Apparatus for intercepting consumer wireless communications, systems including same, and methods of use thereof

Abstract

Described herein are consumer or consumer-based devices, systems including same, and methods of use that, in their basic or existing state or configuration, are unable to intercept and decode radio frequency (RF) signals, but when modified as described herein, can intercept RF signals from one or more excited / interrogated RFID tags. In some embodiments, the devices are modified to include a software controller that limits the antenna's functionality to receive only, and modulates and defines the intercepted RF signals generated by the interrogated RFID tag or label. In some embodiments, the software controller collects target frequencies and modulates the receiver filtering for data communication.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] (CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS) This application claims the benefit of co-pending U.S. provisional patent applications Ser. No. 63 / 337,907, filed May 3, 2022, Ser. No. 63 / 382,319, filed November 4, 2022, and Ser. No. 63 / 479,477, filed January 11, 2023, the disclosures of each of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0002] Generally, aspects of the present invention relate to the field of consumer-based or consumer-directed handheld mobile devices, and more specifically, to consumer-based or consumer-directed handheld mobile devices that can intercept and decrypt or decode radio frequency signals or communications containing electronic product codes (EPCs) and / or other product / item specific data. [Background technology]

[0003] Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are increasingly being used to provide item level or product specific data. Such data includes electronic product code (EPC), track and trace, inventory control, sustainability data (origin or raw materials, sustainable manufacturing process, etc.), brand authentication / anti-counterfeiting, anti-theft, etc. Typically, such information is available to a user by scanning the RFID tag with an appropriate handheld and / or fixed reader. RFID tags may contain further digital triggers that can direct or redirect a user to a website or other resource to obtain product specific information.

[0004] Currently, consumer use of such data to obtain product-specific information typically involves scanning a QR code and being directed to the retail brand owner's website, as traditional consumer or consumer-based mobile devices such as cell phones, tablets, and smart watches can read certain digital triggers such as QR codes, but cannot directly read RFID tags.

[0005] There is a need for a consumer-directed or consumer-based device that can intercept radio frequency (RF) signals from a product's RFID tag to obtain EPC or other product data and associate that data with known product data in order to obtain various types of information about the product.

[0006] There is a need for a consumer-directed or consumer-based device that can intercept radio frequency (RF) signals from a product's RFID tag to obtain EPC or other product data and correlate that data with known product data to obtain various types of information about the product without the need for expensive and / or complex hardware.

[0007] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a consumer-directed or consumer-based device that can intercept radio frequency (RF) signals from a product's RFID tag to obtain EPC or other product data and correlate that data with known product data in order to obtain various types of information about the product.

[0008] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a consumer directed or consumer based device that can intercept radio frequency (RF) signals from a product's RFID tag to obtain EPC or other product data and correlate that data with known product data to obtain various types of information about the product without the need for expensive and / or complex hardware.

[0009] Aspects of the present invention address the above-mentioned and other deficiencies of existing consumer or consumer-based device implementations by providing a solution that provides the above-mentioned functionality and does not require expensive or complex hardware components or difficult modifications. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the interrogation of an RFID reader with an RFID tag or label associated with an item or product. [Diagram 2] 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating components of a mobile device, such as a cell phone, and their interaction with an RF signal generated by an interrogated RFID tag or label. [Diagram 3] 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating components of a mobile device, such as a cell phone, and their interaction with an RF signal generated by an interrogated RFID tag or label. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating referencing intercepted data for an item or product with known data for the item or product. [Figure 5A] 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the relationship between a radio frequency (RF) signal and a radio frequency (RF) signal unique identification (ID) associated with a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag or label. [Figure 5B] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the conversion of an RF signal generated by an RFID tag or label into a unique binary ID. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic Air Listener configuration. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 illustrates the read range of the basic Air Listener configuration. [Figure 8] 1 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of one method of obtaining item specific information using an intercepted data signal. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the various embodiments described herein. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the disclosed embodiments or to delineate the scope of such embodiments. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the disclosed invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

