Method, apparatus, and system for selecting and locating objects having radio frequency identification (RFID) tags

• US 8,106,746 B2
• Filed: 09/20/2006
• Issued: 01/31/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intermec IP Corporation (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Intermec IP Corporation (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Maltseff, Paul, Payne, Ronald D.
• Primary Examiner(s): HOLLOWAY III, EDWIN C
• Application Number:
  US12/067,556
• Publication Number:
  US 20080315994A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,959 Days
• Field of Search: 340/825.49, 340/8.1, 340/10.1, 340/10.5, 340/5.9, 340/572.1, 340/572.4, 340/570, 340/539.13
• US Class Current: 340/10.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/765 with exchange of information between interrogator and responder
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/2216 used in interrogator/reader equipment

Abstract

A carrier structure has a plurality of cells. A corresponding plurality of objects having data carriers, such as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, is placed in each cell. Each cell has an indicator associated therewith and is defined by walls that substantially prevent waves (such as RF waves) from propagating between cells. A control module is coupled to the carrier structure and is operative to selectively activate individual ones of the indicators. An automatic data collection device (such as an RFID reader) interrogates the data carriers of the objects placed in the cells, and the data carriers can provide response signals to the data collection device. The control module also monitors the response signals using an antenna present in each cell. If the data collection device selects a particular one of the responsive data carriers, the data collection device provides a notification signal to the control module to notify the control module of the selection. The control module then identifies and selects the cell of an object of interest having the selected data carrier affixed thereon, and initiates activation of the indicator associated with the selected cell, thereby identifying the location of the object of interest.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a carrier structure having a plurality of cells to allow objects having respective data carriers affixed thereon to be placed in respective ones of the cells, each cell including an antenna to receive signals from a data carrier affixed on an object that is placed in the cell;

a plurality of indicators, each indicator respectively associated with each of the plurality of cells;

an automatic data collection device to;

communicate with the data carriers affixed to the objects placed in the respective ones of the cells by interrogating the data carriers and receiving signals generated by one or more data carriers in response to the interrogation;

select at least one of the one or more data carriers affixed to one of said objects that is an object of interest based on the signals received from the one or more data carriers; and

provide a notification signal to indicate the selection of the at least one of the one or more data carriers; and

a control module communicatively coupled to each cell via the antenna included in the cell and via the indicator associated with the cell, the control module being adapted to;

monitor the signals generated by the one or more data carriers in response to the interrogation and received by the antennas included in the respective cells;

receive the notification signal from the data collection device; and

select at least one of the indicators to activate, the selected indicator being associated with one of said cells that has the object of interest placed therein and being adapted to provide an indication of a location of the object of interest,

wherein the selection of the at least one of the indicators is based on a cell location information corresponding to each of the one or more data carriers and derived from the monitored signals and information associated with the at least one of the one or more data carriers contained in the received notification signal.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the data carriers include RFID tags.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the data carriers include acoustical tags.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the carrier structure includes:

a carrier frame on which the indicators are coupled;

a plurality of walls attached to the carrier frame, the plurality of walls being arranged to define the plurality of cells of the carrier structure and having a material to attenuate propagation of waves between cells

wherein the antenna present in each cell is communicatively coupleable with the control module to allow the control module to monitor the signals generated by the data carriers and received by the antennas.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the data collection device is further communicates with the data carriers by generating at least one signal to interrogate the data carriers and selects said one of the data carriers based at least in part on the signal generated by said one of the data carriers and to provide a notification signal to the control module via a communication link to indicate selection of said one of the data carriers.

6. The system of claim 4 wherein the material of the walls at least partially is a metal-based material.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the indication provided by the activated indicator includes a human-perceptible visual, audible, or tactile indication.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the data collection device includes a handheld portable data collection device.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the data collection device includes a stationary data collection device.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the carrier structure is selected from a group comprising:

a cart, an inventory shelf, a shipping container, a storage unit, a product holder, a vehicle, a room to hold people, and a file room.

