| 摘要 |
In accordance with the present invention, a radio frequency identification system, using modulated backscatter radio communications, is disclosed which supports the automated reconciliation of passengers, baggage, an d cargo on a transport. A baggage tag is attached to each piece of checked baggage , where the baggage tag is a read-only tag with modulated backscatter radio capabi lity. Thus, each piece of checked baggage can be identified for sortation, and also identified to ascertain if it has been loaded onto a particular aircraft. Pieces of baggage can be either loaded directly onto an aircraft, or loaded onto a cargo container; where a cargo tag is attached to the cargo container, the cargo tag i s a read-write tag with modulated backscatter radio capability. The aircraft itself may be equipped with aircraft tags, which could be read-only or read-write tags with modulated backscatter radio capability. Aircraft tags allow a positive associati on between the identity of the baggage or cargo container being loaded, the aircraf t on which it is being loaded, and the cargo bay doorway through which it is being loaded. To identify passengers, several alternatives are disclosed. In one embodiment, a magnetic boarding pass can be used with a magnetic stripe containi ng information about this passenger. In this embodiment, the passenger is responsib le for inserting the magnetic boarding pass into a magnetic card reader as the pass enger boards the flight. In another embodiment, a radio boarding pass could be used. T he radio boarding pass resembles a conventional boarding pass, however it has readonly modulated backscatter radio capability, perhaps identical with the technology used for the baggage tag. The radio boarding pass can be read as the passenger boards the aircraft. In an alternate embodiment, the passenger can have a passen ger card, which is a read-write tag with modulated backscatter capability. The passe nger card can be read as the passenger boards the aircraft, to identify the passenger . Alternately, the passenger card can be used for a number of enhanced passenger service applications in a generalized transportation environment.
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