Patent ID: 8717165

Claim:
A RFID system, comprising: a controller including a transceiver circuit; and at least one RFID tag including a miniature circuit having a transceiver and a microcontroller, wherein the at least one RFID tag is configurable to operate in at least one of a tracking mode and a non-tracking mode, when the at least one RFID tag is configured to operate in the tracking mode, the microcontroller of the RFID tag is configured to conserve power usage by intermittently activating the miniature circuit to listen for a tracking signal from the controller and powering down the miniature circuit, such that the miniature circuit, when activated, transmits a response signal to the controller upon receiving and recognizing the tracking signal transmitted from the transceiver of the controller, and when the at least one RFID tag is configured to operate in the non-tracking mode, the transceiver of the RFID tag is configured to activate the microcontroller for a period in response to detecting a predetermined incoming signal sequence, and the microcontroller, when activated, operates to take a predetermined action based on a coded inquiry signal transmitted from the transceiver of the controller in response to the RFID tag receiving and confirming the coded inquiry signal, wherein when the RFID tag is in the tracking mode, the controller is configured to periodically transmit tracking data to the RFID tag at predetermined time intervals, the RFID tag is configured to receive the tracking data according to the periodic transmission by the controller at the predetermined time intervals, the RFID tag is further configured to generate expected data based on the received tracking data which the RFID tag will search for in the next tracking data received at a next periodic transmission by the controller, and the RFID tag is further configured to generate an answer signal to the controller in response to not receiving the expected data in the tracking data.