11. An apparatus, comprising:

a carrier structure having a plurality of cells, each cell to receive at least one object of a plurality of objects, each object having a respective data carrier affixed thereon, each cell including an antenna to receive information from a data carrier affixed on an object that is placed in the cell;

a plurality of indicators, each indicator respectively associated with each of the plurality of cells; and

a control module operatively coupled to each cell via the antenna included in the cell and via the indicator associated with the cell, and which;

monitors signals generated by the one or more data carriers in response to interrogation by an automatic collection device and received by the antennas included in the respective cells; and

selects at least one of the indicators to activate, the selected indicator being associated with one of said cells having one of said objects that is an object of interest received therein and being adapted to identify said one of said cells from other ones of the plurality of cells, the control module being adapted to select the indicator in response to selection by the automatic data collection device of one of said data carriers that is affixed to the object of interest and in response to a notification signal generated by said data collection device that is indicative of the selection of the one of said data carriers by the data collection device,

wherein the selection of the at least one of the indicators is based on a cell location information corresponding to each of the one or more data carriers and derived from the monitored signals and information associated with the at least one of the one or more data carriers contained in the received notification signal.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the selected one of said data carriers that is affixed to the object of interest is an RFID tag.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the selected indicator is an LED indicator or liquid crystal display indicator that can be activated to indicate a location of the object of interest.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the carrier structure includes:

a carrier frame on which the indicators are coupled; and

a plurality of walls attached to the carrier frame, the plurality of walls being arranged to define the plurality of cells of the carrier structure and having a material to substantially attenuate distribution of waves between the cells.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the control module is further adapted to receive at least one interrogation signal from the data collection device and to use the antennas present in the cells to convey the at least one interrogation signal to the data carriers of the objects received in the cells.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the signals monitored by the control module are generated by the data carriers in response to at least one interrogation signal directly sent by the data collection device to the data carriers.

17. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the material of the walls at least partially includes a metal-based material.

18. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the control module is further adapted to establish a communication link with the data collection device to carry the notification signal.

19. An article of manufacture, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that are executable by a processor to identify a location of an object of interest having a data carrier affixed thereon, by;

monitoring a return signal generated by the data carrier of the object of interest in response to an interrogation signal generated by an automatic data collection device, the object of interest being present in a cell of a carrier structure having a plurality of cells, other ones of said cells having other objects with data carriers respectively present therein, each cell including an antenna to receive return signals from a data carrier affixed on an object that is placed in the cell, the monitoring including receiving the return signal via the antenna associated with the cell;

processing a notification signal received from the data collection device, the notification signal being indicative of selection of the data carrier of the object of interest by the data collection device, the notification signal including information regarding the object of interest included in the return signal;

based on the processed notification signal and the monitored return signal of the data carrier of the object of interest, selecting the cell having the object of interest present therein by identifying, from the return signal received via the antenna associated with the cell, the cell having the object of interest that is specified by the information included in the notification signal; and

initiating indication of the identified and selected cell to indicate the location thereof.

20. The article of manufacture of claim 19 wherein the instructions to initiate the indication includes instructions executable by said processor to identify the location of the object of interest, by:

initiating activation of an indicator associated with the identified and selected cell.

21. The article of manufacture of claim 20 wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium further includes instructions stored thereon that are executable by said processor to identify the location of the object of interest, by:

initiating deactivation of the indicator in response to removal of the object of interest from the selected cell.

22. The article of manufacture of claim 19 wherein the instructions to initiate the indication includes instructions executable by said processor to identify the location of the object of interest, by:

initiating deactivation of an indicator associated with the identified and selected cell, indicators of other ones of said cells being activated to indicate non-selection of the objects respectively present therein.

23. The article of manufacture of claim 19 wherein the instructions to monitor the return signal includes instructions executable by said processor to identify the location of the object of interest, by:

monitoring a signal present within the cell of the object of interest using an antenna present in that cell, the signal present within that cell being substantially attenuated during propagation into other ones of the cells of the carrier structure.