[0012] Described herein are consumer or consumer-based devices, particularly mobile devices that in their basic or conventional state or configuration are not capable of intercepting and decrypting / decoding radio frequency (RF) signals, but when modified as described herein, are capable of intercepting RF signals from one or more excited / interrogated RFID tags, systems including the same, and methods of use thereof. In some embodiments, the devices are consumer or consumer-based handheld devices or headsets, such as mobile phones, tablets, smart watches, other mobile or wearable smart devices, etc. In other embodiments, the devices are stationary devices that are permanently affixed or tethered to a surface, such as a retail store or other suitable location. Thus, in the context of the present invention, the term "consumer or consumer-based device" (or simply "consumer device" or "device") is intended to include any of the above-mentioned devices that are used or operated by a consumer, and thus includes familiar products such as handheld devices such as cellular radiotelephones, satellite phones or other mobile phones, tablet or laptop computers, personal digital assistants, smart watches, or other mobile or wearable smart devices, headsets, and wearable electronic devices, or any fixed device attached to, integrated into, resident on, or used in connection with a surface, kiosk, control panel, or other structure (such as a suitable location or retail store where RFID tag interrogation may be useful) or any electronic component that embodies or includes any of the above-mentioned devices, alone or in combination.

[0013] In some embodiments, the device is modified to include a software controller. In some embodiments, the software controller modulates or controls (e.g., limits) the functionality of the antenna to receive only and to decode and decode the intercepted RF signal generated by the interrogated RFID tag or label. This component is shown in FIG. 2 as "Software Control" (also called "Software Controller"). When the functionality of the mobile device is modified to receive only, the signal from the RFID tag (e.g., RFID UHF Gen2 tag) excited / interrogated by the current RFID exciter / reader transmits a signal that can be received and decoded / decoded by the mobile (or fixed) consumer device.

[0014] In some embodiments, the software controller collects the target frequency and modulates the receiver filtering for data communication. Examples of data that can be communicated include or relate to, but are not limited to, Electronic Product Code (EPC), other product data, brand authentication / anti-counterfeiting data, anti-theft alarms / notifications, etc. Once the data is collected, the device decrypts / decodes the data into the data transmitted by the RFID tag. The data can be stored in the retail store or other suitable location on the device itself, on a local device such as a laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet, or in a cloud or other accessible data repository such as a connected product cloud such as atma.io provided by Avery Dennison.

[0015] In some embodiments, software in the device (mobile or fixed) recognizes signal (e.g., EPC signal) modulation between the RF transponder and the exciter / reader. The software identifies the modulation it is looking for and filters out other signal modulations and other RF signals outside of defined thresholds, including but not limited to signal strength, frequency, and modulation. In some embodiments, the software is designed as described above, and the software may further include machine learning to adapt to the environment and modify thresholds to improve performance and efficiency. In some embodiments, the software is designed as described above, and the software leverages cloud data to support setting of thresholds. In some embodiments, the software is designed as described above, and the software modifies the operation of the receive antenna.

[0016] In other embodiments, software within the device (mobile or stationary) recognizes the signal (e.g., EPC signal) as a BLE signal transmitted by an exciter / reader. The exciter / reader receives the EPC from the transponder (RFID tag) and broadcasts the EPC as a BLE signal. Software within the device receives the BLE signal. Once data is collected, the device utilizes local or cloud data to display other metadata. Metadata can be stored on the device itself, on a local device such as a laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet, or on a cloud or other accessible data repository, such as a connected product cloud such as atma.io provided by Avery Dennison, at the retail store or other suitable location. Other signal types can be used, including but not limited to UHF Gen2, BLE, WiFi, and / or UWB. In other embodiments, the signal type is collected as it is transmitted between an exciter and a transponder, where the exciter operates with the same signal type. In some embodiments, a second signal type is used by a consumer to purchase an item at a point of sale (POS).

[0017] In some embodiments, the device with software and / or hardware measures at least RF noise, population of RFID tags in the reading field, and / or personal preferences of the user, including the conditions mentioned above. In some embodiments, the device may communicate with a nearby RF exciter (reader) via known or standard data communication protocols such as Bluetooth, WiFi, WAN, IR, or other known methods, and communicate environmental conditions or setting recommendations to the exciter / reader. In this way, the exciter / reader receives the setting recommendation and / or environmental condition information and changes settings in the reader to complement the environment. Such settings could be power levels, Gen2 reader modes, sessions, tag filtering by EPC, state management of Gen2 A and B tags, or other known RF reader device settings, and can respond to environmental conditions, including but not limited to RF noise. In other embodiments, the reader reads the unique ID of the RFID tag via RF and broadcasts the unique ID via Bluetooth / BLE. In some embodiments, the device is a conventional mobile phone that includes a component that intercepts RF signals and a Bluetooth / BLE component.

