Patent ID: 7323992

Claim:
A method of employing radio frequency (RF) identifier (ID) transponder tags (RFID tags) within a data processing system, the method comprising: transmitting an interrogation signal or signals toward a person or an object with which a set of one or more RFID tags are physically associated; obtaining a first set of one or more RFID tag identifiers from an interrogation response signal or signals returned from the set of one or more RFID tags; performing a mathematical operation on the first set of one or more RFID tag identifiers to generate an RFID signature value; receiving a request to determine a physical location of the person or the object, wherein the request contains the RFID signature value, and wherein the RFID signature value is employed as an identifier within the data processing system for the person or the object with respect to the request to determine the physical location of the person or the object; performing an interrogation operation in response to the request to determine the physical location of the person or the object; computing the physical location of the person or the object based on information within interrogation response signals that are received during the interrogation operation; and returning a response to report the physical location of the person or the object.