RFID Reader System Ingress-Egress Tag Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
RFID readers in premises can inadvertently read personal RFID tags carried by individuals, leading to confusion in Point-Of-Sale (POS) and Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) systems, potentially triggering unauthorized transactions or alarms.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an RFID reader system that reads incoming personal tags, distinguishes them from item tags, and removes the personal tag's code before processing, ensuring that only actionable codes from items being exited are acted upon, thereby preventing unauthorized transactions and maintaining privacy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If RFID readers are installed to track items within premises, then item tracking capability is improved, but false detection of personal tags occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the tracking process into two distinct phases: ingress reading at entry points and egress reading at exit points. By separating these functions and comparing results, the system can distinguish between personal tags (present at ingress, absent at egress) and item tags (absent at ingress, present at egress), thereby eliminating false detections while maintaining accurate item tracking.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by reading and storing personal tag codes at ingress points before items are tracked. This preliminary data collection enables the system to later subtract personal tags from egress readings, ensuring that only actual item movements are detected and processed, thus preventing false alarms.
2Productivity
If all RFID tags are read and processed, then complete monitoring is achieved, but processing overhead and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts personal tags from the overall tag population by using ingress readings to identify and remove personal tag codes from egress readings. This extraction process allows the system to process only the subset of tags that represent actual item movements, significantly reducing computational overhead and operational costs while maintaining complete monitoring coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system discards personal tag data after it has been used to eliminate false detections. By recovering only the relevant item tag information from the complete set of read tags, the system minimizes processing requirements and associated costs while maintaining full monitoring capability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution reduces operational costs by preventing false alarms and unauthorized transactions, while protecting consumer privacy by not processing personal tag data.
Implementation Method 1
Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) systems typically include RFID tags and RFID readers. RFID readers are also known as RFID reader/writers or RFID interrogators.
Implementation Method 2
The tag generates the transmitted back RF wave either originally, or by reflecting back a portion of the interrogating RF wave in a process known as backscatter.
Implementation Method 3
a code of the personal RFID tag is read, as he is entering the enclosure... one or more exiting codes are read from him, as he is preparing to leave the enclosure... actionable codes are derived, by removing the read code of the personal RFID tag from the one or more exiting codes
Data Source
AI summary
RFID reader systems, components, software and methods are provided for use premises that have RFID-tagged items. When a person comes onto an enclosure of the premises already carrying a personal tag, the incoming code of that personal tag is read. When later the person exits the enclosure, they could be transporting some of the items that have actionable codes. The actionable codes can be read, but the incoming code can be removed from them, before the actionable codes are acted upon, in Point-of-Sale or Electronic Article Surveillance systems.