[0018] Also described are systems that include the devices and use the methods described herein. In some embodiments, the systems include an RFID reader or exciter that initiates communication with an RFID transponder. The reader / exciter transmits an RF communication / signal to the transponder / tag and backscatters a return signal along a communication path. The mobile device has a tunable receiver that is tuned by a software controller to intercept communications along that path.

[0019] The RFID reader can be any RFID reader known in the industry, including but not limited to an overhead reader, a fixed reader such as a smart shelf, or a mobile reader such as a handheld reader, and can be a low-cost device such as an exciter that initiates signal exchange along a path but does not perform the more complex and / or expensive tasks such as software, data storage, socket communication, etc. that existing RFID readers can perform.

[0020] Signals traveling through the data path are generally controlled by standard communication protocols, including but not limited to Gen2 UHF, WiFi, Bluetooth (e.g., BLE), LAN, IR, etc. Such signals may be heard or sensed by other communication devices, such as cell phones, tablets, etc. The attachment device may be made to work with existing devices, such as cell phones. Software-defined communication of existing hardware is included herein to leverage standard telephone components to intercept data on the communication path and receive that data at the mobile device.

[0021] Also described are methods of intercepting item level or item specific data, such as EPC and other product data, using the devices and systems described herein. In some embodiments, the methods include using a mobile or fixed device described herein to intercept an RF signal transmitted by an RFID tag that is excited or interrogated by an RFID reader or exciter. The interception can be performed using a software controller alone or in combination with hardware / software.

[0022] Various disclosed embodiments and other aspects will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0023] In accordance with some aspects of the disclosed invention, an apparatus generally includes a modem enabling bidirectional data communication with a remote system according to a short-range communication protocol, a transmitter operative in conjunction with the modem to transmit data to the remote system, a receiver operative in conjunction with the modem to receive data signals from the remote system, an antenna driver operative in conjunction with the modem to selectively tune the antenna to receive data signals from the remote system in a particular frequency range, and a software controller, where the software controller is configured and operative to modulate a filtering operation at the receiver such that the receiver collects and decodes data signals at one or more target radio frequency (RF) bands generated by an interrogated RFID tag. The apparatus is disclosed as further including a digital controller configured and operative to process signal processing procedures including one of converting data signals between analog and digital, performing RF filtering and signal conditioning at low band frequencies below a selected frequency threshold, and equalizing and modifying the data signal to account for multipath effects. Such an apparatus may further include a clock generator configured and operative to control a voltage used to power the apparatus.

[0024] In some implementations, the software controller is configured and operative to limit the functionality of the receiver to receive only.Disclosed are embodiments in which the device is selected from the group consisting of a mobile phone, a tablet computing device, or a smart watch, the data signal includes an Electronic Product Code (EPC), and the data signal further includes additional item-specific data associated with an item having an RFID tag attached thereto, the additional item-specific data including brand authentication information.

[0025] In accordance with another aspect of the disclosed invention, in general, a system includes an apparatus as described herein and an RFID reader configured and operative to excite an interrogated RFID tag such that the interrogated RFID tag generates a data signal, the reader being selected from the group consisting of an overhead reader, a tunnel reader, a handheld reader, a smart shelf, a robotic reader, or combinations thereof, and in disclosed embodiments, the reader is an exciter.

[0026] According to another aspect of the disclosed invention, a method of reading radio frequency (RF) data signals generated by an interrogated radio frequency identification (RFID) tag attached to an item or product using an apparatus, generally includes using the apparatus to intercept data signals generated by the RFID tag, selectively filtering received data signals in a particular frequency range in response to use, and decoding the data signals to identify item-specific information. Some such methods are disclosed in which the apparatus is selected from the group consisting of a mobile phone, a tablet computing device, or a smart watch, and the item-specific information is an Electronic Product Code (EPC), and the apparatus intercepts data signals of a plurality of products.

[0027] Some such methods are disclosed where the item specific information is compared to known data for a particular item, said known data being hosted locally on the device or at a remote location. Some such methods are disclosed where the known data is hosted in a network accessible remote data repository, said known data being hosted on a connected product platform. In some disclosed methods, the item specific information is compared to known data via a standard communication protocol. Additionally or alternatively, in some methods, the standard communication protocol is selected from the group consisting of Gen2 UHF, WiFi, or BLE.

