# US 12,217,120 B2 · Detection method for passive identification tags

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- Number: US 12,217,120 B2
- Document ID: US12217120B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 18/288,969
- Filed: 2022-04-30
- Published: 2024-07-04
- Granted: 2025-02-04
- Earliest claimed: 2021-04-30
- Assignees: Pascal Tags Inc.
- Applicants: Pascal Tags Inc.
- Inventors: Brandon Thomas Young; Robert Rudolf Rotzoll
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12217120B2

## CPC

- G06K 7/10356: {using a plurality of antennas, e.g. configurations including means to resolve interference between the plurality of antennas}
- G06K 7/10366: {the interrogation device being adapted for miscellaneous applications}
- G01S 13/751: {wherein the responder or reflector radiates a coded signal}
- G06K 7/10148: {the step consisting of dynamically tuning the resonant circuit of the interrogation device that is emitting the interrogation signal, e.g. for impedance matching inside of the interrogation device (for tuning related to loop aerials in general H01Q7/00)}
- G06K 7/10158: {methods and means used by the interrogation device for reliably powering the wireless record carriers using an electromagnetic interrogation field}
- G06K: GRAPHICAL DATA READING (image or video recognition or understanding G06V); PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
- G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES

## Abstract

System, device, and method for detecting a passive identification tag and identifying a tag ID for the passive identification tag are provided. The system can include a transmitting system, a passive identification tag, and a receiving system. The transmitting system generates one or more detection signals to interrogate the passive identification tag, where the one or more detection signals includes a first detection signal having a first frequency range. The passive identification tag receives the one or more detection signals, and generates at least a first tag response in response to the first detection signal. The receiving system receives the first tag response, and processes the first tag response to determine a plurality of signal components for the first frequency range, where the plurality of signal components can be used to determine the tag ID.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system for identifying a passive identification tag, the system comprising:
a transmitting system that generates one or more detection signals to interrogate the passive identification tag, the one or more detection signals including a first detection signal having a first frequency range;
the passive identification tag that receives the one or more detection signals, wherein the passive identification tag generates one or more tag responses in response to receiving the one or more detection signals, wherein the one or more tag responses includes a first tag response corresponding to the first detection signal,
wherein the first tag response is processed to determine a plurality of signal components for the first frequency range, and
wherein characteristic values are determined for one or more of the plurality of signal components and are stored in a multidimensional vector; and
a receiving system that receives the one or more tag responses including the first tag response, wherein the receiving system processes the first tag response to:
determine the plurality of signal components of the first tag response for the first frequency range,
determine the characteristic values for one or more of the plurality of signal components, and
determine a tag identification (ID) based on the characteristic values for the one or more of the plurality of signal components.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1,
wherein the plurality of signal components include one or more vector elements and one or more scalar elements,
wherein the one or more vector elements include a real component of the first tag response and an imaginary component of the first tag response stored in a vector, and
wherein the one or more scalar elements include an amplitude and/or magnitude component of the first tag response, a phase component of the first tag response, a group delay component of the first tag response, and a phase delay component of the first tag response.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein when the first tag response is too weak to detect, the transmitting system generates an updated first detection signal by modifying: the first frequency range, power, incident angle, polarization, and/or phase of the first detection signal.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the transmitting system comprises a plurality of transmitters at different locations to generate the one or more detection signals so that the one or more detection signals have different incident angles with respect to the passive identification tag.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The system of claim 4, wherein the plurality of transmitters comprises:
a first transmitter positioned to align with an axis of the passive identification tag to transmit the first detection signal to the passive identification tag along a first incident direction, and
a second transmitter positioned off the axis of the passive identification tag to transmit a second detection signal to the passive identification tag along a second incident direction different from the first incident direction.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the receiving system comprises a plurality of receivers positioned to receive the one or more tag responses from the passive identification tag.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The system of claim 6, wherein the plurality of receivers comprises:
a first receiver positioned to align with an axis of the passive identification tag to receive an axial component of the first tag response, and
a second receiver positioned off the axis of the passive identification tag to receive a non-axial component of the first tag response.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The system of claim 7, wherein the axial and/or non-axial components of the first tag response are processed to determine the tag ID.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the transmitting system and the receiving system are combined to form a transceiving system, and the transceiving system includes a transceiver that generates the one or more detection signals and receives the one or more tag responses.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the characteristic values for one or more of the plurality of signal components are processed using a computational algorithm to determine a final value, wherein the final value is applied as input to a function to generate an output, and wherein the output of the function is used to determine the tag ID.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the passive identification tag includes a layered structure having a substrate, a resonance layer disposed on the substrate, and/or an additional layer disposed on or in-between the resonance layer, and wherein the first tag response depends on a material and geometrical dimensions of the layered structure.

