Abstract: An embodiment of a radar subsystem includes at least one antenna and a control circuit. The at least one antenna is configured to radiate at least one first transmit beam and to form at least one first receive beam. And the control circuit is configured to steer the at least one first transmit beam and the at least one first receive beam over a first field of regard during a first time period, and to steer the at least one first transmit beam and the at least one first receive beam over a second field of regard during a second time period.

Abstract: A method and system for detecting small leaks in a plumbing system is disclosed. A temperature sensor coupled to the water in the plumbing system is used to determine if there is a leak. During times of inactivity for fixtures in the plumbing systems, a flow sensor might measure usage of water that would indicate a leak. For very small leaks, the flow is below a minimum measurable flow of the flow sensor. Embodiments of the invention measure temperature of water within a pipe coupled to the plumbing system. Temperature will generally decay in a particular predicable way when there is flow as the temperature of water upon entry to the building is lower than the air temperature within the building. Signal processing, machine learning and/or statistical approaches are used to analyze the temperature and optionally flow and/or pressure over time to determine when a leak is likely.

Abstract: An embodiment of a radar subsystem includes at least one antenna and a control circuit. The at least one antenna is configured to radiate at least one first transmit beam and to form at least one first receive beam. And the control circuit is configured to steer the at least one first transmit beam and the at least one first receive beam over a first field of regard during a first time period, and to steer the at least one first transmit beam and the at least one first receive beam over a second field of regard during a second time period.

Abstract: A method and system for detecting small leaks in a plumbing system is disclosed. A temperature sensor coupled to the water in the plumbing system is used to determine if there is a leak. During times of inactivity for fixtures in the plumbing systems, a flow sensor might measure usage of water that would indicate a leak. For very small leaks, the flow is below a minimum measurable flow of the flow sensor. Embodiments of the invention measure temperature of water within a pipe coupled to the plumbing system. Temperature will generally decay in a particular predicable way when there is flow as the temperature of water upon entry to the building is lower than the air temperature within the building. Signal processing, machine learning and/or statistical approaches are used to analyze the temperature and optionally flow and/or pressure over time to determine when a leak is likely.

Abstract: A method and system for detecting small leaks in a plumbing system is disclosed. A temperature sensor coupled to the water in the plumbing system is used to determine if there is a leak. During times of inactivity for fixtures in the plumbing systems, a flow sensor might measure usage of water that would indicate a leak. For very small leaks, the flow is below a minimum measurable flow of the flow sensor. Embodiments of the invention measure temperature of water within a pipe coupled to the plumbing system. Temperature will generally decay in a particular predicable way when there is flow as the temperature of water upon entry to the building is lower than the air temperature within the building. Signal processing, machine learning and/or statistical approaches are used to analyze the temperature and optionally flow and/or pressure over time to determine when a leak is likely.

Abstract: A method and system for detecting small leaks in a plumbing system is disclosed. A temperature sensor coupled to the water in the plumbing system is used to determine if there is a leak. During times of inactivity for fixtures in the plumbing systems, a flow sensor might measure usage of water that would indicate a leak. For very small leaks, the flow is below a minimum measurable flow of the flow sensor. Embodiments of the invention measure temperature of water within a pipe coupled to the plumbing system. Temperature will generally decay in a particular predicable way when there is flow as the temperature of water upon entry to the building is lower than the air temperature within the building. Signal processing, machine learning and/or statistical approaches are used to analyze the temperature and optionally flow and/or pressure over time to determine when a leak is likely.

Abstract: A method and system for detecting small leaks in a plumbing system is disclosed. A temperature sensor coupled to the water in the plumbing system is used to determine if there is a leak. During times of inactivity for fixtures in the plumbing systems, a flow sensor might measure usage of water that would indicate a leak. For very small leaks, the flow is below a minimum measurable flow of the flow sensor. Embodiments of the invention measure temperature of water within a pipe coupled to the plumbing system. Temperature will generally decay in a particular predicable way when there is flow as the temperature of water upon entry to the building is lower than the air temperature within the building. Signal processing, machine learning and/or statistical approaches are used to analyze the temperature and optionally flow and/or pressure over time to determine when a leak is likely.

Abstract: A method and system for detecting small leaks in a plumbing system is disclosed. A temperature sensor coupled to the water in the plumbing system is used to determine if there is a leak. During times of inactivity for fixtures in the plumbing systems, a flow sensor might measure usage of water that would indicate a leak. For very small leaks, the flow is below a minimum measurable flow of the flow sensor. Embodiments of the invention measure temperature of water within a pipe coupled to the plumbing system. Temperature will generally decay in a particular predicable way when there is flow as the temperature of water upon entry to the building is lower than the air temperature within the building. Signal processing, machine learning and/or statistical approaches are used to analyze the temperature and optionally flow and/or pressure over time to determine when a leak is likely.

Abstract: An embodiment of a radar subsystem includes at least one antenna and a control circuit. The at least one antenna is configured to radiate at least one first transmit beam and to form at least one first receive beam. And the control circuit is configured to steer the at least one first transmit beam and the at least one first receive beam over a first field of regard during a first time period, and to steer the at least one first transmit beam and the at least one first receive beam over a second field of regard during a second time period.

