Systems and methods for locating items within a facility

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11067683-B2
Application number	US-201716325576-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 15, 2017
Priority date	Aug 23, 2016
Publication date	Jul 20, 2021
Grant date	Jul 20, 2021

Abstract

Systems and methods for finding tags which are unreadable at a particular time. The methods comprise: performing first operations by a first mobile tag reader to read tags at a first time and to determine physical locations of the tags which were read at the first time; and performing second operations by the first mobile tag reader or a second mobile tag reader at a second later time for determining a first geographic area in which a first tag which is unreadable resides. The second operations comprise: analyzing tag read data associated with the first operations to identify second tags which were read along with the first tag on a previous occasion; and selecting the first geographic area to comprise a second geographic area defined by the physical locations of the second tags which were determined during the first operations by the first mobile tag reader.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method for finding tags of a plurality of tags which are unreadable at a particular time, comprising:
performing first operations by a first mobile lag reader to read tags at a first time and to determine physical locations of the tags which were read at the first time; and
performing second operations by the first mobile tag reader or a second mobile tag reader at a second later time for determining a first geographic area in which a first tag of the plurality of tags which is unreadable resides, the second operations comprising:
analyzing tag read data associated with the first operations to identify second tags of the plurality of tags which were read along with the first tag on a previous occasion;
selecting the first geographic area to comprise a second geographic area defined by the physical locations of the second tags which were determined during the first operations by the first mobile tag reader; and
outputting an indication from the first or second mobile tag reader which indicates where the first geographic area is relative to the current location of the first or second mobile tag reader.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the physical locations of the tags are determined based on at least one of a physical location, a pointing direction and a transmit power of the first mobile tag reader at the time of performing the first operations.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a transmit power of the first mobile tag reader is adjusted prior to performing the first operations based on a physical location of the first mobile tag reader.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the indication comprises a Geiger counter indication or a map showing where the first geographic area is relative to the current location of the first or second mobile tag reader in a visual 3D space.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising moving the first or second mobile tag reader into the first geographic area using the indication.

6. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising finding the first tag visually by an individual using the first or second mobile tag reader, visually by the first or second mobile tag reader having an image capture and processing capability, or by performing third operations by the first or second mobile tag reader to read tags.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising performing third operations by the first or second mobile tag reader to auto-map locations of fixed infrastructure equipment.

8. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising using the auto-mapped locations of the fixed infrastructure equipment to locate a second tag of the plurality of tags which is unreadable by the first or second mobile tag reader.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the second tag is located by identifying a piece of fixed infrastructure equipment that last read the second tag or was read at the same time as the second tag on a prior occasion.

10. A system, comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising programming instructions that are configured to cause the processor to implement a method for finding tags of a plurality of tags which are unreadable by a mobile tag reader at a particular time, wherein the programming instructions comprise instructions to:
perform first operations to read tags at a first time and to determine physical locations of the tags which were read at the first time; and
perform second operations at a second later time for determining a first geographic area in which a first tag of the plurality of tags which is unreadable by the mobile tag reader resides, the second operations comprising:
analyzing tag read data associated with the first operations to identify second tags of the plurality of tags which were read along with the first tag on a previous occasion; and
selecting the first geographic area to comprise a second geographic area defined by the physical locations of the second tags which were determined during the first operations and
outputting an indication from the first or second mobile tag reader which indicates where the first geographic area is relative to the current location of the first or second mobile tag reader.

11. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the physical locations of the tags are determined based on at least one of a physical location, a pointing direction and a transmit power of the mobile tag reader at the time of performing the first operations.

12. The system according to claim 10 , wherein a transmit power of the mobile tag reader is adjusted prior to performing the first operations based on a physical location of the mobile tag reader.

13. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the indication comprises a Geiger counter indication or a map showing where the first geographic area is relative to the current locations of the mobile tag reader in a visual 3D space.

14. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the mobile tag reader is moved into the first
geographic area using the indication.

15. The system according to claim 14 , wherein the first tag is visually found by an individual using the mobile tag reader, automatically visually found by the mobile tag reader having an image capture and processing capability, or automatically found by performing third operations by the mobile tag reader to read tags.

16. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to auto-map locations of fixed infrastructure equipment.

17. The system according to claim 14 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to use the auto-mapped locations of the fixed infrastructure equipment to locate a second tag of the plurality of tags which is unreadable by the mobile tag reader.

18. The system according to claim 17 , wherein the second tag is located by identifying a piece of fixed infrastructure equipment that last read the second tag or was read at the same time as the second tag on a prior occasion.

19. A method for finding tags of a plurality of tags which are unreadable at a particular time, comprising:
performing first operations by a first mobile lag reader to read tags at a first time and to determine physical locations of the tags which were read at the first time; and
performing second operations by the first mobile tag reader or a second mobile tag reader at a second later time for determining a first geographic area in which a first tag of the plurality of tags which is unreadable resides, the second operations comprising:
analyzing tag read data associated with the first operations to identify second tags of the plurality of tags which were read along with the first tag on a previous occasion; and
selecting the first geographic area to comprise a second geographic area defined by the physical locations of the second tags which were determined during the first operations by the first mobile tag reader,

wherein a transmit power of the first mobile tag reader is adjusted prior to performing the first operations based on a physical location of the first mobile tag reader.

Assignees

• Trivelpiece Steve E
• Mccauley Ned
• Riggert Eric F
• Sensormatic Electronics Llc

Inventors

• Trivelpiece Steve E
• Mccauley Ned
• Riggert Eric F

Classifications

• G06K7/10386

  the interrogation device being of the portable or hand-handheld type, e.g. incorporated in ubiquitous hand-held devices such as PDA or mobile phone, or in the form of a portable dedicated RFID reader · CPC title

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title

• G01S13/75 Primary

  using transponders powered from received waves, e.g. using passive transponders {, or using passive reflectors} · CPC title

• G06K7/10475

  arrangements to facilitate interaction with further interrogation devices, e.g. such that at least two interrogation devices may function and cooperate in a network of such devices · CPC title