Methods and systems for tracking RFID devices
First Claim
1. A system for tracking movement of employees and/or inventory, comprising:
- an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) reader including;
a power control module configured to modify the output power of the RFID reader for each read cycle in a set of read cycle;
reader circuitry configured to perform the set of read cycle according to the output power levels determined by the power control module; and
a location/orientation module coupled to the power control module and the reader circuitry, the location/orientation module configured to compare data obtained by the reader circuitry during each read cycle and the associated power level of the read cycle to determine location and orientation information for an RFID enabled device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods, systems, and apparatuses for tracking and monitoring tagged objects in an RFID environment is described. By varying RFID reader antenna output power levels and detecting RFID devices in the vicinity, data about position and orientation of the RFID devices can be gathered. This gathered data is used to correlate with pre-stored data about RFID devices'"'"' position and orientation. Such a correlation then can be used to infer data about neighboring RFID devices based upon data stored in the database. Such an inferential technique also results in a faster analysis of position and orientation data of RFID devices, and also leads to faster tracking of RFID enabled devices. Unnecessary reads and high power operations of the RFID reader are also avoided.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A system for tracking movement of employees and/or inventory, comprising:
an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) reader including; a power control module configured to modify the output power of the RFID reader for each read cycle in a set of read cycle; reader circuitry configured to perform the set of read cycle according to the output power levels determined by the power control module; and a location/orientation module coupled to the power control module and the reader circuitry, the location/orientation module configured to compare data obtained by the reader circuitry during each read cycle and the associated power level of the read cycle to determine location and orientation information for an RFID enabled device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 14, 15)
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6. A method for tracking movement of employees and/or inventory using an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) reader, comprising:
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performing a series of read cycles including; setting an output power level of the RFID reader to a predetermined value for the read cycle being performed, performing a read of a tag population; for each read cycle, storing the output power used during the read cycle and tag identification data obtained during the read cycle; comparing the data for each read cycle to determine the location and orientation of an RFID device. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 16)
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10. A computer program product for tracking movement of employees and/or inventory using an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) reader comprising a computer useable medium having a computer program logic recorded thereon for controlling at least one processor, the computer program logic comprising:
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computer program code means for performing a series of read cycles including; code for setting an output power level of the RFID reader to a predetermined value for the read cycle being performed, code for performing a read of a tag population; code for storing the output power used during the read cycle and tag identification data obtained during the read cycle, for each read cycle; code for comparing the data for each read cycle to determine the location and orientation of an RFID device. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 17)
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Specification