Abstract:
An underwater antenna assembly (or array thereof) suitable for subsurface RFID tag interrogation in flowing water such as a river. In preferred embodiments, the antenna interrogates RFID tags implanted in aquatic species. The antenna resides in an elongate antenna housing whose cross-sectional shape is preferably a hydrodynamic teardrop shape. A first end of the housing is linked to a pivoting mechanism such that when the pivoting mechanism is held substantially stationary with respect to the water flow, the second end of the housing is free to rotate generally about the first end in a substantially vertical plane parallel to the water flow direction. The length of the antenna housing is advantageously selected to enable the antenna to monitor for signals across substantially the entire water depth.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of, and priority to, commonly-invented U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/735,819, filed Dec. 11, 2012. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The disclosure of this application is related generally to RFID antennal systems, and more specifically to submersible applications of such systems (such as in flowing streams or rivers) that are useful to monitor, for example, the migration and biometrics of underwater species. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    The use of Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) tags to monitor migration or biometrics of species is well known in the art. It is also well known to implant such RFID tags subcutaneously, within the musculature or within the body cavity of fish and other underwater species. Transponders suitable for implantation in fish and other underwater species necessarily have to be small, and are typically glass-encapsulated in order to be biologically inert. 
         [0004]    Numerous types and styles of air or ferrite core antennas have been developed and used for underwater interrogation of RFID tags on fish and other underwater species. Typically such antennas include an air core antenna that is positioned flat on a substrate and deployed in a housing. The housing may be plastic pipe, or welded sheets of plastic, or similar materials and construction. Multiple wire coils may also be deployed within such a housing, typically held in position relative to each other, and as a unit, within a gallery or similar structure. 
         [0005]    The charging and reading zone for small glass-encapsulated transponders is typically limited to distances less than 2.5 feet in the zone immediately above the antenna. Precise performance depends on factors such as the type and quality of the transceiver and antenna system, the level of ambient electromagnetic interference and the operable quality of the RFID tag itself. Some conventional air coil antennas are known to be mounted upright within the water column, perpendicular to the flow of water. Such placement has shown a tendency to increase the charging zone or read zone of transponders. Properly configured and deployed at appropriate settings, the charging zone and read zone of such antenna systems can extend to the entire water column. However, the placement of such antennas, coupled with their vertical orientation, makes these more likely to be damaged by floating debris and high water velocities in streams and rivers, especially during seasonal high water events. 
         [0006]    Therefore, there exists a need for an improved antenna system that can read RFID tags throughout the entire water column, and yet withstand the potential physical abuse in stream or river deployments caused by high water velocity or turbulence, or by impact with moving debris or ice. 
       SUMMARY AND TECHNICAL ADVANTAGES 
       [0007]    The inventive disclosure of this application addresses one or more of the above-described drawbacks of the prior art. Such inventive disclosure includes an array of RFID antennas configured, at a rest position, in a substantially vertical or angled (parallel to flow, deflecting downstream) underwater orientation. For moving water deployments (such as rivers or streams), the antennas provide a hydrodynamic teardrop-shaped profile in cross-section, in which the teardrop shape has an elongated tail. The antennas are oriented such that the tail is deployed on the downstream side of the flow of water past the array. The symmetric nature of the hydrodynamic teardrop shape keeps lateral hydrodynamic/hydraulic forces on the antenna neutral, while also minimizing the effects of hydrodynamic drag and flow-induced vibration exerted on the antennas by the flow of water past the antennas in the array. 
         [0008]    Each antenna in the array is further held in place via a pivoting structure that acts like a hinge at one of either ends. The pivots are oriented generally so that, in moving water deployments, individual antennas may pivot independently downstream responsive to temporary (or even momentary) bursts of additional force caused by, for example, seasonal high water flow, turbulence or passing or accumulating debris. 