[0028] According to yet another aspect of the disclosed invention, a method generally includes intercepting a data signal generated by an RFID tag, selectively filtering the received data signal in a particular frequency range in response to the interception, decoding the data signal to identify item-specific information, and providing the item-specific information to a device for subsequent processing. The providing step includes transmitting the item-specific information to a device selected from the group consisting of a mobile phone, a tablet computing device, or a smart watch, and in some cases, the providing step includes transmitting an Electronic Product Code (EPC). According to some methods, the device intercepts the data signals of a plurality of products.

[0029] Methods are known that further include comparing the item specific information to known data relating to the particular item, where the known data is hosted locally on the device or remotely, and / or where the known data is hosted in a network accessible remote data repository. As with other implementations described above, the selectively filtering step may generally include filtering a selected frequency range from a set of frequencies used by one of Gen2 UHF, WiFi, and BLE.

[0030] Detailed Description Described herein are consumer directed or consumer based devices, systems including same, and methods of using same that can intercept radio frequency (RF) signals from one or more (e.g., a plurality) interrogated radio frequency identification (RFID) tags or labels. In some embodiments, the consumer directed or consumer based device intercepts RF signals from one or more objects. The device, or a data repository in which the device combines known data, can provide a user interface to allow a consumer to select a product of interest from a plurality of products.

[0031] I. Equipment Described herein is a device for intercepting radio frequency (RF) communications. In some embodiments, the device is used by a consumer at a retail store to obtain information about a product. In some embodiments, the device is a mobile device, such as a mobile phone, tablet, smart watch, etc. In other embodiments, the device is a stationary device that intercepts signals as described herein. In yet other embodiments, the device is a wearable device, such as a smart watch, smart glasses, smart headphones, etc.

[0032] An RFID reader, such as an Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Gen2 reader, transmits and receives simultaneously. The receiving antenna is fully powered while receiving the transmission from the transponder. This is most commonly done with the same antenna, but a bistatic antenna configuration (transmitting and receiving antennas) can also be used. A schematic diagram of an RFID reader and how it interacts with RFID tags for item level association is shown in FIG. 1. The reader 110 includes various components shown on the left side of FIG. 1. The right side of FIG. 1 shows the interaction between an RFID tag 199 and the reader 110. The reader 110 sends a query (reference number 1) to excite or interrogate the tag 199. In the case of a passive RFID tag, this query 1 wakes up the tag 199 and provides it with the energy it needs to communicate with the reader 110. The RFID tag 199 transmits a response signal (reference number 2). The reader 110 transmits a confirmation signal (reference number 3). The tag 199 transmits EPC and / or other item or product information (merchant code, country of origin code, etc. as shown at reference number 4). The reader 110 transmits a confirmation signal (reference number 5). The RFID tag 199 transmits a handle (reference number 6). The reader 110 transmits an operating command (reference number 7).

[0033] For example, existing mobile devices such as mobile phones, tablets, smart watches, etc., include any of the components shown to the left of Tx (reference number 111) and Rx (reference number 112) in Figure 1. However, such devices do not include the components shown to the right of Tx 111 and Rx 112 in Figure 1.

[0034] The devices described herein utilize mobile or handheld devices (e.g., phones, tablets, smart watches, etc.) and / or fixed devices to receive frequency shifts in known frequency bandwidths without the need for a transmitter inherently built into the device. A further device with a transmitter and receiver can be used to initiate a protocol with the transponder.

[0035] A. Mobile Device Components Any consumer-based mobile, wearable, or stationary device may be used with the devices described herein. In some embodiments, the consumer-based mobile device is a mobile phone. In other embodiments, the mobile or wearable device is a smart watch or tablet.

[0036] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing components of a typical mobile phone. A typical modern mobile phone (e.g., a smartphone) as shown by reference number 210 includes an internal modem 218 that functions if the user subscribes to a compatible service plan. The mobile phone 210 can connect to nearby devices via wired (e.g., USB) or wireless (e.g., WiFi, Bluetooth® (BTE)) communication protocols. The mobile phone 210 may also include a receiver 212 and a transmitter 211 that receive and transmit radio frequency signals, respectively. An antenna driver 219 controls or modulates an antenna (not shown in FIG. 2). The mobile phone 210 further includes a digital controller 217 that handles all signal processing. Examples of signal processing include signal conversion between analog and digital, radio frequency filtering at low frequencies and signal conditioning, equalization and modification for multipath effects. Finally, the mobile phone 210 includes a voltage reference / clock generator 213 that manages the voltage used to power the mobile phone 210.

