Methods and apparatuses to identify devices
AssigneeAlien Technology Corporation
InventorsRoger G. Stewart, John Stephen Smith
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and apparatuses for identifying devices, such as RF tags, are described. In one exemplary embodiment, a reader identifies tags without requiring or determining whether a response to an interrogation was a single response from a single tag or multiple responses from multiple tags. In another exemplary embodiment, a method is performed by a tag in an identification system, and the method includes receiving a first data from a reader, and correlating the first data with a first corresponding portion of the tag's identification code, and specifying a match if the first data matches the first corresponding portion, and receiving second data which, combined with the first data, is correlated with a second corresponding portion of the tag's identification code.
Claims22
A method performed by a reader, said method comprising:
- transmitting, in one command, a portion of an identification code, the portion comprising a plurality of bits but not the entire identification code, wherein the command indicates a position of the portion in the identification code;
- and
- receiving a response from a tag, which has a match to said portion indicated at least one next bit in said tag's identification code.
A method performed by a tag, said method comprising:
- receiving, in one command from a reader, a portion of an identification code, the portion comprising a plurality of bits but not the entire identification code, wherein the command indicates a position of the portion in the identification code;
- and
- transmitting a response from the tag, which has a match to said portion indicated at least one next bit in said tag's identification code.
A reader, comprising:
- a transmitter to transmit, in one command, a portion of an identification code, the portion comprising a plurality of bits but not the entire identification code, wherein the command indicates a position of the portion in the identification code;
- and
- a receiver to receive a response from a tag, which has a match to said portion indicated at at least one next bit in said tag's identification code.
A tag, comprising:
- a receiver to receive, in one command from a reader, a portion of an identification code, the portion comprising a plurality of bits but not the entire identification code, wherein the command indicates a position of the portion in the identification code;
- and
- a transmitter to transmit a response from the tag, which has a match to said portion indicated at least one next bit in said tag's identification code.
A method performed by a reader, said method comprising:
- transmitting, in one command and under control of a microcontroller executing a program, a portion of an identification code, the portion comprising a plurality of bits but not the entire identification code, wherein the command indicates a position of the portion in the identification code;
- and
- receiving a response for processing by the microcontroller from a tag, which has a match to said portion indicated at at least one next bit in said tag's identification code.
A method performed by a tag, said method comprising:
- receiving, in one command from a reader, a portion of an identification code, the portion comprising a plurality of bits but not the entire identification code, wherein the command indicates a position of the portion in the identification code;
- and
- transmitting a response from the tag, which has a match to said portion indicated at at least one next bit in said tag's identification code;
- wherein the tag has only one integrated circuit.
A reader, comprising:
- a microcontroller to execute a program;
- a transmitter coupled to the microcontroller to transmit, in one command, a portion of an identification code, the portion comprising a plurality of bits but not the entire identification code, wherein the command indicates a position of the portion in the identification code;
- and
- a receiver coupled to the microcontroller to receive a response from a tag, which has a match to said portion indicated at least one next bit in said tag's identification code.
A tag, comprising:
- a receiver to receive, in one command from a reader, a portion of an identification code, the portion comprising a plurality of bits but not the entire identification code, wherein the command indicates a position of the portion in the identification code;
- and
- a transmitter to transmit a response from the tag, which has a match to said portion indicated at least one next bit in said tag's identification code;
- wherein the tag has only one integrated circuit.
A tag, comprising:
- a receiver to receive, in one command from a reader, a portion of an identification code, the portion comprising a plurality of bits but not the entire identification code, wherein the command indicates a position of the portion in the identification code;
- and
- a transmitter to transmit a response from the tag, which has a match to said portion indicated at least one next bit in said tag's identification code;
- wherein the tag includes an integrated circuit which is received by a substrate and which is connected to only one antenna.
A method performed by a reader, said method comprising:
- transmitting, in one command, a portion of an identification code, the portion comprising a plurality of bits but not the entire identification code, wherein the command indicates a position of the portion in the identification code;
- receiving a response from a tag, which has a match to said portion indicated at least one next bit in said tag's identification code;
- and
- communicating said tag's identification code to a processing system over a network.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.