### Claim 12

A method for identifying a passive identification tag, the method comprising:
generating, by one or more transmitters, one or more detection signals to a tag;
transmitting, by the one or more transmitters, the one or more detection signals to the tag, wherein the one or more detection signals includes a first detection signal having a first frequency range;
generating, by the tag, one or more tag responses in response to receiving the one or more detection signals from the one or more transmitters, wherein generating the one or more tag responses includes generating a first tag response in response to receiving the first detection signal;
radiating, by the tag, the one or more tag responses, wherein the radiating includes radiating the first tag response to a first receiver;
processing, by the first receiver or a processor coupled to the first receiver, the first tag response to determine a plurality of signal components of the first tag response for the first frequency range;
determining whether characteristic values can be calculated for one or more of the plurality of signal components of the first tag response;
in response to determining that the characteristic values can be calculated:
storing the characteristic values in a multidimensional vector for storage in a database; and
determining a tag identification (ID) using the multidimensional vector.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, wherein determining the tag ID using the multidimensional vector comprises:
retrieving the multidimensional vector from the database;
processing the characteristic values in the multidimensional vector using a computational algorithm to determine a final value;
applying the final value as input to a function to determine an output of the function; and
determining the tag ID based on the output of the function.

### Claim 14 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, wherein when the first tag response is too weak to detect so that the characteristic values for one or more of the plurality of signal components cannot be determined, the method further comprises:
modifying the first detection signal by changing the first frequency range, power, incident angle, polarization, and/or phase of the first detection signal, so that an updated first tag response is generated for the modified first detection signal;
using the updated first tag response to determine a plurality of updated signal components; and
determining the tag ID using one or more of the plurality of updated signal components.

### Claim 15 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, wherein the plurality of signal components of the first tag response include: real and imaginary components, in a form of vector, and scalar elements including one or more magnitude or amplitude component, a phase component, a group delay component, and/or a phase delay component.

### Claim 16 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, wherein the one or more transmitters are positioned at different locations to generate the one or more detection signals, and wherein the one or more detection signals have different incident angles with respect to the tag.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, wherein the one or more transmitters comprises:
a first transmitter positioned to align with an axis of the tag to transmit the first detection signal to the tag at a first incident angle, and
a second transmitter positioned off the axis of the tag to transmit a second detection signal to the tag at a second incident angle different from the first incident angle.

### Claim 18 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, wherein:
the first tag response is also received by a second receiver different from the first receiver,
the first receiver is positioned to align with an axis of the tag to receive an axial component of the first tag response,
the second receiver is positioned off the axis of the passive identification tag to receive an non-axial component of the first tag response; and
the axial and non-axial components of the first tag response are applied to determine the tag ID of the tag.

### Claim 19 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, wherein processing the first tag response includes removing noise signals from the first tag response.

### Claim 20

A method for identifying a tag, the method comprising:
generating, by a transceiver, one or more detection signals;
transmitting, by the transceiver, the one or more detection signals to the tag, wherein the one or more detection signals include a first detection signal having a first frequency range;
generating, by the tag, one or more tag responses in response to receiving the one or more detection signals from the transceiver, wherein generating the one or more tag responses includes generating a first tag response in response to receiving the first detection signal;
radiating, by the tag, the one or more tag responses, wherein the radiating includes radiating the first tag response to the transceiver;
processing, by one or more processors coupled to the transceiver, the first tag response to determine a plurality of signal components of the first tag response for the first frequency range;
determining whether characteristic values can be calculated for one or more of the plurality of signal components of the first tag response;
in response to determining that the characteristic values can be calculated:
storing the characteristic values in a multidimensional vector for storage in a database; and
determining a tag identification (ID) using the multidimensional vector.