurality of radio frequency (RF) communications apparatuses; a plurality of sensing antennas positioned at a plurality of locations respectively, each sensing antenna of the sensing antennas coupled to and excited by one of the RF communications apparatuses to wirelessly communicate with a RF device in vicinity of the sensing antenna, the RF device storing an identification code and being physically associated with a respective object, the sensing antenna being separate from the RF device; and a data storage device to store, based on a signal from the RF device detected and decoded via the sensing antenna, information indicating a presence of the object with which the RF device is physically associated, wherein the information includes timing information related to the object. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
-
Specification