Apparatus and method for supplying an RFID component with energy

• US 8,733,664 B2
• Filed: 10/28/2011
• Issued: 05/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forsching E.V., Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft ZUR Forderung Der Angewandten Forschung EV, Friedrich-Alexander-Universitat Erlangen-Nurnberg
• Original Assignee: Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forsching E.V., Friedrich-Alexander-Universitat Erlangen-Nurnberg
• Inventors: Wissendheit, Uwe, Gerhaeuser, Heinz, Loeffler, Andreas, Kuznetsova, Dina
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Thien M
• Assistant Examiner(s): TAYLOR, APRIL ALICIA
• Application Number:
  US13/283,753
• Publication Number:
  US 20120132710A1
• Time in Patent Office: 942 Days
• Field of Search: 235/439, 235/451, 235/492
• US Class Current: 235/492
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0707 the arrangement being capable of collecting energy from external energy sources, e.g. thermocouples, vibration, electromagnetic radiation G06K19/0702 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0712 the arrangement being capable of triggering distinct operating modes or functions dependent on the strength of an energy or interrogation field in the proximity of the record carrier active means for hindering electromagnetic reading or writing G06K19/07336
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0723 the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs

Abstract

An apparatus for supplying an RFID component with energy includes an antenna and an energy store. The energy store stores energy induced into the antenna by an alternating electromagnetic field during a first time interval. In addition, the energy store supplies the RFID component with stored energy in order to maintain its functionality during a later, second time interval if an energy induced by an alternating electromagnetic field during the later, second time interval is not sufficient for supplying the RFID component.

Claims

1. An apparatus for supplying an RFID component with energy, comprising:

an antenna;

an energy store configured to store energy induced into the antenna by an alternating electromagnetic field during a first time interval, and configured to supply the RFID component with stored energy in order to maintain its functionality during a later, second time interval if an energy induced by an alternating electromagnetic field during the later, second time interval is not sufficient for supplying the RFID component; and

a control module configured to generate a carrier signal so as to provide an energy, which is provided by the energy store for supplying the RFID component, to the RFID component at an antenna interface of the RFID component on the basis of the generated carrier signal.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the alternating electromagnetic field in the first time interval may comprise a higher energy density at a location of the antenna than an energy density of the alternating magnetic field in the second time interval.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein an energy density of the alternating electromagnetic field at a supply termination time falls below a supply threshold at which sufficient energy for supplying the RFID component is no longer induced, the supply termination time and a beginning of the second time interval being temporally spaced apart.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising a further antenna, the RFID component being supplied, during the first time interval, by energy induced into the further antenna, and the RFID component being configured to transmit data to a receiver via the further antenna.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising a time monitoring device configured to determine a starting time of the second time interval, the energy supply of the RFID component on the part of the energy store being activated on the basis of the determined starting time of the second time interval, and the energy store being configured to supply the time monitoring device with energy.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the data detection module is configured to perform detection of the measurand on the basis of the determined starting time of the second time interval.

7. An apparatus for supplying an RFID component with energy, comprising:

an antenna;

an energy store configured to store energy induced into the antenna by an alternating electromagnetic field during a first time interval, and configured to supply the RFID component with stored energy in order to maintain its functionality during a later, second time interval if an energy induced by an alternating electromagnetic field during the later, second time interval is not sufficient for supplying the RFID component; and

an energy management device configured to determine an energy state parameter of the energy store, and configured to provide the energy state parameter to the RFID component for storage or transmission to a receiver.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the energy management device is configured to activate supply of the RFID component by the energy store.

9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the energy management device is configured to supply the RFID component with energy via an antenna interface of the RFID component.

10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, comprising a plurality of energy stores, the energy management device comprising a shared voltage converter for the plurality of energy stores or comprising one voltage converter for each energy store of the plurality of energy stores.

11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, comprising a control module configured to control storage of the energy state parameter into the RFID component.

12. An apparatus for detecting a measurand, comprising:

an RFID component;

an antenna;

an energy store configured to store energy induced into the antenna by an alternating electromagnetic field during a first time interval, and configured to supply the RFID component with stored energy in order to maintain its functionality during a later, second time interval if an energy induced by an alternating electromagnetic field during the later, second time interval is not sufficient for supplying the RFID component;

a data detection module configured to detect the measurand during the second time interval, and configured to provide the measurand to the RFID component for storage or transmission to a receiver, said energy store being configured to supply the data detection module with energy during the detection of the measurand; and

a control module configured to store the measurand into the RFID component via an antenna interface of the RFID component, or configured to generate a carrier signal so as to provide an energy, which is provided by the energy store for supplying the RFID component, to the RFID component at an antenna interface of the RFID component on the basis of the generated carrier signal.

13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the control module is configured to control storage of the detected measurand into the RFID component.

14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the control module is configured to store the detected measurand or an energy state parameter and to provide same to the RFID component at a later point in time for storage or transmission to the receiver.

15. The apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the control module is configured to process the detected measurand to achieve a processed measurand, and is configured to provide the processed measurand to the RFID component for storage or transmission to the receiver.

16. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the RFID component is configured to transmit the detected measurand to the receiver during a transmission time interval, the energy induced by the alternating electromagnetic field being sufficient, during the transmission time interval, to supply the RFID component, and the energy store being configured to store energy that is induced during the transmission time interval.