[0037] B. Software Control / Controller The devices described herein further include a software control (also referred to as a "software controller" shown in FIG. 2 at reference number 215) that limits the functionality of the antenna to receive only and decodes / intercepted signals generated by the interrogated RFID tag or label. By changing the functionality of the mobile device 210 to receive only, signals excited / interrogated by the current RFID reader 110 or 210 etc. (e.g., signals from an RFID UHF Gen2 tag) transmit signals that can be received and decoded / intercoded by the mobile (or fixed) device 210.

[0038] A software controller 215 modulates or controls the filtering of the receiver 210 to collect target frequencies and data communications. Once data is collected, the device 210 decodes / parses the data into the EPC / product data transmitted by the RFID tag 199. The EPC / product data can be stored on the device 210 itself, on a local device such as a laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet, or in the cloud or other accessible data repository.

[0039] In some embodiments, software (reference number 210) in a handheld device, smartphone, fixed receiver, etc. recognizes the EPC signal modulation between an RF transponder and an exciter / reader (reference number 260). The software (reference number 215) identifies the modulation it is looking for and filters out other signal modulations and other RF signals of defined thresholds, which may include, but are not limited to, signal strength, frequency, and modulation.

[0040] In some embodiments, the software 215 is designed as described above, and the software 215 may further include machine learning to adapt to the environment and modify thresholds to improve performance and efficiency. In some embodiments, the software 215 is designed as described above, and the software 215 leverages cloud data to support setting thresholds. In some embodiments, the software 215 is designed as described above, and the software 215 modifies the operation of the receive antennas.

[0041] In some embodiments, the device 210 with the software 215 and / or hardware measures at least RF noise, number of RFID tags in the read space, personal preferences of the user including these and other environmental conditions. The device 210 communicates with a nearby RF exciter or reader (e.g., reference number 260) via Bluetooth, WiFi, WAN, IR or other known methods to communicate environmental conditions or setting recommendations to the exciter / reader 260. The exciter / reader 260 then receives setting recommendations or receives the environmental condition communication and changes settings in the reader to compensate for the environment. Such settings may be power levels, Gen2 reader modes, sessions, tag filtering by EPC, state management of Gen2 A and B tags, or other known RF reader device settings to accommodate environmental conditions including, but not limited to, RF noise.

[0042] In another embodiment, software 215 in device (mobile or stationary) 210 recognizes the signal (e.g., EPC signal) as a BLE signal transmitted by exciter / reader 260. The exciter / reader 260 receives the EPC from a transponder (RFID tag 199) and broadcasts the EPC as a BLE signal. Software 215 in device 210 receives the BLE signal. Once data is collected, device 210 utilizes local or cloud data to display other metadata. Metadata can be stored on device 210 itself at the retail store or other suitable location, on a local device such as a laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet, or on a cloud or other accessible data repository such as a connected product cloud such as atma.io provided by Avery Dennison. Other signal types can also be used, including but not limited to UHF Gen2, BLE, WiFi, and / or UWB. In alternative embodiments, the signal type is collected during transmission between the exciter 260 and the transponder, and the exciter 260 operates on the same signal type. In some embodiments, the second signal type is used by a consumer to purchase an item at a point of sale (POS).

[0043] II. System Systems are also contemplated that include the devices and use the methods described herein. A schematic diagram of an exemplary system is shown in FIG. 3. In some embodiments, the system 300 includes an RFID reader or exciter (reference number 310) that initiates communication with an RFID transponder 360 (also referred to as an RFID tag 199). The reader / exciter 310 transmits an RF communication / signal (reference number 340) to the transponder / tag 199, which in turn backscatters a return signal along a communication path indicated by reference number 350. The mobile device 210 has a tunable receiver 212 that is tuned by a software controller 215 to intercept the communication 350 along its path as shown in FIG. 3.

