Method and system for determining the identity and location of an object in a search space

Abstract

Described are examples of a method and a system for locating and identifying an object in a search space. The method may be used to determine the presence, identity and relative location of a consumable item. The method uses an array of RFID antennas to interrogate the search space in which one or more objects having an attached RFID tag may be present. The RFID antennas transmit RF signals into the search space and detect RFID reply signals from RFID tags. RFID antennas can be operated at different receiver sensitivity gains or transmit power gains to define additional cell locations within the search space. The identity and location of the objects is determined from the detected RFID reply signals. In various applications, the location is determined in a linear search space, a two-dimensional search space or a three-dimensional search space according to array configuration and gain implementation.

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