Method and apparatus for locating an item within a radio frequency identification monitored area

A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag reader, comprising:

• a user input device for receiving an identification signal of an RFID tag to be located;
• a motion detection unit for detecting motion of the RFID tag reader and providing a motion signal;
• a transmitter for transmitting an interrogation signal to the RFID tag responsive to the motion signal;
• a receiver for receiving a responsive signal from the RFID tag;
• an orientation unit providing data representing the orientation of the RFID tag reader;
• a processor coupled to the user input device, the motion detection unit, the transmitter, the receiver and the orientation unit for processing the responsive signal and the data representing the orientation of the RFID tag reader to determine a direction between the RFID tag reader and the RFID tag;
• and
• a display for displaying the direction.

A method, comprising:

• transmitting an interrogation signal for at least one RFID tag to initiate a responsive signal from the at least one RFID tag;
• receiving the responsive signal from the at least one RFID tag;
• processing the responsive signal to determine a direction from the RFID reader toward the at least one RFID tag by comparison of receive quality indicators of the responsive signal to previously received responsive signals;
• and
• displaying the direction toward the at least one RFID tag.