System and method for communication between RFID interrogators
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for transmitting and receiving data via a radio signal, the method comprising:
- transmitting, via a first channel included in a plurality of available channels that are generated concurrently by a digital radio transceiver, a first interrogation request to a first radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag device according to an RFID communication protocol that specifies a range of frequencies organized as available RFID channels;
receiving, via a second channel included in the plurality of available channels, a first interrogation reply transmitted from the first RFID tag device according to the RFID communication protocol; and
with respect to each RFID interrogator device included in a plurality of RFID interrogator devices in an interrogator network, transmitting, via any currently available channel included in the plurality of available channels, data to the RFID interrogator device according to a second communication protocol, wherein the second communication protocol is different than the RFID communication protocol and adheres to a plurality of regulatory requirements associated with an available RFID channel.
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Accused Products
Abstract
One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for efficiently interconnecting RFID interrogator elements. Each interrogator element is configured to function as both an RFID interrogator and an RFID tag. The RFID interrogator function enables one interrogator element to perform a read or write data operation to a second interrogator element functioning as an RFID tag. Two-way communications between interrogator elements is facilitated by read and write operations. A data backhaul network may be advantageously implemented as a wireless mesh network, comprising a plurality of interrogator elements, to transmit data from each interrogator element to a server for processing.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for transmitting and receiving data via a radio signal, the method comprising:
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transmitting, via a first channel included in a plurality of available channels that are generated concurrently by a digital radio transceiver, a first interrogation request to a first radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag device according to an RFID communication protocol that specifies a range of frequencies organized as available RFID channels; receiving, via a second channel included in the plurality of available channels, a first interrogation reply transmitted from the first RFID tag device according to the RFID communication protocol; and with respect to each RFID interrogator device included in a plurality of RFID interrogator devices in an interrogator network, transmitting, via any currently available channel included in the plurality of available channels, data to the RFID interrogator device according to a second communication protocol, wherein the second communication protocol is different than the RFID communication protocol and adheres to a plurality of regulatory requirements associated with an available RFID channel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processing unit, cause the processing unit to transmit one or more data packets via a radio signal by performing the steps:
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transmitting, via a first channel included in a plurality of available channels that are generated concurrently by a digital radio transceiver, a first interrogation request to a first radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag device according to an RFID communication protocol that specifies a range of frequencies organized as available RFID channels; receiving, via a second channel included in the plurality of available channels, a first interrogation reply transmitted from the first RFID tag device according to the RFID communication protocol; and with respect to each RFID interrogator device included in a plurality of RFID interrogator devices in an interrogator network, transmitting, via any currently available channel included in the plurality of available channels, data to the RFID interrogator device according to a second communication protocol, wherein the second communication protocol is different than the RFID communication protocol and adheres to a plurality of regulatory requirements associated with an available RFID channel. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 23)
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20. A wireless network device, comprising:
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a radio transceiver circuit configured to generate a radio signal for data transmission and to receive a signal for data reception; and a processing unit that is coupled to the radio transceiver circuit and configured to; transmit, via a first channel included in a plurality of available channels that are generated concurrently by a digital radio transceiver, a first interrogation request to a first radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag device according to an RFID communication protocol that specifies a range of frequencies organized as available RFID channels; receive, via a second channel included in the plurality of available channels, a first interrogation reply transmitted from the first RFID tag device according to the RFID communication protocol; and with respect to each RFID interrogator device included in a plurality of RFID interrogator devices in an interrogator network, transmit, via any currently available channel included in the plurality of available channels, data to the RFID interrogator device according to a second communication protocol, wherein the second communication protocol is different than the RFID communication protocol and adheres to a plurality of regulatory requirements associated with an available RFID channel. - View Dependent Claims (21, 24)
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Specification