Automatic beam adjustment techniques for portal directivity

Abstract

The present invention discloses techniques for automatic beam adjustment for portal directivity. An example apparatus comprises: a transceiver (102a) configured to transmit a plurality of signal beams that each have a respective coverage area and are oriented in a respective direction, one or more processors (102c), and one or more memories communicatively coupled to the one or more processors (102c) storing a beam adjustment algorithm.The example apparatus may include instructions that, when executed, cause the assembly to: transmit a first signal beam to a set of tags located within a respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam when the first signal beam is oriented in a first direction; determine, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that a first tag threshold has not been met; and adjust, by the beam adjustment algorithm, an orientation of the first signal beam from the first direction to a second direction. Figure: 1.

Description

Title of the invention: Automatic beam adjustment techniques for portal directivity Background

[0001] Digital technology is used in industrial networks for location-aware services. More specifically, location data awareness is a relevant component for entities seeking to track the locations and statuses of their assets, improve the productivity of their workers, and generally optimize workflows. As such, the development of systems and devices that reliably provide cost-effective proximity-based asset visibility solutions is a topic of great interest in the field of industrial networking.

[0002] However, conventional tracking systems have several drawbacks that prevent them from providing such reliable and efficient location services. Notably, many conventional tracking systems rely on hardware that is suboptimally configured and therefore may produce inaccurate results and / or fail to focus on relevant assets. For example, a conventional tracking system may use static signal beam orientations from a reader to track the locations of dynamic / moving tags. These static beam orientations may be insufficient to maximize reads of these dynamic / moving tags, as static ("stray") tags may be located within the static beams' field of view (also referred to herein as the "coverage area").Therefore, conventional localization systems suffer from problems that reduce the accuracy and efficiency of dynamic tag tracking.

[0003] There is therefore a need for automatic beam adjustment techniques for portal directionality that enable precise dynamic tag tracking by a localization system. Summary

[0004] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an assembly comprising: a transceiver configured to transmit a plurality of signal beams that each have a respective coverage area and are oriented in a respective direction; one or more processors; and one or more memories communicatively coupled to the one or more processors storing a beam adjustment algorithm and instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the assembly to: transmit, by the transceiver, a first signal beam of the plurality of signal beams to a set of tags located in a respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam when the first signal beam is oriented in a first direction, determining, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that a first tag threshold has not been met based on a number of first tags located in the respective first coverage area, and adjusting, by the beam adjustment algorithm, an orientation of the first signal beam from the first direction to a second direction.

[0005] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an assembly where a second number of first tags located in the respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam oriented in the second direction is less than the number of first tags located in the respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam oriented in the first direction.

[0006] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an assembly where the first direction and the second direction comprise a respective azimuthal component and a respective elevation component, and the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the assembly to adjust the orientation of the first signal beam by: adjusting a respective first azimuthal component of the first direction to a respective second azimuthal component of the second direction; or adjusting a respective first elevation component of the first direction to a respective second elevation component of the second direction.

[0007] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an assembly where the first tags correspond to parasitic tags, a second number of dynamic tags are also located in the respective first coverage area when the first signal beam is oriented in the first direction, and the first tag threshold corresponds to a parasitic tag / dynamic tag ratio.

[0008] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an assembly where after adjusting the orientation of the first signal beam to the second direction, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the assembly to: (a) determine, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that the first label threshold has not been met based on a subsequent number of first labels located in the respective first coverage area; (b) adjust, by the beam adjustment algorithm, the orientation of the first signal beam to a subsequent direction; and perform steps (a) and (b) iteratively until the first label threshold is met.

[0009] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an assembly where the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the assembly to: determine, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that (i) the second direction or (ii) the respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam fails to meet a coverage threshold with respect to a second signal beam of the plurality of signal beams; and deactivate the first signal beam.

[0010] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an assembly where the first tags correspond to parasitic tags, and the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the assembly to: receive, by the transceiver, a response signal from a respective tag at a first time indicating that the respective tag is within the respective first coverage area; receive, by the transceiver, a subsequent response signal from the respective tag at a second time that is different from the first time indicating that the respective tag is within the respective first coverage area; and determine, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that the respective tag is a parasitic tag.

[0011] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an assembly where the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the assembly to: receive, by the transceiver, a second response signal from a respective second tag at the first time indicating that the respective second tag is within the respective first coverage area; receive, by the transceiver, a third response signal from the respective second tag at the second time indicating that the respective tag is within a respective second coverage area of ​​a second signal beam of the plurality of signal beams; and determine, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that the respective second tag is a dynamic tag.

[0012] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method comprising: transmitting, by a transceiver configured to transmit a plurality of signal beams that each have a respective coverage area and are oriented in a respective direction, a first signal beam of the plurality of signal beams to a set of tags located in a respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam when the first signal beam is oriented in a first direction; determining, by a beam adjustment algorithm, that a first tag threshold has not been met based on a number of first tags located in the respective first coverage area; and adjusting, by the beam adjustment algorithm, an orientation of the first signal beam from the first direction to a second direction.

[0013] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method where a second number of first tags located in the respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam oriented in the second direction is less than the number of first tags located in the respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam oriented in the first direction.

[0014] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method where the first direction and the second direction comprise a respective azimuthal component and a respective elevation component, and the method further comprises adjusting the orientation of the first signal beam by: adjusting a respective first azimuthal component of the first direction to a respective second azimuthal component of the second direction; or adjusting a respective first elevation component of the first direction to a respective second elevation component of the second direction.

[0015] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method where the first tags correspond to parasitic tags, a second number of dynamic tags are also located in the respective first coverage area when the first signal beam is oriented in the first direction, and the first tag threshold corresponds to a parasitic tag / dynamic tag ratio.

[0016] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method where, after adjusting the orientation of the first signal beam to the second direction, the method further comprises the steps of: (a) determining, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that the first label threshold has not been met based on a subsequent number of first labels located in the respective first coverage area; (b) adjusting, by the beam adjustment algorithm, the orientation of the first signal beam to a subsequent direction; and performing steps (a) and (b) iteratively until the first label threshold is met.

[0017] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method, further comprising the steps of: determining, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that (i) the second direction or (ii) the respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam fails to meet a coverage threshold with respect to a second signal beam of the plurality of signal beams; and deactivating the first signal beam.

[0018] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method where the first tags correspond to parasitic tags, and the method further comprises the steps of: receiving, by the transceiver, a response signal from a respective tag at a first time indicating that the respective tag is within the respective first coverage area; receiving, by the transceiver, a subsequent response signal from the respective tag at a second time that is different from the first time indicating that the respective tag is within the respective first coverage area; and determining, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that the respective tag is a parasitic tag.

[0019] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method, further comprising: receiving, by the transceiver, a second response signal from a respective second tag at the first time indicating that the respective second tag is within the respective first coverage area; receiving, by the transceiver, a third response signal from the respective second tag at the second time indicating that the respective tag is within a respective second coverage area of ​​a second signal beam of the plurality of signal beams; and determining, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that the respective second tag is a dynamic tag.

[0020] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a tangible machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least: transmit, by a transceiver configured to transmit a plurality of signal beams that each have a respective coverage area and are oriented in a respective direction, a first signal beam of the plurality of signal beams to a set of tags located in a respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam when the first signal beam is oriented in a first direction; determine, by a beam adjustment algorithm, that a first tag threshold has not been met based on a number of first tags located in the respective first coverage area;and adjusting, by the beam adjustment algorithm, an orientation of the first signal beam from the first direction to a second direction.;

[0021] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a tangible machine-readable medium, where the first direction and the second direction comprise a respective azimuth component and a respective elevation component, and the instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to adjust the orientation of the first signal beam by: adjusting a respective first azimuth component of the first direction to a respective second azimuth component of the second direction; or adjusting a first component respective elevation component of the first direction on a second respective elevation component of the second direction.

[0022] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a tangible machine-readable medium, where the first tags correspond to parasitic tags, a second number of dynamic tags are also located in the respective first coverage area when the first signal beam is oriented in the first direction, and the first tag threshold corresponds to a parasitic tag / dynamic tag ratio.

