Methods and apparatus for the arbitration of RF power between an ultra high frequency (UHF) radio-frequency identification (RFID) system and an external assembly

A system, comprising:

• an antenna;
• analog circuitry operatively coupled to the antenna and configured to demodulate a portion of an radio frequency (RF) signal received via the antenna to produce a demodulated RF signal;
• a radio-frequency identification (RFID) state machine operatively coupled to the analog circuitry, the RFID state machine configured to receive the demodulated RF signal from the analog circuitry, to decode the demodulated RF signal to produce a decoded signal, and to generate an output signal based on the decoded signal;
• an impedance matching network operatively coupled to the antenna;
• a first radio-frequency-to-direct current (RF-to-DC) converter operatively coupled to the impedance matching network, the first RF-to-DC converter configured to receive a second portion of the RF signal received via the antenna via the impedance matching network and to convert the second portion of the RF signal to a first power associated with a first direct current (DC) voltage, the first RF-to-DC converter configured to provide the first power to the RFID state machine;
• and
• a second RF-to-DC converter operatively coupled in parallel to the first RF-to-DC converter and operatively coupled to the impedance matching network, the second RF-to-DC converter configured to receive a third portion of the RF signal received via the antenna via the impedance matching network and to convert the third portion of the RF signal to a second power associated with a second DC voltage, the second RF-to-DC converter configured to provide the second power to an external assembly.

A system, comprising:

• an antenna;
• analog circuitry operatively coupled to the antenna and configured to demodulate a first portion of a radio frequency (RF) signal received via the antenna to produce a demodulated RF signal;
• a radio-frequency identification (RFID) state machine operatively coupled to the analog circuitry, the RFID state machine configured to receive the demodulated RF signal from the analog circuitry, to decode the demodulated RF signal to produce a decoded signal, and to generate an output signal based on the decoded signal;
• and
• a radio-frequency-to-direct current (RF-to-DC) converter operatively coupled to the antenna, the RF-to-DC converter configured to receive a second portion of the RF signal from the antenna, the RF-to-DC converter including a first stage configured to convert a first portion of the second portion of the RF signal to a first power associated with a first direct current (DC) voltage, the RF-to-DC converter configured to provide the first power to the RFID state machine, the RF-to-DC converter including a second stage configured to convert a second portion of the second portion of the RF signal to a second power associated with a second DC voltage, the RF-to-DC converter configured to provide the second power to an external assembly.