Communications: electrical – Selective – Interrogation response
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-12
2003-12-09
Horabik, Michael (Department: 2635)
Communications: electrical
Selective
Interrogation response
C340S010300, C340S010400, C340S010310, C340S010100, C340S010330, C340S005610, C340S005630, C342S042000, C342S044000, C342S051000, C700S011000, C455S041100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06661336
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method of identifying a plurality of transponders, each of which transmits data at intervals to a receiver. The invention also relates to an identification system comprising a plurality of transponders and a receiver, and to the transponders and receivers themselves. The invention further relates to method and apparatus for improving the identification systems disclosed in EP 494,114 A and EP 585,132 A.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Identification systems are known in which a plurality of transmitters, typically transponders, are activated by a power signal (or an “interrogation signal”) and then transmit reply signals, usually containing identification data, to a receiver, which typically forms part of the interrogator. The signals may be transmitted in many ways, including electromagnetic energy, e.g. radio frequency (RF), infra red (IR), and coherent light, and sound, e.g. ultrasound. For example, the transmission may be achieved by actual emission of RF energy by the transponders, or by the modulation of the reflectivity of an antenna of the transponder, resulting in varying amounts of RF energy in the interrogation signal being reflected or back-scattered from the transponder antenna.
GB 2,116,808 A discloses an identification system in which the individual transponders are programmed to retransmit data in a pseudo-random manner. Timing signals for the transponders in this identification system are derived from a crystal oscillator, thereby making the transponders expensive to manufacture.
EP 467,036 A describes another identification system which uses a pseudo-random delay between transponder data transmissions. In this example, a linear recursive sequence generator is seeded by the transponder identification address to make the pseudo-random delay as random as possible.
EP 161799 A discloses an interrogator/transponder system in which an interrogator broadcasts an interrogation signal to a plurality of transponders present in the interrogation field. Each transponder transmits a reply signal consisting of a uniquely coded identification number. The interrogator then re-transmits the signal it has received and each transponder decodes the signal and checks the data against it's own identification number. In the event that a particular transponder recognizes it's own code, that transponder discontinues the reply signal or adjusts to receive further instructions (all others having shut down). If interference occurs because two or more transponders are transmitting at the same time, the interrogator waits until a valid signal is received.
EP 494112 A discloses another interrogator/transponder system in which an interrogator broadcasts an interrogation signal to a plurality of transponders present in the interrogation field. One example of the identification system comprises an interrogator or reader which transmits interrogation signals at a power of approximately 15W and at a frequency of approximately 915 MHZ to a number of passive transponders. The transponders derive a power supply from energy in the interrogation signal, and modulate a portion of the energy received from the interrogator with an identification code to generate a response signal, which is transmitted back to the interrogator.
EP 585,132 A discloses another interrogator/transponder system in which transponders are provided with local timing means which is dependent on the power supply voltage derived from the interrogation signal, thereby causing the clock frequencies of different transponders to vary relatively widely. The interrogator is adapted to detect successful reception of a response signal from any transponder and to derive a synchronisation signal from the response signal. The interrogation signal may then be modified synchronously with a particular transponder.
The transponder can use separate receiver and transmitter antennas, or a single antenna can be utilised for both reception and transmission. If a single antenna is used the response signal can be generated by modulating the reflectivity of such an antenna; if separate receiver and transmitter antennae are used then a modulator which redirects energy from the receiver antenna to the transmitter antenna is required. Alternatively, the transponder can be independently powered and may generate its own response signal.
The system described in the above mentioned patent application provides for each transponder to wait for a random or pseudo-random period after receiving an interrogation signal from the interrogator, before transmitting its own response signal. Successful identification of any transponder is indicated by a brief interruption or other modification of the interrogation signal, following closely on the successful reception of a response signal of any particular transponder. This acts as a turn-off signal to the relevant transponder. The random or pseudo-random delay in the generation of response signals, in response to repeated interrogation signals, ensures that all transponders will eventually be identified by the interrogator.
In general, if the transmissions of two transponders overlap or clash, the transmissions are polluted and therefore lost, since the receiver cannot distinguish the separate transmissions. Thus, the system must provide for each transponder to transmit repeatedly until its entire transmission takes place in a “quiet” time and is successfully received by the interrogator.
Any transponder must obtain a quiet time which is as long as the entire length of the data stream to be transmitted. As shown in
FIG. 1
, there is considerable wasted time in systems which employ a back-off and retry algorithm of this sort.
EP 689 151 A2 discloses another interrogator/transponder system in which the RFID tag transmit a request to transmit (RTT) signal and wait for an acknowledgement signal from the network controller before attempting to transmit data. The disadvantage with such a system is that the tag must wait for, and decode, an appropriately timed permission before attempting to transmit data, thereby adding unnecessary complexity to the tag and leading to considerable wasted time in the transmission cycle. If the tags are to have local timing means (as described in detail in EP 585,132 A) the timing and the duration of the acknowledgment instruction must be derived from the local timing means of the tag transmitting the RTT signal. Since the RTT signal must necessarily be very short in order to provide the advantages suggested, the network controller must be able to extract the timing from very little information. This adds unnecessary complexity to the network controller.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved, yet simple, identification system with improved recognition of data signals. It is also an object of this invention to remove wasted time, to improve the speed of identifying a plurality of transponders without adding unnecessary complexity to the identification systems.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an identification system in which wasted time due to transmission pollution is considerably reduced while still providing a reasonably fast tag transmitting cycle.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an identification system comprising a reader including a transmitter for transmitting a signal and a plurality of transponders, each transponder including a receiver for receiving the reader signal and a transmitter for generating a transponder signal, characterised in that on recognising a transponder signal from a transponder the reader immediately issues a mute instruction, muting all other active transponders and passing control to the said transponder, without the need for a specifically timed acknowledgement to the said controlling transponder.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of identifying a plurality of transponders comprising transmitting a reader signal, and each transponder receiving the reader signal, chara
Atkins Raymond Catherall
Marais Mario Alphonso
Smit Hendrik Van Zyl
BTG International Limited
Dalencourt Yves
Horabik Michael
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