Rfid Reader and Method for Adjusting a Frame Length of an Rfid System Comprising an Rfid Reader

Simple SummaryContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

This invention describes an advanced RFID reader and corresponding methods that significantly improve the speed and efficiency of identifying RFID tags, particularly in environments with many tags. The reader features a collision detector, a decoder, and a dynamic frame length adjuster. When multiple tags transmit at the same time causing collisions, the system detects and decodes the signal with the strongest signal strength without requiring channel state information. It then optimizes the length of the next communication frame based on how successfully collisions were resolved, using probabilities tied to the signal-to-noise ratio. This dynamic adjustment reduces the overall time required to read all tags compared to conventional approaches.

Use CasesContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Retail inventory management systems where thousands of items need to be identified quickly and accurately.
• Supply chain and warehouse automation involving bulk movement and tracking of tagged goods.
• Logistics and parcel handling centers for rapid and reliable item identification.
• Asset management in hospitals or libraries with dense RFID-tagged items.
• Industrial automation applications needing fast identification of numerous components or products.
• Access control and event management with high concentrations of RFID badges or tags.

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Reduces the overall time required to identify all tags by up to 40% compared to traditional RFID readers, making RFID systems faster and more efficient.
• Automatically adapts to varying radio environments by adjusting frame length based on real-time collision recovery performance, improving reliability in dense or noisy tag populations.
• Eliminates the need for complex channel estimation, simplifying reader hardware and firmware.
• Facilitates real-time or near-real-time inventory auditing, enabling more frequent stock checks and improved data accuracy.
• Provides better performance in environments that adhere to industry standards like EPCglobal Class-1 Gen-2, which is common in commercial RFID deployments.
• Improves scalability for RFID deployments with a large number of tags, supporting growth in item tracking applications without performance loss.

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Patent Abstract

Embodiments provide an RFID reader. The RFID reader comprises a collision detector, a decoder and a frame length adjuster. The collision detector is configured to detect for each slot of a plurality of slots of a current frame, in which a collision of signals transmitted by at least two RFID tags occurred, a signal property of a signal of the signals transmitted by at least two RFID tags. The decoder is configured to decode for the slot in which the collision is detected the signal of the signals transmitted by the at least two RFID tags using the detected signal property, wherein a collision recover probability describing a probability that the decoder can accurately decode the one signal depends on a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the current frame. The frame length adjuster is configured to adjust a frame length of a subsequent frame in dependence on the collision recover probability.