Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
  • G06K7/00—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns
  • G06K7/10—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation
  • G06K7/10009—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation sensing by radiation using wavelengths larger than 0.1 mm, e.g. radio-waves or microwaves
  • G06K7/10316—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation sensing by radiation using wavelengths larger than 0.1 mm, e.g. radio-waves or microwaves using at least one antenna particularly designed for interrogating the wireless record carriers
  • G06K7/10356—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation sensing by radiation using wavelengths larger than 0.1 mm, e.g. radio-waves or microwaves using at least one antenna particularly designed for interrogating the wireless record carriers using a plurality of antennas, e.g. configurations including means to resolve interference between the plurality of antennas

Definitions

• the present disclosure relates to radio-frequency identification (RFID) communication systems. More specifically, certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to one or more methods and systems for an RFID integrated antenna system.
• RFID radio-frequency identification
• At least some embodiments of the present technology depicted herein relate to an antenna module configured to be coupled to a host controller.
• the antenna module may include a plurality of antenna elements.
• At least one multiplexer (MUX) module may be integrated in the antenna module.
• the outputs of the MUX module may be coupled to the plurality of antenna elements, respectively, for selecting at least one active antenna element among a plurality of antenna elements as desired during operation of the present technology based upon a variety of factors including, but not limited to, time, operation, operative command(s) and demand, among others.
• At least one radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader may be integrated in the antenna module.
• the RFID reader may be coupled to an input of the MUX module.
• the RFID reader may be operable to conduct, based on control information received from the host controller, RFID scans via the plurality of antenna elements.
• the plurality of antenna elements are arranged in an array, such as a 3 x 2 array, a 2 x 2 array, or a 2 x 1 array.
• the antenna module may be coupled to the host controller via a single communication cable.
• the communication cable may provide low-voltage electrical power to the antenna module as well as provide communications between the antenna module and the host controller.
• the antenna module may be operable to communicate with the host controller utilizing an Ethernet communication.
• the antenna module may be operable to communicate with the host controller utilizing a UART.
• the antenna module may be operable to communicate with the host controller utilizing a host controller area network (CAN) bus and low level reader protocol (LLRP) commands.
• CAN host controller area network
• LLRP low level reader protocol
• the MUX module may include a MUX element or a plurality of MUX elements arranged in a chain.
• an RFID system that includes at least one host controller and at least one antenna module coupled to the host controller.
• the antenna module may include a plurality of antenna elements, at least one multiplexer (MUX) module integrated in the antenna module, and a reader integrated in the antenna module.
• the output of the MUX module may be coupled to the plurality of antenna elements, respectively, for selecting at least one active antenna element among the plurality of antenna elements as desired during operation of the present technology based upon a variety of factors including, but not limited to, time, operation, operative command(s) and demand, among others.
• the RFID reader may be coupled to an input of the MUX module and may be may be operable to conduct based on control information received from the host controller, RFID scans via the plurality of antenna elements.
• the host controller may be operable to perform one or more of the following: coordinating activities of the antenna module, concatenating resulting data collected by the RFID reader, control access to the unit, record data from a sensor(s), and communicating the data to an attached and/or remote device for processing.
• the remote device can be, for example, at least one enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, a website, a server, and/or a personal computer, among others.
• ERP enterprise resource planning
• the host controller may communicate with the remote device via a communication network, such as a network cable, cellular modem, or wireless modem, for example.
• the host controller may be configured to control selection of each of the plurality of antenna elements in the array in a programmable fashion.
• the host controller may communicate with the reader module to trigger the reader module to select specific antenna elements using GPIO signals.
• At least one additional antenna module may be coupled to the host controller.
• the host controller may be operable to communicate with and control operation of the additional antenna module(s) in the manner discussed above.
• multiple antenna modules may be located inside a single enclosure. In other embodiments, each antenna module may be installed in a respective enclosure.
• FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example communication system, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.
• FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example top view of an antenna module, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.
• FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example side view of an antenna module, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.
• FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplar communication system, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present technology.
• the communication system 100 may include at least one host controller 120, at least one communication network 130, at least one remote device 140, a plurality of antenna modules 102a-102c, and a plurality of radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags 150a- 150c.
• RFID radio-frequency identification
• each of the plurality of antenna modules 102a- 102c may include a plurality of antenna elements with an integrated RFID reader and an integrated multiplexer (MUX) module.
• the antenna module 102a may include at least one integrated RFID reader 104a, at least one MUX module 106a, and a plurality of antenna elements 110a of which antenna elements 11 la- 116a are illustrated.
• the antenna module 102b may include at least one integrated RFID reader 104b, at least one MUX module 106b, and a plurality of antenna elements 110b of which antenna elements 11 lb- 116b are illustrated.
• the antenna module 102c may include at least one integrated RFID reader 104c, at least one MUX module 106c, and a plurality of antenna elements 110c of which antenna elements 111c- 116c are illustrated.