Abstract: RFID tags are commanded to generate a pilot tone in their backscatter. When the backscattered pilot tone is received in the reader, the pilot tone is used to estimate the tag period/frequency. Then, the estimate is used to seed and lock a symbol timing recovery loop, which provides a detected signal to one or more correlators for detecting the tag preamble. A delayed version of the received tag signal is compared against a baseline signal threshold established from the received signal to detect the pilot tone.

Abstract: RFID tags and chips for RFID tags are capable of being inventoried in one or more early attempts. These tags are capable of then refraining from participating in one or more subsequent inventorying attempts. In some embodiments refraining is performed solely by the tag, while in others it is guided by the RFID reader. In some embodiments, an inventoried indicator in the tag becomes updated upon backscattering. The updated value is used by the tag to recognize a subsequent attempt, and thus refrain from participating in it. This permits the subsequent attempt to be used more intensively for inventorying the more elusive, harder-to-read tags, especially in more demanding scenarios.

Abstract: RFID reader systems, readers, components, software and methods are provided for inventorying RFID tags. In some embodiments, a population of RFID tags begins being inventoried using a first set of communication parameters, and then continues using a second set of communication parameters. This way, some RFID tags can be inventoried faster, without missing tags that require a longer time to read.

Abstract: RFID readers, systems, and methods are provided for overcoming the effects of RF interference. While a system is communicating in a channel, RF interference is monitored. If it is low, then hopping to another channel is performed according to an ordinary decision. But if interference is high, then hopping out to another channel can be earlier than would be dictated by the ordinary decision under the same circumstances. The earlier hopping out can result in diminishing communication in channels with a lot of RF interference.

Abstract: RFID readers, systems, and methods are provided for overcoming the effects of RF interference. While a system is communicating in a channel, RF interference is monitored. If it is low, then the next channel to be hopped onto is chosen in an unbiased manner. But if interference is high, then the next channel to be hopped onto is chosen in a biased manner that disfavors at least one channel over another, in view of the detected interference. The choice of the next channel can thus result in diminishing communication in channels with a lot of RF interference.

Abstract: RFID readers, RFID tags, software, and methods decode a signal received in an RFID system. From received data, a decoder determines a number of possible test series for the output. In one embodiment, the decoder uses a memory of a previous sample to derive a subsequent sample in the test series, so as to ensure that all the test series are valid. A metric is then computed for how well each test series fits the received data. The metrics are compared to select for output the test series with the best fit. In a further embodiment, at least one of the metrics is further used to determine if a collision were present.

Abstract: RFID readers, RFID tags, software, and methods decode a signal received in an RFID system. From received data, a decoder determines a number of possible test series for the output. In one embodiment, the decoder uses a memory of a previous sample to derive a subsequent sample in the test series, so as to ensure that all the test series are valid. A metric is then computed for how well each test series fits the received data. The metrics are compared to select for output the test series with the best fit. In a further embodiment, at least one of the metrics is further used to determine if a collision were present.

Abstract: Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) reader system, software, and methods are provided, such that an operational processing block for the RFID reader to communicate with an RFID tag uses a RF spectrum portion subdivided into a set of channels. The communication takes place in the presence of a foreign device that uses a subset of first channels of the RF spectrum and does not use a subset of second channels of the spectrum. The methods cause a radiating power directed towards the tag to be reduced and a radiating dwell time to be changed. This is to assure that co-existing systems can operate without compromising their functionality and operational quality. In some embodiments, the radiating power is reduced to zero.

Abstract: RFID tags and chips for RFID tags are capable of being inventoried in one or more early attempts. These tags are capable of then refraining from participating in one or more subsequent inventorying attempts. In some embodiments refraining is performed solely by the tag, while in others it is guided by the RFID reader. In some embodiments, an inventoried indicator in the tag becomes updated upon backscattering. The updated value is used by the tag to recognize a subsequent attempt, and thus refrain from participating in it. This permits the subsequent attempt to be used more intensively for inventorying the more elusive, harder-to-read tags, especially in more demanding scenarios.

Abstract: RFID reader systems, readers, components, software and methods can inventory RFID tags in one or more early attempts. Then they can facilitate the inventoried RFID tags to refrain from participating in one or more subsequent inventorying attempts. In some embodiments, an inventoried indicator in the tag becomes updated upon backscattering. The updated value is used by the tag to recognize a subsequent attempt, and thus refrain from participating in it. This permits the subsequent attempt to be used more intensively for inventorying the more elusive, harder-to-read tags, especially in more demanding scenarios.

Abstract: Systems and methods to determine timebase and timing (i.e., time sync) of received signals in RFID systems. Multiple matched filters corresponding to multiple timebases are used to receive the preambles of signals received from RFID tags. The multiple matched filters define a range of expected timebases of the received signals. The matched filter with the maximum output signal peak is used to derive the timebase and timing of the received signal. Viterbi techniques can be used in determining the timebase and timing to incorporate a portion of the data signal in addition to the preamble. Reconfigurable matched filters can be used so that after a preliminary timebase is determined as described above, the matched filters can be reconfigured to define a new smaller range centered about the preliminary timebase. This allows the timebase to be determined with finer resolution when another preamble portion is received.