Patent ID: 8138891

Claim:
A radio frequency identification (RFID) network control device that couples to RFID antennas and a host system and allows bidirectional communications between RFID tags disposed in a vicinity of the RFID antennas and the host system comprising: a plurality of RFID antenna ports each adapted to direct RFID traffic signals to and from one or more of the RFID antennas in order to establish a transmission path with one of more of the RFID tags, wherein the RFID traffic signals include a radio frequency carrier signal having RFID traffic information modulated thereon; at least two switchable, configurable and bidirectional control ports, each of said at least two control ports configurable to be switched to a configuration that allows for bidirectional communication of at least some of the RFID traffic signals through the respective control port, to be switched to a command configuration that allows for bidirectional communication of RFID command signals through the respective control port, and to be switched to a bypass configuration that that allows direct transmission of certain ones of the RFID traffic signals input to one of the at least two control ports to another one of the at least two control ports for output of the certain ones of the RFID traffic signals from the another one of the at least two control ports, thereby providing for a bypass transmission path through the RFID network control device, wherein the RFID command signals include the radio frequency carrier signal having RFID command information modulated thereon, the RFID command information being different from the RFID traffic information; a switch network configurable to connect any one of said at least two control ports to any one of said plurality of RFID antenna ports of said RFID network control device in order to allow for transmission of specific RFID traffic signals therebetween; and a control unit adapted to receive the RFID command signals and to configure and control any of the at least two control ports and the switch network based upon the RFID command information decoded from the received RFID command signals, the control unit thereby adapted to direct various ones of the RFID traffic signals among the at least two control ports and the plurality of RFID antenna ports.