The present invention relates to wireless devices, and more particularly to a wireless device with a radio frequency identification (RFID) interrogator.
RFID is a technology that incorporates the use of electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling in the radio frequency (RF) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to uniquely identify an object, animal, or person. With RFID, the electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling in the RF (radio frequency) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is used to transmit signals. A typical RFID system includes an antenna and a transceiver, which reads the radio frequency and transfers the information to a processing device (reader) and a transponder, or RF tag, which contains the RF circuitry and information to be transmitted. The antenna enables the integrated circuit to transmit its information to the reader that converts the radio waves reflected back from the RFID device into digital information that can then be passed on to computers that can analyze the data.
Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.
The present invention provides methods and apparatus for a wireless device with an RFID interrogator.
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RFID devices are broadly categorized as passive RFID devices and active RFID devices. In general, a passive RFID device is an RFID device that does not contain a battery; the power is supplied by the RFID interrogator. When radio waves from the RFID interrogator are encountered by a passive RFID device, the antenna within the RFID device forms a magnetic field. The RFID device draws power from it, energizing the circuits in the RFID device. The RFID device then sends the information encoded in the RFID device's memory to the RFID interrogator.
In general, an RFID device is an active RFID device when it is equipped with a battery that can be used as a partial or complete source of power for the device's circuitry and antenna. Some active devices contain replaceable batteries for years of use; others are sealed units.
There are almost endless possible uses for RFID labeling. For example, labels can be with embedded RFID labels. In one example, a RFID device is a pressure-sensitive device with an RFID transponder (inlay) embedded between the device face stock and its release liner. This RFID device can be encoded with large amounts of variable information that can be gathered by an RFID interrogator.
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RFID devices like RFID device 110 can be placed on or in any number of items, such as credit/debit cards and the like, automobile/motorcycle keys, house keys and the like, wireless email devices such as Blackberry, Palm and the like, portable radios, CD players and/or MP3 players and the like, and so forth.
The RFID interrogator 30 can be programmed to interrogate RFID tags, like RFID device 110, located within a discrete range. The interrogator 30 can also be programmed to generate a notification or alert upon loss or absence of a return signal when one or more of the RFID devices goes out of range. Alerts can be received by the control unit 24 and a user notified through an audio indication, a visual indication, a vibration, or any combination thereof. In one example, the interrogator 30 can be programmed to generate a unique alert for a particular RFID device.
The interrogator 30 can be programmed to poll one or more RFID devices at user-selectable intervals of time. For example, the interrogator 30 can be programmed to poll a RFID device residing in a credit card more often than a RFID device residing in a vehicle key.
Received alerts can be paused and/or terminated. Received alerts can be assigned priorities, e.g., loss of a signal from a RFID device in a credit card can take priority over loss of a signal from a RFID device in an MP3 player.
Alerts sent by the interrogator 30 include an RFID device code identifying the object that is no longer responding to its interrogation, and may include a time, date and/or GPS coordinates (if the wireless device 10 includes the optional GPS unit 34).
Having the interrogator 30 included in the wireless device 10 enables the user to be informed or alerted when any of the RFID devices are out of range or fail to respond to an interrogation.
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Process 200 determines (204) whether the interrogation time is reached. If the interrogation time is reached, process 200 sends (206) out an interrogation signal.
Process 200 determines (208) whether a RFID device has responded to the interrogation signal. If the RFD device fails to respond to the interrogation signal, process 200 generates (210) an alert in the wireless device. The alert can be a visual indication, an audio indication, a physical indication such as a vibration, or a combination of indications.
Embodiments of the invention can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of them. Embodiments of the invention can be implemented as a computer program product, i.e., a computer program tangibly embodied in an information carrier, e.g., in a machine readable storage device or in a propagated signal, for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple computers. A computer program can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.
It is to be understood that the foregoing description is intended to illustrate and not to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the scope of the appended claims. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.