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EP-4022585-B1 - RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION (RFID) TAG LOCATION VERIFICATION USING IMAGE DATA

EP4022585B1EP 4022585 B1EP4022585 B1EP 4022585B1EP-4022585-B1

Inventors

  • BERGMAN, ADAM S.
  • SOTO, MANUEL A.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20200828

Claims (12)

  1. A method of electronic article surveillance, EAS, comprising: - transmitting (510), over a first window of time, a radio frequency identification, RFID, interrogation signal into an RFID interrogation zone (399) of an EAS system(100, 600); - detecting (520) a plurality of response signals from a first RFID tag (112, 118, 200) of the EAS system (100, 600) responding to the interrogation signal; - capturing (530), in response to the detecting, over a second window of time overlapping at least in part with the first window of time, image data within a field of view (699), the field of view (699) and the RFID interrogation zone (399) overlapping to form a zone of interest (680); - characterizing (540) movement of a non-tag object during the first window of time based on the image data; and - determining (550) whether the first RFID tag (112, 1189, 200) is associated with the characterized non-tag object based on a comparison of variations in characteristics of the detected plurality of response signals and the characterized movement of the non-tag object; wherein - determining whether the first RFID tag (112, 1189, 200) is associated with the characterized non-tag object comprises determining a similarity greater than a threshold similarity between the characterized movement of the non-tag object and characteristics of the detected plurality of response signals indicative of a velocity at which the first RFID tag (112, 1189, 200) is passing through an EAS portal and that occurred concurrently with the passage of the non-tag object through the EAS portal.
  2. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting further comprises detecting that the first RFID tag (112, 118, 200) is not authorized to be in the RFID interrogation zone (399).
  3. The method of claim 2, further comprising, alarming (660) in response to determining that the first RFID tag (112, 1189, 200) is associated with the characterized non-tag object based on the comparison.
  4. The method of claim 1, wherein characterizing comprises estimating one or more of a speed of the non-tag object and a direction of travel of the non-tag object.
  5. An apparatus for electronic article surveillance, EAS, comprising: - means for transmitting, over a first window of time, a radio frequency identification, RFID, interrogation signal into an RFID interrogation zone (399) of an EAS system (100, 600), - means for detecting a plurality of response signals from a first RFID tag (112, 118, 200) of the EAS system (100, 600) responding to the interrogation signal; - means for capturing, in response to the detecting, over a second window of time overlapping at least in part with the first window of time, image data within a field of view (699), the field of view (699) and the RFID interrogation zone (399) overlapping to form a zone of interest (680); - means for characterizing movement of a non-tag object during the first window of time based on the image data; and - means for determining whether the first RFID tag (112, 118, 200) is associated with the characterized non-tag object based on a comparison of variations in characteristics of the detected plurality of response signals and the characterized movement of the non-tag object; wherein - determining whether the first RFID tag (112, 118, 200) is associated with the characterized non-tag object comprises determining a similarity greater than a threshold similarity between the characterized movement of the non-tag object and characteristics of the detected plurality of response signals indicative of a velocity at which the first RFID tag (112, 1189, 200) is passing through an EAS portal and that occurred concurrently with the passage of the non-tag object through the EAS portal.
  6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the means for detecting further comprises means for detecting that the first RFID tag (112, 118, 200) is not authorized to be in the RFID interrogation zone (399).
  7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising, means for alarming in response to determining that the first RFID tag (112, 118, 200) is associated with the characterized non-tag object based on the comparison.
  8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein characterizing comprises estimating one or more of a speed of the non-tag object and a direction of travel of the non-tag object.
  9. An electronic article surveillance, EAS, system (100, 600), comprising: - the apparatus of claim 5, wherein: - the means for transmitting the RFID interrogation signal during the first window of time and the means for detecting the plurality of response signals from the first RFID tag (112, 118, 200) are implemented as a radio frequency identification, RFID, tag reader (120, 300) operative to: - transmit, over the first window of time, the RFID interrogation signal into the RFID interrogation zone (399) of the EAS system (100, 600), and - detect the plurality of response signals from the first RFID tag (112, 118, 200) responding to the interrogation signal; - the means for capturing the image data over the second window of time are implemented as a camera (148, 650) operative to capture, in response to the detecting, over a second window of time overlapping at least in part with the first window of time, the image data within the field of view (699), the field of view (699) and the RFID interrogation zone (399) overlapping to form the zone of interest (680); and - the means for characterizing the movement of the non-tag