Communication apparatus

A communication method, comprising:

• providing, by a transducer, first phase data indicating a phase of a signal transmitted from a wireless tag to an antenna when the antenna is in a first position;
• moving, by an actuator, the antenna within a plane and relative to a predetermined space from the first position to a second position;
• providing, by the transducer, second phase data indicating a phase of the signal transmitted from the wireless tag to the antenna when the antenna is in the second position;
• and
• determining, by a controller, whether the wireless tag is located inside of the predetermined space based on the first phase data and the second phase data.

A communication apparatus comprising:

• a table configured to support a shopping basket;
• an antenna;
• an actuator configured to move the antenna in two dimensions within a horizontal plane and relative to the table;
• a transducer operatively coupled to the antenna and configured to provide data characterizing a signal transmitted from a wireless tag to the antenna when the antenna is in a first position and when the antenna is in a second position;
• and
• a controller configured to determine whether the wireless tag is located inside of the shopping basket based on the data.