Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a wireless identification tag configured to harvest ambient energy and transmit an identification signal intermittently, and system and methods for use thereof. In one implementation, the tag may include an antenna configured to receive ambient energy. The tag may also include an energy storage component configured to aggregate and store the received ambient energy. The tag may also include a transmitter electrically connected to the energy storage component and configured to transmit the identification signal. The tag may also include a circuit connected to the transmitter and configured to implement an identification transmission rule, to cause the transmitter to delay sending the identification signal even when sufficient energy for transmission of the identification signal is aggregated and stored in the energy storage component.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to systems and methods for providing privacy to downstream owners of electronically tagged goods. In one implementation, the system may include at least one processor that may be configured to store IDs for a plurality of tags including at least a first owner ID and a second owner ID for a particular tag; associate first information of the particular tag with the first owner ID at a time when the first owner of the particular tag is recorded as owning the tag; record a transaction transferring ownership of the particular tag from the first owner to a second owner; and after the transfer of ownership, associate second information of the particular tag with the second owner ID, and prevent the second owner from accessing the first information.

An apparatus for helping locate an item of interest in or near a building comprises an indicator and a body with a pair of pincers adapted to operate in opposition to grasp or be placed on or near the item of interest. The body houses a radiofrequency (RF) receiver configured to receive RF signals transmitted by an RF transmitter, and a processor in communication with the RF receiver and the indicator. The processor is configured to acquire information from the RF signals that are received by the RF receiver and to turn on the indicator in response to the information acquired from the RF signals.

An RFID loss-prevention system (LPS) may monitor RFID-tagged items in a facility. An RFID reader transmits a first inventory command configured to cause tags in a first state to respond, receive a reply from a first tag, determine that the first tag has a low transition risk, and cause the first tag to switch to a second state. The reader may also receive a reply from a second tag, determine that the second tag has a high transition risk, and cause the second tag to remain in the first state. The reader may then transmit a second inventory command configured to cause tags in the first state to respond, receive a reply from the second tag in response to the second inventory command, determine that the second tag has inappropriately exited the facility, and issue an alert.

Systems and methods for operating an Electronic Article Surveillance (“EAS”) system. The methods comprise: detecting movement of a plurality of security tags in a facility using Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”); identifying which security tags of the plurality of security tags are moving towards an exit of the facility or are in a surveillance zone; determining a number of the identified security tags that are coupled to unsold objects; comparing the number to a threshold value; and causing the EAS system to issue an alarm when the number is greater than or equal to the threshold value.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to systems, methods, and computer readable media containing instructions for causing simultaneous triggering and sequential reading of a plurality of tags. In one implementation, the instructions may include displaying an activatable element on a graphical user interface for activating a 2.4 GHz transmitter. The instructions may also include activating the transmitter to cause each of a plurality of tags to send a unique tag ID to a receiver. The instructions may also include reading a first group of tag IDs during a first time interval; recording first information associated with the first group; maintaining activation of the transmitter to cause transmission of at least some of the tag IDs of the first group along with the unique tag IDs of a second group of tag IDs to the receiver; and recording second information associated with the second group.

An RFID portal of an EAS system first interrogates a first zone extending into a controlled area beyond a threshold distance from an interrogating antenna of the portal. The portal defines an exit from the controlled area, the threshold distance being less than a width of the exit. The portal first detects, in response to the first interrogating, a first response of a particular RFID tag. The portal second interrogate, subsequent to the first detecting, in a second zone extending into the controlled area at least to the threshold distance. The portal second detects, in response to the second interrogating, at least one second response of the particular RFID tag indicating a received signal strength of the second interrogating at the particular RFID tag corresponding to a distance from an interrogating antenna of the portal less than the threshold distance. The EAS system alarms in response to the second detecting.

This disclosure is directed to product displays systems. In one aspect, a product display system includes three or more bases spatially distributed in a space. Each base has a wireless transceiver. The system includes a product display assembly comprising a puck assembly and a base assembly. The puck assembly has a surface on which a product is mountable for merchandising of the product to a customer and is untethered to the base assembly. The puck assembly executes machine-readable instructions that determines a coordinate location of the puck assembly within the space based on wireless communications between the puck assembly and the three or more bases. The puck assembly may also generate an alarm sound when the coordinate location is located within an alarm zone or a warning zone of the space.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to systems and methods for providing privacy to downstream owners of electronically tagged goods. In one implementation, the system may include at least one processor that may be configured to store IDs for a plurality of tags including at least a first owner ID and a second owner ID for a particular tag; associate first information of the particular tag with the first owner ID at a time when the first owner of the particular tag is recorded as owning the tag; record a transaction transferring ownership of the particular tag from the first owner to a second owner; and after the transfer of ownership, associate second information of the particular tag with the second owner ID, and prevent the first owner from accessing the second information.

There is provided a method of inventory control for an inventory including items sequentially arranged on one or more structures, each item having a radio frequency tag associated thereto, the tag having stored therein an identifier for identifying the associated item. The method includes: obtaining data in relation to multiple items arranged in a row on a structure, the data comprising multiple sets of identifiers detected from interrogating the tags of the plurality of items at a plurality of instances along the row; determining a sequence of detected items in the row based on the data obtained, the sequence including estimated relative positions of the detected items in the row; and determining whether an item of the detected items in the row is misplaced based on the estimated relative position of the item in the row and a reference relative position of the item in the row.