[0044] The RFID reader 310 can be any RFID reader known in the art, including but not limited to an overhead reader, a fixed reader such as a smart shelf, or a mobile reader such as a handheld reader, and the RFID reader 310 initiates signal exchange along a path 340 but does not include complex elements or perform the more complex and / or expensive tasks such as software, data storage, socket communication, etc. that conventional RFID readers perform.

[0045] In general, signals traveling over data path 340 are governed by standard communication protocols. Standard communication protocols are known in the art and include, but are not limited to, WiFi, Bluetooth (e.g., BLE), and the like. Such signals can be heard by other communication devices (reference number 210), such as cell phones, tablets, and the like. The attachment device can be made to work with existing devices, such as cell phones 210. Software-defined communication of existing hardware is included herein to leverage standard telephony components to intercept data on communication path 350 and receive that data at mobile terminal 210.

[0046] As described above, data collected from the RFID tag 199 / 360 can be associated with known data about the item or product, such as the EPC and other product data. This association can be done locally hosted on the device 210 itself (e.g., a retailer's laptop, desktop, or tablet) or via a connected cloud-based application such as Product Cloud. The EPC / product data is referenced to the known data association in the cloud, the local device 210, and / or other accessible data repository via standard data communication protocols, e.g., WiFi, BLE, etc. A schematic diagram of an exemplary known data association is shown in FIG. 4. An RFID reader / exciter 260 interrogates the RFID tag 199 / 360, which generates an RF signal that is intercepted by the device 210 as described herein. The device 210 transmits the data to a data repository, such as a connected Product Cloud or other cloud-based application (reference number 490). The cloud-based application 490 then transmits the product data, customer engagement performance, reference data, etc. to the consumer via the device 210.

[0047] III. How to intercept data Also disclosed are methods of intercepting item level or item specific data, such as EPC or other product data, using the devices and systems described herein. In some embodiments, the methods include using a mobile / wearable or stationary device 210 described herein to intercept RF signals transmitted by an RFID tag 199 / 360 that is excited or interrogated by an RFID reader or exciter 260.

[0048] FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram showing that the RF signal generated by the RFID tag 199 / 360 carries a pattern that is directly related to the unique identification (ID) encoded on or within the RFID tag 199 / 360. Every unique RFID tag ID is a variation of Frequency Shift Keying (FSK). The frequencies shown here are not the frequencies generated by the reader 260, e.g., 900 MHz, but rather the tag (baseband) frequencies, e.g., 100-200 kHz. A binary "1" can be coded by flipping the state of the tag 100 times / ms, and a binary "0" can be flipped 50 times / ms (FIG. 5B). The frequency that is changed is the frequency at which the carrier is amplitude modulated, so such an approach is sometimes called subcarrier modulation.

[0049] Working Example Example 1. Example of an Air Listener Device A software defined radio (SDR) with specifications similar to mass-produced cell phone chips with air listening capabilities was built and tested. The device wirelessly located the tag 199 / 360 at 1 meter and the reader 260 at 2 meters from the antenna 661 with a reporting delay of less than 1 second. Based on these results, the cell phone 210 soft radio using a 10-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) with a sample rate of 3 megasamples per second (MSPS), a tunable center frequency from 902 to 928 MHz, and a 10 dB noise figure, is capable of decoding the backscatter (EPC) of a Max Miller RFID tag at least 1 meter from the tag and 2 meters from the reader 260 on a fixed channel.

[0050] Example 2. Verification of reading range A Speedway R700 (e.g., exciter 260) transmitting at 22 dBm connected to a Laird S9025PR 5.5 DbiC antenna (reference number 661) was mounted on a tripod one meter from the Avery Dennison (AD)-237r6 tag 199 / 360 and two meters from a 2 dBiL antenna (mounted on another tripod) reference number 662 connected to an SDR / computer combination Air Listener™ (e.g., usable in device 210). The above setup is shown in FIG. 6. The Air Listener successfully detected the singulated tag 199 / 360 using this basic setup, and the Air Listener was also located at various points within a circle with a diameter of two meters and detected the singulated tag 199 / 360. This makes intuitive sense. Within a radius of one meter of the circle, the Air Listener antenna is closer to the tag 199 / 360 than in the basic scenario and therefore receives a stronger signal.

[0051] A link budget analysis of the signal levels shows the robustness of the base scenario in the tables below (Table 1 shows the link budget information for the reader, Table 2 shows the link budget information for the tag, and Table 3 shows the noise level information for the Air Listener implementation).