[0023] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a tangible machine-readable medium, wherein after adjusting the orientation of the first signal beam to the second direction, the instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to: (a) determine, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that the first label threshold has not been met based on a subsequent number of first labels located in the respective first coverage area; (b) adjust, by the beam adjustment algorithm, the orientation of the first signal beam to a subsequent direction; and perform steps (a) and (b) iteratively until the first label threshold is met. Brief description of the drawings

[0024] The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to the same or functionally similar elements in the several views, and the detailed description below, are incorporated in and made a part of the specification, and serve to further illustrate embodiments of concepts which incorporate the claimed invention, and to explain various principles and advantages of these embodiments.

[0025] [Fig.l] illustrates an example environment in which automated beam adjustment systems / devices for portal directivity may be implemented, in accordance with various embodiments described herein.

[0026] [Fig.2A] illustrates an exemplary configuration of automated beam adjustment signal beams for gate directivity, in accordance with various embodiments described herein.

[0027] [Fig.2B] illustrates an example of signal beam adjustment relative to the configuration of [Fig.2A], in accordance with various embodiments described herein.

[0028] [Fig.3A] illustrates a first example asset tracking scenario where a signal beam is adjusted to reduce the number of stray tags in the signal beam coverage area, in accordance with various embodiments described herein.

[0029] [Fig.3B] illustrates a second example asset tracking scenario where one or more signal beams are adjusted to reduce the number of stray tags in the signal beam coverage area, in accordance with various embodiments described herein.

[0030] [Fig. 4] is a representative flowchart of a method for automated beam adjustment for portal directivity, in accordance with embodiments described herein.

[0031] [Fig.5] is a block diagram of an exemplary logic circuit for implementing the exemplary methods and / or operations described herein.

[0032] Those skilled in the art will understand that the elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of certain elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements in order to enhance understanding of embodiments of the present invention.

[0033] The components of the apparatus and method have been represented, where appropriate, by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details which are relevant to understanding the embodiments of the present invention, so as not to obscure the disclosure with details which will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. Detailed description

[0034] As previously discussed, conventional tracking systems generally suffer from accuracy and efficiency issues due to, among other things, insufficiently configured and / or configurable hardware and a corresponding lack of spurious tag suppression. For example, many conventional tracking systems use static beam signal configurations / orientations and / or non-maneuverable antennas to track dynamic / moving tags. However, these static beam signal configurations / orientations and the resulting tracked tags often include a significant number of spurious tags that can reduce the likelihood that the tags of interest (i.e., dynamic tags) will be identified and tracked.

[0035] For illustrative purposes, a conventional reader may deliver a static signal beam with a coverage area that is oriented in a direction to partially include a set of static goods (e.g., shelves with stationary products in a grocery store, a wall of stacked boxes in an empty trailer) and to partially include a lane where goods may be transported. This static signal beam may occasionally interrogate the tags in the coverage area associated with assets being transported along the track, but it will almost always interrogate tags associated with static assets, given that they are always within the coverage area. Ideally, the conventional reader would not interrogate and / or monitor these static tag locations, and would instead prioritize processing resources to accurately track the locations of dynamic tags being transported along the track. However, conventional tracking systems often have static signal beam patterns that overrepresent static tags and / or tags that are not positioned along the tracks to capture the dynamic tags of interest. Therefore, in general, conventional tracking systems may struggle to accurately track dynamic tags.

[0036] One of the objectives of the present disclosure is to eliminate these and other problems associated with conventional localization systems through automatic beam adjustment techniques for the directivity of portals that can accurately track dynamic tags via a beam adjustment algorithm. In particular, the techniques of the present disclosure mitigate the problems associated with conventional systems / devices by essentially determining that spurious tags are overrepresented in the interrogation results for a given signal beam, and then adjusting the orientation of that given signal beam to reduce the false capture of those spurious tags.Accordingly, the techniques of the present disclosure enable dynamic tags (and the assets associated with them) to be accurately tracked with an accuracy that was previously unattainable with conventional techniques.

[0037] Thus, in accordance with the foregoing, and in the disclosure herein, the present disclosure includes improvements in computing functionality or improvements to other technologies, at least because the present disclosure describes, for example, that localization systems and their various related components may be improved or enhanced by the disclosed beam adjustment algorithm that provides more accurate localization / tracking services for dynamic tags and corresponding assets.In other words, the present disclosure describes improvements in the operation of a location system per se, or "any other technology or technical field" (e.g., the field of distributed / industrial location systems), because the disclosed beam adjustment algorithm improves and enhances the operation of location systems by introducing dynamic signal beam orientation / steering adjustments to eliminate / reduce logging. of erroneous static labels and other inefficiencies commonly encountered over time by localization systems lacking such a beam adjustment algorithm. This improves the state of the art, at least because previous localization systems are inaccurate because they lack the ability to dynamically adjust signal beam orientations / directions in the manner described in this document.

[0038] Further, the present disclosure includes the application of various features and functionalities as described herein, using, or through the use of, a particular machine, e.g., a tag, reader, server, and / or other hardware components as described herein.

[0039] Additionally, the present disclosure includes specific features other than what is well understood, routine and conventional in the art, or adding unconventional steps that demonstrate, in various embodiments, particular useful applications, such as, for example, transmitting, by a transceiver, a first signal beam of the plurality of signal beams to a set of tags located within a respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam when the first signal beam is oriented in a first direction;determining, by a beam adjustment algorithm, that a first label threshold has not been met based on a number of first labels located in the respective first coverage area, and / or adjusting, by the beam adjustment algorithm, an orientation of the first signal beam from the first direction to a second direction, among others.;

[0040] With respect to the figures, [Fig.l] illustrates an exemplary environment 100 in which automated beam adjustment systems / devices may be implemented, in accordance with embodiments described herein. The exemplary environment 100 may comprise, include, and / or be part of a networking environment in which the systems / devices of the present disclosure may operate. In the exemplary embodiment of [Fig.l], the exemplary environment 100 includes a reader 102 that is communicatively coupled to a first tag 106a of a first asset 106, a second tag 107a of a second asset 107, a third tag 108a of an Nth asset 108, and a server 110.Generally, the reader 102, the first tag 106a, the second tag 107a, the third tag 108a, and / or the server 110 may be able to execute instructions to implement, for example, operations of the example methods described herein, as may be represented by the flowcharts in the drawings accompanying this disclosure. In particular, the reader 102 may be connected to the first tag. 106a, to the second tag 107a, to the third tag 108a and / or to the server 110 through multiple communication channels, and may generally be configured to receive and process information received from the first tag 106a, the second tag 107a, the third tag 108a and / or the server 110.

[0041] The exemplary environment 100 may be or may include any suitable real-world environment, such as a grocery store, a loading warehouse, a hospital, etc., and the area(s) of interest covered by the reader 102 may be or may include high-density goods lanes corresponding to the real-world environment. For example, an area of ​​interest covered by the signal beams of the reader 102 may include an entry / exit lane of a grocery store, where the reader 102 may track dynamic goods as entities enter / exit the store. As another example, an area of ​​interest may be individual loading docks, storage areas, traffic lanes for equipment / machinery, etc. within a warehouse.

[0042] In any event, the reader 102 stores a tag database 102b2 and a location engine 102b3, and the server 110 may optionally store a tag database 110b2 and a location engine 110b2. The tag database 102b2, 110b may be or may comprise a list of tags (e.g., tag 106a, tag 107a, and tag 108a) that are close to specific anchors (e.g., the reader 102), and / or transmit data to / from the particular anchor(s). More specifically, the tag database lists 102b2, 110b1 may include identifying information about each of the tags 106a, 107a, 108a and / or assets 106, 107, 108 associated with the tags 106a, 107a, 108a, as well as location information determined by the reader 102.The tag database 102b2, 110b1 may include any appropriate information relating to the tags and / or the assets associated with the tags.

[0043] To update the tag database 102b2, 110b1, the reader 102 may periodically request and / or receive updates of various tags (e.g., tag 106a, tag 107a, and tag 108a) disposed around an environment (e.g., the exemplary environment 100), and the reader 102 may determine (via the one or more processors 102c) one or more tags indicated in the received data. The reader 102 may then update the tag list for each tag 106a, 107a, 108a by entering the data received from the respective tags 106a, 107a, 108a into the corresponding tag list of the tag database 102b2, 110b 1. For example, the tag database 102b2, 110b 1 may initially indicate that the reader 102 has received data from the first tag 106a and the second tag 107a.At a second time, the reader 102 can transmit a request and / or receive a . update to / from nearby tags indicating that the reader 102 received / captured data from the first tag 106a, the second tag 107a, and the third tag 108a. Thus, the tag database entries 102b2, 11 Obi may indicate that the Nieme well 108 moved into receptive proximity of the reader 102 at some point between the first time and the second time, such that the reader 102 was able to receive data transmitted from the third tag 108a at the second time.

