Disclosed is a method of gathering data from a hybrid RFID chip to determine usage of an item or article of clothing using a mobile device like a phone, laptop, or tablet. The hybrid RFID chip consists of a processor, a memory, a radio transceiver, a power harvesting antenna, and an impedance circuit that converts ambient radio frequency (RF) energy to electrical energy. The RFID chip receives a first power level from ambient RF energy and periodically broadcasts an identity. The mobile device can receive the broadcast identity, store the identity, transmit the identity and location to a remote server, and receive a notification message from the remote server. The remote serve can determine usage of the item or article of clothing by comparing current records to previous records of RFID chip identity, location, and mobile device application identity.

A method of controlling operation of a field-powered biometric device comprising biometric acquisition circuitry, processing circuitry controllable to transition between a first functional state having a first power consumption and a second functional state having a second power consumption lower than the first power consumption, and power management circuitry. The method comprises the steps of monitoring, by the power management circuitry, a property indicative of a supply voltage to the processing circuitry; controlling, when the monitored property indicates that the supply voltage has fallen to a first threshold voltage, the processing circuitry to transition from the first functional state to the second functional state; and controlling, when the monitored property indicates that the supply voltage has increased to a second threshold voltage higher than the first threshold voltage, the processing circuitry to transition from the second functional state to the first functional state.

A sheet processing apparatus for processing sheets each with a wireless tag, includes a roller, a wireless tag reader/writer, and a controller configured to control the roller to convey a first sheet with a first tag along a path, control the reader/writer to acquire first strengths of radio signals received from the first tag during the conveyance and second strengths of radio signals received from wireless tags of sheets not being conveyed, determine a threshold value of signal strength for distinguishing a wireless tag being conveyed from wireless tags not being conveyed based on the first and second strengths, and control the roller to convey a second sheet with a second tag and control the reader/writer to write to the second tag when a strength of a radio signal from the second tag is greater than or equal to the threshold value.

A wearable payment device, such as a finger ring worn by a user, communicates payment data via an antenna to a payment reader that uses the payment data in order to request a payment transaction. The wearable payment device can tune the antenna to enhance performance of the antenna. The wearable payment device can measure a characteristic of the antenna and perform an assessment of the performance of the antenna based on the measured characteristic. The antenna can be tuned, such as by changing the impedance of the antenna, based on the assessed performance of the antenna.

A first element and a second element of a same device communicate with each other. The first element sends the second element a first piece of information representative of energy supplied by an electromagnetic field supplying power the device. The second element adapts its operating frequency as a function of the first piece of information.

An animal tracking system comprising a first LoRa receiver configured as a gateway to receive transmissions on a first set of channels or a second set of channels and forward said transmissions to a first remote server, and a transmitting tag configured to be affixed to an animal. The transmitting tag includes a memory configured to store digital information, a passive RFID receiver configured to detect a close proximity to an RFID transmitter and store detection of the close proximity in comprising in the memory, a processor configured to determine an alarm status according to a frequency of detection of the close proximity, an internal energy source, and a LoRa transmitter configured to transmit signals for a distance greater than 100 meters via energy from the internal energy source.

According to one embodiment, a radio tag communication device includes an antenna configured to transmit an interrogation signal and receive a response signal from a radio tag transmitting the response signal in response to the interrogation signal. A radio tag communication control unit of the device is configured to cause the antenna to repeatedly transmit the interrogation signal from a start time of an object conveyance until a reception strength of the response signal received by the antenna is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, and then perform writing on the radio tag via the antenna once the reception strength of the response signal received by the antenna is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold.

A wearable payment device, such as a finger ring worn by a user, communicates payment data to a payment reader that uses the payment data in order to request a payment transaction. Such wearable payment device may be conveniently carried by and accessible to the user such that utilization of the payment device for the payment transaction is less burdensome for the user, thereby encouraging use of the payment device for payments. Indeed, in some cases, such as when the payment device is implemented as a finger ring or other type of jewelry, the user may be encouraged to carry the payment device in an exposed manner such that it is readily available for the payment transaction without the user having to search in a wallet, pocket, or purse.

An electronic device includes a near-field communication module and a powering circuit for delivering a power supply voltage to the near-field communication module. When the near-field communication module is in a low power mode, the powering circuit is configured for an operational mode where it is periodically started to provide the power supply voltage.

A device comprising: an antenna; a power harvesting circuit for harvesting power from a radio frequency field received at the antenna in order to power functions of the device; a communication unit coupled to the antenna for transmitting and receiving signals by means of the antenna, the communication device being configured to communicate according to a protocol in which a party to a communication session deems the session to have timed out if during a predetermined period it does not receive a signal from another party to the session; and a module comprising a processing circuit; the device being configured to interrupt the operation of the module when the communication unit is transmitting a signal by means of the antenna.