         [0009]    As noted, an array of antennas may deploy its antenna pivoting structure at either end of the antennas. That is, top-end pivoting embodiments of antenna arrays may provide the pivoting structure at the water surface end of each of the vertically-disposed antennas, while basal-pivoting embodiments of arrays may provide the pivoting structure at the riverbed (or other ground bottom) end. Top-end pivoting embodiments, in which each antenna pivots independently from a hinged connection at the water surface end, provide pivoting and suspension of the antennas via a cable or solid member strung above the antennas and transverse to the direction of water flow. Basal-end pivoting embodiments, in which each antenna pivots independently from a hinged connection at the river bed end, provide a pivot assembly connected to the basal end of each antenna via in currently preferred embodiments, a substantially horizontally-disposed pin or axle. The pin on each pivot assembly is oriented transverse to the direction of water flow so as to allow antennas to rotate in a substantially vertical plane of water flow about the pin. Each pivot assembly is in turn anchored to the river bed (or other user-selected plane of anchoring). Future embodiments of the pivot assembly may include inventive technology in which the pivot assembly is either partially or fully articulated, so that antennas may also deflect laterally, in planes other than the vertical plane of water flow. 
         [0010]    In top-end pivoting arrays of antennas, counterweighting deployed at or near the other (basal) ends of each antenna cause the antennas to tend to return to a substantially vertical or angled (parallel to flow, deflected downstream) rest position in the water column. Conversely, basal-end pivoting arrays of antennas rely on the natural buoyancy of each antenna to cause the antenna to tend to return to a substantially vertical or angled (parallel to flow, deflected downstream) rest position in the water column. The air core antenna housing naturally creates this buoyancy and additional assistance to return to the rest position may be provided by torsion springs built into the pivot assembly, as further described below. 
         [0011]    Antennas in each array are multiplexed or synchronized electronically to transceivers that may be mounted in any suitable location, such as within the antenna housing, the housing cap, the antenna base, on shore, or nearby underwater. Each antenna may be driven by a single transceiver, or alternatively multiple antennas may be powered by a single transceiver or a single channel on a multi-channel transceiver. 
         [0012]    It is therefore a technical advantage of the vertically-oriented antenna arrays disclosed herein to be less susceptible, in moving water deployments, to damage from high velocity or high turbulence water flows, or from passing or accumulating debris. According to the disclosure herein, antennas may deflect and thus shed debris rather than receiving the full impact of passing debris, or providing a point for accumulation of debris. 
         [0013]    A further technical advantage of the vertically-oriented antenna arrays disclosed herein is that by tending to return to a vertical or angled (parallel to flow) rest position, they are able to detect and interrogate passing RFID tags (attached to underwater species) more consistently over the entire water column. 
         [0014]    A further technical advantage of the vertically-oriented antenna arrays disclosed herein is that they can be used to set up variable sampling schemes to collect data for more precise statistical analysis. Multiplexing and/or synchronization of the individual antennas enable such sampling schemes, in that the antenna array divides the water course cross-section into discrete vertical read zones within which all tagged species have a high likelihood of being detected. The electronic controller may then be used to differentially focus the sampling effort on vertical read zones in which tagged species are more likely to travel, thus enhancing the quality and amount of data collected. Subsequent statistical analysis may then include analysis of RFID tag detection rates and hence estimates of the numbers of fish, for example, passing the site. 
         [0015]    The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the inventive disclosure of this application, in order that the detailed description of the embodiments that follows may be better understood. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the specific embodiments disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same general purposes of the inventive material set forth in this disclosure. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]    For a more complete understanding of embodiments described in detail below, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following drawings, in which: 
           [0017]      FIG. 1  illustrates a top-end pivoting embodiment of the inventive antenna arrays disclosed in this application; 
           [0018]      FIG. 2  illustrates a basal-end pivoting embodiment of the inventive antenna arrays disclosed in this application; 
           [0019]      FIG. 3  illustrates an antenna assembly from  FIG. 2  in isolation, comprising an antenna housing, a housing cap and an antenna base; and 
           [0020]      FIG. 4  is a section of FIG.  3 &#39;s antenna housing, as further shown on  FIG. 3 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0021]      FIG. 1  illustrates one example of a top-end pivoting embodiment of the vertically-oriented antenna arrays disclosed herein. It will be seen on  FIG. 1  that the array  100  is deployed in moving water (such as a stream or river) with a nominal direction of water flow as indicated by arrow WF. Each antenna comprises an elongate antenna housing  101  having a hydrodynamic teardrop shape in cross-section. The advantageous hydrodynamics of the hydrodynamic teardrop shape are discussed above in the first paragraph of the “Summary” section of this disclosure. This inventive disclosure is not limited, however, to antenna housings with a teardrop shape in cross-section. In other embodiments (not illustrated), the antenna housing&#39;s cross-sectional shape may also be round, ovate, oblong, square or another shape befitting the installation conditions and antenna windings. 