17. An apparatus for detecting a measurand, comprising:

an RFID component;

an antenna;

an energy store configured to store energy induced into the antenna by an alternating electromagnetic field during a first time interval, and configured to supply the RFID component with stored energy in order to maintain its functionality during a later, second time interval if an energy induced by an alternating electromagnetic field during the later, second time interval is not sufficient for supplying the RFID component;

a data detection module configured to detect the measurand during the second time interval, and configured to provide the measurand to the RFID component for storage or transmission to a receiver, said energy store being configured to supply the data detection module with energy during the detection of the measurand; and

an energy management device configured to determine an energy state parameter of the energy store, and configured to provide the energy state parameter to the RFID component for storage or transmission to a receiver.

18. A method of supplying an RFID component with energy, comprising:

storing energy induced into an antenna by an alternating electromagnetic field during a first time interval;

generating a carrier signal so as to provide stored energy to the RFID component at an antenna interface of the RFID component on the basis of the generated carrier signal; and

supplying the RFID component with stored energy in order to maintain its functionality during a later, second time interval if an energy induced by an alternating electromagnetic field during the later, second time interval is not sufficient for supplying the RFID component.

19. A method of supplying an RFID component with energy, comprising:

storing energy induced into an antenna by an alternating electromagnetic field during a first time interval;

supplying the RFID component with stored energy in order to maintain its functionality during a later, second time interval if an energy induced by an alternating electromagnetic field during the later, second time interval is not sufficient for supplying the RFID component;

determining an energy state parameter of the energy store; and

providing the energy state parameter to the RFID component for storage or transmission to a receiver.

20. A method of detecting a measurand, comprising:

storing energy induced into an antenna by an alternating electromagnetic field during a first time interval;

supplying the RFID component with stored energy in order to maintain its functionality during a later, second time interval if an energy induced by an alternating electromagnetic field during the later, second time interval is not sufficient for supplying the RFID component;

detecting the measurand by means of a data detection module;

providing the data detection module with stored energy during the detection of the measurand; and

storing the measurand into the RFID component via an antenna interface of the RFID component, or generating a carrier signal so as to provide stored energy to the RFID component at an antenna interface of the RFID component on the basis of the generated carrier signal.

21. The method as claimed in claim 20, further comprising:

storing the detected measurand into the RFID component via the antenna interface of the RFID component.

22. A method of detecting a measurand, comprising:

storing energy induced into an antenna by an alternating electromagnetic field during a first time interval;

supplying the RFID component with stored energy in order to maintain its functionality during a later, second time interval if an energy induced by an alternating electromagnetic field during the later, second time interval is not sufficient for supplying the RFID component;

detecting the measurand by means of a data detection module;

providing the data detection module with stored energy during the detection of the measurand;

determining an energy state parameter of the energy store; and

providing the energy state parameter to the RFID component for storage or transmission to a receiver.

23. A non-transitory computer readable medium including a computer program comprising a program code for performing, when the computer program runs on a computer or microcontroller, the method of supplying an RFID component with energy, said method comprising:

storing energy induced into an antenna by an alternating electromagnetic field during a first time interval;

generating a carrier signal so as to provide stored energy to the RFID component at an antenna interface of the RFID component on the basis of the generated carrier signal; and

supplying the RFID component with stored energy in order to maintain its functionality during a later, second time interval if an energy induced by an alternating electromagnetic field during the later, second time interval is not sufficient for supplying the RFID component.

24. A non-transitory computer readable medium including a computer program comprising a program code for performing, when the computer program runs on a computer or microcontroller, the method of supplying an RFID component with energy, said method comprising:

storing energy induced into an antenna by an alternating electromagnetic field during a first time interval;

supplying the RFID component with stored energy in order to maintain its functionality during a later, second time interval if an energy induced by an alternating electromagnetic field during the later, second time interval is not sufficient for supplying the RFID component;

determining an energy state parameter of the energy store; and

providing the energy state parameter to the RFID component for storage or transmission to a receiver.

25. A non-transitory computer readable medium including a computer program comprising a program code for performing, when the computer program runs on a computer or microcontroller, the method of detecting a measurand, said method comprising:

storing energy induced into an antenna by an alternating electromagnetic field during a first time interval;

supplying the RFID component with stored energy in order to maintain its functionality during a later, second time interval if an energy induced by an alternating electromagnetic field during the later, second time interval is not sufficient for supplying the RFID component;

detecting the measurand by means of a data detection module;

providing the data detection module with stored energy during the detection of the measurand; and

storing the measurand into the RFID component via an antenna interface of the RFID component, or generating a carrier signal so as to provide stored energy to the RFID component at the antenna interface of the RFID component on the basis of the generated carrier signal.

26. A non-transitory computer readable medium including a computer program comprising a program code for performing, when the computer program runs on a computer or microcontroller, the method of detecting a measurand, said method comprising:

storing energy induced into an antenna by an alternating electromagnetic field during a first time interval;

supplying the RFID component with stored energy in order to maintain its functionality during a later, second time interval if an energy induced by an alternating electromagnetic field during the later, second time interval is not sufficient for supplying the RFID component;

detecting the measurand by means of a data detection module;

providing the data detection module with stored energy during the detection of the measurand;

determining an energy state parameter of the energy store; and

providing the energy state parameter to the RFID component for storage or transmission to a receiver.

27. An RFID reader for providing energy state information of an RFID component, comprising:

an energy state information provider configured to provide the energy state information of the RFID component on the basis of an energy state parameter received by the RFID component;

wherein the energy state parameter reflects the state of charge or the energy remaining within an energy store of the RFID component.

28. An RFID reader for providing energy state information of an RFID component, comprising:

an energy state information provider configured to provide the energy state information of the RFID component on the basis of an energy state parameter received by the RFID component;

wherein the RFID reader is configured to ascertain, based on the energy state parameter, whether an energy store of the RFID component is to be charged further.