Pairing method for wireless scanner via RFID

• US 9,558,381 B2
• Filed: 08/22/2013
• Issued: 01/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Wu, Jerry, Jin, Hong Jian, Gao, Jianfeng
• Primary Examiner(s): LY, TOAN C
• Application Number:
  US13/973,354
• Publication Number:
  US 20140061306A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,258 Days
• Field of Search: 235/439
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0727 the arrangement being a circuit facilitating integration of the record carrier with a hand-held device such as a smart phone of PDA
• 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 7/10386 the interrogation device being of the portable or hand-handheld type, e.g. incorporated in ubiquitous hand-held devices such as PDA or mobile phone, or in the form of a portable dedicated RFID reader

Abstract

A wireless scanner is described that performs a pairing operation with a wireless scanner base before commencing scanning operations in a wireless scanner network. Radio frequency identification (RFID) is used to achieve the pairing operation of the wireless scanner with the wireless scanner base by using an RFID tag associated with the wireless scanner base. The RFID tag in the wireless scanner base may contain pairing information such as a network address of the wireless scanner base for use in automatically establishing a wireless communication session with the wireless scanner base in accordance with another wireless protocol.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

scanning for at least one radio frequency identification (RFID) tag on an open loop basis with an RFID antenna on a wireless scanner;

reading, with the wireless scanner, a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag address from one of a plurality of wireless scanner bases; and

automatically establishing a peer to peer wireless communication session between the wireless scanner and the one wireless scanner base indicated by the RFID tag address; and

disallowing interrogation of RFID tags after the reading of the RFID tag address and until receipt of a trigger signal.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising:

indicating to a user that the wireless scanner has acquired the RFID tag address from the one wireless scanner base;

prompting the user for confirmation that the user approves wirelessly connecting from the wireless scanner to the one wireless scanner base indicated by the RFID tag address;

receiving a confirming trigger signal indicating that the user approves wirelessly connecting from the wireless scanner to the one wireless scanner base indicated by the RFID tag address; and

automatically establishing the wireless communication session upon receiving the confirming trigger signal within a first predetermined amount of time after prompting the user provided the trigger signal duration is less than a second predetermined amount of time.

3. The method of claim 2, comprising:

receiving the confirming trigger signal;

after receiving the confirming trigger signal, entering, with the wireless scanner, a unique association mode of operation; and

establishing the wireless communication session, wherein in the unique association mode the wireless scanner transmits data only to the wireless scanner base with which the communication session has automatically been established.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein in the unique association mode of operation the wireless scanner transmits data only to the one wireless scanner base indicated by the RFID tag address when initiating a network for the transmission of decoded message data to an external device.

5. The method of claim 3, comprising disconnecting from the one wireless scanner base if the trigger signal allowing interrogation to recommence is actuated by the user for more than a third predetermined amount of time.

6. The method of claim 3, comprising, if the wireless scanner is in a disconnected state, attempting to reconnect to the one wireless scanner base using the RFID tag address from the one wireless scanner base in response to the trigger signal allowing interrogation to recommence.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising:

obtaining the RFID tag address from the one wireless scanner base using a first RF protocol which is RFID; and

using the RFID tag address as an identifier for pairing with the one wireless scanner base.

8. The method of claim 7, comprising:

using the RFID tag address as an index in a translation table stored within the wireless scanner to select a network address of a second RF protocol for the one wireless scanner base; and

using the network address of the second RF protocol to establish the wireless communication session.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising:

reading the RFID tag address from the one wireless scanner base using a first RF protocol which is RFID;

reading an identifying address for the one wireless scanner base from the RFID tag, wherein the address conforms to a second RF protocol different from an RFID protocol;

and

using the address for automatically establishing the wireless communication session.

10. A wireless scanner, comprising:

a radio transceiver generating an activation RF signal on an open loop basis;

a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader; and

a controller coupled to the radio transceiver and the RFID reader;

wherein the controller reads, with the RFID reader, an RFID tag address received from one of a plurality of wireless scanner bases, and

wherein the controller automatically establishes a point to point wireless communication session sharing data and commands between the wireless scanner to the one wireless scanner base indicated by the RFID tag address and wherein after the reading of an RFID tag address the controller disallows the interrogation of RFID tags until receipt of a trigger signal.

11. The wireless scanner of claim 10, comprising:

an actuator for generating trigger signals; and

an indicator;

wherein the controller activates the indicator to notify a user that the wireless scanner has acquired the RFID tag address from the one wireless scanner base;

wherein the controller prompts the user for confirmation that the user approves wirelessly connecting from the wireless scanner to the one wireless scanner base indicated by the RFID tag address; and

wherein the controller automatically establishes the wireless communication session upon receiving a trigger signal confirming that the user approves wirelessly connecting from the wireless scanner to the one wireless scanner base indicated by the RFID tag address.

12. The wireless scanner of claim 11, wherein:

the controller, with the indicator, prompts the user to trigger the actuator; and

if the controller receives a trigger signal in less than a first predetermined amount of time and the actuator is triggered for a duration less than a second predetermined amount of time, the controller automatically establishes the wireless communication session.

13. The wireless scanner of claim 11, wherein the controller disconnects the wireless scanner from the one wireless scanner base in response to the actuation of the actuator for more than a third predetermined amount of time.

14. The wireless scanner of claim 11, wherein:

after the controller establishes a wireless communication system, if the wireless scanner becomes disconnected from the one wireless scanner, the controller attempts to reconnect the wireless scanner to the one wireless scanner base indicated by the RFID tag address in response to the actuation of the actuator.

15. The wireless scanner of claim 10,

wherein the controller obtains the RFID tag address from the RFID tag of the wireless scanner base using a first RF protocol,

wherein the controller uses the RFID tag address as an index into a translation table stored within the wireless scanner to select a network address of a second RF protocol for use in establishing the wireless communication session with the wireless scanner base in accordance with the second RF protocol.

16. The wireless scanner of claim 10, wherein:

the controller reads a network address of a second RF protocol from an RFID tag on the one wireless scanner base; and

uses the second RF protocol to establish the wireless communication session with the wireless scanner base in accordance with the second RF protocol.

17. The wireless scanner of claim 10, wherein, after automatically establishing the wireless communication session with the wireless scanner base, the wireless scanner enters into a unique association mode of operation in which the wireless scanner transmits data only to the wireless scanner base with which the communication has automatically been established.

18. The wireless scanner of claim 17, wherein, in the unique association mode of operation, the wireless scanner transmits data only to the one wireless scanner base indicated by the RFID tag address when initiating a network for the transmission of decoded message data to an external device.

19. A scanner, comprising:

an encoded information module for reading indicia and generating data corresponding to indicia;

a radio transceiver for transmitting and receiving radio-frequency signals to generate an activation RF signal on an open loop basis;

a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader for reading RFID tags; and

a controller coupled to the radio transceiver and RFID reader for;

reading, with the RFID reader, an RFID tag associated with one of a plurality of scanner bases;

establishing a peer to peer wireless communication session between the scanner and the scanner base corresponding to the read RFID tag; and

using the session to send and receive commands and data to and from the base; and

wherein after the reading of an RFID tag address the controller disallows interrogation of RFID tags until receipt of a trigger signal.

20. The scanner of claim 19, wherein the controller transmits data generated by the encoded information module only to the scanner base corresponding to the read RFID tag.