[0044] In some embodiments, the first asset 106, the second asset 107 and / or the Nth asset 108 may be static assets or dynamic assets. To continue with the previous example, the first asset 106 and the second asset 107 may be static assets within the coverage area of ​​one or more signal beams of the reader 102, as indicated by the data received from the two tags 106a, 107a at the first time and the second time. The Nth asset 108 may be a dynamic asset within the coverage area of ​​the one or more signal beams of the reader 102, as indicated by the reader 102 receiving the data from the tag 108a of the Nth asset, only at the second time. Therefore, in this example, the first tag 106a and the second tag 107a may be static tags, and the Nth tag 108a may be a dynamic tag relative to the reader 102.

[0045] As discussed herein, a "coverage area" of a signal beam may generally refer to the cross-sectional area or volume covered by the signal beam, as emitted by the radio transceiver 102a. These signal beams may generally have circular cross-sectional profiles of any suitable dimensions, but it should be noted that the signal beams may be delivered by guides and / or other suitable devices to shape the signal beams into any desired cross-sectional profile. For example, the reader 102 may be disposed on a ceiling near an entrance / exit (i.e., a "gate") of a grocery store, and a first signal beam emitted by the reader 102 may have a coverage area with a diameter of one meter at the gate floor level.Thus, the total coverage area of ​​the first signal beam may include a three-dimensional cone extending from a point at the radio transceiver 102a to the one-meter diameter circle at the gate floor level.

[0046] Regardless, the reader 102 may also include a location engine 102b3, and the server 110 may optionally include a location engine 110b2, which generally analyzes the data received from the tags 106a, 107a, 108a to update the locations of the tags 106a, 107a, 108a. More Specifically, the location engine 102b3, 110b2 may analyze data packets and / or information extracted and / or derived from the data packets to determine a direction of travel in which each tag 106a, 107a, 108a is currently traveling. Typically, these data packets may be or may include identifying information corresponding to the tags 106a, 107a, 108a and / or associated assets 106, 107, 108, remaining life information, asset-specific payload data, and / or any other suitable data or combination of data. The reader 102 may transmit repeated polling requests or query instructions to receive data from the tags 106a, 107a, 108a at any suitable transmission rate, e.g., every few milliseconds, every second, several seconds, minutes, and / or at any other suitable frequency.In some embodiments, the data packets transmitted to / from any particular tag 106a, 107a, 108a may be or may include an ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) signal and / or any other suitable data packet or signal.

[0047] When the location engine 110b2 determines the current location / position of a particular tag, the location engine 110b2 may also analyze prior data transmitted from the particular tag to determine whether the current location / position is different from a prior location / position determined from the prior data. For example, the location engine 110b2 may receive data from a first tag and determine that the first tag is estimated to be at a first location, as recorded by a first signal beam from the reader 102.The location engine 110b2 may then analyze prior data corresponding to the first tag (e.g., as stored in the tag database 110b1) and determine that the last report from the first tag indicated that the first tag was in a second (e.g., prior) location / position at the time the last report was transmitted from the first tag, as recorded by a second signal beam from the reader 102. Accordingly, the location engine 110b2 may determine that the first tag changed location from the second location / position to the first location / position during the time interval between the last report and the current report from the first tag.However, it should be noted that the location engine 110b2 may determine location / position differences for an individual tag based on multiple signals received from a single signal beam over time. Further, it should be noted that the beam adjustment algorithm 102b 1 may perform part or . all of the functions described in this document as performed by the 110b2 localization engine, and vice versa.

[0048] In another example, the location engine 110b2 may receive data from a second tag and determine that the second tag is estimated to be in a third location, as recorded by a third signal beam from the reader 102. The location engine 110b2 may then analyze prior data corresponding to the second tag (e.g., as stored in the tag database 110b1) and determine that the last report from the second tag indicated that the second tag was in the third location at the time the last report was transmitted from the second tag.Therefore, the location engine 110b2 may determine that the second tag has remained in the third location for the time interval between the last report and the current report of the second tag, and may identify the second tag as a static tag. The location engine 110b2 may pass this information to the beam adjustment algorithm 102bl, which may determine that the orientation / direction of the third signal beam needs to be adjusted to remove the second tag from the coverage area of ​​the third signal beam.

[0049] As part of these communications between the server 110 and the individual tags 106a, 107a, 108a, the reader 102 may receive data from the server 110 and capture data from the tags 106a, 107a, 108a, and may transmit communications based on this received / captured data to the server 110 and / or the tags 106a, 107a, 108a. Generally, the reader 102 may be configured to transmit and receive data to / from the server 110 and nearby tags (e.g., the first tag 106a, the second tag 107a, the third tag 108a). In some embodiments, the reader 102 may be a UHF RFID reader device that communicates with some or all of the devices in the environment 100 via UHF radio signals.In some embodiments, the reader 102 may be a device that runs and / or complies with any suitable software operating system (e.g., Android, iOS), a custom Internet of Things (IoT) bridge device with a UHF radio, and / or any other suitable device or any combination thereof.

[0050] In particular, the reader 102 may be configured to periodically listen for data packets from nearby tags (e.g., tags 106a, 107a, 108a), transmit the data packets and / or the obtained data to the server 110, and / or broadcast requests received from the server 110 to these nearby tags. For example, the reader 102 may receive requests from the server 110, and may then transmit requests to nearby tags 106a, 107a, 108a. depending on the requests. These requests from the server 110 may be or may include instructions causing the tags 106a, 107a, 108a to transmit identification data to the reader 102 and / or other appropriate instructions or combinations of instructions.

[0051] The reader 102 may also transmit and receive data (e.g., data packets) to / from any of the tags 106a, 107a, 108a and calculate signal beam steering / orientation adjustments based on the data received from these tags 106a, 107a, 108a by executing the beam adjustment algorithm 102b 1 stored in the memory 102b. The reader 102 may then transmit these signal beam orientation / direction adjustments, along with some / all of the data received from the tags 106a, 107a, 108a, to the server 110 for tracking and / or notifying a user (e.g., a location system administrator) of a location / position of an asset 106, 107, 108 associated with the tags 106a, 107a, 108a.

[0052] As indicated herein, the signal beam orientation / direction adjustments determined and implemented as a result of the beam adjustment algorithm 102b 1 may be or may include any suitable adjustment to the orientation, directionality, and / or configuration of an individual signal beam and / or a set of signal beams transmitted by the reader 102. For example, a first adjustment determined by the beam adjustment algorithm 102b 1 may cause the reader 102 to reposition the coverage area of ​​a first signal beam by five degrees in any suitable direction (e.g., positive / negative azimuth, positive / negative elevation).In a second example, a second adjustment determined by the beam adjustment algorithm 102b 1 may cause the reader 102 to reposition the coverage area of ​​a second signal beam and a third signal beam by ten degrees in similar / identical directions or in dissimilar / opposite directions.

[0053] In a third example, a third adjustment determined by the beam adjustment algorithm 102b 1 may cause the reader 102 to disable a fourth signal beam because repositioning the coverage area of ​​the fourth signal beam in an optimal direction (e.g., positive azimuth) by an optimal degree (e.g., six degrees) would result in a coverage area overlap between the fourth signal beam and a fifth signal beam that does not meet, exceed, and / or fail to satisfy a coverage overlap threshold. This deactivation may therefore minimize the coverage area redundancy of the transmitted signal beams.

[0054] Additionally, as illustrated in the preceding examples, it should be noted that the "optimal" direction and / or "optimal" degree determined and implemented by the beam adjustment algorithm 102bl for adjusting the orientation / direction of signal beams may be any suitable direction and / or any suitable degree or any combination thereof. Notably, an optimal direction adjustment determined by the beam adjustment algorithm 102bl may include an adjustment in an isolated direction (e.g., only azimuth, only elevation) or a composite direction, and may include an adjustment of any suitable degree value.For example, a first adjustment determined by the beam adjustment algorithm 102bl for a first signal beam may cause the radio transceiver 102a to adjust the coverage area of ​​the first signal beam by two degrees in the positive azimuth direction and three degrees in the negative elevation direction.