• the antenna elements e.g. , the antenna elements 11 la- 116a
• each of the plurality of antenna modules 102a- 102c e.g. , the antenna module 102a
• the integrated RFID reader such as the RFID reader 104a, may include suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces, and/or code known to those skilled in the relevant art that may be operable to conduct RFID scans, via the plurality of antenna elements 110a, of the plurality of corresponding RFID tags 150a, and collect scan data concerning products or items to which the RFID tags 150a are attached.
• An RFID reader that is suitable for use in at least some embodiments is an INDY® RS500 RFID reader as is available from Impinj, Inc.
• the RFID reader 104a may be operable to activate one of the antenna elements at a time 110a such that the one or more antenna elements 110a emit at least one signal at a predefined frequency and generate an electromagnetic field sufficient to permeate the area associated with the RFID tags 150a.
• the RFID reader 104a may conduct the RFID scans based on control information received from the host controller 120.
• the integrated MUX module such as the MUX module 106a, may include suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces, and/or code known to those skilled in the relevant art that may be operable to allow usage of the plurality of antenna elements 110a.
• Outputs of the MUX module 106a may be coupled to the plurality of antenna elements 110a, respectively, for selecting one active antenna element at a given time among from the plurality of antenna elements 110a during an operation of the system of the present technology.
• An input of the MUX module 106a may be coupled to the RFID reader 104a.
• the MUX module 106a may include at least one MUX element.
• the MUX module 106a may include a plurality of MUX elements arranged in a chain to achieve the overall multiplexing function.
• the host controller 120 may include suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces, and/or code known to those skilled in the relevant art that may be operable to control and/or manage operations of the plurality of antenna modules 102a-102c.
• the host controller 120 may be coupled to and communicate with each of the plurality of antenna modules 102a-102c, such as the antenna module 102a, via a single communication cable such as a communication cable 160a.
• a single communication cable such as a communication cable 160a.
• the communication cable 160a may provide low- voltage electrical power to the antenna module 102a as well as communication(s) between the antenna module 102a and the host controller 120.
• the host controller 120 may be operable to communicate with the antenna module 102a, utilizing LLPR commands over the communication cable 160a.
• the host controller In another exemplary embodiment of the present technology, the host controller
• the host controller 120 may be operable to perform one or more of the following for each of the plurality of antenna modules 102a-102c, such as the antenna module 102a: coordinating activities of the antenna module 102a, concatenating resulting tag data collected by the RFID reader 104a from the RFID tags 150a, and communicating the tag data to the remote device 140 for processing.
• the host controller 120 may be operable to communicate with the antenna module 102a employing at least one host controller area network (CAN) bus and low level reader protocol (LLRP) commands, for example.
• the host controller 120 may be operable to communicate with the remote device 140 via, for example, the communication network 130.
• the communication network 130 may include suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces, devices, and/or code known to those skilled in the relevant art that may be operable to provide data communication services to various electrical devices such as the host controller 120 and the remote device 140 by using wireless and/or wired communication technologies.
• the communication network 130 may be an Internet network, a telephone network, a wireless network, a power line carrier (PLC) network, or other type of network, or system as well as combinations thereof.
• PLC power line carrier
• the communication network 130 may be operable to provide wireless communications between the host controller 120 and the remote device 140 utilizing cellular, Wi-Fi, and/or Bluetooth communications.
• the communication network 130 may also be operable to provide wired communications between the host controller 120 and the remote device 140 utilizing, for example, Ethernet communication.
• the remote device 140 may include suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code known to those skilled in the relevant art that may be operable to process data or information received from the host controller 120.
• the remote device 140 may include, for example, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, a website, a server, a personal computer (PC), and/or other similar computing device.
• the remote device 140 may include multiple servers and databases, for example.
• the remote device 140 may be operable to process the scan data, communicated from a RFID reader such as the RFID reader 104a via the host controller 120, to generate and update appropriate records (e.g. , inventory, restocking, invoicing, temperature, alarms, system status, etc.).
• the communication system 100 may be operable to collect data or information regarding products, samples, or other items associated with the RFID tags 150a- 150c, using the plurality of antenna modules 102a- 102c, and transmit, over the communication network 130, that data or information to the remote device 140 for processing.
• the products, samples, or other items may be located on shelves in a storage environment.
• the products, samples, or items may include pharmaceuticals, biologies, medical devices, such as implants and/or related medical instruments, e.g. , surgical instruments, among others.
• the host controller 120 may be operable to couple to the plurality of antenna modules 102a- 102c.
• Each of the plurality of antenna modules 102a- 102c, such as the antenna module 102a, may include a plurality of antenna elements 110a and at least one integrated RFID reader 104a and at least one integrated MUX module 106a.
• the host controller 120 may be configured to systematically control selection of each of the plurality of antenna elements, such as each of the antenna elements 110a, in the antenna module 102a in a programmable fashion, for example.
• the host controller 120 may control factors such as the dwell time on each antenna element, delay between switching and/or the switching order of antenna element activation, among other factors.
• Each RFID reader module 102a- 102c may include a command set (e,g, LLRP) by which it can be controlled. Commands may be sent from the host controller 120 to a given RFID reader, e.g., reader 102a, via a respective communication cable, e.g., 160a, to instruct the RFID reader to, for example, perform an RFID scan via one or more of the antennas and return a list of tags read based on the signals received from an RFID tag or RFID tags.