[0052] [Table 1]

[0053] [Table 2]

[0054] [Table 3]

[0055] When setting the receiver gain of the configured Air Listener, the maximum signal the ADC can accommodate is +9 dBm. The reader signal power of the Air Listener is -9.2 dBm, so within the available ADC dynamic range. Also, the tag signal power of the Air Listener is -44 dBm, which is above the receiver noise floor of -65 dBm. Although the receiver gain of the Air Listener can be lowered to accommodate the signal getting louder as it approaches the reader antenna 661, the diagram in Figure 7 shows why the Air Listener can detect singulated tags 199 / 360 at most locations within a 2 meter diameter circle. Assuming an omnidirectional beam pattern from the reader antenna 661 and ignoring near-field effects, the received reader signal amplitude barely exceeds the ADC dynamic range of +9 dBm (represented by the hatched area where the power of the Air Listener's ADC begins to exceed the maximum input signal level). The sample locations where the signal is approximately +9 dBm are indicated by the triangular areas (reference number 799) at the corners of the hatched area, see Figure 7. However, due to the high signal-to-noise ratio between the Air Listener tag signal and the noise floor on which the gain of the reference SDR is set, in principle the gain of the SDR could be reduced to increase the maximum signal level and reduce the hatched area even further.

[0056] As mentioned above, Figure 8 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of one method for obtaining item specific information using an intercepted data signal. As shown in Figure 8, such a method 800 may begin by intercepting a data signal generated by, for example, an RFID tag (see block 801). The data signal may be selectively filtered at a particular or desired frequency range (see block 802).

[0057] It should be noted that devices such as those shown and described herein may be suitable for the operations depicted in blocks 801 and 802. For example, a mobile phone such as that depicted at reference numeral 210 may include RF components (e.g., receiver 212 and transmitter 211) operating in conjunction with an antenna, for example under the control of antenna driver 219, such that software, hardware, and electronic processing resources control or modulate the antenna to receive only data signals within a particular or desired frequency (i.e., a bandpass filter may be selectively implemented to filter the data signal in block 802). As discussed above with respect to FIG. 2, examples of signal processing that may be depicted in blocks 801 and 802 include signal conversion between analog and digital, RF filtering and signal conditioning at particular frequencies, and equalization and modification for multipath effects.

[0058] In the manner described above, i.e., by changing the functionality of the antenna to receive only and selectively filtering the inbound RF signals, the data signals (e.g., data signals from an RFID UHF Gen2 tag) may be received and decoded by devices (e.g., device 210) that may not be specifically designed for that purpose. In this regard, method 800 may continue with decoding the data signals to identify item specific information, as shown in block 803. As described above, various item specific types of data may be communicated via data signals (including RFID signals) as described herein. Such item specific data may be application specific or may be dependent on the overall functionality sought to be provided by the system (e.g., system 300). Typically, these item specific data will generally be associated with the operational specifics of system 300. The item specific data is a design choice regarding product functionality and may include or relate to EPC, other product data, brand authentication or anti-counterfeiting information, anti-theft data for alarms or notifications, etc. Upon intercepting a data signal in a selected frequency band, the device (e.g., device 210) may store such item specific data on the device itself, a local device such as a laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet, etc., or on a remote device, and / or the item specific data may be stored, i.e., transmitted or provided to a retail point-of-sale terminal, other remote server or suitable distributed device, or other network-accessible data repository, such as a cloud or connected product cloud.

[0059] The above operations will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS.

[0060] In addition to the storage functions described above, it will also be appreciated that the item-specific information may be provided to appropriate resources on the device itself (e.g., device 210) or to one of the remote components described above for further processing, as shown in block 804. Such further processing may include a comparison of the item-specific information to known information, for example, held in a database. Such processing may be implemented or include, for example, inventory monitoring and management, track and trace, sustainability analysis (origin of raw materials, sustainable processes, etc.), brand authentication or anti-counterfeiting, anti-theft, and may ultimately be a design choice, for example, as a function of the operation of system 300. Also, as described above, such processing may be performed locally on a device such as device 210, or processing on device 210 may include transmitting or providing the item-specific information to another device (e.g., a computer or server), and the further processing described above may be performed remotely.

