Object identification system and method

Abstract

A method of managing objects in a site ( 424 ) includes producing a guided surface wave with a guided surface waveguide probe (P), the guided surface wave having sufficient energy density to power object identification tags ( 402 ) in an entirety of the site; receiving reply signals from the object identification tags, each object identification tag associated with an object ( 404 ); and identifying geolocation of one or more the objects according to received reply signals from the object identification tags that are associated with the one or more of the objects.

Therefore, the following is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method of managing objects in a site ( 424 ), comprising:
 producing a guided surface wave with a guided surface waveguide probe (P), the guided surface wave having sufficient energy density to power object identification tags ( 402 ) in an entirety of the site;   receiving reply signals from the object identification tags, each object identification tag associated with an object ( 404 ); and   identifying geolocation of one or more the objects according to received reply signals from the object identification tags that are associated with the one or more of the objects.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the guided surface waveguide probe comprises a charge terminal elevated over a terrestrial medium ( 203 ,  410 ) configured to generate at least one resultant field that synthesizes a wave front incident at a complex Brewster angle of incidence (θ i,B ) of the terrestrial medium. 
     
     
         3 . The method of any of  claims 1 - 2 , wherein geolocation for at least one object is determined by triangulation using a corresponding return signal that is received at two receivers ( 408 ). 
     
     
         4 . The method of any of  claims 1 - 3 , wherein location of at least one receiver that receives a return signal from a tag serves as a proxy for the geolocation location of the associated object. 
     
     
         5 . The method of any of  claims 1 - 4 , wherein one or more tags are polled to emit a return signal. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the poll is addressed to the one or more tags and is contained in the guided surface wave. 
     
     
         7 . The method of any of  claims 1 - 6 , wherein the method further comprises, prior to receiving the reply signals from one or more tags from which the locations are identified, placing the objects in a location in the site that physically accommodates the objects and that is not a pre-planned receiving place for the objects. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the method further comprises storing the location with a computer system, recalling the location of the placed objects with the computer system, and retrieving the objects from the location. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the method further comprises determining a tag address for a tag associated with an object of interest, polling the tag associated with the object of interest to invoke the tag to emit a reply signal from which the receiving and geolocation identifying are carried out. 
     
     
         10 . The method of any of  claims 1 - 9 , further comprising determining if an object is located in an unauthorized area. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the determination is made by detecting movement past a predetermined point or crossing a boundary between an authorized area and the unauthorized area. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the determination is made by failing to receive a return signal from the associated tag within a predetermined amount of time since the receipt of a last iteration of the return signal. 
     
     
         13 . The method of any of  claims 11 - 12 , wherein a further determination is made as whether a legitimate reason exists for the object to be located in the unauthorized area. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising initiating a security action if no legitimate reason exists for the object to be located in the unauthorized area. 
     
     
         15 . A method of managing objects in a site ( 424 ), comprising:
 producing a guided surface wave with a guided surface waveguide probe (P), the guided surface wave having sufficient energy density to power object identification tags ( 402 ) in an entirety of the site;   receiving reply signals from the object identification tags, each object identification tag associated with an object ( 404 ); and   inventorying the objects according to the received return signals.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising identifying geolocation of one or more the objects according to received reply signals from the object identification tags that are associated with the one or more of the objects. 
     
     
         17 . A method of authenticating goods, comprising:
 producing a guided surface wave with a guided surface waveguide probe (P), the guided surface wave having sufficient energy density to power an object identification tag ( 402 ) associated with an object ( 404 ), the object being a good to be authenticated;   receiving a reply signal from the object identification tag, the reply signal containing a tag identifier; and   determining if the object is an authentic good by matching the tag identifier with a valid identifier stored in a database ( 450 ).