Communication methods, systems, apparatus, and devices involving RF tag registration
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method, comprising:
- operating several RF tags within communication range of an RF tag interrogator, the RF tags each including a respective random number generator and a respective one of a several different identification numbers, the different identification numbers each being unique relative to one another, one or more of the RF tags reporting the respective one of the different identification numbers to the interrogator, said reporting including the one or more of the RF tags each;
seeding the respective random number generator with the respective one of the different identification numbers to generate a first random number;
determining a first time period to transmit the respective one of the different identification numbers as a function of the first random number;
failing to properly transmit the respective one of the different identification numbers to the interrogator during the first time period;
seeding the respective random number generator with the first random number to provide a second random number; and
determining a second time period to transmit the respective one of the unique identification numbers to the interrogator as a function of the second random number.
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Abstract
One technique of the present invention includes a number of Radio Frequency (RF) tags that each have a different identifier. Information is broadcast to the tags from an RF tag interrogator. This information corresponds to a maximum quantity of tag response time slots that are available. This maximum quantity may be less than the total number of tags. The tags each select one of the time slots as a function of the information and a random number provided by each respective tag. The different identifiers are transmitted to the interrogator from at least a subset of the RF tags.
101 Citations
46 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
- operating several RF tags within communication range of an RF tag interrogator, the RF tags each including a respective random number generator and a respective one of a several different identification numbers, the different identification numbers each being unique relative to one another, one or more of the RF tags reporting the respective one of the different identification numbers to the interrogator, said reporting including the one or more of the RF tags each;
seeding the respective random number generator with the respective one of the different identification numbers to generate a first random number;
determining a first time period to transmit the respective one of the different identification numbers as a function of the first random number;
failing to properly transmit the respective one of the different identification numbers to the interrogator during the first time period;
seeding the respective random number generator with the first random number to provide a second random number; and
determining a second time period to transmit the respective one of the unique identification numbers to the interrogator as a function of the second random number. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
- operating several RF tags within communication range of an RF tag interrogator, the RF tags each including a respective random number generator and a respective one of a several different identification numbers, the different identification numbers each being unique relative to one another, one or more of the RF tags reporting the respective one of the different identification numbers to the interrogator, said reporting including the one or more of the RF tags each;
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9. A method, comprising:
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operating several RF tags each including a respective one of a number of different identifiers, the different identifiers being unique relative to one another;
broadcasting a first tag report command with an RF tag interrogator to a subset of the RF tags, the subset being the RF tags within communication range of the interrogator, the first command including a parameter corresponding to a maximum quantity of tag response time slots, the subset including more of the RF tags than the maximum quantity of tag response time slots;
for each of the RF tags belonging to the subset, selecting a respective one of the time slots as a function of the parameter and a random number, and transmitting the respective one of the different identifiers to the interrogator during the respective one of the time slots;
with the interrogator, detecting a communication collision for at least one of the time slots and storing one or more of the different identifiers transmitted from the subset during one or more other of the time slots; and
in response to a second tag report command sent by the interrogator;
transmitting the respective one of the different identifiers to the interrogator from at least one of the RF tags that caused the collision. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method, comprising:
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operating a number of RF tags included in an RF tag set, the RF tags each including a respective one of a set of different identifiers, the set of different identifiers being effective to unique identify up to a maximum tag quantity in the RF tag set;
broadcasting information to a subset of the RF tags from an RF tag interrogator, the subset being the RF tags within communication range of the interrogator, the information corresponding to a maximum quantity of tag response time slots, the maximum quantity being at least one order of magnitude less than the maximum tag quantity;
each respective one of the RF tags of the subset selecting one of the time slots as a function of the information and a random number provided with the respective one of the RF tags of the subset; and
transmitting the different identifiers from at least a portion of the subset to the interrogator. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method, comprising:
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operating several RF tags each including a respective one of a number of different identifiers, the different identifiers being unique relative to one another;
broadcasting a command with an RF tag interrogator to a subset of the RF tags, the subset being the RF tags within communication range of the interrogator, the subset numbering two or more of the RF tags and numbering more of the RF tags than a maximum quantity of time slots available for each of the RF tags to respond to the command;
responding to the command with each of the RF tags of the subset;
providing a respective random number, selecting one of the time slots as a function of the respective random number, and transmitting the respective one of the different identifiers during the one of the time slots;
with the interrogator, detecting a communication collision causing failure of proper transmission to the interrogator of the respective one of the different identifiers by one or more of the RF tags of the subset and storing the respective one of the different identifiers transmitted without the failure for each of a remainder of the RF tags in the subset;
broadcasting a further command to the subset;
responding to the further command with the one or more of the RF tags causing the failure; and
suppressing response to the further command by the remainder of the RF tags of the subset. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A method, comprising:
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operating a number of RF tags included in an RF tag set, the RF tags each including a respective one of a corresponding set of different identifiers, the set of different identifiers being effective to uniquely identify a maximum tag quantity;
performing an interrogation with an RF tag interrogator to determine the respective one of the different identifiers of each of the RF tags in a subset, the subset numbering two or more of the RF tags and being at least one order of magnitude less than the maximum tag quantity; and
respective tags of the subset each responding by;
waiting for a time period determined as a function of at least a randomly determined number and a delay period;
detecting if a different tag of the subset is transmitting;
if transmission by the different tag of the subset is detected, waiting for another time period determined as a function of at least another random number and the delay period; and
transmitting the respective one of the unique identifiers to the interrogator if the transmission by the different tag is not detected. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A system, comprising:
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RF communication circuitry operable to perform RF tag interrogation; and
an RF interrogator processing subsystem coupled to the interrogation circuitry, the processing subsystem being operable to register a number of the deployed RF tags within a communication range of the circuitry by performing a registration procedure, the registration procedure including a tag report command to cause each of the deployed RF tags to transmit a unique identifier, the tag identifier report command including one parameter corresponding to a maximum quantity of RF tag response time slots available and a different parameter corresponding to randomization of a selection of a respective one of the time slots by each of the deployed RF tags, the registration procedure being effective to determine if a communication collision occurred during one or more of the time slots in response to the tag report command and to store the unique identifier transmitted by each of the deployed RF tags during one or more other of the time slots for which the communication collision did not occur, the registration procedure further being effective to suppress response of one or more of the tags to a subsequent tag report command, the unique identifier for the one or more of the tags being previously recognized by the processing subsystem in response to the tag report command. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A system, comprising:
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RF tag communication circuitry; and
an RF tag processing subsystem coupled to the circuitry, the processing subsystem including a random number generator, the random number generator being seeded in accordance with information received through the RF tag communication circuitry, the processing subsystem being effective to determine a time slot to transmit an identifier through the RF tag communication circuitry, the identifier being unique relative to a quantity of deployed RF tags, the time slot being determined as a function of a random number provided by the random number generator and a parameter included in the information, the parameter corresponding to a maximum quantity of transmission time slots to respond to a broadcast command, the maximum quantity of the time slots being less than the quantity of deployed RF tags by at least one order of magnitude. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A system, comprising:
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RF tag communication circuitry; and
an RF tag processing subsystem coupled to the circuitry, the processing subsystem including a random number generator and a unique identification number, the processing subsystem including logic responsive to one or more commands received through the communication circuitry to;
seed the random number generator with a first seed corresponding to the unique identification number to generate a first random number, determine a first time as a function of the first random number to attempt transmission of the unique identification number, seed the random number generator with a second seed corresponding to the first random number to generate a second random number if the transmission at the first time fails to be properly performed, and determine a second time as a function of the second random number to attempt the transmission of the unique identification number. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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Specification