Method of operating a RFID system

• US 9,030,299 B2
• Filed: 10/11/2005
• Issued: 05/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NXP B.V. (NXP Semiconductors NV)
• Original Assignee: NXP B.V. (NXP Semiconductors NV)
• Inventors: Scherabon, Christian, Gruber, Bernhard
• Primary Examiner(s): Obiniyi, Paul
• Application Number:
  US11/577,315
• Publication Number:
  US 20080258872A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,500 Days
• Field of Search: 340 101- 106, 3405721-5729, 235375-385
• US Class Current: 340/10.4
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0717 the sensor being capable of sensing environmental conditions such as temperature history or pressure
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0008 General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of operating a RFID system comprising at least one reader (1) and a plurality of wireless data carriers (2), each of which comprise at least one data processing element with slow response (5), wherein the method controls the at least one reader (1) to continuously communicate with one of the plurality of wireless data carriers (2), while at least another one of the plurality of wireless data carriers (2) is processing data with its at least one slow response element (5). The invention further relates to a RFID system comprising at least one reader (1) and a plurality of wireless data carriers (2), each of which comprises at least one slow response element (5), wherein the system is capable to continuously communicate with at least one of the plurality of wireless data carriers (2), while at least another one of the plurality of wireless data carriers (2) is processing data with its at least one slow response element (5).

Claims

1. A method of operating a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system comprising at least one reader and a plurality of wireless data carriers of which at least a first wireless data carrier comprises a slow response element, wherein the method comprises:

communicating, with the at least one reader, with one or more of the plurality of wireless data carriers;

processing data, with the slow response element; and

suppressing, with the at least first wireless data carrier, processing of commands from the at least one reader in the first wireless data carrier until completing the respective data processing operation in the slow response element.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the slow response element is a non-volatile memory and further comprising:

writing, with the first wireless data carrier, data to the non-volatile memory while the at least one reader communicates with one or more of the plurality of wireless data carriers.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the slow response element is an encryption/decryption element and further comprising:

either encrypting or decrypting data, with the first wireless data carrier, while the at least one reader communicates with one or more of the plurality of wireless data carriers.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the slow response element is a sensor and further comprising:

reading data, with the first wireless data carrier, from the sensor, while the at least one reader communicates with one or more of the plurality of wireless data carriers.

5. The method of according to claim 1, further comprising:

supplying, with the at least one reader, at least the first wireless data carrier with energy, while the first wireless data carrier is processing data with its slow response element.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

modulating, with the at least one reader, a data signal to be transmitted to one or more of the plurality of wireless data carriers using either frequency modulation or phase modulation.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

modulating, with the at least one reader, a data signal to be transmitted to one or more of the plurality wireless data carriers using amplitude modulation with a modulation degree less than 100%.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing an anti-collision arbitration.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing, with the at least one reader, a single write operation with either part or all of the plurality of wireless data carriers to write data into the non-volatile memory of either part or all of this plurality of wireless data carriers.

10. A non-transitory computer program product comprising software code portions for performing the method according to claim 1 when the computer program product is run on the at least one reader.

21. A reader for use in a RFID system according to claim 11, the reader comprising:

an analog RF-interface; and

a control unit which further comprises a logic unit which is capable to perform the computer program product according to claim 10.

11. A Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system comprising:

at least one reader; and

a plurality of wireless data carriers, of which a first wireless data carrier comprises a slow response element, wherein the at least one reader is capable to communicate with one or more of the plurality of wireless data carriers while the first wireless data carrier is processing data with the slow response element and the first wireless data carrier suppresses the processing of commands from the at least one reader in the first wireless data carrier until completing the respective data processing operation in the slow response element.

12. The RFID system according to claim 11, wherein the slow response element is a non-volatile memory.

13. The RFID system according to claim 11, wherein the slow response element is an encryption/decryption element.

14. The RFID system according to claim 11, wherein the slow response element is a sensor.

15. The RFID system according to claim 11, wherein the at least one reader comprises either a frequency modulation unit or a phase modulation unit to modulate a data signal to be transmitted to one or more of the plurality of wireless data carriers.

16. The RFID system according to claim 11, wherein the at least one reader comprises an amplitude modulation unit and each of the wireless data carriers comprises a voltage regulation unit having a buffer capacity which is increased compared to a buffer capacity for use with either a frequency modulation unit or phase modulation unit so that a reception range for a sufficient energy supply of a writing operation of one the plurality of wireless data carriers when the amplitude modulation unit is used is comparable to the reception range when either the frequency modulation unit or the phase modulation unit is used.

17. The RFID system according to claim 11, further comprising:

a unit for performing an anti-collision arbitration.

18. The RFID system according to claim 12, wherein the at least one reader performs a write operation with part or all of the plurality of wireless data carriers to write data into a non-volatile memory of part or all of the plurality of wireless data carrier.

19. A wireless data carrier for use in a RFID system according to claim 11, the wireless data carrier comprising:

an analog RF-interface;

a digital control unit; and

a data processing unit with a slow response element, wherein the digital control unit comprises means for suppressing the processing of commands from the at least one reader during processing of data with the slow response element.

20. A wireless data carrier according to claim 19, wherein the digital control unit further comprises:

a command decoder, which is capable to be deactivated after receipt of a write command from the at least one reader.