Invention Publication
- Patent Title: METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR LOCATING RFID TAGS
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Application No.: US18659781Application Date: 2024-05-09
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Publication No.: US20240295623A1Publication Date: 2024-09-05
- Inventor: Spencer Hewett , Adam Blair , Ken Seiff , Michael Murphy , Mark Wieman , Tamara Adlin
- Applicant: Automaton, Inc.
- Applicant Address: US CA San Diego
- Assignee: Automaton, Inc.
- Current Assignee: Automaton, Inc.
- Current Assignee Address: US CA San Diego
- Main IPC: G01S5/02
- IPC: G01S5/02 ; G01S5/04 ; G06K7/10

Abstract:
A radio frequency identification (RFID) system includes an array of antennas to distinguish line-of-sight (LOS) paths from non-line-of-sight (NLOS) paths. The distance between adjacent antennas in the array of antennas is less than half the wavelength of the radio frequency (RF) signal of the system. Each antenna in the antenna array is also digitally controlled to change relative phase difference among the antennas, thereby allowing digital steering of the array of antennas across angles of arrival (AOAs) between 0 and π. The digital steering generates a plot of signal amplitudes as a function of AOAs. LOS paths are distinguished from NLOS paths based on the shapes (e.g., depth, gradient, etc.) of local extremes (e.g., maxima or minima) in the plot.
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