         [0022]    The external shell of antenna housing  101  is made of non-ferrous materials such as, without limitation, plastics, rubber, fiberglass, carbon fiber or resins. Antenna housing  101  may also be coated on the outside with materials or resins selected to increase durability or protect against abrasion. 
         [0023]    Each antenna on  FIG. 1  is suspended from a support cable  102  at its top (water surface WS) end. The support cable  102  may be suspended from any suitable anchoring points, such as, for example, anchors on the shore or on banks of a river, or permanent concrete structures in the water itself. In preferred embodiments, the support cable  102  on  FIG. 1  will be understood to be disposed substantially perpendicular to the direction of water flow WF, so that each antenna remains substantially in the vertical plane of water flow WF, although the inventive material disclosed herein is not limited in this regard. The support cable  102  may be deployed at other angles with respect to the direction of water flow WF, per user selection, and swivel structure in the pivot assemblies  103  (as described further below) enables each antenna nonetheless to remain substantially in the vertical plane of water flow WF. The support cable  102  may be made from any conventional metallic or non-metallic construction. 
         [0024]    In  FIG. 1 , the support cable  102  is illustrated as located above the water surface WS. However, the inventive material disclosed herein is not limited in this regard. Other embodiments (not illustrated) may deploy the support cable  102  below the surface of the water at user-selected depths. Such other embodiments (not illustrated) may also set the support cable  102  at other user-selected orientations and anchor points. 
         [0025]      FIG. 1  also illustrates the support cable  102  being available to support one or more power and/or communications cables  105  addressing each of the antennas. Such power and/or communications cables  105  connect the antennas to a power supply, a transceiver and other hardware that may be located elsewhere, such as on the shore, within the antenna housing  101 , or nearby underwater. Each antenna may receive a separate power and/or communications cable  105 , or alternatively a single power and/or communications cable  105  may be attached to one end of the array  100  and pass through to neighboring antennas. 
         [0026]      FIG. 1  further illustrates each antenna suspended from the support cable  102  by its own pivot and swivel assembly  103 . In current embodiments, the design and construction of the pivot and swivel assemblies  103  is conventional, although in future embodiments it may be inventive. As noted above, the swivel structure in the pivot and swivel assemblies  103  allows each antenna to remain oriented substantially in the vertical plane of water flow WF. The pivot structure in the pivot and swivel assemblies  103  leaves the antenna free to rotate about the support cable  102 . Each hanging antenna may thus deflect responsive to temporary (or momentary) bursts of force or impact placed upon it by events such as seasonally high water flows, turbulence, or passing or accumulating debris. Such deflection will be understood to be primarily by rotating about the support cable  102  in the vertical plane of water flow WF. However, in preferred embodiments, each pivot and swivel assembly  103  is also sufficiently articulated to permit its corresponding antenna to deflect in other planes as well. 
         [0027]    Counterweights  107  are also illustrated on  FIG. 1  at the basal (riverbed S) end of each antenna. These counterweights  107  operate to cause the antennas to tend to return to a vertical or angled (parallel to flow, deflected downstream) rest position after momentary deflection by, for instance, passing or accumulating debris. Alternatively a portion of the antenna housing  101  may be flooded with water to create a neutrally buoyant antenna, requiring little (if any) further counterweighting. 
         [0028]    It will be appreciated from  FIG. 1  that an array of antennas may be dimensionally configured by user selection of the lengths of the antennas and the spacing along the support cable at which each one is fixed. RFID charge and read zones CRZ are thus created between the antennas that extend nominally the entire length of antennas (as shown on  FIG. 1 ). When the length of antennas is selected to be long enough, the entire depth of the water column potentially becomes available for RFID tag detection and interrogation. RFID charge and read zones CRZ will be only temporarily compromised while antennas deflect, and will be restored when the antennas return to their substantially vertical or angled (parallel to flow, deflected downstream) rest position. 
