OVERHEAD ANTENNA LIVE INVENTORY LOCATING SYSTEM

摘要

Overhead antenna live inventory locating systems and methods are provided. The overhead antenna inventory/locating system can include a plurality of antennas mounted in an elevated support structure. The antennas can be coupled to RFID readers that interrogate electronic tags. The inventory system can analyze the information received from the detected electronic tags and produce inventory data and location information for the tags. The antennas can be patch antennas mounted to ceiling tiles such that they can be positioned in the ceiling of a facility. The antennas can be configured to provide broad coverage from a relatively low ceiling height. The low-cost antennas can be configured in such a way as to provide accurate location information for detected tags. The inventory system can be configured to provide near real-time inventory and location information.

主权项

1. A system for locating and identifying a plurality of inventory items, each inventory item being associated with an RFID tag, the system comprising:
at least one RFID reader configured to generate RFID interrogation signals and receive RFID response signals; a plurality of antennas positioned in an overhead support structure and coupled to the at least one RFID reader, wherein each of the plurality of antennas is configured to:
receive from the at least one RFID reader an RFID interrogation signal;transmit a radio-frequency interrogation signal in response to the received RFID interrogation signal,receive from one or more RFID tags a radio-frequency response signal, andsend to the at least one RFID reader an RFID response signal in response to the received radio-frequency response signal; an inventory module coupled to the at least one RFID reader, the inventory module configured to identify, based at least partly on the RFID response signal, each inventory item associated with an RFID tag that generated the radio-frequency response signal that was received by at least one of the plurality of antennas; and a location module coupled to the at least one RFID reader, the location module configured to determine, based at least partly on the RFID response signal, a location of each inventory item associated with an RFID tag that generated a radio-frequency response signal that was received by at least one of the plurality of antennas.