[0055] Generally, the beam adjustment algorithm 102b1 may be or may include instructions causing the processors 102c of the reader 102 to determine that a stray tag threshold has not been met for a signal beam and one or more corresponding adjustments to the direction / orientation of the signal beam. The stray tag threshold may be or may include a percentage or ratio of stray tags to dynamic tags or total tags in the signal beam coverage area. In other words, if the stray tag threshold has not been met, then the associated signal beam coverage area is currently located over a greater number of stray tags than is acceptable to achieve high precision / granularity dynamic tag tracking.Therefore, the beam adjustment algorithm 102b 1 may determine and cause the radio transceiver 102a to implement an adjustment of the signal beam orientation / direction to reduce the number of parasitic tags included in the coverage area.

[0056] In determining / evaluating the spurious tag threshold, the beam adjustment algorithm 102bl may first analyze tag response signals for tags close in time to determine which tag(s) located within a particular signal beam coverage area are spurious tags. The beam adjustment algorithm 102b1 may analyze consecutive responses from tags located within the signal beam coverage areas to determine whether the period of time an individual tag has remained within a signal beam coverage area exceeds a duration threshold. If the algorithm 102bl determines that the threshold has been exceeded, the algorithm 102bl may identify the corresponding tag as a spurious tag.

[0057] For example, at a first time, the reader 102 may receive a response signal from a first tag indicating that the first tag is within the coverage area of ​​a first signal beam transmitted by the radio transceiver 102a. At a second time, the reader 102 may receive a subsequent response signal from the first tag indicating that the first tag is still within the coverage area of ​​the first signal beam. The beam adjustment algorithm 102b 1 may analyze these response signals from the first tag and determine that the first tag has remained within the coverage area of ​​the first signal beam longer than a threshold period, such that the first tag is likely a parasitic tag that is statically positioned within the coverage area of ​​the first signal beam.Therefore, the beam adjustment algorithm 102bl may identify the first tag as a spurious tag and may assess whether the spurious tag threshold has not been met for the first signal beam by including the first tag in the spurious tag count.

[0058] Once the beam adjustment algorithm 102bl determines that the spurious tag threshold has not been met for a signal beam, the algorithm 102b 1 may determine an adjustment to the signal beam orientation / direction to reduce the number of spurious tags contained within the coverage area. In some embodiments, the adjustment may be a predetermined value, such as five degrees in any suitable direction (e.g., azimuth, elevation). However, the beam adjustment algorithm 102bl may also dynamically generate orientation / direction adjustments based on the estimated locations of the spurious tags.The localization engine 110b2 can return the locations of the stray tags, and the beam adjustment algorithm 102bl can determine an optimal orientation / direction adjustment for the signal beam that can eliminate most / all of the stray tags in the signal beam coverage area.

[0059] For example, a first signal beam may be steered so that three spurious tags are located in the coverage area at a far edge. The beam adjustment algorithm 102b 1 may determine that these three spurious tags do not meet the spurious tag threshold and determine that the first signal beam orientation / direction needs to be adjusted. The algorithm 102b 1 may receive estimated locations of the three spurious tags from the localization engine 110b2 and determine that a two-degree adjustment in the negative azimuth direction will likely be sufficient to remove the three spurious tags from the coverage area. The algorithm 102b 1 may then generate an instruction for a two-degree negative azimuth adjustment of the first signal beam, which may cause the radio transceiver 102a to adjust the direction / orientation of the first signal beam by two degrees in the negative azimuth direction.

[0060] Of course, it should be noted that the beam adjustment algorithm 102bl may be or may comprise any suitable instruction enabling the reader 102 and / or any other suitable device (e.g., the server 110) to evaluate spurious tag thresholds for signal beams, to determine direction / orientation adjustments for the signal beams, and / or to make other suitable adjustments to the signal beam configuration(s) (e.g., stopping the signal beams, changing the signal beam configuration).

[0061] The reader 102 may also include a radio transceiver 102a configured to transmit / receive data streams to / various devices of the exemplary environment 100, such as the server 110 and the tags 106a, 107a, 108a. The radio transceiver 102a may include an antenna with an associated gain profile corresponding to the antenna of the transceiver 102a converting input power into radio waves (e.g., in transmission) and / or received radio waves into electrical power (e.g., in reception). More specifically, the radio transceiver 102a may be a phased array antenna configured to maneuver the transmitted and received signal beams in different directions.This phased array configuration allows the reader 102 and / or the server 110 to accurately determine the bearing (i.e., the location in azimuth and elevation) of any tag within the coverage area of ​​signal beams transmitted by the radio transceiver 102a whenever the tag is captured by a signal beam.

[0062] Assets 106, 107, 108 may generally be any device, component, or object that an entity may wish to track and / or locate. For example, assets 106, 107, 108 may be large calibrated tools used in and / or for oil and gas equipment / oil and gas operations, packages to be delivered by a shipping company, hospital equipment that is and / or may be moved to different floors / rooms, wristbands attached to hospitalized patients, and / or any other suitable object or combination of objects. Although the illustration depicts three assets 106, 107, 108, it should be noted that reader 102 may communicate simultaneously with any suitable number of assets 106, 107, 108 via associated tags 106a, 107a, 108a. Thus, the Nth good 108 can be a third good, a fifth good, a twentieth good, a hundredth good, and / or any other good of full value.

[0063] Each asset 106, 107, 108 may also include a corresponding tag 106a, 107a, 108a that may be configured to respond to query requests. by transmitting information associated with the asset via the radio transceiver 106al, 107al, 108al, for example to the reader 102. Each asset tag 106a, 107a, 108a may also include one or more processors 106a2, 107a2, 108a2 configured to interpret and / or execute these interrogation requests and / or other instructions contained in the signals received from the reader 102, server 110, and / or one or more other suitable devices. For example, the processors 106a2, 107a2, 108a2 may be configured to interpret the interrogation requests and / or other signals received from the reader 102 and thereby transmit data packets to the reader 102.

[0064] Additionally, in some embodiments, a workstation (not shown) may be communicatively connected to the server 110, and a user / operator may access the server 110 to retrieve a location associated with an asset 106, 107, 108. The workstation may query the server 110 with the identification tag of the corresponding asset 106, 107, 108, and the server 110 may match the identification tag with a location entry in the tag database 110b 1 associated with the corresponding asset 106, 107, 108. The server 110 may then transfer the location entry to the workstation for the user / operator to view.

[0065] More generally, the one or more memories 102b, 110b may include one or more forms of volatile and / or non-volatile, fixed and / or removable memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), electronic programmable read-only memory (EPROM), random access memory (RAM), erasable electronic programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and / or other hard drives, flash memory, MicroSD cards, and others. In general, a computer program or product, application, or computer code (e.g., the beam adjustment algorithm 102b1, and / or other computer instructions described herein may be stored on a computer-usable storage medium, or on a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium (e.g., standard random access memory (RAM), an optical disk, a universal serial bus (USB) disk, or the like) containing such computer-readable program code or computer instructions,the computer-readable program code or computer instructions that may be installed on or adapted to be executed by the one or more processors 102c, 110a (e.g., operating in connection with a respective operating system in the one or more memories 102b, 110b) to facilitate, implement, or effect the machine-readable instructions, methods, processes, elements, or limitations, as illustrated, depicted, or described in the various flowcharts, illustrations, diagrams, figures, and / or other disclosures herein.

[0066] In this regard, the program code may be implemented in any desired program language, and may be implemented as machine code, package code, byte code, interpretable source code, or otherwise (e.g., via Golang, Python, C, C++, C#, Objective-C, Java, Scala, ActionScript, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, XML, etc.).Additionally, the one or more memories 102b, 110b may also store machine-readable instructions, including any one of one or more applications, one or more software components, and / or one or more APIs, that may be implemented to facilitate or perform the features, functions, or other disclosures described herein, such as any of the methods, processes, elements, or limitations, as illustrated, depicted, or described in the various flowcharts, illustrations, diagrams, figures, and / or other disclosures herein.

[0067] The one or more processors 102c, 110a may be connected to the one or more memories 102b, 110b via a computer bus (not shown) for transmitting electronic data, data packets, or electronic signals to and from the one or more processors 102c, 110a and one or more memories 102b, 110b to implement or carry out the machine-readable instructions, methods, processes, elements, or limitations, as illustrated, shown, or described in the various flowcharts, illustrations, diagrams, figures, and / or other disclosures herein.

