Low power radio frequency communication
First Claim
1. An radio frequency (RF) tag for use in a sensor network, the tag comprising:
- a radio;
an energy harvesting unit operable to convert incident RF energy to direct current (DC);
a storage unit operable to store recovered DC power;
one or more sensors for sensing and logging data;
a microcontroller coupled to the energy harvesting unit and the storage unit, the one or more sensors and the radio, the microcontroller operable to receive an interrupt, wake up from a sleep state in response to the interrupt, and cause the radio to communicate sensed data from at least one of the one or more sensors in response to the interrupt while powered by energy previously harvested and stored by the energy harvesting unit and the storage unit; and
a pattern detector coupled to the microcontroller and to generate the interrupt, wherein the pattern detector comprisesa plurality of threshold detectors, each of the plurality of threshold detectors to generate a Boolean output based on results of comparing a power threshold to one subcarrier of a distinct frequency, anda logic block to receive Boolean outputs from the plurality of threshold detectors and to generate the interrupt in response to applying a function to the Boolean outputs.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method, system and tag for low power radio frequency communication are described. In one embodiment, the RF tag comprises: a radio, an energy harvesting unit operable to convert incident RF energy to direct current (DC), a storage unit to store recovered DC power, one or more sensors for sensing and logging data, and a microcontroller coupled to the energy harvesting and storage units, the one or more sensors and the radio, the microcontroller operable to wake up from a sleep state and cause the radio to communicate, sensed data from at least one of the one or more sensors while powered by energy previously harvested and stored by the energy harvesting and storage unit.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. An radio frequency (RF) tag for use in a sensor network, the tag comprising:
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a radio; an energy harvesting unit operable to convert incident RF energy to direct current (DC); a storage unit operable to store recovered DC power; one or more sensors for sensing and logging data; a microcontroller coupled to the energy harvesting unit and the storage unit, the one or more sensors and the radio, the microcontroller operable to receive an interrupt, wake up from a sleep state in response to the interrupt, and cause the radio to communicate sensed data from at least one of the one or more sensors in response to the interrupt while powered by energy previously harvested and stored by the energy harvesting unit and the storage unit; and a pattern detector coupled to the microcontroller and to generate the interrupt, wherein the pattern detector comprises a plurality of threshold detectors, each of the plurality of threshold detectors to generate a Boolean output based on results of comparing a power threshold to one subcarrier of a distinct frequency, and a logic block to receive Boolean outputs from the plurality of threshold detectors and to generate the interrupt in response to applying a function to the Boolean outputs. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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6. A Wi-Fi communication system comprising:
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an access point coupled to provide access to a network; a radio frequency (RF) tag to communicate wirelessly with the access point, the RF tag comprising a radio; an energy harvesting unit operable to convert incident RF energy to direct current (DC); a storage unit operable to store recovered DC power; one or more sensors for sensing and logging data; a microcontroller coupled to the energy harvesting unit and the storage unit, the one or more sensors and the radio, the microcontroller operable to receive an interrupt, wake up from a sleep state in response to the interrupt, and cause the radio, in response to the interrupt, to communicate with the access point via Wi-Fi to send sensed data to the network from at least one of the one or more sensors while powered by energy previously harvested and stored by the energy harvesting unit and the storage unit; and a pattern detector coupled to the microcontroller and to generate the interrupt, wherein the pattern detector comprises a plurality of threshold detectors, each of the plurality of threshold detectors to generate a Boolean output based on results of comparing a power threshold to one subcarrier of a distinct frequency, and a logic block to receive Boolean outputs from the plurality of threshold detectors and to generate the interrupt in response to applying a function to the Boolean outputs. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20)
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19. A radio frequency (RF) tag for use in a sensor network, the RF tag comprising:
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a radio; an energy harvesting unit operable to convert incident RF energy to direct current (DC); a storage unit operable to store recovered DC power; one or more sensors for sensing and logging data; a microcontroller coupled to the energy harvesting unit and the storage unit, the one or more sensors and the radio, the microcontroller operable to receive an interrupt, wake up from a sleep state and cause the radio to communicate sensed data from at least one of the one or more sensors while powered by energy previously harvested and stored by the energy harvesting unit and the storage unit, wherein the microcontroller, responsive to an acknowledgement received via the radio, is operable to re-configure the RF tag based on command information in the acknowledgement; and a pattern detector coupled to the microcontroller and to generate the interrupt, wherein the pattern detector comprises a plurality of threshold detectors, each of the plurality of threshold detectors to generate a Boolean output based on results of comparing a power threshold to one subcarrier of a distinct frequency, and a logic block to receive Boolean outputs from the plurality of threshold detectors and to generate the interrupt in response to applying a function to the Boolean outputs.
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Specification