Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080246604 | Wireless interface module - A system and method that allows remote monitoring by satellite of cargo carried on a mobile conveyance. The system and method provide for a wireless information module (WIM) on the conveyance for transmitting and receiving data from a plurality of wireless devices on the conveyance over a short range wireless network. The WIM relays data to a remote monitoring facility via satellite. Other applications of the system and method include, but are not limited to, remotely controlling wireless devices on a conveyance such as door lock sensors and electronic seals, remotely upgrading the software loaded on the devices within the mobile conveyance, and creating an ad-hoc network of multiple WIMs to maintain satellite communication with all WIMs in the network when certain of the WIMs are unable to communicate directly with a satellite. | 10-09-2008 |
20090096584 | RFID MUTUAL AUTHENTICATION VERIFICATION SESSION - In a protocol for preserving the privacy of communications between a RFID reader and a RFID tag, two distinct actions are taken. First, the reader and the tag must be mutually authenticated as being authorized participants in the communications. After that process is successfully completed, the authenticity of each authorized participant must be validated prior to each subsequent communication between reader and tag. | 04-16-2009 |
20100026465 | RFID VEHICLE TAG WITH MANUALLY ADJUSTABLE DATA FIELDS - An RFID tag for use in a vehicle for use in an electronic toll collecting system. The tag is capable of transmitting data to a tag interrogator indicating the occupancy status of the vehicle. In an embodiment, the tag has a user input and a visual and audible tag status indicator. The user input is used to change the occupancy status of the tag, wherein the occupancy status is a portion of a message sent by radio frequency to the interrogator when the vehicle passes through a toll area. | 02-04-2010 |
20100079238 | RFID TAG WITH PIEZOELECTRIC SENSOR FOR POWER AND INPUT DATA - An RFID tag having a non-volatile memory and a piezoelectric sensor. The piezoelectric sensor produces an electrical charge that momentarily supplies electrical power to the RFID tag when subjected to a mechanical force and the electrical power is sufficient to record data in the non-volatile memory. The piezoelectric sensor is affixed to an article such that an attempt to tamper with the article produces sufficient mechanical force on the piezoelectric sensor to record data evidencing the tampering in the non-volatile memory. | 04-01-2010 |
20100194542 | RFID TAG WITH INTEGRATED DISABLING AND METHOD OF USE - Systems, tags and methods for disabling transponders used in electronic toll collection or other RFID systems, wherein the transponders include an antenna and RFID circuitry. The transponders can be selectively disabled by positioning (e.g., pivotably moving) a disabling member having a metallic portion to an operative position over the antenna of the RFID system, whereupon the metallic portion is coupled to the antenna in such a manner as to disable the RFID circuitry so long as the disabling member is at the operative position. The RFID circuitry is arranged to be automatically enabled upon removal of the disabling member from the operative position (e.g., pivoting the disabling member back to an inoperative position). | 08-05-2010 |
20110102156 | RFID TAG WITH OCCUPANCY STATUS RECALL - An RFID tag for use in a vehicle for use in an electronic toll collecting system. The tag is capable of transmitting data to a tag interrogator indicating the occupancy status of the vehicle. In an embodiment, the tag has a user input and a visual and audible tag status indicator. The user input is used to change the occupancy status of the tag, wherein the occupancy status is a portion of a message sent by radio frequency to the interrogator when the vehicle passes through a toll area. In an embodiment the tag has memory for storage of said tag status and the user input can be used to cause the tag to indicate a stored tag status. In a further embodiment, the tag reverts to a default status after a predetermined period of time | 05-05-2011 |
20110116686 | VIDEO TOLLING SYSTEM WITH ERROR CHECKING - An automated toll collection system based on visual recognition of a license plate with a supplemental enhancement to confirm the character recognition of the license plate is disclosed. In an embodiment, a supplemental graphic insignia encodes a check-sum for the license plate characters. The insignia is recorded at the same time as the license plate and the check sum is decoded to confirm the interpretation of the characters on the license plate. Other forms of confirmation devices are also disclosed, including RFID devices. | 05-19-2011 |
