Efficient decoding of RFID tags based on relevant RN16 selection

1. A computer-implemented method for picking a 16-bit random sequence (RN16) and generating an acknowledgement packet in a tag reading session, comprising:

decoding RN16s from signals received by a plurality of antennas by treating signal interference as noise;

selecting the RN16 from the decoded RN16s based on properties of the decoded RN16s and the signals from which they are decoded in the tag reading session; and

generating the acknowledgement packet based on the selected RN16,

wherein the RN16 is selected further by selecting one of the plurality of antennas based on calculating an interference metric for each of the plurality of decoded RN16s and selecting the RN16 corresponding to one of a maximum or minimum value of the interference metric, and

wherein the interference metric is based on the mean and variance of a set of differences between two symbols in a bi-phase decoder after equalization.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the RN16 is selected further by selecting one of the plurality of antennas based on a majority voting scheme.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein each of the decoded RN16s from the plurality of antennas in a single session receive votes based on a number of antennas that decoded the decoded RN16s, and an antenna is selected which corresponds to the decoded RN16 which has a maximum number of votes.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the RN16 is selected at random when two or more of the RN16s have a maximum number of votes.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , further comprising:

selecting a majority set of RN16s whose constituents have a number of votes above a threshold number from among the multiple RN16s; and

selecting the RN16 randomly from the majority set.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , further comprising:

selecting a majority set of RN16s whose received signal strength of the RN16 signal of the constituent RN16s is above a threshold; and

selecting the RN16 randomly from the majority set.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , further comprising:

selecting a majority set of RN16s whose probability of decoding constituent RN16s is above a threshold

selecting the RN16 randomly from the majority set.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the probability of decoding is computed based on an interference metric of the decoded RN16.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the interference metric is based on the mean and variance of a set of differences between two symbols in a bi-phase decoder after equalization.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the probability of decoding is computed using a supervised learning policy.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the RF chain of a transmit antenna and a receive antenna from among the plurality of antennas have a synchronized carrier signal.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein a Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) based scheme is used for each of the plurality of antennas, and the decoded RN16 in each layer of the SIC based scheme is considered when its Interference Metric (IM) is above a threshold.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12 , wherein the threshold is a function of a number of receive antennas from among the plurality of antennas and a layer number from among a plurality of SIC-based layers.

14. A non-transitory computer program product for picking a 16-bit random sequence (RN16) and generating an acknowledgement packet in a tag reading session, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a computer to cause the computer to perform a method comprising:

decoding RN16s from signals received by a plurality of antennas by treating signal interference as noise;

selecting the RN16 from the decoded RN16s based on properties of the decoded RN16s and the signals from which they are decoded in the tag reading session; and

generating the acknowledgement packet based on the selected RN16,

wherein the RN16 is selected further by selecting one of the plurality of antennas based on calculating an interference metric for each of the plurality of decoded RN16s and selecting the RN16 corresponding to one of a maximum or minimum value of the interference metric, and

wherein the interference metric is based on the mean and variance of a set of differences between two symbols in a bi-phase decoder after equalization.

15. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the RN16 is selected further by selecting one of the plurality of antennas based on a majority voting scheme.

16. A computer processing system for picking a 16-bit random sequence (RN16) and generating an acknowledgement packet in a tag reading session, comprising:

a memory device for storing program code; and

a processor device operatively coupled to the memory device for running the program code to:

decode RN16s from signals received by a plurality of antennas by treating signal interference as noise,

select the RN16 from the decoded RN16s based on properties of the decoded RN16s and the signals from which they are decoded in the tag reading session; and

generate the acknowledgement packet based on the selected RN16,

wherein the RN16 is selected further by selecting one of the plurality of antennas based on calculating an interference metric for each of the plurality of decoded RN16s and selecting the RN16 corresponding to one of a maximum or minimum value of the interference metric, and

wherein the interference metric is based on the mean and variance of a set of differences between two symbols in a bi-phase decoder after equalization.