Patent ID: 8427279

Claim:
An interrogator system to read active RFID transponders and backscatter RFID transponders comprising at least two transceivers, each transceiver covering a respective capture zone, the two capture zones being in proximity to each other, wherein said transceivers are adapted to use time division multiplexing to read the active RFID transponders in a first capture zone during a first time period, to read the active RFID transponders in a second capture zone during second time period and to simultaneously read the backscatter RFID transponders in both capture zones during a third time period, wherein a synchronization signal is shared between said transceivers, and wherein the read of the backscatter RFID transponders in the third time period by each transceiver comprises a downlink transmission, the downlink transmission comprising plural bits, and wherein each bit of the backscatter downlink transmission of each transceiver occurs at substantially the same time.