Device and method for checking the integrity of physical objects

摘要

The invention relates to a device for monitoring physical objects that comprises one or more short-range remote readers (13), memory elements (5) to be attached to physical objects, and a controller (15) adapted for executing a reading function capable of interaction with the one or more remote readers in order to acquire data contained in adjacent memory elements, and for executing an integrity validation function capable of distinguishing, from the acquired data, individual identifiers particular to each of the memory elements as well as group description data stored in at least some of said memory elements, and of checking the sufficiency of group description data while checking the compliance of individual identifiers with corresponding group description data.

主权项

1. A system for autonomously monitoring physical objects comprising:
(a) a set of passive radiofrequency tags, each being attached to a respective member of a group of physical objects to monitor, each passive radiofrequency tag comprising a respective memory that stores a specific individual identifier, the respective memory of at least one of the set of passive radiofrequency tags further storing group description data, wherein the group description data comprise a first value that results from a first hash function called with the specific individual identifiers of the set of passive radiofrequency tags, (b) at least one short-range radiofrequency tag reader cooperating with the passive radiofrequency tags whose physical objects are physically presented to said at least one short range radiofrequency tag reader, and (c) a controller configured to:
execute a reading function by said at least one short-range radiofrequency tag reader to acquire the specific individual identifiers and the group description data from the memories of the passive radiofrequency tags whose physical objects are physically presented to said at least one short-range radiofrequency tag reader,execute an integrity validation function comprising utilizing a second hash function on the specific individual identifiers obtained by the reading function to generate a second value of the group description data, wherein the second hash function is compatible with the first hash function, wherein the integrity validation function further compares said second value of the group description data to said first value of the group description data to determine whether the second value of the group description data complies with the first value of the group description data, anddetermine when the group description data from the reading function match the group description data stored in the at least one of the set of passive radiofrequency tags, and when the individual identifiers from the reading function match with the corresponding group description data from the reading function.