[0068] The one or more processors 102c, 110a may interface with the one or more memories 102b, 110b via the computer bus to execute any appropriate application or executable instruction (e.g., bundle adjustment algorithm 102b 1 ) necessary to perform any of the actions associated with the methods of the present disclosure. The one or more processors 102c, 110a may also interface with the one or more memories 102b, 110b via the computer bus to create, read, update, delete, or otherwise access or interact with data stored in the one or more memories 102b, 110b and / or external databases (e.g., a relational database, such as Oracle, DB2, MySQL, or a NoSQL-based database, such as MongoDB).The data stored in the one or more memories 102b, 110b and / or in an external database may include all or some of the data or information described herein, including, for example, asset tag data packets 106a, 107a, 108a, asset location data, beam adjustment data / thresholds, spurious tag thresholds, and / or other appropriate information or combinations of information.

[0069] The radio transceivers 102a, 106al, 107al, 108al and the networking interface 110c may be configured to communicate (e.g., send and receive) data via one or more external / network ports to one or more local networks or terminals, as described herein. In some embodiments, the radio transceivers 102a, 106al, 107al, 108al and / or the networking interface 110c may include a client-server platform technology such as ASP.NET, Java J2EE, Ruby on Rails, Node.js, a web service or an online API, capable of receiving and responding to electronic requests. The radio transceivers 102a, 106al, 107al, 108al and / or the networking interface 110c may implement client-server platform technology that may interact, via the computer bus, with the one or more memories 102b, 110b (comprising the application(s), component(s), API(s), data, etc.stored therein) to implement or carry out the machine-readable instructions, methods, processes, elements or limitations as illustrated, depicted or described in the various flowcharts, illustrations, diagrams, figures and / or other disclosures herein.

[0070] According to some embodiments, the radio transceivers 102a, 106a1, 107a1, 108a1 and / or the networking interface 110c may comprise or interact with one or more transceivers (e.g., WWAN, WLAN, and / or WP AN transceivers) operating in accordance with IEEE standards, 3GPP standards, or other standards, and which may be used for receiving and transmitting data via external / network ports connected to a network. In some embodiments, the network (not shown) may comprise a private network or a local area network (LAN). Additionally or alternatively, the network may comprise a public network such as the Internet.In some embodiments, the network may include routers, wireless switches, or other wireless connection points communicating with the server 110 (via the networking interface 110c) via wireless communications based on any one or more of various wireless standards, including, by way of non-limiting example, an RFID standard, a BLUETOOTH standard (e.g., BLE), IEEE 802.1 la / b / c / g (WIFI), or the like.

[0071] To illustrate a scenario where a reader and one or more asset tags may transmit and / or receive data packets and determine signal beam adjustments from those data packets, [Fig. 2A] illustrates an exemplary configuration 200 of automated beam adjustment signal beams for gate directionality, in accordance with various embodiments described herein. In particular, the exemplary configuration 200 illustrated in [Fig. 2A] illustrates a reader 202 transmitting a plurality of signal beams 204a-f, which, for simplicity, are illustrated in [Fig. 2A] by their cross-sectional profiles at ground level. The exemplary configuration 200 further comprises four zones 206a-d. The first zone 206a and the second zone 206b may be zones of interest, and the third zone 206c and the fourth zone 206d may not be zones of interest. For example, the first zone 206a and the second zone 206b may represent a pathway leading to / from an entrance / exit portal of a department store, where the first zone 206a is outside the store and the second zone 206b is inside the store.

[0072] Each signal beam 204a-fa has a current orientation / direction, as illustrated by the numbers in parentheses near each signal beam 204a-f. The orientation / direction of a particular signal beam may be expressed in terms of appropriate dimensions, such as degrees of azimuth and elevation. For example, the first signal beam 204a has an orientation / direction of zero degrees in the azimuth direction and 45 degrees in the elevation direction.Similarly, the second signal beam 204b has an orientation / direction of zero degrees in the azimuth direction and 30 degrees in the elevation direction, the third signal beam 204c has an orientation / direction of 180 degrees in the azimuth direction and 30 degrees in the elevation direction, the fourth signal beam 204d has an orientation / direction of 180 degrees in the azimuth direction and 45 degrees in the elevation direction, the fifth signal beam 204e has an orientation / direction of 270 degrees in the azimuth direction and 15 degrees in the elevation direction, and the sixth signal beam 204f has an orientation / direction of 90 degrees in the azimuth direction and 15 degrees in the elevation direction.

[0073] As previously indicated, the signal beams emitted by a reader may have any suitable configuration, such as the specific configuration 200 illustrated in [Fig. 2A]. As indicated herein, a "signal beam configuration" may generally refer to the orientation(s) / direction(s) of all signal beams emitted by a reader (e.g., reader 202) at a particular time. For example, the signal beam configuration 200 emitted by the reader 202 represents four signal beams 204a, 204b, 204c, 204d emitted along a line extending from a first area 206a to a second area 206b and two signal beams 204e, 204f straddling the boundary between the first area 206a and the second area 206b.In some embodiments, the reader 202 may have multiple pre-programmed signal beam patterns to cover the path from the second area 206b (e.g., "indoor") to the first area 206a (e.g., "outdoor"). Regardless, each of the signal beam patterns is intended to cover the areas of interest (e.g., the first area 206a, the second area 206b) well enough to read the dynamic tags at least twice in each area of ​​interest as the dynamic tags move. within the reader 202's coverage areas without lingering too long in one area, thus avoiding missing other dynamic tags.

[0074] More specifically, the signal beam pattern 200 of [Fig. 2A] may be intended to read dynamic tags in the first area 206a (e.g., "outdoor") and then in the second area 206b (e.g., "indoor"), or vice versa, to signal the direction of travel between areas 206a, 206b. The accuracy of a directionality estimate made by the reader 202 and / or other suitable device(s) is generally a function of the number of times a dynamic tag is read as the tag traverses the coverage areas of the reader 202. In other words, the more frequently the dynamic tag is read as it passes the reader 202, the more likely the reader 202 is to have sufficient bearing estimate samples to produce a correct directionality estimate.Conversely, the less frequently the dynamic tag is read as it passes the reader 202, the less likely the reader 202 is to have enough bearing estimate samples to produce a correct directionality estimate.

[0075] Therefore, optimal positioning of the signal beams 204a-f in the areas of interest (e.g., first area 206a, second area 206b) is of paramount importance to ensure that the dynamic tags are read as often as possible. As previously discussed, reducing the number of spurious tag reads greatly advances these efforts to increase the read frequency of the dynamic tags, and an example of signal beam adjustment 220 configured to reduce spurious tag reads is illustrated in [Fig. 2B]. In particular, [Fig. 2B] illustrates an example of signal beam adjustment 220 relative to the configuration 200 of [Fig. 2A], in accordance with various embodiments described herein.

[0076] When stray tags are within the coverage areas of the signal beams 204a-f, the reader 202 spends time reading these stray tags and reduces the time during which the reader 202 can read the tags of interest (e.g., the dynamic tags). As a result, the reader 202 captures less signal and / or data from the dynamic tags as they move within the coverage areas of the signal beams 204a-f, and generates less accurate direction-of-movement determinations of the dynamic tags. Thus, the challenge faced by the signal beam adjustment example 220 is to limit stray tag reads while still allowing the dynamic tags to be read enough times to allow the reader 202 and / or other suitable device(s) to make accurate direction-of-movement determinations for the dynamic tags.

[0077] Generally, the parasitic tags are not in the path taken by the dynamic tags, and the parasitic tags are in the periphery of the coverage areas of the signal beam pattern. Therefore, the principle of operation of the signal beam adjustment example 220 is to adjust any signal beam 204a-f that captures data from too many parasitic tags in the presumed path of the dynamic tag, so as to reduce the number of parasitic tags being read and provide more reading opportunities for the dynamic tags.

[0078] For example, assume that the first signal beam 204a and the fourth signal beam 204d have both captured data from too many spurious tags (i.e., not meeting the spurious tag threshold), such that the reader 202 and / or one or more other appropriate devices determine that the orientation / direction of the signal beams 204a, 204d needs to be adjusted. In this example, the orientations / directions of the first signal beam 204a and the fourth signal beam 204d may be adjusted by five degrees each (as shown by arrows 222a, 222b). The new orientation / direction of the first signal beam 204a may be zero degrees in the azimuth direction and 40 degrees in the elevation direction, and the new orientation / direction of the fourth signal beam 204d may be 180 degrees in the azimuth direction and 40 degrees in the elevation direction.Of course, it should be noted that the orientation / direction of the signal beams can be adjusted by any desired amount.

