RFID material tracking method and apparatus
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system to track objects, the system comprising:
- a storage facility having a plurality of storage locations, each of the storage locations adapted to store at least one object;
a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, wherein each RFID tag is physically associated with a corresponding object;
a host computer having a database; and
a plurality of interrogators communicatively coupled to the host computer, each interrogator including a sensing antenna, wherein the sensing antennas are distributed around the storage facility, and wherein each sensing antenna is provided with a location identifier, each of the interrogators being configured to;
interrogate the RFID tags for identification information via wireless radio frequency (RF) communications using the corresponding sensing antenna, wherein the interrogators interrogate the RFID tags by;
exciting the corresponding sensing antennas to receive the identification information from at least some of the corresponding RFID tags;
determining the RFID tags from which identifying information is not received;
in the event that the identification information is not received from at least one of the RFID tags, determining whether a current iteration count for determining if the identification information is received at the interrogators is above a limit for the number of iterations;
in the event that the current iteration count for determining if the identification information is received at the interrogators is not above the limit for the number of iterations, incrementing the iteration count and disabling and then enabling a driver for each sensing antenna; and
in response to enabling the drivers for exciting the sensing antennas, receiving by the respective interrogators the identification information from each RFID tag that is within communication range of the excited sensing antennas;
determine, based on a communication range for the wireless RF communications, storage location information of the objects with which the RFID tags are physically associated, wherein the storage location information of each object is determined based on the identification information of the corresponding RFID tag and the location identifier of the sensing antenna that is positioned closest to the object relative to the other sensing antennas, andprovide the database with the storage location information of the objects.
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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.
250 Citations
71 Claims
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1. A system to track objects, the system comprising:
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a storage facility having a plurality of storage locations, each of the storage locations adapted to store at least one object; a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, wherein each RFID tag is physically associated with a corresponding object; a host computer having a database; and a plurality of interrogators communicatively coupled to the host computer, each interrogator including a sensing antenna, wherein the sensing antennas are distributed around the storage facility, and wherein each sensing antenna is provided with a location identifier, each of the interrogators being configured to; interrogate the RFID tags for identification information via wireless radio frequency (RF) communications using the corresponding sensing antenna, wherein the interrogators interrogate the RFID tags by; exciting the corresponding sensing antennas to receive the identification information from at least some of the corresponding RFID tags; determining the RFID tags from which identifying information is not received; in the event that the identification information is not received from at least one of the RFID tags, determining whether a current iteration count for determining if the identification information is received at the interrogators is above a limit for the number of iterations; in the event that the current iteration count for determining if the identification information is received at the interrogators is not above the limit for the number of iterations, incrementing the iteration count and disabling and then enabling a driver for each sensing antenna; and in response to enabling the drivers for exciting the sensing antennas, receiving by the respective interrogators the identification information from each RFID tag that is within communication range of the excited sensing antennas; determine, based on a communication range for the wireless RF communications, storage location information of the objects with which the RFID tags are physically associated, wherein the storage location information of each object is determined based on the identification information of the corresponding RFID tag and the location identifier of the sensing antenna that is positioned closest to the object relative to the other sensing antennas, and provide the database with the storage location information of the objects. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system to track objects, the system comprising:
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a storage facility having a plurality of storage locations, each of the storage locations adapted to store at least one object; a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, wherein each RFID tag is physically associated with a corresponding object; a controller computer having a database; a plurality of antennas distributed in the storage facility, wherein each antenna is provided with a location identifier; and at least one interrogator communicatively coupled to the antennas and the controller computer, wherein the at least one interrogator is configured to; interrogate the RFID tags for identification information via wireless radio frequency (RF) communications through the antennas, wherein the at least one interrogator interrogates the RFID tags by; exciting the corresponding antennas to receive the identification information from at least some of the corresponding RFID tags; determining the RFID tags from which identification information is not received; in the event that the identification information is not received from at least one of the RFID tags, determining whether a current iteration count for determining if the identification information is received at the at least one interrogator is above a limit for the number of iterations; in the event that the current iteration count for determining if the identification information is received at the at least one interrogator is not above the limit for the number of iterations, incrementing the iteration count and disabling and then enabling a driver for each antenna; and in response to enabling the drivers for exciting the antennas, receiving by the at least one interrogator the identification information from each RFID tag that is within communication range of the excited antennas; determine, based on a communication range for the wireless RF communications, storage location information of the objects with which the RFID tags are physically associated, wherein the storage location information of each object is determined based on the identification information of the corresponding RFID tag and the location identifier of the antenna that is positioned closest to the object relative to the other antennas, and provide the database with the storage location information of the objects. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A system to track objects, the system comprising:
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a storage facility having a plurality of storage locations adapted to physically store a plurality of objects; a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, wherein each RFID tag is attached to at least one of the objects; a database configured to be accessible from a multitude of locations; a plurality of sensing antennas distributed around the storage facility, wherein each sensing antenna is provided with a location identifier; and a plurality of interrogators coupled to the antennas and the database, wherein each of the interrogators is configured to; interrogate at least one RFID tag in vicinity of at least one of the sensing antennas for identification information, via wireless radio frequency (RF) communications through a corresponding one of the sensing antennas, wherein the interrogators interrogate the RFID tags by; exciting the corresponding sensing antennas to receive the identification information from at least some of the corresponding RFID tags; determining the RFID tags from which identifying information is not received; in the event that the identification information is not received from at least one of the RFID tags, determining whether a current iteration count for determining if the identification information is received at the interrogators is above a limit for the number of iterations; in the event that the current iteration count for determining if the identification information is received at the interrogators is not above the limit for the number of iterations, incrementing the iteration count and disabling and then enabling a driver for each sensing antenna; and in response to enabling the drivers for exciting the sensing antennas, receiving by the respective interrogators the identification information from each RFID tag that is within communication range of the excited sensing antennas; determine a storage location of the objects, wherein the storage location of each object is determined based on the identification information of the corresponding RFID tag and the location identifier of the sensing antenna that is positioned closest to the object relative to the other sensing antennas, and communicate with the database to provide the storage location of each object. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A system, comprising:
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a plurality of sensing antennas distributed around a storage facility having a plurality of storage locations adapted to physically store a plurality of objects, wherein each sensing antenna is provided with a location identifier; a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags attached to the objects; at least one interrogator coupled to the sensing antennas, wherein each interrogator is configured to; interrogate the RFID tags in vicinity of at least one of the sensing antennas for identification information, via wireless radio frequency communications through at least one of the sensing antennas, wherein the at least one interrogator interrogates the RFID tags by; exciting the corresponding sensing antennas to receive the identification information from at least some of the corresponding RFID tags; determining the RFID tags from which identification information is not received; in the event that the identification information is not received from at least one of the RFID tags, determining whether a current iteration count for determining if the identification information is received at the at least one interrogator is above a limit for the number of iterations; in the event that the current iteration count for determining if the identification information is received at the at least one interrogator is not above the limit for the number of iterations, incrementing the iteration count and disabling and then enabling a driver for each sensing antenna; and in response to enabling the drivers for exciting the sensing antennas, receiving by the at least one interrogator the identification information from each RFID tag that is within communication range of the excited sensing antennas; and determine a storage location of the objects, wherein the storage location of each object is determined based on the identification information of the corresponding RFID tag and the location identifier of the sensing antenna that is positioned closest to the object relative to the other sensing antennas; and a control computer coupled to the interrogator to provide the storage location of each object. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A method to track objects, the method comprising:
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interrogating radio frequency identification (RFID) tags for identification information, via wireless radio frequency (RF) communications, using a plurality of interrogators each having a sensing antenna distributed around a storage facility having a plurality of storage locations, each of the storage locations being adapted to store at least one object, wherein each RFID tag is physically associated with one of the objects, wherein the interrogating comprises; exciting the corresponding sensing antennas to receive the identification information from at least some of the corresponding RFID tags; determining the RFID tags from which identifying information is not received; in the event that the identification information is not received from at least one of the RFID tags, determining whether a current iteration count for determining if the identification information is received at the interrogators is above a limit for the number of iterations; in the event that the current iteration count for determining if the identification information is received at the interrogators is not above the limit for the number of iterations, incrementing the iteration count and disabling and then enabling a driver for each sensing antenna; and in response to enabling the drivers for exciting the sensing antennas, receiving by the respective interrogators the identification information from each RFID tag that is within communication range of the excited sensing antennas; determining, based on a communication range for the wireless RF communications, storage location information of the objects with which the RFID tags are physically associated, wherein the storage location information of each object is determined based on the identification information of the corresponding RFID tag and the location identifier of the sensing antenna that is positioned closest to the object relative to the other sensing antennas; and storing in a database the storage location information of the objects, via a host computer coupled with the interrogators. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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55. A method to track objects, the method comprising:
