System and method for RFID reader to reader communication

Abstract

A system and method for coordinating a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) readers to minimize reader noise and increase reader sensitivity. A first set of one or more of the plurality of readers is coordinated to operate in a transmit only mode. A second set of one or more of the plurality of readers is coordinated to operate in receive only mode. The first and second set are synchronized such that a receive period of the second set coincides with a transmit period of the first set.

1 . A method for coordinating a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) readers to minimize reader noise and increase reader sensitivity, comprising: 
 coordinating a first set of one or more of the plurality of readers to operate in a transmit only mode; and    coordinating a second set of one or more of the plurality of readers to operate in receive only mode;    wherein the first and second set are synchronized such that a receive period of the second set coincides with a transmit period of the first set.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the readers are connected to form a reader network.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein operational fields of each reader of the first set overlap at least one operational field of readers of the second set.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein readers within the first set do not interfere with one another during transmission.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein operational fields of readers within the first set do not overlap.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising coordinating a third set of one or more of the plurality of readers to be non-operational.  
     
     
         7 . A method for distributing activity across a network of radio frequency identification (RFID) readers, comprising: 
 configuring a first set of one or more readers at a first location to identify a plurality of RFID tags; and    configuring a second set of one or more readers at a second location to interact with one or more of the tags using identification information received from at least one of the readers of the first set without searching to identify the tags at the second location.    
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein an undesirable tag identified by the first set is flagged such that the undesirable tag is ignored by the second set.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the tags pass through the first location prior to passing through the second location.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising: 
 writing data to one or more of the tags using one or more of the readers of the first set; and    verifying the data written to the one or more tags using one or more readers of the second set using the identification information and data received from at least one reader of the first set.    
     
     
         11 . A method for updating firmware of a first radio frequency identification (RFID) reader connected to an RFID reader network having one or more other readers, comprising: 
 determining that a version of firmware within the first reader is older than a version of firmware within one or more other readers; and    transferring a copy of the firmware within the one or more other readers to the first reader.    
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the step of determining occurs within the first reader.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1   1 , wherein the step of determining occurs within one or more of the other readers.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , including initiating operation of the transferred firmware within the first reader, wherein the step of initiating reboots the first reader.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , including initiating operation of the transferred firmware within the first reader, wherein the step of initiating does not reboot the first reader.  
     
     
         16 . A method for providing connectivity between a server and at least one of a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) readers, comprising: 
 communicatively coupling the plurality of readers to create an RFID reader network wherein not all of the readers are directly connected to the server; and    connecting at least one of the readers to the server to create a proxy server, wherein the proxy server exchanges information between the server and at least one of the readers not directly connected to the server.    
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , each of the readers utilizing an ad-hoc on-demand distance vector routing algorithm to route messages to other readers not directly connected to the reader.  
     
     
         18 . A method for determining a scope of operation of one or more radio frequency identification (RFID) readers within an RFID reader network, comprising: 
 determining one or more RFID tag types of a plurality of tags; and    determining the scope of operation of each reader based upon its ability to handle the identified tag types;    wherein any reader unable to handle a specific tag type is configured to not interact with any tags of the specific tag type.    
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein any reader unable to handle all of the tag types is disabled.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein readers unable to handle the specific tag type do not receive information related to the specific tag type from other readers.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein any reader unable to handle data of a specific tag is configured to not interact with the specific tag.  
     
     
         22 . A method for coordinating a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) readers to minimize reader noise and increase reader sensitivity, comprising: 
 determining one or more groups of readers where operational fields of readers in the group overlap;    selecting a first set consisting of one reader from each group;    selecting a second set consisting of readers of each group not in the first set;    coordinating the first set to operate in a transmit only mode;    coordinating the second set to operate in a receive only mode;    synchronizing the first and second set of readers such that a receive period of the second set coincides with a transmit period of the first set.    
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the steps of determining, selecting, coordinating and synchronizing are performed automatically by the readers.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the readers are configured as a reader network.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein operational fields of each reader of the first set overlap at least one operational field of readers of the second set.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein readers within the first set do not interfere with one another during transmission.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein operational fields of readers within the first set do not overlap.  
     
     
         28 . A method for searching for information stored within a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader network of RFID readers, each including a tag cache capable of storing the information, comprising: 
 generating a search message containing search criteria;    sending the search message to a set of readers within the reader network, each reader within the set searching its tag cache to identify information matching the search criteria;    receiving a response containing the identified information from any reader within the set having the identified information in its tag cache.    
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the step of generating is performed within one reader of the reader network.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the step of generating is performed within a server connected to the reader network.  
     
     
         31 . A method for creating a network of radio frequency identification (RFID) readers comprising: 
 initially including a first RFID reader in the network;    connecting additional RFID readers to the network, wherein each of the additional readers is connected to at least another one of the additional readers by a peer to peer communication link, and wherein at least one of the additional readers is also connected to the first reader by a peer to peer communication link.    
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , further comprising updating firmware of one or more of the readers within the reader network by transferring updated firmware from one or more other readers within the network.  
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the firmware of the one or more additional readers is updated by transferring updated firmware from a server connected to the reader network.  
     
     
         34 . A system for interacting with one or more radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, comprising: 
 a first set of one or more RFID readers at a first location, the first set operating to identify at least one of the tags; and    a second set of one or more readers at a second location, the second set operating to interact with one or more tags identified by the first set;    wherein the second set uses identification information received from at least one of the readers of the first set and without searching to identify the tags at the second location.    
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the readers of the first and second sets form a reader network.  
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein an undesirable tag identified by the first set is flagged such that the undesirable tag is ignored by the second set.  
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the tags pass through the first location prior to passing through the second location.  
     
     
         38 . A system for reading radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, comprising:. 
 a server;    at least one RFID reader not directly coupled to the server; and    at least one RFID reader directly coupled to the server and operating as a proxy server;    wherein the readers are couple to create an RFID reader network such that the proxy server exchanges information between the server and the at least one reader not directly connected to the server.    
     
     
         39 . A system for interacting with one or more radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, comprising: 
 a first set of one or more RFID readers at a first location, the first set operating to identify at least one of the tags;    a second set of one or more readers at a second location, the second set operating to interact with one or more tags identified by the first set; and    a server connected to at least one but not all of the readers;    wherein the second set uses identification information received from at least one of the readers of the first set and without searching to identify the tags at the second location; and    wherein the readers couple to create an RFID reader network-wherein the proxy server exchanges information between the server and the at least one reader not directly connected to the server.