[0079] Even small adjustments in signal beam orientation / direction can provide significant improvements in the ratio of stray tag to dynamic tag reads. Illustratively, real-world testing similar to the previous example, representing adjustments in signal beam orientation / direction (e.g., signal beams 204a, 204d) by five degrees, resulted in a reduction in the number of total unique tags read by a reader from 43 to 22. This nearly 50% decrease in the number of unique tag reads represented a substantial decrease in the number of stray tags read by the reader, which therefore represented a significant increase in the time available for the reader to capture / read dynamic tags.

[0080] Additionally, although described herein primarily as a single process, the orientation / direction adjustments on the signal beams may be made iteratively until the reader 202 and / or one or more other devices determine that the signal beams are all optimally oriented. For example, the reader 202 may adjust the orientation / direction of the fourth signal beam 204d by five degrees, as illustrated in [Fig. 2B], and may subsequently determine that the orientation / direction of the fourth signal beam 204d should be further adjusted by five additional degrees and / or any other appropriate value (e.g., one degree, two degrees, ten degrees, etc.) in any appropriate direction(s). The reader 202 may iteratively adjust the orientation / direction of the fourth signal beam 204d as many times as necessary until the signals received by the fourth signal beam 204d satisfy the spurious tag threshold, as described herein.

[0081] Further, in some embodiments, the reader 202 may iteratively adjust the orientation / direction of a signal beam until the reader 202 determines that the signal beam should be disabled. The reader 202 may receive data from a particular signal beam that fails to meet the spurious tag threshold, and the reader 202 may adjust the orientation / direction of the particular signal beam. However, in determining the orientation / direction adjustment, the reader 202 may also determine that the resulting direction or coverage area of ​​the particular signal beam fails to meet a coverage threshold relative to another signal beam.The coverage threshold may generally represent (i) a distance metric below which a signal beam is considered too close to another signal beam, (ii) a coverage area metric above which a signal beam is considered too close to another signal beam, and / or any other suitable metric or combination of metrics. In any event, when the reader 202 determines that the coverage threshold has not been met, the reader 202 may disable the signal beam to be adjusted or the unadjusted signal beam.

[0082] As an example, assume that reader 202 determines that the orientation / direction of first signal beam 204a needs to be adjusted, such that first signal beam 204a becomes substantially closer to second signal beam 204b. After the adjustment, the new orientation / direction of first signal beam 204a would be zero degrees in the azimuth direction and 33 degrees in the elevation direction. Reader 202 may compare (e.g., via beam adjustment algorithm 102b 1 ) the new orientation / direction of first signal beam 204a to the current orientation / direction of second signal beam 204b and determine that first signal beam 204a would have a significant coverage area overlap with second signal beam 204b.In fact, the reader 202 may determine that the distance between the center of the first signal beam 204a and the center of the second signal beam 204b (e.g., 3 degrees in elevation) may be small enough to violate the coverage threshold, and / or that the coverage area overlap between the first signal beam 204a and the second signal beam 204b may be . large enough to violate the coverage threshold. In either case, the reader 202 may equally well determine that the first signal beam 204a or the second signal beam should be disabled to reduce tag reading redundancy, and may disable one of the signal beams 204a, 204b.

[0083] [Fig. 3A] illustrates a first exemplary asset tracking scenario 300 having the signal beam configuration 200 of [Fig. 2A], where the first signal beam 204a is adjusted to reduce the number of stray tags in the first signal beam 204a coverage area, in accordance with various embodiments described herein. More specifically, the first exemplary asset tracking scenario 300 is a truck loading / unloading scenario through a dock door. In a typical truck loading through a dock door scenario, the movable tags become immobile and there is a buildup of layers or "walls" of immobile (i.e., stray) tags, such as the outer layer 302a and the inner layer 302b.Further, in both a loading and unloading scenario, the inner layer 302b is constructed first or removed last, such that the inner layer 302b includes stray labels longer than any other layer.

[0084] Directing a signal beam (e.g., first signal beam 204a) toward inner layer 302b may therefore unnecessarily saturate the signals received by signal beam 204a with stray tag reads. To avoid these problems, reader 202 may adjust the orientation / direction of first signal beam 204a, as illustrated by adjustment 306. Thus, as assets 304 are transported to / from the tag wall, reader 202 may periodically adjust the orientation / direction of first signal beam 204a to avoid placing the first signal beam 204a coverage area on the foremost tag wall layer (e.g., outer layer 302a).Additionally or alternatively, the reader 202 may adjust the orientation / direction of the first signal beam 204a so that only the outermost layer 302a of tags is monitored for wall breakage (i.e., unloading) or accumulation (i.e., loading). In this manner, the reader 202 may reduce the number of stationary tags monitored by any individual signal beam and thereby improve the accuracy of dynamic tag movement detection.

[0085] [Fig. 3B] illustrates a second example asset tracking scenario 310 comprising the signal beam configuration 200 of [Fig. 2A], where one or more signal beams (e.g., the first signal beam 204a and / or the fifth signal beam 204e) are adjusted to reduce the number of spurious tags in the signal beam coverage area, in accordance to various embodiments described herein. More specifically, the second example asset tracking scenario 310 is a retail store entry / exit portal scenario, where the reader 202 can track the directions of travel of tagged items through the entry / exit portal. In such scenarios, stray tags or tags that become immobile are common, and the beam adjustment performed by the reader 202 using the beam adjustment algorithm 102b 1 can help focus the signal beams 204a-f on the dynamic tags.

[0086] As illustrated in [Fig.3B], the fifth signal beam 204e may be initially oriented at least partially in the third zone 206c where multiple stationary assets 312a and corresponding parasitic tags are located. To reduce the impact of these stationary assets 312a, the reader 202 may adjust the orientation / direction of the fifth signal beam 204e, as illustrated by the adjustment 312c. With this adjustment 312c, the fifth signal beam 204e may more frequently capture data from dynamic tags 312b that enter / leave the retail environment through the entry / exit portal.

[0087] Similarly, the first signal beam 204a may initially be oriented far enough outside the entry / exit portal that the first signal beam 204a cannot capture data from many dynamic tags 314a, 314b leaving and / or entering the retail location. To increase the likelihood that the first signal beam 204a can capture dynamic tag data, the reader 202 may adjust the orientation / direction of the first signal beam 204a, as illustrated by adjustment 314c. With this adjustment 314c, the first signal beam 204a may more frequently capture data from dynamic tags 314a, 314b that enter / leave the retail environment through the entry / exit portal.However, in some embodiments, the reader 202 may not adjust the orientation / direction of the first signal beam 204a if, for example, the first signal beam 204a does not capture data from a sufficient number of spurious tags to violate the spurious tag threshold. In other words, in these embodiments, the reader 202 may not adjust the orientation / direction of the signal beams when the spurious tag threshold is not exceeded / is respected.

[0088] [Fig. 4] is a representative flowchart of a method 400 for automated beam adjustment for gate directivity, in accordance with embodiments described herein. In general, and as described herein, the method 400 for automated beam adjustment for gate directivity may cause the server 110, the reader 102 and / or any tag (e.g., tags 106a, 107a, 108a) to determine adjustments of signal beam orientation / direction by evaluating a number of parasitic tags indicated in the data captured by a signal beam, relative to a parasitic tag threshold. More specifically, the method 400 allows the server 110, the reader 102, and the tags (e.g., the tags 106a, 107a, 108a) to enhance / improve the accuracy of dynamic asset / tag tracking by adjusting the direction / orientation of a signal beam based on the number of parasitic tags indicated in the data captured by that signal beam, as described herein. It is understood that all steps of the method 400 may, for example, be performed by the server 110, the reader 102, the tags (e.g., the tags 106a, 107a, 108a), and / or any other suitable component or combination of components described herein.

[0089] In block 402, the method 400 comprises transmitting, by a transceiver configured to transmit a plurality of signal beams that each have a respective coverage area and are oriented in a respective direction, a first signal beam of the plurality of signal beams to a set of tags located in a respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam when the first signal beam is oriented in a first direction. The method 400 further comprises determining, by a beam adjustment algorithm, that a first tag threshold has not been met based on a number of first tags located in the respective first coverage area (block 404). The method 400 further comprises adjusting, by the beam adjustment algorithm, an orientation of the first signal beam from the first direction to a second direction (block 406).

