Patent ID: 8085136

Claim:
A plurality of highly portable vertically-standing RFID tag readers (bollards) for use in athletic events, such as marathons, each of the bollards comprising: a vertical element for supporting an internal RFID tuner component above a surface on which the bollard is placed during use; a base element located at the bottom of the vertical element for providing stability to the vertical element when the bollard is placed on the surface; and an internal RFID tuner component comprising a plurality of components all of which are located within the bollard for reading an RFID tag, the plurality of components including: a power system for providing power to the powered components of the internal RFID tuner component; a processor for directing the functions of the bollard with regard to an athletic event in which the bollard is participating; a tuner component configured to read RFID tags that come within the RFID communication range of the bollard; and a wireless interface component configured to provide wireless communication to and from the bollard, whereby if a bollard is not in direct communication with a base station, the bollard is configured to relay information to the base station through another bollard.