Abstract: Methods and apparatus to detect RFID tags in motion or that have moved during a period of time. Inventory records that include locations of tags can be updated quickly and accurately for a large number of RFID-tagged objects in a region by querying and obtaining responses from only the portion of the RFID-tagged objects in the region that have moved or are moving.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for estimating RFID tag locations in multipath environments are described. A plurality of RFID readers, sparsely placed reference tags, and constructed signal vectors can be used to estimate the location of RFID tags in a multipath environment.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for deploying RFID readers in an RFID environment that contains dense populations of tags are described. The RFID readers are deployed using a process that provides adequate link margins so that communication can be established with RFID tags in all regions of interest within the RFID environment.

Abstract: A radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag, or tag, is affixed to a particular item and stores unique identifying information about that item. It can be queried with a reader that transmits wireless signals to the tag and receive the tag's responses, which can be correlated with information in inventory records. Conventionally, when a reader stops receiving a tag's responses to these queries, the inventory records are updated to show that the tag and associated item have been removed from the inventory. But a tag can stop producing detectable response for other reasons, including being too close to other tags, so simply removing the tag and item can lead to inaccurate inventory records. Stateful inventory technology address this problem by maintaining and transitioning tags among different states, including a stale state for tags that have not been read recently, depending on when and where the tags were last read.

Abstract: A radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag reader interrogates a passive RFID tag by transmitting a signal to the tag, then detecting a much weaker reply at the same carrier frequency from the tag. Unfortunately, self-interference caused by signal leakage within the reader or crosstalk among the reader's antenna elements can make the reply more difficult to detect and limit the range at which the reader can sense tags. A self-interference cancellation circuit in the reader reduces or suppresses the effects of signal leakage and crosstalk, enabling detection of weaker tag replies. The self-interference cancellation circuit can calibrate itself before each transmission to ensure good performance. This improves the reader's sensitivity, increases the reader's range, reduces the reader's power consumption, and/or reduces the minimum required dynamic range of the analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) that digitize the received tag replies.

Abstract: Radio-frequency identification (RFID) systems use readers to query and locate passive RFID tags in stores, warehouses, and other environments. An interrogation signal emitted by an antenna array from a reader powers up the tag, which replies by modulating and backscattering incident radiation toward the reader. The antenna array in the reader detects the modulated and backscattered radiation, which is usually several of orders of magnitude weaker than the interrogation signal, as the tag's reply. Unfortunately, crosstalk between the antenna elements in the antenna array limits the reader's sensitivity, which in turn limits the range at which the reader can detect and locate tags. Increasing the pitch of the antenna array to greater than half the wavelength of the interrogation signal reduces crosstalk but introduces grating lobes that produce spurious replies. Fortunately, filtering these spurious replies yields sensitive measurements from an antenna array with a pitch large enough to suppress crosstalk.

Abstract: Radio-frequency identification (RFID) systems use readers to query and locate passive RFID tags in stores, warehouses, and other environments. A signal from the reader powers up the tag, which modulates and backscatters the signal toward the reader. Unfortunately, the maximum permitted RF signal power, self-interference at the reader, tag sensitivity, and channel loss limit the range at which readers can detect and locate tags. Using multiple readers simultaneously circumvents these limits. When used together, each reader transmits a signal to a tag in turn, and all of the readers listen for each of the tag's responses. The readers that are not transmitting do not experience self-interference and so can detect responses at lower power levels (longer ranges). Because the readers are at different locations, they measure different angles of arrival (AOAs) for each response. These simultaneous measurements can be used to locate each tag faster and with higher fidelity.