20110260910 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MICROWAVE RANGING TO A TARGET IN PRESENCE OF CLUTTER AND MULTI-PATH EFFECTS - A system for measuring the range to an RFID tag including situations containing high clutter and multi-path signals is disclosed. The system includes an RFID reader; an RFID tag; and a coordinated pulse radar system. In the system the RFID reader causes the tag to respond to received signals in a first backscatter state at a first time and a second backscatter state at a second time. The pulsed radar system transmits short pulses coordinated by the backscatter state of the RFID tag and the system creates a differential signal comprised of the differences between radar signals obtained during the first and second states of the tag to obtain an uncorrupted measure of a round trip time of flight of said radar pulses between the pulse radar system and the RFID tag. | 10-27-2011 |
20110279239 | MULTI-PROTOCOL RFID SYSTEM USING BIT-LOCK OR STEP-LOCK SYNCHRONIZATION - A multi-protocol RFID interrogating system employs a synchronization technique (step-lock) for a backscatter RFID system that allows simultaneous operation of closely spaced interrogators. The multi-protocol RFID interrogating system can communicate with backscatter transponders having different output protocols and with active transponders including: Title 21 compliant RFID backscatter transponders; IT2000 RFID backscatter transponders that provide an extended mode capability beyond Title 21; EGO™ RFID backscatter transponders, SEGO™ RFID backscatter transponders; ATA, ISO, ANSI AAR compliant RFID backscatter transponders; and IAG compliant active technology transponders. The system implements a step-lock operation, whereby adjacent interrogators are synchronized to ensure that all downlinks operate within the same time frame and all uplinks operate within the same time frame, to eliminate downlink on uplink interference. | 11-17-2011 |
20110309969 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MICROWAVE RANGING TO A TARGET IN PRESENCE OF CLUTTER AND MULTI-PATH EFFECTS - A system for measuring the range to an RFID tag including situations containing high clutter and multi-path signals is disclosed. The system includes an RFID reader; an RFID tag; and a coordinated pulse compression radar system. In the system the RFID reader causes the tag to respond to received signals in a first backscatter state at a first time and a second backscatter state at a second time. The pulse compression radar system transmits short pulses coordinated by the backscatter state of the RFID tag and the system creates a differential signal comprised of the differences between radar signals obtained during the first and second states of the tag to obtain an uncorrupted measure of a round trip time of flight of said radar pulses between the pulse radar system and the RFID tag. | 12-22-2011 |
20120032787 | MULTI-PROTOCOL RFID SYSTEM USING DYNAMIC RECONFIGURATION - A multi-protocol RFID interrogating system employs a synchronization technique (step-lock) for a backscatter RFID system that allows simultaneous operation of closely spaced interrogators. The multi-protocol RFID interrogating system can communicate with backscatter transponders having different output protocols and with active transponders including: Title 21 compliant RFID backscatter transponders; IT2000 RFID backscatter transponders that provide an extended mode capability beyond Title 21; EGO™ RFID backscatter transponders, SEGO™ RFID backscatter transponders; ATA, ISO, ANSI AAR compliant RFID backscatter transponders; and IAG compliant active technology transponders. The system implements a step-lock operation, whereby adjacent interrogators are synchronized to ensure that all downlinks operate within the same time frame and all uplinks operate within the same time frame, to eliminate downlink on uplink interference. | 02-09-2012 |
20120032788 | MULTI-PROTOCOL RFID SYSTEM USING BIT-LOCK OR STEP-LOCK SYNCHRONIZATION - A multi-protocol RFID interrogating system employs a synchronization technique (step-lock) for a backscatter RFID system that allows simultaneous operation of closely spaced interrogators. The multi-protocol RFID interrogating system can communicate with backscatter transponders having different output protocols and with active transponders including: Title 21 compliant RFID backscatter transponders; IT2000 RFID backscatter transponders that provide an extended mode capability beyond Title 21; EGO™ RFID backscatter transponders, SEGO™ RFID backscatter transponders; ATA, ISO, ANSI AAR compliant RFID backscatter transponders; and IAG compliant active technology transponders. The system implements a step-lock operation, whereby adjacent interrogators are synchronized to ensure that all downlinks operate within the same time frame and all uplinks operate within the same time frame, to eliminate downlink on uplink interference. | 02-09-2012 |
20120127021 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MICROWAVE RANGING TO A TARGET IN PRESENCE OF CLUTTER AND MULTI-PATH EFFECTS - A system for measuring range to an RFID tag including situations containing high clutter and multi-path signals is disclosed. The system includes an RFID reader; an RFID tag; and a coordinated signal compression radar system. The reader causes the tag to respond to received signals in a first backscatter state at a first time and a second backscatter state at a second time. The signal compression radar system transmits signals coordinated by the backscatter state of the tag and creates a differential signal comprised of the differences between radar signals obtained during the first and second states of the tag to obtain an uncorrupted measure of a round trip time of flight of said radar signals between the radar system and the RFID tag. The radar may use signals typical of pulse compression radar systems such as chirp modulation or Orthogonal Frequency Domain Modulation (OFDM), either pulsed or semi-continuous. | 05-24-2012 |