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providing a storage facility having a plurality of storage locations, each of the storage locations adapted to store at least one object having a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag physically associated with the object; interrogating RFID tags for identification information via wireless radio frequency (RF) communications through a plurality of antennas distributed in the storage facility, using at least one interrogator coupled to the antennas, wherein each antenna is provided with a location identifier, wherein the interrogating comprises; exciting the corresponding antennas to receive the identification information from at least some of the corresponding RFID tags; determining the RFID tags from which identifying information is not received; in the event that the identification information is not received from at least one of the RFID tags, determining whether a current iteration count for determining if the identification information is received at the at least one interrogator is above a limit for the number of iterations; in the event that the current iteration count for determining if the identification information is received at the at least one interrogator is not above the limit for the number of iterations, incrementing the iteration count and disabling and then enabling a driver for each antenna; and in response to enabling the drivers for exciting the antennas, receiving by the at least one interrogator the identification information from each RFID tag that is within communication range of the excited antennas; determining, based on a communication range for the wireless RF communications, storage location information of the objects with which the RFID tags are physically associated, wherein the storage location information of each object is determined based on the identification information of the corresponding RFID tag and the location identifier of the antenna that is positioned closest to the object relative to the other antennas; and storing in a database the storage location information of the objects using a controller computer coupled to the at least one interrogator. - View Dependent Claims (56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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63. A method to track objects, the method comprising:
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providing a plurality of sensing antennas distributed in a storage facility having a plurality of storage locations adapted to physically store a plurality of objects, wherein a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag is attached to each of the objects, each sensing antenna being provided with a location identifier; interrogating at least one RFID tag in vicinity of at least one of the sensing antennas for identification information using one of a plurality of interrogators, via wireless radio frequency (RF) communications through a corresponding one of the sensing antennas coupled to the interrogator, wherein the interrogating comprises; exciting the corresponding sensing antennas to receive the identification information from at least some of the corresponding RFID tags; determining the RFID tags from which identifying information is not received; in the event that the identification information is not received from at least one of the RFID tags, determining whether a current iteration count for determining if the identification information is received at the interrogator is above a limit for the number of iterations; in the event that the current iteration count for determining if the identification information is received at the interrogator is not above the limit for the number of iterations, incrementing the iteration count and disabling and then enabling a driver for each of the sensing antennas; and in response to enabling the drivers for exciting the sensing antennas, receiving by the interrogator the identification information from each RFID tag that is within communication range of the excited sensing antennas; determining a storage location of the objects, wherein the storage location of each object is determined based on the identification information of the corresponding RFID tag and the location identifier of the sensing antenna that is positioned closest to the object relative to the other sensing antennas; communicating with a database to store the storage location of each object. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65, 66)
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67. A method, comprising:
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interrogating, using at least one interrogator, a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags in vicinity of at least one of a plurality of sensing antennas for identification information, via wireless radio frequency (RF) communications through a corresponding one of the sensing antennas distributed around a storage facility, wherein each sensing antenna is provided with a location identifier, the storage facility having a plurality of storage locations adapted to physically store a plurality of objects, wherein the plurality of RFID tags is attached to the objects, wherein the interrogating comprises; exciting the corresponding sensing antennas to receive the identification information from at least some of the corresponding RFID tags; determining the RFID tags from which identifying information is not received; in the event that the identification information is not received from at least one of the RFID tags, determining whether a current iteration count for determining if the identification information is received at the at least one interrogator is above a limit for the number of iterations; in the event that the current iteration count for determining if the identification information is received at the at least one interrogator is not above the limit for the number of iterations, incrementing the iteration count and disabling and then enabling a driver for each antenna; and in response to enabling the drivers for exciting the sensing antennas, receiving by the at least one interrogator the identification information from each RFID tag that is within communication range of the excited sensing antennas; determining a storage location of the objects, wherein the storage location of each object is determined based on the identification information of the corresponding RFID tag and the location identifier of the sensing antenna that is positioned closest to the object relative to the other sensing antennas; and providing the storage location of each object using a data processing system coupled to the interrogator. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71)
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Specification