Abstract: In an RFID system having an edge controller and a tag reader that is operably connected to the edge controller, a manifest of items having RFID tags tracked by the RFID system is identified, and data from the manifest is downloaded to the edge controller in anticipation of reading the RFID tags, i.e., the manifest data is prefetched. An RFID edge controller that may be operably connected to a tag reader receives, in anticipation of the tag reader reading RFID tags associated with items, manifest data prefetched from a database that stores manifests of items, and compares the manifest data with data read from the RFID tags to determine whether the items comply with the manifest.

Abstract: To make the antenna pattern of an RFID tag more nearly isotropic, the tag substrate is adapted to fit a corner of a rectangular structure. The substrate has tabs that may be folded, together with a remaining portion of the substrate so that the tag, may be installed on, for example, the corner of a box or crate. The antenna has at least two radiating elements. A first tab bears a portion of one radiating element, a second tab bears a portion of the other element, and a remaining portion of the substrate bears at least a portion of at least one of the radiating elements. When the tag is folded and affixed to a corner, parts of the antenna lie each of in the three mutually orthogonal planes that define the corner.

Abstract: A system, method, and program product that uses statistical sampling to determine whether a pallet has been received when the pallet-level RFID tag is not read. When a shipment is unloaded, the system keeps track of the item-level RFID tags that are received. A threshold is retrieved and compared with the number of item-level RFID tags that were received. If the threshold is 50%, then the pallet would be assumed to be received and marked accordingly in the manifest if 50% of the items in the pallet were received. Threshold levels can be customized based upon the vendor shipping the goods, the type of goods being shipped, or both. In addition, the vendor quality rating and the type of good rating can be combined to form a single threshold that incorporates the vendor's quality along with the material (interference) quality of the goods on the particular pallet.

Abstract: Methods and computer program products for managing a device connected to a network include querying the device using the network, querying the device using a simulated RFID tag, and querying the device using a suppressible RFID tag to determine status information about the device. A system for managing a device connected to a network comprises means for monitoring status of the device using the network, for receiving status information about the device reported by a simulated RFID tag, and for receiving status information about the device reported by a suppressible RFID tag.