20120215594 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GPS LANE AND TOLL DETERMINATION AND ASSET POSITION MATCHING - A system carried by a vehicle for computing tolls using a global position satellite (GPS) signal receiver, a communications link, and compact toll lane information provided by a service center. Toll lane information is organized by travel monitoring point. Data for each point includes a latitude and longitude coordinate and either lane shape information or a coordinate offset from a similar lane. A driver interface module is used in conjunction with the OBU to allow selection of occupancy and to display toll information to the driver to allow for use in HOT lanes and to support congestion pricing models with zero or minimal infrastructure cost. | 08-23-2012 |
20120280796 | RFID SYSTEM WITH TIME SLOT INTERLEAVING - A method for interleaving time slots in a multi-antenna system for communication with RFID tags is disclosed. An example is shown for an eight antenna system. A first four antennas arranged side-by-side are sequentially energized to interrogate RFID transponders. A second set of four antennas arranged side-by-side, the first of which is adjacent to the last of the first set of antennas. A four-antenna sequence is performed for the first four antennas and a second four antenna sequence is performed for the second set of antennas. The first and second four antenna sequences are offset by only a marginal amount, sufficient to ensure that a transponder signal received four antennas away from an active antenna is not acknowledged because the receive window for the non-active antenna is delayed. | 11-08-2012 |
20120306627 | AUTOMATIC MODE DETECTION IN A DUAL OPERATING MODE RFID TAG - A multi-mode, preferably dual mode, radio frequency identification (RFID) tag is adapted for automatic detection of whether a RFID reader located within communication range of the RFID tag is transmitting a continuous wave (CW) or modulated wave types of RF signal, and accordingly, mandating a response from the tag in read-only (RO) mode or read/write (R/W) mode, respectively. The tag includes means for designating one of the RO and R/W operating modes as a default mode of the tag, and for switching the tag from its default mode to its other operating mode, and vice versa, according to a rule for determining the frequency of occurrence of a selected event related to signal type of the reader. A device-implemented method of this automatic detection, and a method of fabricating the tag, are also disclosed. | 12-06-2012 |
20130080216 | RFID VEHICLE TAG WITH MANUALLY ADJUSTABLE DATA FIELDS - An RFID tag for use in a vehicle for use in an electronic toll collecting system. The tag is capable of transmitting data to a tag interrogator indicating the occupancy status of the vehicle. In an embodiment, the tag has a user input and a visual and audible tag status indicator. The user input is used to change the occupancy status of the tag, wherein the occupancy status is a portion of a message sent by radio frequency to the interrogator when the vehicle passes through a toll area. | 03-28-2013 |
20130248589 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATED HOV LANE TOLL COLLECTION - An RFID tag is disclosed for use in roadway tolling systems having specially designated lanes for high occupancy vehicles, wherein more favorable toll rates are allotted to vehicles with more than one occupant. In an embodiment, the tag has a selection switch for connecting one of a plurality of ASICs to an antenna. Each ASIC is programmed to transmit a different message, wherein the message conveys information regarding the occupancy level of the vehicle. There is also information in the ASICs that is common to them for the tag | 09-26-2013 |
20140002652 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IN VEHICLE LANE DETERMINATION USING CMOS IMAGE SENSOR | 01-02-2014 |
20140167925 | AUTOMATIC MODE DETECTION IN A DUAL OPERATING MODE RFID TAG - A multi-mode, preferably dual mode, radio frequency identification (RFID) tag is adapted for automatic detection of whether a RFID reader located within communication range of the RFID tag is transmitting a continuous wave (CW) or modulated wave types of RF signal, and accordingly, mandating a response from the tag in read-only (RO) mode or read/write (R/W) mode, respectively. The tag includes means for designating one of the RO and R/W operating modes as a default mode of the tag, and for switching the tag from its default mode to its other operating mode, and vice versa, according to a rule for determining the frequency of occurrence of a selected event related to signal type of the reader. A device-implemented method of this automatic detection, and a method of fabricating the tag, are also disclosed. | 06-19-2014 |