[0090] Further, at block 408, the method 400 includes determining, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that the first label threshold has not been met based on a subsequent number of first labels located in the respective first coverage area. The method 400 further includes iteratively adjusting, by the beam adjustment algorithm, the orientation of the first signal beam to a subsequent direction until the first label threshold is met (block 410).

[0091] In some embodiments, a second number of first tags located in the respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam oriented in the second direction is less than the number of first tags located in the respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam oriented in the first direction.

[0092] In some embodiments, the first direction and the second direction comprise a respective azimuthal component and a respective elevation component, and the method 400 further comprises adjusting the orientation of the first signal beam: by adjusting a respective first azimuthal component of the first direction to a respective second azimuthal component of the second direction; or by adjusting a respective first elevation component of the first direction to a respective second elevation component of the second direction.

[0093] In some embodiments, the first tags correspond to parasitic tags, a second number of dynamic tags are also located in the respective first coverage area when the first signal beam is oriented in the first direction, and the first tag threshold corresponds to a parasitic tag / dynamic tag ratio.

[0094] In some embodiments, the method 400 further comprises determining, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that (i) the second direction or (ii) the respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam fails to meet a coverage threshold with respect to a second signal beam of the plurality of signal beams; and deactivating the first signal beam.

[0095] In some embodiments, the first tags correspond to parasitic tags, and the method 400 further comprises receiving, by the transceiver, a response signal from a respective tag at a first time indicating that the respective tag is within the respective first coverage area; receiving, by the transceiver, a subsequent response signal from the respective tag at a second time that is different from the first time indicating that the respective tag is within the respective first coverage area; and determining, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that the respective tag is a parasitic tag.

[0096] In some embodiments, the method 400 further comprises receiving, by the transceiver, a second response signal from a respective second tag at the first time indicating that the respective second tag is located within the respective first coverage area; receiving, by the transceiver, a third response signal from the respective second tag at the second time indicating that the respective tag is located within a respective second coverage area of ​​a second signal beam of the plurality of signal beams; and determining, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that the respective second tag is a dynamic tag.

[0097] Of course, it should be appreciated that the actions of the method 400 can be performed in any order and any number of times.

[0098] [Fig. 5] is a block diagram representative of an example of a logic circuit capable of implementing an example of methods and / or operations described in the this document. By way of example, the exemplary logic circuit may be able to implement one or more components of the reader 102 of [Fig. 1]. Of course, it should be understood that the exemplary logic circuit may also include and / or access instructions and / or components of other components shown in [Fig. 1] and / or elsewhere in this document, such as the server 110, tags (e.g., tags 106a, 107a, 108a), and the like.

[0099] The exemplary logic circuit of [Fig. 5] is a processing platform 510 capable of executing instructions to implement, for example, the operations of the exemplary methods described herein, as may be represented by the flowcharts in the drawings accompanying this disclosure. Other exemplary logic circuits capable of implementing, for example, the operations of the exemplary methods described herein include field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

[0100] The exemplary processing platform 510 of [Fig. 5] includes a processor 511 such as, for example, one or more microprocessors, controllers, and / or any suitable type of processor. The exemplary processing platform 510 of [Fig. 5] includes a memory (e.g., volatile memory, non-volatile memory) 102b accessible by the processor 511 (e.g., via a memory controller). The exemplary processor 511 interacts with the memory 102b to obtain, for example, machine-readable instructions stored in the memory 102b, for example, corresponding to the operations represented by the flowcharts of the present disclosure. The memory 102b also includes the beam adjustment algorithm 102b1 that is accessible by the exemplary processor 511.

[0101] The beam adjustment algorithm 102bl may include rule-based instructions configured, for example, to cause the exemplary processor 511 to analyze data received from tags to determine adjustments and / or to adjust orientations / directions of signal beams emitted by the reader 102. More specifically, the beam adjustment algorithm 102bl may include rule-based instructions configured to cause the exemplary processor 511 to analyze data packets and / or information extracted, captured, and / or derived from the data packets to determine a number of spurious tags within the coverage area of ​​any signal beam emitted by the reader 102.The beam adjustment algorithm 102b 1 may further include rule-based instructions configured, for example, to cause the example processor 511 to determine whether the number of spurious tags captured by a particular signal beam exceeds and / or fails to meet the spurious tag threshold, and . to determine and cause an adjustment in the direction / orientation of the particular signal beam that reduces the number of captured spurious tags.

[0102] For illustrative purposes, the exemplary processor 511 may access the memory 102b to execute, reference, and / or interpret the beam adjustment algorithm 102b1 upon receiving data packets from a nearby tag. Additionally or alternatively, machine-readable instructions corresponding to the exemplary operations described herein may be stored on one or more removable media (e.g., a compact disc, a digital versatile disc, removable flash memory, etc.) that may be coupled to the processing platform 510 to provide access to the machine-readable instructions stored therein.

[0103] The exemplary processing platform 510 of [Fig. 5] also includes a radio transceiver 513 to enable communication with other machines, for example via one or more networks. The exemplary radio transceiver 513 includes any type of suitable communication interface (e.g., wired and / or wireless interfaces) configured to operate in accordance with any suitable protocol (e.g., Ethernet for wired communications, and / or BLE or IEEE 802.11 for wireless communications).

[0104] The exemplary processing platform 510 of [Fig. 5] also includes input / output (I / O) interfaces 512 to enable user input to be received and output data to be communicated to the user. These user inputs and communications may include, for example, any number of keyboards, mice, USB drives, optical drives, displays, touchscreens, etc.

[0105] Further, the exemplary processing platform 510 may be connected to a remote server 520. The remote server 520 may include one or more remote processors 522, and may be configured to execute instructions, for example, to implement the operations of the exemplary methods described herein, as may be represented by the flowcharts in the drawings accompanying this disclosure. Additional Considerations

[0106] The above description refers to a block diagram of the accompanying drawings. Other implementations of the example represented by the block diagram include one or more additional or alternative elements, processes, and / or devices. Additionally, or alternatively, one or more of the example blocks of the block diagram may be combined, divided, rearranged, or omitted. The components represented by the blocks of the block diagram are implemented by hardware, software, firmware, and / or any combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware. In some examples, at least one of the components represented by the blocks is implemented by a logic circuit. In In this document, the term "logic circuit" is expressly defined as a physical device comprising at least one hardware component configured (e.g., by operation in accordance with a predetermined configuration and / or by execution of stored machine-readable instructions) to control one or more machines and / or to perform operations of one or more machines. Examples of logic circuits include one or more processors, one or more coprocessors, one or more microprocessors, one or more controllers, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), one or more microcontroller units (MCUs), one or more hardware accelerators, one or more special-purpose computer chips, and one or more system-on-chip (SoC) devices.Some example logic circuits, such as ASICs or FPGAs, are hardware specifically configured to perform operations (e.g., one or more of the operations described herein and represented by the flowcharts in this disclosure, if any). Some example logic circuits are hardware that executes machine-readable instructions to perform operations (e.g., one or more of the operations described herein and represented by the flowcharts in this disclosure, if any). Some example logic circuits include a combination of specifically configured hardware and hardware that executes machine-readable instructions. The above description refers to various operations described herein and the flowcharts that may be attached to illustrate the flow of these operations.All of these flowcharts are representative of exemplary methods disclosed herein. In some examples, the methods represented by the flowcharts implement the apparatus represented by the block diagrams. Other implementations of the exemplary methods disclosed herein may include additional or alternative operations. Furthermore, the operations of the alternative implementations of the methods disclosed herein may be combined, divided, rearranged, or omitted. In some examples, the operations described herein are implemented by machine-readable instructions (e.g., software and / or firmware) stored on a medium (e.g., a tangible machine-readable medium) for execution by one or more logic circuits (e.g., one or more processors).In some examples, the operations described in this document are implemented by one or more configurations of one or more specifically designed logic circuits (e.g., ASICs). In some examples, the operations described in this document are implemented by . a combination of a specifically designed logic circuit or circuits and machine-readable instructions stored on a medium (e.g., a tangible machine-readable medium) to be executed by the logic circuit or circuits.