24. A system comprising:

carrier means having a plurality of cells for respectively receiving a plurality of objects having respective data carriers affixed thereon, one of said plurality of objects being an object of interest and having a data carrier affixed thereon, each cell having an antenna means associated with the cell having an object received therein, for receiving return signals from a data carrier affixed on the object, the return signals being generated in response to an interrogation signal;

means for receiving a return signal generated by at least one data carrier in response to an interrogation signal, the return signal being present in a cell having the object received therein and being attenuated during propagation into other ones of said plurality of cells;

means for monitoring the return signal generated by the at least one data carrier with the antenna means located in the cell having the object with the at least one data carrier;

means for processing a notification signal indicative of selection of the data carrier of an object of interest, the notification signal including information regarding the object of interest included in the return signal; and

means for selecting the cell having the object of interest received therein, based on the processed notification signal and the monitored return signal of the data carrier of the object of interest by identifying, from the return signal received via the antenna means associated with the cell, the cell having the object of interest that is specified by the information included in the notification signal; and

means for indicating the identified and selected cell to indicate the location of the object of interest.

25. The system of claim 24, further comprising automatic data collection means for generating an interrogation signal to send to the data carrier of the object of interest, for selecting the data carrier of the object of interest, and for generating the notification signal indicative of the selection of the data carrier of the object of interest.

26. The system of claim 24 wherein the antenna means for receiving the return signal generated by the data carrier of the object of interest includes a transducer means, located in the cell having the object of interest received therein, for receiving the return signal, other ones of said plurality of cells having their respective transducer means for receiving return signals from respective other ones of the data carriers.

27. An automatic data collection apparatus configured to read a target data carrier, the apparatus comprising:

at least a first component adapted to send an interrogation signal to the target data carrier, the target data carrier being affixed to an object of interest that is located proximate to a plurality of other objects having respective data carriers affixed thereon;

at least a second component adapted to receive a return signal from the target data carrier in response to the interrogation signal, the return signal including first information pertaining to the object of interest;

an input device adapted to allow selection of the data carrier; and

a communication port adapted to send a notification signal to an external device adapted to monitor the return signal from the target data carrier and to uniquely identify a location of the object of interest, the notification signal being indicative of the selection of the target data carrier and containing second information associated with the object of interest, the notification signal being usable by the external device to uniquely identify the location of the object of interest from locations of other ones of the plurality of objects through a correlation of the first information with the second information to find a match.

28. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein target data carrier is a target RFID tag, and wherein the at least the first component includes a radio and a first antenna coupled thereto to send a RF interrogation signal to the target RFID tag, the at least the second component including a second antenna to receive a RF return signal from the target RFID tag.

29. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein target data carrier is a target acoustical tag, and wherein the at least the first component includes a first transducer to send an acoustical interrogation signal to the target acoustical tag, the at least the second component including a second transducer to receive an acoustical return signal from the target acoustical tag.

30. A method for locating an object of interest from a plurality of objects having RFID data carriers affixed thereon, the method comprising:

initializing an automatic data collection device and a control module of a carrier structure with a plurality of cells, the cells being adapted to allow objects having respective data carriers affixed thereon to be placed in respective ones of the cells, each cell including an antenna adapted to receive information from a data carrier affixed on an object that is placed in the cell;

establishing a communication link between the automatic data collection device and the control module of the carrier structure;

interrogating said data carriers with the automatic data collection device;

monitoring signals generated by the one or more data carriers in response to the interrogation with the automatic data collection device and received by the antennas included in the respective cells and associated with the control module;

in response to a selection of at least one of the one or more data carriers affixed to one of said objects as an object of interest based on the signals received from the one or more data carriers, sending a notification information to the control module of the carrier structure from the automatic data collection device that the object of interest is identified; and

selecting and initializing by the control module of the carrier structure an indicator associated with a respective cell of the carrier structure where the object of interest is placed, the selecting being based on a cell location information corresponding to each of the one or more data carriers and derived from the monitored signals and information associated with the at least one of the one or more data carriers contained in the received notification information.

31. The method of the claim 30, further comprising displaying a location of the object of interest on a screen of the automatic data collection device.

32. The method of the claim 30, further comprising deactivating the indicator associated with the respective cell of the carrier structure after removal of the object of interest from said cell.