Discontinuous-Loop RFID Reader Antenna And Methods
First Claim
1. An antenna for use with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader system that outputs as a potential difference between a first driving node and a second driving node an excitation signal alternating at an excitation frequency larger than 200 MHz, the antenna for generating wireless fields responsive to receiving the excitation signal for communicating with an RFID tag, the antenna comprising:
- a first conductor coupled to receive at a first driving point the excitation signal from the first driving node;
a second conductor coupled to receive at a second driving point the excitation signal from the second driving node; and
a third conductor, andin whichthe first, the second, and the third conductors do not contact each other, and include respective loop portions that are spatially arranged along a loop section that starts from the first driving point and ends at the second driving point, the loop portions being separated by gaps along the loop section,the third conductor is coupled to receive the excitation signal across the gaps from the first conductor and from the second conductor, andresponsive to thus receiving the excitation signal, an excitation current becomes established along the loop portions of the first, the second, and the third conductors, the excitation current thereby generating the wireless fields.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
RFID reader antennas and methods for generating magnetic fields. An antenna can be made from conductors that do not contact each other, but have loop portions spatially arranged along a loop section. The loop portions have gaps between them, and thus the loop section is discontinuous. The loop section can be driven from near its ends by a UHF RFID excitation signal, which travels through the loop portions, and also through the gaps because it is AC. Thus an excitation current becomes established along the loop section, which generates a useable magnetic field. Each loop portion can be short, so that the magnetic field it contributes will not self-cancel due to the shorter wavelength of UHF RFID. The loop section can be large independently of the wavelength, so that the magnetic field is of a size large enough to be useful for ILT in RFID.
74 Citations
91 Claims
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1. An antenna for use with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader system that outputs as a potential difference between a first driving node and a second driving node an excitation signal alternating at an excitation frequency larger than 200 MHz, the antenna for generating wireless fields responsive to receiving the excitation signal for communicating with an RFID tag, the antenna comprising:
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a first conductor coupled to receive at a first driving point the excitation signal from the first driving node; a second conductor coupled to receive at a second driving point the excitation signal from the second driving node; and a third conductor, and in which the first, the second, and the third conductors do not contact each other, and include respective loop portions that are spatially arranged along a loop section that starts from the first driving point and ends at the second driving point, the loop portions being separated by gaps along the loop section, the third conductor is coupled to receive the excitation signal across the gaps from the first conductor and from the second conductor, and responsive to thus receiving the excitation signal, an excitation current becomes established along the loop portions of the first, the second, and the third conductors, the excitation current thereby generating the wireless fields. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A method for a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader system to communicate with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, the system including a coupled antenna having at least a first, a second, and a third non-contacting conductors, the first, the second, and the third conductors including respective loop portions that are spatially arranged along a loop section that starts from a first driving point of the first conductor and ends at a second driving point of the second conductor, the loop portions being separated by gaps along the loop section, the method comprising:
outputting from the system an excitation signal alternating at an excitation frequency larger than 200 MHz such that the excitation signal is coupled to the first driving point and to the second driving point, the excitation signal thereby being coupled inductively only also to the third conductor, and an excitation current thereby becoming established along the loop portions of the first, the second, and the third conductors, the excitation current thereby generating wireless fields for communicating with the RFID tags. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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55. An antenna for use with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader system that outputs as a potential difference between a first driving node and a second driving node an excitation signal alternating at an excitation frequency larger than 200 MHz, the antenna for generating wireless fields responsive to receiving the excitation signal for communicating with an RFID tag, the antenna comprising:
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a first conductor coupled to receive at a first driving point the excitation signal from the first driving node; a second conductor coupled to receive at a second driving point the excitation signal from the second driving node; a third conductor coupled to receive at a third driving point the excitation signal from the first driving node; and a fourth conductor coupled to receive at a fourth driving point the excitation signal from the second driving node; in which the first, the second, the third, and the fourth conductors do not contact each other and include respective loop portions, the loop portions of the first conductor and of the second conductor are spatially arranged along a first loop section that starts from the first driving point and ends at the second driving point, and are separated by a first gap along the first loop section, the loop portions of the third conductor and of the fourth conductor are spatially arranged along a second loop section that starts from the third driving point and ends at the fourth driving point, and are separated by a second gap along the second loop section, and responsive to thus receiving the excitation signal, a first excitation current becomes established that has a non-zero magnitude along the entire first loop section, and a second excitation current becomes established that has a non-zero magnitude along the entire second loop section, the first and the second excitation currents thereby generating the wireless fields. - View Dependent Claims (56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76)
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77. A method for a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader system to communicate with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, the system including a coupled antenna having at least a first, a second, a third, and a fourth non-contacting conductors, the loop portions of the first conductor and of the second conductor being spatially arranged along a first loop section that starts from a first driving point of the first conductor and ends at a second driving point of the second conductor, and being separated by a first gap along the first loop section, the loop portions of the third conductor and of the fourth conductor being spatially arranged along a second loop section that starts from a third driving point of the third conductor and ends at a fourth driving point of the fourth conductor, and being separated by a second gap along the second loop section, the method comprising:
outputting from the system an excitation signal alternating at an excitation frequency larger than 200 MHz such that the excitation signal is coupled to the first, the second, the third, and the fourth driving points, a first excitation current thereby becoming established that has a non-zero magnitude along the entire first loop section, and a second excitation current becoming established that has a non-zero magnitude along the entire second loop section, the first and the second excitation currents thereby generating wireless fields for communicating with the RFID tags. - View Dependent Claims (78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91)
Specification