A wireless tag reading device comprises an antenna for transmitting wireless signals to a wireless tag for reading of information from the wireless tag and a moveable stage for moving the antenna from a first location to a second location during a reading process for reading the information from the wireless tag. A controller determines whether information has been received from the wireless tag with the moveable stage at a first location, and then moves the stage to the second location if the information has not been received from the wireless tag during the reading process with the stage at the first location.

Devices, methods, and software are disclosed for reading RFID tags located in defined spatial locations. In one illustrative embodiment, a system can comprise a processor, a memory, and an RFID reading device including at least one radio frequency (RF) antenna. The system can be configured to read a first plurality of RFID tags attached to items disposed within a first spatial zone and read a second plurality of RFID tags attached to items disposed within a second spatial zone. The system can be further configured to produce a list of identifiers of RFID tags which belong to the second plurality of RFID tags and do not belong to the first plurality of RFID tags. In some embodiments, the system can be further configured, responsive to successfully decoding decodable indicia attached to an item, to match the item to an RFID tag belonging to the list.

Embodiments provide an RFID reader. The RFID reader includes 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.

The disclosed methods include: detecting data associated with a first tag comprised in the tag network; resolving the data to generate resolved data associated with a plurality of tags in the tag network including the first tag and a second tag; determining the second tag based on the resolved data; and extracting or determining, using the resolved data: first telemetric data associated with the first tag, first location data associated with the first tag, second telemetric data associated with the second tag, and second location data associated with the second tag. The methods also include formatting the first telemetric data, the first location data, the second telemetric data, and the second location data to generate an inventory map associated with the first mobile or stationary cargo and the second mobile or stationary cargo; and transmitting the inventory map to a display device configured to visualize the inventory map.

An RFID system comprises an array of antennas each configured to emit a plurality of beams in different directions. The beams of each pair of adjacent antennas are directed towards one another and overlap. A pair of adjacent antennas transmits simultaneously and the overlapping beams interfere to create an interference pattern. An RFID reader controls the relative phase and/or frequency of the beams to move the interference pattern to read an RFID tag within the moving pattern. As the chance of a RFID tag responding to an emitted beam generally increases with signal strength of the reader beam an area of constructive interference means that RFID tags in that region are more likely to respond to the signal. The system can cover a large proportion of the area below ceiling-mounted antennas, where cover generally means that RFID tags in that area will be successfully read.

A smart passive RFID reader includes an RFID reader, a microcontroller providing a means for increasing the probability of detecting correct passive RFID tags and decreasing the probability of detecting incorrect passive RFID tags, and antennas connected to the RFID reader, wherein adjacent antennas have orthogonal polarization and the antennas each have a pivoting axis, whereby rotating the antennas about their pivoting axes causes a change in the overlap of the antenna beam radiation patterns and thereby provides a means for adaptive beamforming in order to improve tag reading.

An RFID reading device according to the present invention includes: response requesting unit (20) configured to output a response request signal to a wireless tag; response reception unit (24) configured to extract an ID of the wireless tag and detecting a signal collision of a response from the wireless tag, based on a response signal output from the wireless tag in response to the response request signal; reading result acquisition unit (25) configured to acquire a read tag number indicating the number of wireless tags from which the corresponding ID has been successfully read; collision occurrence status acquisition unit (26) configured to count the number of time slots in which the signal collision has occurred and calculating the number of collisions; and reading result complementing unit (27) configured to estimate the number of readable wireless tags based on the read tag number and the number of collisions.

A method and system supply energy to at least one mobile component in a wireless communications system, in particular to RFID tags of an RFID system. In the method for supplying energy to at least one mobile component in a wireless communications system with two or more base stations, coherent electromagnetic waves are transmitted by at least two of the base stations. In the system of base stations of a wireless communications system, at least two of the base stations are designed for transmitting coherent electromagnetic waves.

A system for properly illuminating a toll collection zone without illuminating any areas outside the toll collection zone in which vehicles may be found, while minimizing lost tolls due to shadowing of shorter vehicles by taller vehicles. In one embodiment, a linear array antenna is configured to illuminate a rectangular collection zone from a point offset from the center of the roadway. The linear array antenna is configured to produce an asymmetric antenna pattern providing RF illumination over the rectangular collection zone sufficient for reliable reading of vehicle RF tags in the collection zone, and which also minimizes spillover of RF power outside the collection zone.

An apparatus may include a motion sensing device, a communication interface; and a processor. The processor may receive a point of origin that corresponds to a spatial position of the apparatus. The processor may determine, responsive to detecting a user interface command and based on a plurality of values received from the motion sensing device, a spatial position of the apparatus relative to the point of origin, and to acquire an image of an object in a field of view of the apparatus. The processor may also determine a scale factor of the image based on at least the spatial position of the apparatus relative to the point of origin.