         [0029]    Top-end pivoting antenna embodiments, such as illustrated on  FIG. 1 , are useful where basal-end pivoting embodiments, such as illustrated on  FIGS. 2 through 4 , are not possible or desirable. For example, basal-end pivoting embodiments may not be suitable at or near engineered water project infrastructure such as concrete fishways, dam spillways, penstock or other turbine entryways, sluice gates, or canals. Such environments tend to operate in higher water velocities, and may further present logistical challenges in physically accessing the riverbed or bottom in order to anchor and service a basal-end pivoting embodiment. 
         [0030]      FIGS. 2 through 4  illustrate one example of a basal-end pivoting embodiment of the vertically-oriented antenna arrays disclosed herein. It will be understood on  FIG. 2 , that the array  200  is deployed in moving water (such as a stream or river) with a nominal direction of water flow WF. As on  FIG. 1 , each antenna on  FIG. 2  also comprises an elongate antenna housing  201  having a hydrodynamic teardrop shape in cross-section. The advantageous hydrodynamics of the hydrodynamic teardrop shape are discussed above in the first paragraph of the “Summary” section of this disclosure. This inventive disclosure is not limited, however, to antenna housings with a teardrop shape in cross-section. In other embodiments (not illustrated), the antenna housing&#39;s cross-sectional shape may also be round, ovate, oblong, square or another shape befitting the installation conditions and antenna windings. 
         [0031]    The external shell of antenna housing  201  is made of non-ferrous materials such as, without limitation, plastics, rubber, fiberglass, carbon fiber or resins. Antenna housing  201  may also be coated on the outside with materials or resins selected to increase durability or protect against abrasion. 
         [0032]    Turning momentarily to  FIGS. 3 and 4 ,  FIG. 3  illustrates an antenna assembly from  FIG. 2  in isolation, comprising an antenna housing  201 , a housing cap  203  and an antenna base  207 . Common features illustrated on  FIGS. 2 through 4  share the same reference numeral.  FIG. 4  is a cross-section of  FIG. 3  as shown on  FIG. 3 , and illustrates the hydrodynamic teardrop-shaped profile of the antenna housing  201  as described in the preceding paragraph with reference to  FIG. 2 , and earlier in this disclosure in the first paragraph of the “Summary” section. For the avoidance of doubt, the hydrodynamic teardrop-shaped profile illustrated on  FIG. 4  is symmetric about a centerline axis H-H as illustrated. 
         [0033]    Returning to  FIG. 2 , each antenna housing  201  in  FIG. 2  is connected to an antenna base  207 . Pivot and swivel mechanisms  205  are in hinged connection with each antenna base  207 . In current embodiments, each pivot and swivel mechanism  205  is anchored to the riverbed or ground bottom S by conventional anchoring technology  202 , although future embodiments may include inventive anchoring technology. In preferred embodiments, each pivot and swivel assembly  205  is anchored to the bottom S in spaced relationship, per user selection, in a line that runs perpendicular to the direction of water flow, so that each antenna may remain substantially in the vertical plane of water flow. The inventive material disclosed herein, however, is not limited in this regard. In other embodiments (not illustrated), pivot and swivel assembly anchoring may be in other angles or shapes with respect to the direction of water flow, per user selection. Swivel structure on the pivot and swivel assembly  205  (as described further below) enables each antenna nonetheless to remain substantially in the vertical plane of water flow. 
         [0034]    As discussed elsewhere in this disclosure, the hinged connection between the antenna base  207  and the upper portion of the pivot and swivel assembly  205  may, in some embodiments, be further restrained by torsion springs set to return the antenna to a vertical or angled (parallel to flow) rest position after deflection. 
         [0035]      FIG. 2  also illustrates power and communications cables  204  being brought along the river bed or ground bottom S to address and serve each antenna. Connection and anchoring of the power and communication cables  204  may be by any conventional waterproof method so that electrical signals and communications in the cables are not compromised. As on  FIG. 1 , the power and communications cables  204  on  FIG. 2  connect the antennas to a power supply, a transceiver and other hardware that may be located within the antenna housing  201 , the housing cap  203 , the antenna base  207  or elsewhere, such as on the shore or nearby underwater. Each antenna may receive a separate power and/or communications cable  204 , or alternatively a single power and/or communications cable  204  may be attached to one end of the array  200  and pass through to neighboring antennas. 
