Intelligent RFID tag identifier
The invention relates to an RFID transponder device configured for responding to a request of an RFID reader device, by sending a response (UID) comprising information for encoding a feature set of the RFID transponder device. The invention further relates to an RFID reader device and to an RFID system comprising such RFID transponder device and such RFID reader device. The invention also relates to various methods. The invention provides an RFID system, which is more flexible towards introducing new RFID transponder devices that are newly introduced to the market. The invention enables the introduction of such new devices using a sub-set of a prior defined feature set without requiring updating of the look-up tables of the RFID reader devices that are already on the market. This is achieved by directly encoding the feature set of the RFID transponder device in the response, such as in a unique identifier of the device.
1. An RFID transponder device configured for responding to a request of an RFID reader device, by sending a response comprising a unique ID of the RFID transponder device, wherein a feature set of the RFID transponder device is directly encoded in the unique ID sent in the response.
2. The RFID transponder device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the request is an anti-collision request.
3. The RFID transponder device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the information comprises known-feature bits for encoding known features of the RFID transponder device.
4. The RFID transponder device as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the known-feature bits comprise a plurality of bits, wherein respective subsets of the plurality of bits are assigned to respective known features to obtain directly-coded features.
5. The RFID transponder device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the information further comprises other-feature bits for encoding of other features of the RFID transponder device.
6. The RFID transponder device as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the other-feature bits are for encoding a presence of other features of the RFID transponder device.
7. The RFID transponder device as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the other-feature bits are for encoding a product generation of the RFID transponder device.
8. The RFID transponder device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the unique ID comprises at least one bit with a bit value, wherein the bit value directly indicates an implementation of a known feature of the RFID transponder.
9. A method of configuring the RFID transponder device as claimed in claim 1 , the method comprising:
setting the feature set by setting the information in the unique ID in the response.
10. An RFID reader device configured for operating together with the RFID transponder device as claimed in claim 1 , the RFID reader device being configured for reading and/or writing the RFID transponder device, and being further configured for determining the feature set of the RFID transponder device for the information in the response.
11. An RFID system comprising:
an RFID transponder device configured to transmit a unique ID of the RFID transponder device, wherein a feature set of the RFID transponder device is directly encoded in the unique ID, and
an RFID reader device for reading from and/or writing to the RFID transponder device, wherein the RFID reader device is configured to receive the unique ID transmitted by the RFID transponder device and to determine the feature set of the RFID transponder device from the unique ID transmitted by the RFID transponder device.
12. The RFID system as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the RFID reader device comprises a decoder for decoding the information and a configurator for configuring the RFID reader device in correspondence with the feature set of the RFID transponder device.
13. A use of the RFID transponder device in the RFID system as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the feature set of the RFID transponder device is determined by decoding the information in the unique ID in the response.
14. The RFID system as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the unique ID comprises at least one bit with a bit value, wherein the bit value directly indicates an implementation of a known feature of the RFID transponder.
15. A method of operating an RFID reader device, the method comprising:
sending a request to an RFID transponder device for sending a response;
receiving the response from the RFID transponder device, wherein the response comprises a feature set of the RFID transponder device directly encoded in a unique ID of the RFID transponder device;
decoding the information to obtain the feature set of the RFID transponder device, and
accessing the RFID transponder device based upon the feature set.
16. A computer program product comprising instructions stored on the RFID reader device for causing a processor to perform the method as claimed in claim 15 .
17. The method as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the unique ID comprises at least one bit with a bit value, wherein the bit value directly indicates an implementation of a known feature of the RFID transponder.