20140218175 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SYNCHRONIZING RFID READERS UTILIZING RF OR MODULATION SIGNALS - A system and method are disclosed for synchronizing two RFID readers. The system includes a modulation detector to detect a modulated signal produced by a first of the two reader and produces a synchronization signal. The second of the two readers initiates transmission of a signal in response to the synchronization signal. | 08-07-2014 |
20140310074 | APPARATUS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE-FREE ROADWAY TOLLING - A system is disclosed for relaying vehicle location and lane position on a multiple lane roadway to a central office for tolling purposes. The system has an on board unit comprising a GPS receiver, and a cellular telephone comprising a camera and a computer. The on board unit tracks vehicle location. The cellular telephone is mounted in the vehicle such that its camera can photograph the roadway. The on board unit transmits vehicle position information to the cellular phone and the cellular phone transmits position information relative to fixed geo-data and lane information to the central office. | 10-16-2014 |
20140351027 | RFID VEHICLE TAG WITH MANUALLY ADJUSTABLE DATA FIELDS - An RFID tag for use in a vehicle for use in an electronic toll collecting system. The tag is capable of transmitting data to a tag interrogator indicating the occupancy status of the vehicle. In an embodiment, the tag has a user input and a visual and audible tag status indicator. The user input is used to change the occupancy status of the tag, wherein the occupancy status is a portion of a message sent by radio frequency to the interrogator when the vehicle passes through a toll area. | 11-27-2014 |
20150021389 | VEHICLE TOLLING SYSTEM WITH OCCUPANCY DETECTION - A system is disclosed for assessing roadway toll charges based on vehicle occupancy level based on occupants each having an electronic fob with a unique indentifier. The system includes: a vehicle-mounted RFID fob reader; a plurality of RFID fobs; an RFID toll tag associated with the vehicle; an RFID toll tag interrogator located at a tolling point; and a fob reader interrogator located at the tolling point. Each fob is associated with a vehicle occupant and the RFID fob reader interrogates the fobs to determine the number of fobs in the vehicle and thus determine vehicle occupancy. A method for assessing charges based on this system is also disclosed. | 01-22-2015 |
20150081403 | Multi-protocol Electronic Tolling System for Nation-wide Use - A system is disclosed for assessing roadway toll charges across a plurality of tolling agencies, for example a nation-wide system that allows use of a multi-protocol RFID tag that is recognized in a plurality of states having different tag protocols in their electronic tolling systems. In an embodiment, each tolling agency sets aside numbers associated with the national system. Where a tag is read that is not identified as part of the national system, the local agency processes the tag transaction. There a tag is read that is identified as part of the national system, regardless of which tolling agency reads it, the transaction information is sent to a national customer service center for processing. | 03-19-2015 |
20150109108 | RFID SYSTEM WITH TIME SLOT INTERLEAVING - A method for interleaving time slots in a multi-antenna system for communication with RFID tags is disclosed. An example is shown for an eight antenna system. A first four antennas arranged side-by-side are sequentially energized to interrogate RFID transponders. A second set of four antennas arranged side-by-side, the first of which is adjacent to the last of the first set of antennas. A four-antenna sequence is performed for the first four antennas and a second four antenna sequence is performed for the second set of antennas. The first and second four antenna sequences are offset by only a marginal amount, sufficient to ensure that a transponder signal received four antennas away from an active antenna is not acknowledged because the receive window for the non-active antenna is delayed. | 04-23-2015 |
20150293217 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MICROWAVE RANGING TO A TARGET IN PRESENCE OF CLUTTER AND MULTI-PATH EFFECTS - A system for measuring the range to an RFID tag including situations containing high clutter and multi-path signals is disclosed. The system includes an RFID reader; an RFID tag; and a coordinated pulse compression radar system. In the system the RFID reader causes the tag to respond to received signals in a first backscatter state at a first time and a second backscatter state at a second time. The pulse compression radar system transmits short pulses coordinated by the backscatter state of the RFID tag and the system creates a differential signal comprised of the differences between radar signals obtained during the first and second states of the tag to obtain an uncorrupted measure of a round trip time of flight of said radar pulses between the pulse radar system and the RFID tag. | 10-15-2015 |