[0107] As used herein, each of the terms "tangible machine-readable medium", "non-transitory machine-readable medium", and "machine-readable storage device" is expressly defined as a storage medium (e.g., a platter of a hard disk drive, a digital versatile disc, a compact disc, flash memory, read-only memory, random access memory, etc.) on which machine-readable instructions (e.g., program code in the form of software and / or firmware, for example) are stored for an appropriate period of time (e.g., permanently, for an extended period of time (e.g., during execution of a program associated with the machine-readable instructions), and / or for a short period of time (e.g., while the machine-readable instructions are cached and / or during a buffering process)).Further, as used herein, each of the terms "tangible machine-readable medium", "non-transitory machine-readable medium", and "machine-readable storage device" is expressly defined to exclude propagating signals.

[0108] Furthermore, in this document, relational terms such as first and second, top and bottom, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying an actual relationship or order between those entities or actions. The terms "includes," "comprising," "has," "having," "comprises," "comprising," "contains," "containing," or any other variation thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that includes, has, comprises, contains a list of elements does not only include those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent in that process, method, article, or apparatus. An element preceded by "includes...a," "has...a," "comprises...a," "contains...a" does not exclude, without further constraints, the existence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or apparatus that comprises, has, comprises, contains the element. The terms "a" "an" and "of" are defined as one or more, unless explicitly stated otherwise herein. The terms "substantially", "essentially", "approximately", "about" or any other version of these terms are defined as being close to what is understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art, and in one non-limiting embodiment, the term is defined as being within 10%, in another embodiment within 5%, in another embodiment within 1% and in another embodiment within 0.5% The term "coupled", as it is . used herein, is defined as being connected, although not necessarily directly or mechanically. A device or structure that is "configured" in a certain way is configured at least in that way, but may also be configured in a way not mentioned.

Claims

Claims

1. An assembly comprising: a transceiver (102a) configured to transmit a plurality of signal beams which each have a respective coverage area and which are oriented in a respective direction; one or more processors (102c);and one or more memories communicatively coupled to the one or more processors (102c) storing a beam adjustment algorithm and instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors (102c), cause the assembly to: -transmit, by the transceiver (102a), a first signal beam of the plurality of signal beams to a set of tags located in a respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam when the first signal beam is oriented in a first direction, -determine, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that a first tag threshold has not been met based on a number of first tags located in the respective first coverage area, and -adjust, by the beam adjustment algorithm, an orientation of the first signal beam from the first direction to a second direction.;

2. An assembly according to claim 1, wherein a second number of first tags located in the respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam oriented in the second direction is less than the number of first tags located in the respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam oriented in the first direction.

3. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the first direction and the second direction have a respective azimuthal component and a respective elevation component, and the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors (102c), further cause the assembly to adjust the orientation of the first signal beam: by adjusting a respective first azimuthal component of the first direction to a respective second azimuthal component of the second direction; or by adjusting a respective first elevation component of the first direction to a respective second elevation component of the second direction.

4. An assembly according to claim 1, wherein the first tags correspond to parasitic tags, a second number of dynamic tags are also located in the respective first coverage area when the first signal beam is oriented in the first direction, and the first tag threshold corresponds to a parasitic tag / dynamic tag ratio.

5. The assembly of claim 1, wherein, after adjusting the orientation of the first signal beam to the second direction, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors (102c), further cause the assembly to: (a) determine, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that the first label threshold has not been met based on a subsequent number of first labels located in the respective first coverage area; (b) adjust, by the beam adjustment algorithm, the orientation of the first signal beam to a subsequent direction; and perform steps (a) and (b) iteratively until the first label threshold is met.

6. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors (102c), further cause the assembly to: determine, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that (i) the second direction or (ii) the respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam fails to meet a coverage threshold with respect to a second signal beam of the plurality of signal beams; and deactivate the first signal beam.

7. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the first labels correspond to parasitic labels, and the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors (102c), further cause the assembly to: receiving, by the transceiver (102a), a response signal from a respective tag at a first time indicating that the respective tag is within the respective first coverage area; receiving, by the transceiver (102a), a subsequent response signal from the respective tag at a second time that is different from the first time indicating that the respective tag is within the respective first coverage area; and determining, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that the respective tag is a parasitic tag.

8. The assembly of claim 7, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors (102c), further cause the assembly to: receive, by the transceiver (102a), a second response signal from a respective second tag at the first time indicating that the respective second tag is within the respective first coverage area; receive, by the transceiver (102a), a third response signal from the respective second tag at the second time indicating that the respective tag is within a respective second coverage area of ​​a second signal beam of the plurality of signal beams; and determine, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that the respective second tag is a dynamic tag.

9. A method comprising the steps of: transmitting, by a transceiver (102a) configured to transmit a plurality of signal beams that each have a respective coverage area and are oriented in a respective direction, a first signal beam of the plurality of signal beams to a set of tags located in a respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam when the first signal beam is oriented in a first direction; determining, by a beam adjustment algorithm, that a first tag threshold has not been met based on a number of first tags located in the respective first coverage area; and adjusting, by the beam adjustment algorithm, an orientation of the first signal beam from the first direction to a second direction.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein a second number of first tags located in the respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam oriented in the second direction is less than the number of first tags located in the respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam oriented in the first direction.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the first direction and the second direction have a respective azimuthal component and a respective elevation component, and the method further comprises adjusting the orientation of the first signal beam by: adjusting a respective first azimuthal component of the first direction to a respective second azimuthal component of the second direction; or adjusting a respective first elevation component of the first direction to a respective second elevation component of the second direction.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the first tags correspond to parasitic tags, a second number of dynamic tags are also located in the respective first coverage area when the first signal beam is oriented in the first direction, and the first tag threshold corresponds to a parasitic tag / dynamic tag ratio.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein, after adjusting the orientation of the first signal beam to the second direction, the method further comprises the steps of: (a) determining, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that the first label threshold has not been met based on a subsequent number of first labels located in the respective first coverage area; (b) adjusting, by the beam adjustment algorithm, the orientation of the first signal beam to a subsequent direction; and performing steps (a) and (b) iteratively until the first label threshold is met.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of: determining, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that (i) the second direction or (ii) the respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam fails to meet a coverage threshold with respect to a second signal beam of the plurality of signal beams; and deactivating the first signal beam.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the first tags correspond to parasitic tags, and the method further comprises the steps of: receiving, by the transceiver (102a), a response signal from a respective tag at a first time indicating that the respective tag is located in the respective first coverage area; receiving, by the transceiver (102a), a subsequent response signal from the respective tag at a second time that is different from the first time indicating that the respective tag is located in the respective first coverage area; and determining, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that the respective tag is a parasitic tag.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the steps of: receiving, by the transceiver (102a), a second response signal from a respective second tag at the first time indicating that the respective second tag is within the respective first coverage area; receiving, by the transceiver (102a), a third response signal from the respective second tag at the second time indicating that the respective tag is within a respective second coverage area of ​​a second signal beam of the plurality of signal beams; and determining, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that the respective second tag is a dynamic tag.

17. A tangible machine-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least: transmit, by a transceiver (102a) configured to transmit a plurality of signal beams which each have a respective coverage area and which are oriented in a respective direction, a first signal beam of the plurality of signal beams to a set of tags located in a respective first coverage area of ​​the first signal beam when the first signal beam is oriented in a first direction; determining, by a beam adjustment algorithm, that a first tag threshold has not been met based on a number of first tags located in the respective first coverage area; and adjusting, by the beam adjustment algorithm, an orientation of the first signal beam from the first direction to a second direction.

18. The machine-readable tangible medium of claim 17, wherein the first direction and the second direction comprise a respective azimuthal component and a respective elevation component, and the instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to adjust the orientation of the first signal beam by: adjusting a respective first azimuthal component of the first direction to a respective second azimuthal component of the second direction; or adjusting a respective first elevation component of the first direction to a respective second elevation component of the second direction.

19. The machine-readable tangible medium of claim 17, wherein the first tags correspond to parasitic tags, a second number of dynamic tags are also located in the respective first coverage area when the first signal beam is oriented in the first direction, and the first tag threshold corresponds to a parasitic tag / dynamic tag ratio.

20. The machine-readable tangible medium of claim 17, wherein, after adjusting the orientation of the first signal beam to the second direction, the instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to: (a) determine, by the beam adjustment algorithm, that the first label threshold has not been met based on a subsequent number of first labels located in the respective first coverage area; (b) adjusting, by the beam adjustment algorithm, the orientation of the first signal beam to a subsequent direction; and performing steps (a) and (b) iteratively until the first label threshold is satisfied.

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