• a command set e,g, LLRP
• Commands may be sent from the host controller 120 to a given RFID reader, e.g., reader 102a, via a respective communication cable, e.g., 160a, to instruct the RFID reader to, for example, perform an RFID scan via one or more of the antennas and return a list of tags read based on the signals received from an RFID tag or RFID tags.
• the communication system 100 may be scalable.
• the host controller 120 may be operable to initially couple to one antenna module, such as the antenna module 102a.
• one or more antenna modules such as the antenna modules 102b, 102c, may then be added to the communication system 100, for example, as needed.
• the plurality of antenna modules 102a- 102c may be inside an enclosure 170.
• the enclosure 170 may be a cabinet, a freezer, a portable case, or a defined space holding inventory, samples or products, among others.
• the plurality of antenna modules 102a- 102c may be installed in multiple enclosures. In such instances, the antenna modules 102a-102c installed in the multiple enclosures may be linked as a single logical entity coupled to a single host controller 120
• the host controller 120 may also be integrated into one of the plurality of antenna modules 102a- 102c such as the antenna module 102a.
• the antenna module 102a with the integrated host controller may act as a primary (or master) antenna module managing and/or controlling one or more secondary (or slave) antenna modules, such as the antenna modules 102b, 102c.
• FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example top view of an antenna module, in accordance with an example embodiment of the present technology.
• a top view of the antenna module 102a may be as described with respect to FIG. 1, for example.
• the antenna module 102a may include the plurality of antenna elements l l la-116a, the integrated RFID reader 104a, and the integrated MUX module 106a as described with respect to FIG. 1, for example.
• a cable connector 201 at a back of the antenna module 102a.
• the cable connector 201 may provide an interface for connecting a communication cable, such as the communication cable 160a.
• the cable connector 201 may include a RJ45 jack, a RJ14 jack, a RJ11 jack, a D-sub connector, a barrel jack, or the like.
• the communication cable 160a may provide low- voltage electrical power to the antenna module 102a as well as communications between the antenna module 102a and the host controller 120. Communication links among the RFID reader 104a, the MUX module 106a, and the plurality of antenna elements 11 la- 116a may be provided and integrated in the antenna module 102a.
• a plurality of external RF coaxial cables e.g.
• the antenna module may be provided as an integrated unit where the various components, i.e., RFID reader 104a, MUX module 106a, antenna elements l l la-116a, and cable connector are integrated together, e.g., on a chip or board.
• This configuration will significantly reduce the cost of the communication system 100. It also allows for a more simplified system that is easier and less costly to repair. Further, this construction makes the system customizable and scalable as desired. In particular, the system can be expanded by simply connecting additional antenna modules to the host controller 120.
• antenna elements 11 la- 116a are shown in the antenna module 102a. Notwithstanding, the disclosure is not so limited and a different number of antenna elements (e.g. , more than six or less than six) may be provided without departing from the spirit and scope of various embodiments of the present technology.
• FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example side view of an antenna module, in accordance with at least one example embodiment of the present technology.
• a side view of the antenna module 102a inside an enclosure 300 The antenna module 102a may be as described with respect to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, for example.
• a shelf 302 inside the enclosure 300 and a cover shell 301 for the antenna module 102a There is also shown in FIG. 3 a shelf 302 inside the enclosure 300 and a cover shell 301 for the antenna module 102a.
• the enclosure In at least one exemplary embodiment of the present technology, the enclosure
• the antenna module 102a may be affixed or mounted inside the enclosure 300 in a variety of orientations. This will build-in enough flexibility to be compatible with a variety of enclosure types.
• the cover shell 301 may be used to protect the integrated antenna components.
• the cover shell 301 may also provide a stable mechanical mount to a shelf, such as the shelf 302.
• the antenna module 102a may be sealed inside the cover shell 301, which may in turn be mounted to the shelf 302.
• the antenna module 102a may include a provision for mechanical tuning, e.g., by subtly adjusting the overall thickness of the radiating element, in order to optimize performance of the antenna module 102a in various enclosure environments.
• the geometry of the enclosure 300 may impact the antenna module 102a differently, and employing a method to compensate for this may reduce the need for different antenna designs for a different enclosure model.
• the enclosure 300 may include an ultra-low temperature (ULT) environment such as a freezer with - 80°C. In such instances, the tuning may take place after the antenna module 102a has stabilized at a desired operating temperature because the constituent materials may be affected by the operating temperature differently.
• ULT ultra-low temperature
• each antenna element such as the antenna element 111a in the antenna module 102a may include specific materials.
• the antenna element 111a may include a printed circuit board (PCB) construction laminated together with foam or other temperature stable materials.
• the antenna design may account for mechanical material changes (e.g. , via the mechanical tuning 303) that may occur in different operating environments (e.g. , at a ULT environment) so that the antenna element 111a may remain in-tune once installed and at the operating temperature.
• the antenna element 111a may be used at ambient temperatures by subtly adjusting the foam spacing via the mechanical tuning 303.

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• 2014
  • 2014-07-29 EP EP14898529.4A patent/EP3175387A1/de not_active Withdrawn
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