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EP-4046146-B1 - VALIDATING RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION (RFID) TAG ALARM EVENTS

EP4046146B1EP 4046146 B1EP4046146 B1EP 4046146B1EP-4046146-B1

Inventors

  • ALLEN, JOHN A.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20201014

Claims (10)

  1. A method (800) of electronic article surveillance, EAS, comprising: - first detecting, by a radio frequency identification, RFID, subsystem of an EAS system (100), a presence of an RFID tag (112, 118, 200, 510) in an RFID interrogation zone associated with a boundary (704) of a controlled area; - first determining, by the EAS system (100), that the RFID tag (112, 118, 200, 510) is not authorized to leave the controlled area across the boundary (704); - second determining, by a subsystem of the EAS system (100) in one or more detection zones extending in the vicinity of the boundary (704) and within a first window of time around the first detecting, whether an object is moving within the detection zones, the second determining comprising determining that the object in motion either has, or is expected to, cross the boundary (704) out of the controlled area; and - alarming, by the EAS system (100), based upon both determining that the RFID tag (112, 118, 200, 510) is not authorized to leave the controlled area and determining that the object in motion has, or is expected to, cross the boundary (704); the method being characterized in that the subsystem is a millimeter wave radar subsystem.
  2. The method (800) of claim 1, wherein determining that the object in motion either is expected to cross the boundary (704) out of the controlled area comprises determining a velocity and a direction of motion of the object in motion.
  3. The method (800) of claim 2, further comprising: - third determining, based on the velocity and the direction of motion, a time when the object in motion is expected to arrive at a second position closer to the boundary (704) than a position of the object in motion at the second determining; and - second detecting, by the RFID subsystem, at the determined time whether the tag (112, 118, 200, 510) is present at the second position; wherein the alarming is further based on second detecting at the determined time whether the tag (112, 118, 200, 510) is present at the second position.
  4. The method (800) of one of claims 1, wherein the first window of time is selectable.
  5. The method (800) of claim 4, wherein the selectable window of time is selected using an artificial intelligence subsystem of the EAS system (100) based on a history of the alarming.
  6. A electronic article surveillance, EAS, system (100), comprising: - a radio frequency identification, RFID, subsystem operative to first detect a presence of an RFID tag (112, 118, 200, 510) in an RFID interrogation zone associated with a boundary (704) of a controlled area; - a determining subsystem operative to first determine that the RFID tag (112, 118, 200, 510) is not authorized to leave the controlled area across the boundary (704); and - a subsystem operative to second determine, in one or more detection zones extending in the vicinity of the boundary (704) and within a first window of time around the first detecting, whether an object is moving within the detection zones, the second determining comprising determining that the object in motion either has, or is expected to, cross the boundary (704) out of the controlled area; wherein the EAS system (100) is further operative to alarm based upon both determining that the RFID tag (112, 118, 200, 510) is not authorized to leave the controlled area and determining that the object in motion has, or is expected to, cross the boundary (704); the system being characterized in that the subsystem is a millimeter wave radar subsystem.
  7. The EAS system (100) of claim 6, wherein determining that the object either is expected to cross the boundary (704) out of the controlled area comprises determining a velocity and a direction of motion of the object.
  8. The EAS system (100) of claim 7, further comprising: - third determining, based on the velocity and the direction of motion, a time when the object is expected to arrive at a second position closer to the boundary (704) than a position of the object at the second determining; and - second detecting, by the RFID subsystem, at the determined time whether the tag (112, 118, 200, 510) is present at the second position; wherein the alarming is further based on second detecting at the determined time whether the tag (112, 118, 200, 510) is present at the second position.
  9. The EAS system (100) of claim 6, wherein the first window of time is selectable.
  10. The EAS system (100) of claim 9, wherein the selectable window of time is selected using an artificial intelligence subsystem of the EAS system (100) based on a history of the alarming.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. Non-Provisional Patent Application No. 17/069,660, entitled "Validating Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) TAG Alarm Events," filed October 13, 2020, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/914,961, entitled "System and Method for Increased Tag Alarm Correlation in RFID Exit Portals Using Millimeter Wave Radar Detection," filed October 14, 2019. BACKGROUND Technical Field The present disclosure relates generally to Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS). Examples related to EAS using a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag. Introduction Electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems are used to control inventory and to prevent or deter theft or unauthorized removal of articles from a controlled area. Such systems establish an electromagnetic field or "interrogation zone" that defines a surveillance zone (for example, entrances and/or exits in retail stores) encompassing the controlled area. The articles to be protected are tagged with an EAS security tag. Tags are designed to interact with the field in the interrogation zone, e.g., established by an EAS portal. The EAS portal includes one or more EAS readers (e.g., transmitter/receiver, antennas), and an EAS detection module/controller. The presence of a tag in the interrogation zone is detected by the system and appropriate action is taken. In most cases, the appropriate action includes the activation of an alarm. In the retail industry, it is common to "source tag" articles with RFID tags, either at the time of packaging/manufacture, or at some other point in the in the supply chain. At the same time, EAS technology and devices have proven critical to the reduction of theft and so called "shrinkage." Since many articles arrive at the retailer with RFID tags, it is desirable that RFID tag be used also to provide EAS functionality in addition to their intended function of providing capabilities such as inventory control, shelf reading, non-line of sight reading, etc. In some implementations, an RFID tag can be used to simulate EAS functionality by sending special codes when a reader interrogates the RFID tag. This arrangement advantageously eliminates the need for a separate EAS component, such an acousto-magnetic (AM) component, within the tag, or a separate EAS tag. Various schemes can be used to enable the use of RFID tags to simulate EAS functionality. In some such systems, the RFID tag indicates in some way that the item to which the tag is attached has been purchased at point of sale (POS). If the RFID tag is a detachable tag, the RFID tag can be simply detached at the point of sale. In such a system, the RFID readers at the exit would trigger an alarm if any tags are detected. In some such systems, data is written to the RFID chip at the POS to confirm the item was purchased. One common method is encoding a bit-flip at the POS, with the changed bit indicating that the item is authorized for removal. Other systems may read a unique ID from the tag, and store the unique ID in the enterprise system when the tagged item is purchased, so that the purchase can be verified by RFID readers as the tag exits the premises. If the purchase of the item cannot be verified based on tag data when the tag passes out of the store, an alarm can be triggered. US 2012/0307051 A1 discloses a method of electronic article surveillance according to the preamble of claim 1. US 6,307,473 B1 discloses a confirmation of presence of an object in a surveillance zone using microwave radar technology. 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. Examples of the technology disclosed herein include methods, systems, and apparatuses of electronic article surveillance (EAS). In an Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS), a radio frequency identification (RFID) subsystem of an EAS system, is configured to detect a presence of an RFID tag in an RFID interrogation zone associated with a boundary of a controlled area. The EAS system is configured to first determine that the RFID tag is not authorized to leave the controlled area across the boundary. A radar subsystem of the EAS system is configured to second determine, within a first window of time around the first detecting, whether an object in motion is associated with the boundary. The EAS system is configured to alarm based upon both determining that the RFID tag is not authorized to leave the controlled area and determining that the object in motion is associated with the boundary. The radar subsystem is a mi