Systems and methods for compressive sensing ranging evaluation

• US 9,983,299 B2
• Filed: 07/10/2015
• Issued: 05/29/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mojix Inc
• Original Assignee: Mojix Inc
• Inventors: Sadr, Ramin, Ali, Andreas Mantik, Vila Casado, Andres I., Jones, Christopher
• Primary Examiner(s): Zimmerman, Brian
• Assistant Examiner(s): MCCORMACK, THOMAS S
• Application Number:
  US14/796,727
• Publication Number:
  US 20150316643A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,054 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 11/02 using radio waves G01S19/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/00 Systems using the reflection or reradiation of radio waves, e.g. radar systems; Analogous systems using reflection or reradiation of waves whose nature or wavelength is irrelevant or unspecified
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/75 using transponders powered from received waves, e.g. using passive transponders , or using passive reflectors
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/0245 Radar with phased array antenna
• 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 7/10356 using a plurality of antennas, e.g. configurations including means to resolve interference between the plurality of antennas
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10366 the interrogation device being adapted for miscellaneous applications

Abstract

RFID systems for locating RFID tags utilizing phased array antennas and compressed sensing processing techniques in accordance with embodiments of the invention are disclosed. In one embodiment of the invention, an RFID system includes at least one exciter that includes at least one transmit antenna, a phased antenna array that includes a plurality of receive antennas, and an RFID receiver system configured to communicate with the at least one exciter and connected to the phased antenna array, where the RFID receiver system is configured to locate an RFID tag by performing reads of the RFD tag at multiple frequencies, generating a measurement matrix, and determining a line of sight (LOS) distance between the activated RFID tag and each of the plurality of receive antennas by eliminating bases from the measurement matrix.

Claims

1. An RFID system comprising:

at least one exciter comprising at least one transmit antenna configured to transmit an activation signal to activate an RFID tag;

at least one receive antenna configured to receive a backscattered response signal from the activated RFID tag;

an RFID receiver system configured to communicate with the at least one exciter and connected to the at least one receive antenna, the RFID receiver system is configured to identify a line of sight (LOS) distance to an RFID tag by;

performing reads of the RFID tag at multiple frequencies using the at least one exciter and the at least one receive antenna;

generating a measurement matrix for each at least one receive antenna using the phase of the backscattered response signals from the activated RFID tag at each of the multiple frequencies; and

determining the LOS distance between the activated RFID tag and each at least one receive antenna by eliminating bases from the measurement matrix.

2. The RFID system of claim 1, wherein performing reads of the RFID tag at multiple frequencies further comprises:

selecting a new transmit carrier frequency for the activation signal; and

instructing the at least one exciter to send the activation signal at the new transmit carrier frequency.

3. The RFID system of claim 2, wherein performing reads of the RFID tag at multiple frequencies further comprises:

receiving the backscattered response signal from the activated RFID tag using at least one receive antenna; and

measuring at least a phase associated with the received backscattered response signal.

4. The RFID system of claim 3, wherein generating a measurement matrix further comprises selecting a basis function representing the distance travelled from the exciter to the RFID tag to each at least one receive antenna.

5. The RFID system of claim 1, wherein eliminating bases from the measurement matrix further comprises:

deconvolving the measurement matrix;

sequentially eliminating a basis from the basis function corresponding to distance outward from the RFID receiver system;

calculating and minimizing error after elimination of each successive basis; and

determining if the calculated error is greater than a threshold value.

6. The RFID system of claim 5, wherein the threshold value can be determined using a stopping rule.

7. The RFID system of claim 6, wherein sequentially eliminating a basis further comprises eliminating the shortest remaining basis by a predetermined distance each time.

8. The RFID system of claim 7, wherein calculating and minimizing error after elimination of each successive basis further comprises forcing a convex optimization process to fit with the remaining basis.

9. The RFID system of claim 1, wherein eliminating bases from the measurement matrix further comprises placing an upper limit on the estimate of the line of sight distance.

10. The RFID system of claim 1, wherein the RFID receiver system is further configured to locate the RFID tag by defining a plurality of elliptical representations using the at least one exciter, the RFID tag, and each of a plurality of receive antennas, where the plurality of receive antennas are a part of a phased antenna array.

11. The RFID system of claim 10, wherein the RFID receiver system is further configured to locate the RFID tag using the determined line of sight distance and the plurality of elliptical representations to locate the RFID tag as the intersection of a first ellipse and a second ellipse.

12. A method of determining a line of sight distance to an RFID tag comprising:

activating an RFID tag at multiple frequencies using at least one exciter comprising at least one transmit antenna;

reading the RFID tag at the multiple frequencies using an RFID receiver comprising at least one receive antenna and an RFID receiver system, the at least one receive antenna configured to receive a backscattered response signal from the activated RFID tag and the RFID receiver system configured to communicate with the at least one exciter and connected to the at least one receive antenna;

generating a measurement matrix for each at least one receive antenna using the phase of the backscattered response signals from the activated RFID tag at each of the multiple frequencies using the RFID receiver system; and

determining a line of sight (LOS) distance between the activated RFID tag and each at least one receive antenna by eliminating bases from the measurement matrix using the RFID receiver system.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein activating an RFID tag at multiple frequencies further comprises:

selecting a new transmit carrier frequency for the activation signal using the RFID receiver system;

instructing the at least one exciter to send the activation signal at the new transmit carrier frequency using the RFID receiver system; and

activating the RFID tag using the activation signal at the new transmit carrier frequency using the exciter.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein reading the RFID tag at the multiple frequencies further comprises:

receiving the backscattered response signal from the activated RFID tag using each at least one receive antenna; and

measuring at least a phase associated with the received backscattered response signal using the RFID receiver system.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein generating a measurement matrix for each at least one receive antenna further comprises selecting a basis function representing the distance travelled from the exciter to the RFID tag to each at least one receive antenna.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein eliminating bases from the measurement matrix using the RFID receiver system further comprises:

deconvolving the measurement matrix;

sequentially eliminating a basis from the basis function corresponding to distance outward from the RFID receiver system;

calculating and minimizing error after elimination of each successive basis; and

determining if the calculated error is greater than a threshold value.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the threshold value can be determined using a stopping rule.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein sequentially eliminating a basis further comprises eliminating the shortest remaining basis by a predetermined distance each time.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein calculating and minimizing error after elimination of each successive basis further comprises forcing a convex optimization process to fit with the remaining basis.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein eliminating bases from the measurement matrix further comprises placing an upper limit on the estimate of the line of sight distance.

21. The method of claim 13, further comprising locating the RFID tag by defining a plurality of elliptical representations using the at least one exciter, the RFID tag, and each of a plurality of receive antennas, where the plurality of receive antennas are a part of a phased antenna array.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein locating the RFID tag further comprises using the determined line of sight distance and the plurality of elliptical representations to locate the RFID tag as the intersection of a first ellipse and a second ellipse.