[0061] It should be noted that the arrangement of the blocks and the order of the operations shown do not exclude other alternatives or options. For example, in some situations involving antenna tuning, the operations shown in blocks 802 and 801 may be reversed in order. As another example, it will be appreciated that the operations shown in blocks 801 and 802, the operations shown in blocks 802 and 803, or the operations shown in blocks 803 and 804 may occur substantially simultaneously in some implementations. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above-described invention includes, but is not limited to, FIG. 8, and that various design choices are possible that may affect the order or arrangement of the operations shown.

[0062] Various features and aspects of the devices, systems, and methods have been described and illustrated in detail with reference to specific embodiments, by way of example only and not by way of limitation. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that alternative implementations and various modifications to the disclosed embodiments are within the scope and contemplation of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the present invention should be considered as limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. a modem for enabling two-way data communication with a remote system according to a short-range communications protocol; a transmitter operating in conjunction with the modem to transmit data to a remote system; a receiver operating in conjunction with the modem to receive data signals from the remote system; an antenna driver operative in conjunction with the modem to selectively tune the antenna to receive data signals from a remote system in a particular frequency range; A software controller; An apparatus comprising: the software controller is configured and operative to modulate filtering operations at the receiver such that the receiver collects and decodes data signals in one or more target radio frequency (RF) bands generated by an interrogated RFID tag; Device.

2. 13. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a digital controller configured and operative to process signal processing procedures including one of: converting the data signal between analog and digital, performing RF filtering and signal conditioning at low band frequencies below a selected frequency threshold, and equalizing and modifying the data signal to account for multipath effects.

3. The device of claim 2 , further comprising a clock generator constructed and operative to control a voltage used to power the device.

4. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the software controller is configured and operative to restrict the functionality of the receiver to receiving only.

5. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the device is a consumer device.

6. The device of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the device is selected from the group consisting of a mobile phone, a tablet computing device, or a smart watch.

7. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the data signal includes an Electronic Product Code (EPC).

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the data signal further includes additional item specific data associated with an item to which the RFID tag is attached.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the further item specific data includes brand authentication information.

10. The device of claim 1 , wherein the device is handheld or mobile.

11. The device of claim 1 , wherein the device is stationary.

12. A device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, an RFID reader configured and operative to excite an interrogated RFID tag such that the interrogated RFID tag generates a data signal; Including, the system.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the reader is selected from the group consisting of an overhead reader, a tunnel reader, a handheld reader, a smart shelf, a robotic reader, or a combination thereof.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the reader is an exciter.

15. 1. A method for reading a radio frequency (RF) data signal generated by an interrogated radio frequency identification (RFID) tag attached to an item or product, comprising: Using the device, using the device to intercept a data signal generated by an RFID tag; selectively filtering received data signals in a particular frequency range in response to said use; decoding the data signal to identify item specific information; A method comprising:

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the device is selected from the group consisting of a mobile phone, a tablet computing device, or a smartwatch.

17. 17. The method of claim 15 or 16, wherein the item specific information is an Electronic Product Code (EPC).

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the device intercepts data signals of multiple products.

19. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the item specific information is compared to known data for a particular item, the known data being hosted locally on the device or at a remote location.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the known data is hosted in a remote, network-accessible data repository.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the known data is hosted on a connected product platform.

22. A method according to any one of claims 17 to 22, wherein the item specific information is compared with known data via a standard communication protocol.

23. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the standard communication protocol is selected from the group consisting of Gen2 UHF, WiFi, or BLE.

24. Intercepting a data signal generated by an RFID tag; selectively filtering received data signals in a particular frequency range in response to said intercept; decoding said data signal to identify item specific information; providing said item specific information to a device for subsequent processing; A method comprising:

25. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the providing step includes transmitting the item specific information to a device selected from the group consisting of a mobile phone, a tablet computing device, or a smartwatch.

26. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the providing step includes transmitting an Electronic Product Code (EPC).

27. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the device intercepts data signals of multiple products.

28. comparing the item-specific information to known data relating to a particular item; The known data is hosted locally on the device or at a remote location.

25. The method of claim 24.

29. 30. The method of claim 28, wherein the known data is hosted in a remote, network-accessible data repository.

30. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the selectively filtering step includes filtering a range of frequencies selected from a set of frequencies used by one of Gen2 UHF, WiFi, and BLE.

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