Radio frequency identification (rfid) tag location verification using image data

A electronic article surveillance (EAS) system, comprising:

• a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag reader operative to:
• transmit, over a first window of time, a radio frequency identification (RFID) interrogation signal into an RFID interrogation zone of an EAS system, and
• detect a plurality of response signals from a first RFID tag responding to the interrogation signal;
• a camera operative to capture, over a second window of time overlapping at least in part with the first window of time, image data within a field of view, the field of view and the RFID interrogation zone overlapping to form a zone of interest;
• and
• at least one processor:
• in communication with the tag reader and the camera;
• and
• operative to:
• characterize movement of a non-tag object during the first window of time based on the image data;
• and
• determine whether the first RFID tag is associated with the characterized non-tag object based on a comparison of the detected plurality of response signals and the characterized movement of the non-tag object.

An apparatus for electronic article surveillance (EAS), comprising:

• means for transmitting, over a first window of time, a radio frequency identification (RFID) interrogation signal into an RFID interrogation zone of an EAS system,
• means for detecting a plurality of response signals from a first RFID tag of the EAS system responding to the interrogation signal;
• means for capturing, over a second window of time overlapping at least in part with the first window of time, image data within a field of view, the field of view and the RFID interrogation zone overlapping to form a zone of interest;
• means for characterizing movement of a non-tag object during the first window of time based on the image data;
• and
• means for determining whether the first RFID tag is associated with the characterized non-tag object based on a comparison of the detected plurality of response signals and the characterized movement of the non-tag object.