         [0036]    Current embodiments of the pivot and swivel assemblies  205  illustrated on  FIG. 2  are of conventional design and manufacture, although future embodiments may include inventive technology. A lower portion of each pivot and swivel assembly  205  is anchored to the bottom S. The lower portion is in vertical swivel connection with an upper portion, so that when an antenna is attached to the upper portion, the antenna is free to swivel about a vertical axis. The upper portion is further disposed to receive an antenna base  207  via a generally horizontal hinged connection. When an antenna is in hinged connection (via its antenna base) to the upper portion of a corresponding pivot and swivel assembly, the antenna is free to pivot about the hinge  206 , and so essentially becomes free to pivot about the bottom S (or other substantially horizontal plane at which the pivot and swivel assembly  205  may be anchored). 
         [0037]      FIG. 3  illustrates the antenna base  207  in isolation, and shows the antenna base&#39;s portion of the hinged connection to the upper portion of a corresponding pivot and swivel assembly  205 .  FIG. 3  also illustrates the axis of pivot P about which the antenna is free to rotate. It will be understood from viewing  FIGS. 2 and 3  together that a conventional pin or axle  206  may be used to form a hinged connection between the antenna base  207  and the upper portion of a corresponding pivot and swivel assembly  205  that permits multi-axial movement. 
         [0038]    As noted above, the swivel structure in the pivot and swivel assemblies  205  leaves each antenna free to remain oriented substantially in the vertical plane of water flow. The pivot structure in the pivot and swivel assemblies  205  leaves the antenna free to rotate about the river bed S (or other substantially horizontal plane of anchoring). Each antenna may thus deflect responsive to temporary (or momentary) bursts of force or impact placed upon it by seasonally high water flows, or turbulence, or passing or accumulating debris. Such deflection will be understood to be primarily by rotating about the river bed S (or other substantially horizontal plane of anchoring) in the vertical plane of water flow. However, as illustrated on  FIGS. 2 and 3 , each pivot and swivel assembly  205  provides independent pivot structure and swivel structure to permit its corresponding antenna to deflect in multiple planes. It will be appreciated that although current embodiments of pivot and swivel assembly  205  are illustrated on  FIGS. 2 and 3 , future embodiments may also provide partial or full articulation at the antenna base  207  connection to the pivot and swivel assembly  205 . Such articulation will enhance the ability of the antenna to deflect in multiple planes. 
         [0039]    Housing caps  203  are also illustrated on  FIGS. 2 and 3  at the top (water surface WS) end of each antenna. In some embodiments, these caps  203  may physically house each antenna&#39;s transceiver, thereby isolating them from electromagnetic interference generated by the antenna coil itself. The caps  203  further provide a construction seal for the top (water surface WS) end of the antenna housing  201 . When sealed by the cap  203  and at the antenna base  207 , the air core antenna assembly (which is buoyant) operates to cause the antenna to tend to return to a vertical or angled (parallel to flow, deflected downstream) rest position after momentary deflection by, for instance, passing or accumulating debris. Plastic and other buoyant materials used in the construction of the antennas, and torsion springs within the basal pivot and swivel mechanisms  205  will also be understood to assist the antennas to tend to return such vertical rest or angled position. A user-selected amount of buoyancy for any embodiment of the vertical antenna system may be controlled by a variety of mechanisms, including flooding portions of each antenna housing  201  with water or filling the lower end thereof with a pourable solid material such as silica sand. 
         [0040]    Similar to disclosure above with reference to  FIG. 1 , it will be appreciated from  FIG. 2  that an array of antennas  200  may be dimensionally configured by user selection of the lengths of the antennas and the spacing along the bottom at which each one is anchored. RFID charge and read zones CRZ are thus created between the antennas that extend nominally the entire length of antennas (as shown on  FIG. 2 ). When the length of antennas is selected to be long enough, the entire depth of the water column potentially becomes available for RFID tag detection and interrogation. RFID charge and read zones CRZ will be only temporarily compromised while antennas deflect, and will be restored when the antennas return to their substantially vertical or angled (parallel to flow) rest position. 
         [0041]    Although the inventive material in this disclosure has been described in detail along with some of its technical advantages, it will be understood that various changes, substitutions and alternations may be made to the detailed embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of such inventive material as set forth in the following claims.