Patent · US Expired

RF identification system with restricted range

US6097301A · kind A · utility

186Cited by
7References
5Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateApr 4, 1996
Grant dateAug 1, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 4, 2016

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04W84/18
  • WIPO fieldControl
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A method of adjusting the 2-way communication range of an RFID system to assist a human operator to individually handle and interrogate a plurality of tagged objects, such as suitcases, that each include an RFID tag transceiver. An RFID interrogator transceiver is mounted on the human operator. The 2-way communication range between the interrogator transceiver and the tag transceivers is adjusted to only slightly exceed the closest distance between the interrogator and the tag while the operator is handling the tagged object. Preferably, the 2-way communication range is short enough that other tagged objects will remain outside the communication range and will not respond to messages from the interrogator. Another aspect of the invention is a method of verifying whether an object to be transported has reached its intended destination. In this aspect, an interrogator transceiver at a first destination interrogates an RFID tag transceiver on the object, and in response the tag transmits its intended destination.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.