Terminal for line-of-sight RFID tag reading

• US 9,501,674 B2
• Filed: 07/28/2014
• Issued: 11/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Wang, Ynjiun P.
• Primary Examiner(s): BROWN, VERNAL U
• Application Number:
  US14/444,252
• Publication Number:
  US 20140333418A1
• Time in Patent Office: 848 Days
• Field of Search: 340/10.4, 340/505, 340/12.54, 340/10.5
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 1/18 by transferring data from one type of record carrier on to another type of record carrier, e.g. from magnetic tape to punched card
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10009 sensing by radiation using wavelengths larger than 0.1 mm, e.g. radio-waves or microwaves
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10019 resolving collision on the communication channels between simultaneously or concurrently interrogated record carriers. collision between the communication channels used by wireless communication devices, where the solution is not particularly adapted for RFIDs or the like, H04W74/08
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10079 the collision being resolved in the spatial domain, e.g. temporary shields for blindfolding the interrogator in specific directions
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10099 the directional field being used for pinpointing the location of the record carrier, e.g. for finding or locating an RFID tag amongst a plurality of RFID tags, each RFID tag being associated with an object, e.g. for physically locating the RFID tagged object in a warehouse
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10128 the step consisting of detection of the presence of one or more record carriers in the vicinity of the interrogation device
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10366 the interrogation device being adapted for miscellaneous applications
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10722 Photodetector array or CCD scanning

Abstract

There is provided a terminal for use in determining which of one or more candidate RFID tags having unique data stored thereon is a target RFID tag within an area of the terminal. The terminal can comprise program instructions to direct an RFID reading device of the terminal to perform a number of reads of the one or more candidate RFID tags in response to determining that an object is present in the area, to calculate an accumulated RSSI of each of the one or more candidate RFID tags, and to determine the target RFID tag from a highest accumulated RSSI. In one embodiment, the unique data can be an EPC. There is also provided a terminal for use in converting an EPC into a decoded bar code. The terminal can comprise program instructions to transmit the decoded bar code to a computer such as an electronic cash register.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

an image sensor that captures one or more frames of image data within an area in front of the terminal;

a radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) reader that performs a plurality of reads of one or more candidate RFID tags in response to determining, from the one or more frames of image data, that an object is present in front of the terminal; and

a processor that calculates an accumulated received signal strength indication (RSSI) for each of the one or more candidate RFID tags and determines a target RFID tag having a highest accumulated RSSI among a plurality of the one or more candidate RFID tags.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a trigger, wherein the processor is operative to direct the image sensor to capture the one or more frames of image data in response to an actuation of the trigger.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of reads is configurable by a user.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the accumulated RSSI of one of the one or more candidate RFID tags comprises the sum of one or more RSSIs.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein each of the one or more RSSIs corresponds to a different radio signal received in the plurality of reads from the one of the one or more candidate RFID tags.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the highest accumulated RSSI is the accumulated RSSI that is highest among the one or more candidate RFID tags.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein an indication of a successful RFID tag read is generated for at least one of the plurality of reads.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the indication comprises an audible sound.

9. A terminal for use in converting an electronic product code (EPC) into a decoded bar code, the terminal comprising:

at least one processor that;

receives the EPC from an RFID reader;

converts a manager number of the EPC into a manufacturer code;

converts an object class of the EPC into a product code;

constructs the decoded bar code from the manufacturer code and the product code, the decoded from a bar code comprising data being in a format in the same way as data that has been decoded from a bar code; and

performs a query of a database using at least a portion of the decoded bar code.

10. The terminal of claim 9, further comprising a radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) reader that reads the EPC from an RFID tag.

11. The terminal of claim 9, wherein a hexadecimal representation of the manager number is converted into a decimal representation of one of the manufacturer code or the product code.

12. The terminal of claim 9, wherein the manufacturer code comprises one of a Universal Product Code manufacturer code or a European Article Number manufacturer code.

13. The terminal of claim 9, wherein manufacturer code comprises one of a European Article Number product code or a Universal Product Code product code.

14. The terminal of claim 9, wherein the manufacturer code and the product code are compressed into a compressed code.

15. The terminal of claim 14, wherein the compressed code is inserted into the decoded bar code.

16. The terminal of claim 9, wherein the decoded bar code is transmitted to a computer.

17. The terminal of claim 16, wherein the terminal further comprises a radio transceiver, and wherein the radio transceiver is utilized to transmit the decoded bar code to the computer.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer program code configured to perform a method when executed by a computer, the method comprising:

capturing one or more frames of image data within an area proximate to a terminal;

performing, by a radio frequency identification (“

RFID”

) reader, that performs a plurality of reads of one or more candidate RFID tags in response to determining, from the one or more frames of image data, that an object is present in the proximate area of the terminal; and

calculating an accumulated received signal strength indication (RSSI) for each of the one or more candidate RFID tags and determining a target RFID tag having a highest accumulated RSSI among a plurality of the one or more candidate RFID tags.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises initiating the capturing in response to an actuation of a trigger of the terminal.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises generating an indication of a successful RFID tag read.