Patent ID: 8040221
Filing Date: 2011-10-18
Classification: G06K,G06Q

Abstract:
1. A mobile radio frequency identification (RFID) system comprising: a wheeled cart; a fixed RFID reader mounted to said wheeled cart; a computer mounted to said wheeled cart and communicatively coupled to said RFID reader for operational control of said RFID reader; a directional antenna capable of being communicatively coupled to said RFID reader, said directional antenna movably mounted to said wheeled cart for focusing of RF energy in a specific direction; and at least one omni-directional antenna mounted to said wheeled cart and capable of being communicatively coupled to said RFID reader to provide a mass RFID tag interrogation capability, said computer configured to process data received from RFID tags associated with said system to provide an inventory of RFID tagged items and update the inventory as items are added and removed, and further configured to allow a user to selectively couple one or both of said at least one omni-directional antenna and said directional antenna to said RFID reader.