Back to results
US 9,589,224 B2Granted
Passive RFID tags with integrated circuits using sub-threshold technology
AssigneeTyco Fire & Security GmbH
InventorsHubert A. Patterson, Melwyn F. Sequeira
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods for operating an RFID transponder (102). The methods involve: performing energy harvesting operations by a voltage scavenging device (130) of the RFID transponder to collect energy from an RF field, magnetic field, heat, light or movement of the RFID transponder; increasing or decreasing, by a voltage converter of the RFID transponder, a voltage level of a signal received from the voltage scavenging device to a sub-threshold voltage level that is at least one order of magnitude below a normal operating range for the RFID transponder; and supplying an operating voltage at the sub-threshold voltage level to at least a transceiver circuit (124) of the RFID transponder.
Claims20
A method for operating a Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) transponder, comprising:
- performing energy harvesting operations by a voltage scavenging device of the RFID transponder to collect energy from a Radio Frequency (“RF”) field and store the energy in an energy storage device of the voltage scavenging device;
- causing a switch to change positions, when the energy storage device is charged to a pre-determined voltage level, from
- (A) a first position in which a closed circuit is formed between an antenna and the voltage scavenging device, and
- (B) a second position in which (i) an open circuit is formed between the antenna and the voltage scavenging device and (ii) a closed circuit is formed between the antenna and a transceiver circuit of the RFID transponder;
- increasing or decreasing, by a voltage converter of the RFID transponder, a voltage level of a signal received from the voltage scavenging device to a sub-threshold voltage level that is at least one order of magnitude below a normal operating range for the RFID transponder;
- and
- supplying an operating voltage at the sub-threshold voltage level to at least the transceiver circuit.
4 more elements
A method for operating a Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) transponder, comprising:
- performing energy harvesting operations by a voltage scavenging device of the RFID transponder to collect energy from a Radio Frequency (“RF”) field, magnetic field, heat, light or movement of the RFID transponder;
- increasing or decreasing, by a voltage converter of the RFID transponder, a voltage level of a signal received from the voltage scavenging device to a sub-threshold voltage level that is at least one order of magnitude below a normal operating range for the RFID transponder;
- and
- supplying an operating voltage at the sub-threshold voltage level to at least a transceiver circuit of the RFID transponder;
- wherein the sub-threshold voltage level is within 200 milli-Volts to 600 milli-Volts.
2 more elements
A method for operating a Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) transponder, comprising:
- performing energy harvesting operations by a voltage scavenging device of the RFID transponder to collect energy from a Radio Frequency (“RF”) field, magnetic field, heat, light or movement of the RFID transponder;
- increasing or decreasing, by a voltage converter of the RFID transponder, a voltage level of a signal received from the voltage scavenging device to a sub-threshold voltage level that is at least one order of magnitude below a normal operating range for the RFID transponder;
- and
- supplying an operating voltage at the sub-threshold voltage level to at least a transceiver circuit of the RFID transponder;
- wherein the voltage level is increased to the sub-threshold voltage level when the energy is collected from the RF Field, magnetic field, heat or light.
2 more elements
A method for operating a Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) transponder, comprising:
- performing energy harvesting operations by a voltage scavenging device of the RFID transponder to collect energy from a Radio Frequency (“RF”) field, magnetic field, heat, light or movement of the RFID transponder;
- increasing or decreasing, by a voltage converter of the RFID transponder, a voltage level of a signal received from the voltage scavenging device to a sub-threshold voltage level that is at least one order of magnitude below a normal operating range for the RFID transponder;
- and
- supplying an operating voltage at the sub-threshold voltage level to at least a transceiver circuit of the RFID transponder;
- wherein the voltage level is decreased to the sub-threshold voltage level when the energy is collected from light or movement of the RFID transponder.
2 more elements
A Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) transponder, comprising:
- a voltage scavenging device that performs energy harvesting operations to collect energy from a Radio Frequency (“RF”) field and store the energy in an energy storage device of the voltage scavenging device;
- a switch that is caused to change positions, when the energy storage device is charged to a pre-determined voltage level, from
- (A) a first position in which a closed circuit is formed between an antenna and the voltage scavenging device, and
- (B) a second position in which (i) an open circuit is formed between the antenna and the voltage scavenging device and (ii) a closed circuit is formed between the antenna and a transceiver circuit;
- and
- a voltage converter that increases or decreases a voltage level of a signal received from the voltage scavenging device to a sub-threshold voltage level that is at least one order of magnitude below a normal operating range for the RFID transponder;
- wherein the transceiver circuit is supplied an operating voltage at the sub-threshold voltage level.
4 more elements
A Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) transponder, comprising:
- a voltage scavenging device that performs energy harvesting operations to collect energy from a Radio Frequency (“RF”) field, magnetic field, heat, light or movement of the RFID transponder;
- a voltage converter that increases or decreases a voltage level of a signal received from the voltage scavenging device to a sub-threshold voltage level that is at least one order of magnitude below a normal operating range for the RFID transponder;
- and
- a transceiver circuit that is supplied an operating voltage at the sub-threshold voltage level;
- wherein the sub-threshold voltage level is within 200 milli-Volts to 600 milli-Volts.
2 more elements
A Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) transponder, comprising:
- a voltage scavenging device that performs energy harvesting operations to collect energy from a Radio Frequency (“RF”) field, magnetic field, heat, light or movement of the RFID transponder;
- a voltage converter that increases or decreases a voltage level of a signal received from the voltage scavenging device to a sub-threshold voltage level that is at least one order of magnitude below a normal operating range for the RFID transponder;
- and
- a transceiver circuit that is supplied an operating voltage at the sub-threshold voltage level;
- wherein the voltage level is increased to the sub-threshold voltage level when the energy is collected from the RF Field, magnetic field, heat or light.
2 more elements
A Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) transponder, comprising:
- a voltage scavenging device that performs energy harvesting operations to collect energy from a Radio Frequency (“RF”) field, magnetic field, heat, light or movement of the RFID transponder;
- a voltage converter that increases or decreases a voltage level of a signal received from the voltage scavenging device to a sub-threshold voltage level that is at least one order of magnitude below a normal operating range for the RFID transponder;
- and
- a transceiver circuit that is supplied an operating voltage at the sub-threshold voltage level;
- wherein the voltage level is decreased to the sub-threshold voltage level when the energy is collected from light or movement of the RFID transponder.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.