RFID Tag Signpost Activity Filtering and Antenna Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing RFID tracking systems are not satisfactory in accurately determining the activity status of signposts and efficiently managing antenna selection and signal transmission, leading to suboptimal performance in tracking items or vehicles.
Innovation Solution
The RFID tag system receives wireless signpost signals, determines the activity status of the signpost, and adjusts antenna usage and signal content accordingly, including a mechanism to exclude information from inactive signposts and selectively enable/disable antennas based on received antenna select information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the tag transmits information from all received signpost signals, then the tracking coverage is maximized, but the transmission accuracy deteriorates due to inclusion of inactive signpost information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and filters out information from inactive signposts before transmission. The tag determines which signposts are active and selectively includes only information from active signposts in the transmitted tag signal, thereby improving transmission accuracy while maintaining tracking coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The tag uses feedback from the signpost status determination to adjust its transmission behavior. By determining the activity status of each signpost and using this feedback to selectively transmit information, the system optimizes both accuracy and efficiency of the tracking signal.
2Reliability
If the tag uses multiple antennas to receive signpost signals, then the signal reception capability is improved, but the device complexity increases due to antenna management requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic antenna selection where the tag determines which antennas to use based on real-time signal reception conditions. The tag can selectively enable or disable specific antennas depending on which signposts are active and which antennas receive the strongest signals, thereby managing complexity while maintaining reception capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Different antennas are assigned different functions based on local reception conditions. The tag evaluates signal quality from each antenna and assigns appropriate roles to each antenna, using only the necessary antennas for current tracking operations rather than all antennas simultaneously, thus reducing complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A tag can transmit a tag signal, and responds to receipt of a wireless signpost signal by determining whether the signpost that generated the signal is currently active. When the signpost is respectively determined to be active and inactive, the tag respectively includes and excludes from the tag signal an information portion that relates to the signpost that generated the received signpost signal. In another configuration, a tag has first and second antennas, receives wireless signpost signals through at least one of the antennas, and responds to receipt of a signpost signal containing antenna select information by causing a selected one of the first and second antennas to be disabled and the other of the first and second antennas to receive wireless signpost signals.