Materials, methods of making, and methods of using an integrated wireless detector for real time interrogating metallic tubular structures comprising: an RF patch antenna; a passive surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor; and data analytic methodologies. An embodiment relates to interrogating a metallic structure having a uniform cross section using an antenna which launches electromagnetic radiation. A sensor may be located within the structure is configured to re-emit electromagnetic radiation modified depending on parameters for which the sensor has been functionalized. An antenna may receive radiation as modified by the sensor, or may receive the transmitted or backscattered radiation directly, without use of a sensor. The antenna then communicates wirelessly with an interrogator providing data which may be used to understand the operational status of the structure in real-time.

Methods and devices for performing dynamic compensation of a phased array RFID reader are disclosed herein. An example method includes configuring an RFID reader having an antenna array to compensate for determined antenna element phase-shift errors. The method includes exciting a reference antenna element of the antenna array, emitting an emitted signal, receiving the emitted signal via a receiver antenna element of the antenna array, and generating a received signal. The method further includes determining, by a processor, a phase shift of the received signal relative to the emitted signal, and determining a phase-shift error. The method then includes configuring the RFID reader to compensate for the determined phase-shift error associated with the receiver antenna element in response to receiving an RFID tag signal.

A wireless power system includes a primary device and a secondary device. The primary device includes a power conversion unit, a function module, and a transceiver. The peripheral device includes a wireless power receiver circuit, a peripheral transceiver, and a peripheral unit. The power conversion unit converts a power source into an electromagnetic signal. The functional module executes a function regarding peripheral information. The transceiver communicates information regarding the electromagnetic signal and the peripheral information. The wireless power receiver circuit converts the electromagnetic signal into a voltage. The peripheral transceiver communicates the information regarding the electromagnetic signal and the peripheral information. The peripheral unit processes the peripheral information.

A system, method and computer program product for optimizing an antenna pattern for a booster, in which input signals from different operators are transmitted at different carrier frequencies within an operating bandwidth. An input bandwidth of a plurality of input signals are monitored at an input of the booster, the input bandwidth being within the operating bandwidth. One or more peak signal levels of the plurality of input signals within the input bandwidth are detected. Each of the detected one or more peak signal levels of the plurality of input signals at the input of the booster are then adjusted, such that a peak signal level of each of the plurality of input signals are substantially equal.

A vending machine system (the system) of the present invention includes a vending machine for selectively providing one or more items stored therein to a user, the vending machine includes a radio-frequency identification (RFID) antenna, a communication module, a memory, and a controller, wherein the controller is communicatively coupled by a data transfer bus with the memory, the communication module and the RFID antenna. The system includes a user computing device, an accounting server configured to perform inventory accounting for the one or more items in the vending machine. The system also includes a transaction server configured to facilitate a transaction between the accounting server and the user computing device.

An electronic voting system is described that utilizes printed vote records (PVRs) in which a voter's vote selections are recorded in voter readable characters. Optical character recognition (OCR) techniques may then be utilized to scan the PVR to record the voter's selections. The OCR data is then utilized to generate the cast vote record. Thus, the electronic voting system directly interprets the voter selections from the PVR just as the voter sees the data. In this manner “what you see is what you get” printed vote record data is provided for a voter's viewing and that same data is used to generate the cast vote record.

A method includes sending, by a reader, a radio frequency (RF) signal to a wireless sensor that includes an antenna having a tail section and a head section. The tail section is for placement in an RF limited area for sensing moisture in a first location of a vehicle under test and wherein the head section is for placement in a non-RF limited area. The method further includes receiving, by the reader, an RF response to the RF signal from the wireless sensor. The first RF response includes an indication of adjustment of one or more RF characteristics of the wireless sensor, which corresponds to a variance of the one or more RF characteristics from a desired value, which, in turn, corresponds to a level of moisture at the first location. The method further includes outputting, by the reader, a message regarding the level of moisture at the first location.

A surgical product supply system includes a cart having a first compartment and a second compartment. The first compartment has first, second, third and fourth walls. The first and second walls are constructed of radio-reflective material and the third and fourth walls are constructed of a radio-absorptive material. The first compartment has a first storage area. A first RFID antenna array is attached to the first wall and is positioned within the first storage area. The first RFID antenna array includes a first plurality of RFID antennas. A second RFID antenna array is attached to the second wall and is positioned within the first storage area. The second RFID antenna array includes a second plurality of RFID antennas. The first RFID antenna is offset relative to the second RFID antenna such that opposing central axes of the first and second RFID antennas are not colinear.

The invention relates to a transponder that transmits measurement values that does not have an energy source of its own, which draws energy from a radio field and that includes a novel input circuit to demodulate the high frequency. The novel circuit facilitates using the transponder for digital identification and measurement purposes respectively with a high level of efficiency. Intelligent coupling of a conventional full wave diode rectifier with an inductivity and a switching element, advantageously a MOSFET providing power for a digital circuit is facilitated as well as providing power for an analog quartz sensor, herein the power is always conducted into the path where it is required. Additionally the quartz sensor arrangement is activated or deactivated at will by precisely one switching element and an increased output voltage for the digital circuit is generated by smart modulation of the high frequency feed signal using the inductivity.

A method of optimizing a RFID reader system to increase the percentage of RFID tags successfully inventoried in a container comprising a relatively large number of RFID tagged items in close proximity to one another. To achieve the greater percentage of successfully inventoried RFID tagged items, a transmitting system capable of reading an RFID tag and a receiving system capable of determining how much of the transmitted power propagates through the volume of RFID tagged items is positioned on either side of the container. A host system in communication with both the transmitting and receiving systems then utilizes one or more parameters of the transmitting system to maximize propagation of the RFID signal through the container and, therefore, increase the percentage of RFID tags successfully inventoried with the ultimate goal being 100%.