Method, system and apparatus for radio-frequency echo cancellation

1. An echo cancellation assembly for a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag reader, the assembly comprising:

a circulator defining (i) a transmission signal path from a transmit module of the tag reader to an antenna module of the tag reader, and (ii) a reception signal path from the antenna module to a receive module of the tag reader;

a combiner on the reception signal path between the circulator and the receive module;

a variable reflector configured to apply a cancellation signal to the combiner for cancelling an antenna reflection on the reception signal path;

a controller configured to set an operational parameter at the variable reflector according to an attribute of a transmitted signal from the transmit module; and

a coupler defining (i) a segment of the transmission signal path between the transmit module and the circulator, and (ii) a cancellation signal path between the variable reflector and the combiner;

wherein the coupler is configured to couple a portion of the transmitted signal to the variable reflector; and

wherein the variable reflector is configured, responsive to receiving the portion of the transmitted signal, to generate the cancellation signal based on the operational parameter, for transmission to the combiner via the cancellation signal path.

2. The echo cancellation assembly of claim 1 , further comprising:

a low-noise amplifier on the reception signal path between the combiner and the receive module.

3. The echo cancellation assembly of claim 2 , further comprising:

a switch on the receive path having a closed position for bypassing the low-noise amplifier, and an open position;

wherein the controller is configured to maintain the switch in the closed position until a power level on the reception signal path at the receive module is below a predefined threshold.

4. The echo cancellation assembly of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to:

receive a channel identifier corresponding to the transmitted signal; and

select the operational parameter according to the channel identifier.

5. The echo cancellation assembly of claim 4 , wherein the antenna module includes a plurality of antenna elements; and

wherein the assembly further comprises a multiplexer connecting the antenna elements to the circulator.

6. The echo cancellation assembly of claim 5 , wherein the controller is further configured to receive an antenna identifier corresponding to the transmitted signal, and to select the operational parameter according to the channel identifier and the antenna identifier.

7. The echo cancellation assembly of claim 4 , wherein the controller is configured to:

store a plurality of operational parameters in a memory corresponding to respective channel identifiers.

8. The echo cancellation assembly of claim 4 , wherein the controller is configured to generate the operational parameter by:

generating a coarse set of candidate operational parameters and applying each of the candidate operational parameters in the coarse set to the variable reflector in sequence;

based on measured power levels at the receive module corresponding to each of the candidate operational parameters in the coarse set, selecting a preliminary operational parameter from the coarse set;

generating a fine set of candidate operational parameters based on the preliminary operational parameter;

based on measured power levels at the receive module corresponding to each of the candidate operational parameters in the fine set, selecting a final operational parameter from the fine set; and

storing the final operational parameter in a memory.

9. The echo cancellation assembly of claim 1 , wherein the variable reflector includes a capacitor; and

wherein the operational parameter defines a capacitance for the capacitor.

10. The echo cancellation assembly of claim 9 , wherein the variable reflector includes a resonant circuit.

11. The echo cancellation assembly of claim 9 , wherein the variable reflector includes a variable phase shifter coupled to a variable attenuator.

12. An echo cancellation method, comprising:

obtaining, at a controller of a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag reader, a transmission attribute of a transmitted signal;

setting an operational parameter at a variable reflector of the RFID tag reader based on the transmission attribute;

generating the transmitted signal at a transmit module of the RFID tag reader;

generating, at the variable reflector, a cancellation signal based on the transmitted signal and the operational parameter;

detecting a received signal at an antenna module of the RFID tag reader; and

applying the cancellation signal to the received signal.

13. The echo cancellation method of claim 12 , wherein obtaining the transmission attribute comprises, at the controller: selecting a channel identifier for the transmitted signal.

14. The echo cancellation method of claim 13 , wherein obtaining the transmission attribute further comprises, at the controller: selecting an identifier of one of a plurality of antenna elements of the antenna module.

15. The echo cancellation method of claim 14 , further comprising: storing a plurality of operational parameters in a memory connected to the controller; wherein each operational parameter is associated with a combination of a channel identifier and an antenna identifier.

16. The echo cancellation method of claim 12 , wherein setting the operational parameter comprises:

transmitting the operational parameter to a component of the variable reflector.

17. The echo cancellation method of claim 16 , wherein the variable reflector comprises a plurality of configurable capacitors, and wherein transmitting the operational parameter comprises transmitting respective capacitances to each of the configurable capacitors.

18. The echo cancellation method of claim 12 , further comprising generating the operational parameter by:

generating a coarse set of candidate operational parameters and applying each of the candidate operational parameters in the coarse set to the variable reflector in sequence;

based on measured power levels at the receive module corresponding to each of the candidate operational parameters in the coarse set, selecting a preliminary operational parameter from the coarse set;

generating a fine set of candidate operational parameters based on the preliminary operational parameter;

based on measured power levels at the receive module corresponding to each of the candidate operational parameters in the fine set, selecting a final operational parameter from the fine set; and

storing the final operational parameter in a memory.

19. The echo cancellation method of claim 12 , further comprising:

at the controller, determining a power level of the received signal; and

when the power level of the received signal exceeds a threshold, updating the operational parameter.

20. The echo cancellation method of claim 12 , further comprising:

at the controller, determining a power level of the received signal;

when the power level of the received signal does not exceed a threshold, applying the received signal to a low-noise amplifier; and

when the power level of the received signal exceeds the threshold, bypassing the low-noise amplifier.