object during the first window of time and the means for determining whether the first RFID tag (112, 118, 200) is associated with the characterized non-tag object are implemented as at least one processor (805): - in communication with the tag reader (120, 300) and the camera (148, 650); and - operative to: - characterize the movement of the non-tag object during the first window of time based on the image data; and - determine whether the first RFID tag (112, 118, 200) is associated with the characterized non-tag object based on the comparison of variations in characteristics of the detected plurality of response signals and the characterized movement of the non-tag object; wherein - determining whether the first RFID tag (112, 118, 200) is associated with the characterized non-tag object comprises determining a similarity greater than a threshold similarity between the characterized movement of the non-tag object and characteristics of the detected plurality of response signals indicative of a velocity at which the first RFID tag (112, 1189, 200) is passing through an EAS portal and that occurred concurrently with the passage of the non-tag object through EAS portal.
  10. The EAS system (100, 600) of claim 9, wherein the detecting further comprises detecting that the first RFID tag (112, 118, 200) is not authorized to be in the RFID interrogation zone (399).
  11. The EAS system (100, 600) of claim 10, wherein the processor is further operative to alarm in response to determining that the first RFID tag (112, 118, 200) is associated with the characterized non-tag object based on the comparison.
  12. The EAS system (100, 600) of claim 9, wherein characterizing comprises estimating one or more of a speed of the non-tag object and a direction of travel of the non-tag object.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS BACKGROUND Technical Field The present disclosure relates generally to Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS). Examples related to EAS using a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag with tag location verified by image data. Introduction EAS systems are commonly used in retail stores and other settings to prevent the unauthorized removal of goods from a protected area. Typically, a detection system is configured at an exit from the protected area, which comprises one or more transmitters and antennas ("pedestals") capable of generating an electromagnetic field across the exit, known as the "interrogation zone." Articles to be protected are tagged with an EAS marker that, when active, generates a response signal when passed through this interrogation zone. An antenna and receiver in the same or another "pedestal" detects this response signal and generates an alarm. SUMMARY The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. The invention is defined in the appended indepenent clams. In some examples, the capturing is in response to the detecting. In some such examples, detecting includes detecting that the tag is not authorized to be in the RFID interrogation zone. In some such examples, the EAS system alarms in response to determining that the first RFID tag is associated with the characterized non-tag object based on a comparison of the detected plurality of response signals and the characterized movement of the non-tag object. In some examples, characterizing includes estimating one or more of a speed of the non-tag object and the direction of travel of the non-tag object. In some examples, determining whether the first RFID tag is associated with the characterized non-tag object includes determining a similarity greater then a threshold similarity between the detected plurality of response signals and the characterized movement of the non-tag object. To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspects may be employed, and this description is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an illustration of an illustrative architecture for a system.FIG. 2 is an illustration of an illustrative architecture for a tag.FIG. 3 is an illustration of an illustrative architecture for a tag reader.FIG. 4 is an illustration of an illustrative architecture for a server.FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a method of electronic article surveillance, in accordance with examples of the technology disclosed herein.FIG. 6 is an illustration of an architecture, in accordance with examples of the technology disclosed herein.FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a method of electronic article surveillance, in accordance with examples of the technology disclosed herein.FIG. 8 is an illustration of a computing device including components for performing the function of examples of the technology disclosed herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION It will be readily understood that the components of the embodiments as generally described herein and illustrated in the appended figures could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following more detailed description of various embodiments, as represented in the figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure, but is merely representative of various embodiments. While the various aspects of the embodiments are presented in drawings, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale unless specifically indicated. The present solution may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present solution is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by this detailed description. All changes that come within the meaning of the claims are to be embraced within their scope. Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, or similar language does not imply that all of the features and advantages that may be realized with the present solution should be or are in any single embodiment of the present