An assisted aimer for rapid, accurate, and low-cost imaging of barcodes, includes a hand-held device, such as a smart phone or tablet, having a digital camera with built-in flash, a specialized software application executing on the phone, and an aimer apparatus attached in front of the flash aperture for forming an aimer beam at a predetermined distance. The aimer beam assists a user in accurately pointing the device at a target barcode. The aimer is attachable directly to the smart phone or camera, or is made a part of an enclosure that accepts the smart phone or tablet into a self-aligning receiving space. Aiming beam assistance enables the camera, its auto-focus, and the installed software application image processing to deliver rapid, snappy, barcode imaging.

Application and associated methods relate to facilitating verification of authenticity of a product instance. Such verification of authenticity is facilitated by a verification transceiver configured to be affixed to a product instance. The verification transceiver includes an engagement fixture configured to affix the verification transceiver to a product instance. The verification transceiver includes a receiver configured to receive a query signal from a proximate mobile device. The verification transceiver includes a transmitter configured to transmit a current encoded signal indicative of the product instance in response to receiving the query signal. The verification transceiver also includes a verification-code sequencer configured to advance the current encoded signal to a next encoded signal in a sequence of encoded signals, each of the sequence indicative of the product instance, current encoded signal advanced to be transmitted in response to a next received query signal.

The present disclosure provides a RFID terminal and a method of using the same. The RFID terminal includes: a directional antenna module configured to directionally receive a signal transmitted by an electronic tag on an item in a region to be read; a camera configured to collect an image of the region to be read; and a control unit configured to screen information of a target item according to the image of the region to be read captured by the camera.

Disclosed are a reader device, system, and method for communicating with a wireless sensor. The reader device may be configured to analyze the strength of a response signal transmitted from the wireless sensor in response to an excitation pulse generated by the reader device. In one embodiment, the reader device may be configured to engage be placed in a plurality of modes to allow the reader to transmit a signal, such as a short pulse of energy or a short burst of radio frequency energy to cause the wireless sensor to output a resonant signal. The reader device may receive the resonant signal from the wireless sensor and evaluate it against predetermined values. The evaluated signals may be used to assess the strength and the proximity of the reader device relative to the wireless sensor as it is implanted in a patient.

According to one or more embodiments, the tag reader includes a communication controller, a temperature measuring sensor, and a processor. The communication controller controls an output signal to be output from an antenna of the tag reader. The temperature measuring sensor measures an internal temperature of the tag reader. The processor sets the output value of an output signal based on the measured temperature and causes the communication control circuit to output the output signal from the antenna at the set output value.

A method for controlling personal protective equipment. The method includes positioning of a person equipped with personal protective equipment next to an electrical enclosure, wherein a specific personal protective equipment requirement is defined for the electrical enclosure. The method further includes scanning the personal protective equipment in a contact-less manner while the person is next to the electrical enclosure. Thereby scanned personal protective equipment information are generated. The method further includes comparing the scanned personal protective equipment information with the specific personal protective equipment requirement and evaluating, based on the comparison, whether the personal protective equipment is in accordance with the specific personal protective equipment requirement. The method further includes providing a feedback indicating whether or not the personal protective equipment is in accordance with the specific personal protective equipment requirement.

Example embodiments relate to radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags for liquid monitoring. An example RFID tag includes an antenna configured to communicate with an RFID reader. The antenna includes a radiating plane. The antenna also includes a ground plane. The RFID tag is attachable to a container. A reactance associated with the antenna is modifiable based on a temperature and a volume of a liquid within the container and adjacent to the ground plane. The RFID tag also includes an integrated circuit that includes a memory. The integrated circuit is configured to modulate the antenna in response to an RFID signal from the RFID reader based on the reactance associated with the antenna.

A wireless tag communication device includes a directional antenna, a communication control circuit configured to communicate with a wireless tag through the directional antenna, a camera positioned such that a direction along which a signal strength of the directional antenna is maximized and a shooting direction of the camera coincide with each other, and a controller. The controller is configured to estimate a tag direction where the wireless tag exists, estimate a position of the wireless tag communication device, estimate a position of the wireless tag based on the estimated tag direction and the estimated position of the wireless tag communication device, and control a display to display a first image captured by the camera and a second image showing an explicit area containing the estimated position of the wireless tag.

A wireless tag communication device includes a communication control circuit, a sensor, and a processor. The communication control circuit is configured to communicate with a wireless tag via an antenna. The sensor is configured to detect a variation amount of a direction of the antenna. The processor is configured to output an alert when the variation amount of the direction of the antenna detected by the sensor is less than a reference value.

An emergency alarm system peripheral, such as a hazard detector, intrusion detector, or a notification appliance, includes a base that is permanently installed on a wall or ceiling, and a head which mounts to the base. Various embodiments and methods are provided to easily and efficiently assign addresses to the peripherals in the system.