Object positioning and tracking based on rfid and millimeter wave scanning

1 . An antenna unit comprising:

a coupler coupled to a reader computing entity at an input port of the coupler;

a radio frequency (RF) switch coupled to a first output port of the coupler;

a radio frequency identification (RFID) integrated circuit (IC) coupled to a second output port of the coupler, the RFID IC configured to select between a local beam steering antenna and a switch antenna for RFID scanning by switching RF switch based on read instruction signals from the reader computing entity;

a mmWave antenna element configured to generate radar signals; and

a mmWave processing unit (MPU) coupled to the RFID IC, and the mmWave antenna element, wherein the MPU is configured to detect one or more objects in the form of point cloud position data based on the radar signals, wherein:

(i) the point cloud position data is deterministic of at least a location that corresponds to the one or more objects,

(ii) the point cloud position data is transmitted to the RFID IC, and

(iii) the RFID IC is configured to cause activation of the local beam steering antenna based on the location that corresponds to the one or more objects.

2 . The antenna unit of claim 1 , wherein the mmWave antenna element comprises a four-element mmWave radar antenna.

3 . The antenna unit of claim 1 , wherein the MPU is coupled to the RFID IC using a serial peripheral interface.

4 . The antenna unit of claim 1 , wherein the local beam steering antenna is disposed overhead an indoor environment.

5 . The antenna unit of claim 1 , wherein the mmWave antenna element comprises a transmitting antenna, a receiving antenna, a frequency synthesizer, and a mixer.

6 . A method for tracking objects comprising:

receiving, by a computing device, first RFID tag data and point cloud position data from one or more reader computing entities, wherein the point cloud position data is deterministic of a location of a shopper in an indoor environment;

causing, by the computing device, activation of a local beam steering antenna to scan for one or more RFID tags at the location of the shopper based on the location of the shopper;

receiving, by the computing device, second RFID tag data of a shopping cart RFID tag associated with a shopping cart in vicinity of the shopper;

associating, by the computing device, the location of the shopper with the shopping cart RFID tag based on the first RFID tag data and the point cloud position data;

determining, by the computing device, whether a location change of the shopper has occurred based on the point cloud position data, wherein the local beam steering antenna is activated to scan for the one or more RFID tags at an updated location of the shopper in response to a determination of the location change of the shopper;

determining, by the computing device, one or more additional merchandises have been selected by the shopper based on a detection of the one or more RFID tags at the updated location;

associating, by the computing device, the one or more additional merchandises with the shopper and the shopping cart RFID tag;

determining, by the computing device, one or more previously selected merchandises associated with the shopper prior to the location change; and

generating a shopping behavior data entry for the shopper comprising an indication of the shopper selecting the one or more additional merchandises after selection of the one or more previously selected merchandises and the location change.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the point cloud position data is deterministic of an object location.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the first RFID tag data is generated based on RF signals received from the one or more RFID tags in response to RFID read signals transmitted from the one or more reader computing entities.

9 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the point cloud position data is generated by a millimeter wave processing unit (MPU).

10 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the location of the shopper is deterministic of a beam zone, wherein the local beam steering antenna is configured to scan for the one or more RFID tags.

11 . The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the location change of the shopper has occurred further comprises determining that a current location of the shopper is different from the location of the shopper and the shopping cart RFID tag.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the current location of the shopper comprises a second beam zone and/or second set of one or more point cloud coordinates that are different from a first beam zone and/or first set of one or more point cloud coordinates of the location of the shopper and the shopping cart RFID tag.

13 . The method of claim 6 further comprising updating the location of the shopper based on the location change.

14 . The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the one or more additional merchandises have been selected by the shopper further comprises:

detecting RFID tags associated with the one or more additional merchandises; and

determining the one or more additional merchandises are in proximity to the location of the shopper.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein determining the one or more additional merchandises are in proximity to the location of the shopper further comprises determining one or more of angle, received signal strength indicator, or movement/visibility of the one or more RFID tags associated with the one or more additional merchandises based on the first RFID tag data and the point cloud position data.