Patent ID: 8624708

Claim:
An item positioning system for determining a position of a target item to which a target tag is attached, comprising: a plurality of independent tag readers each located at one of a plurality of predetermined separate positions within a same space, and each configured to respectively generate a plurality of access signals and to receive a response signal generated by the target tag, wherein each of the tag readers comprises: a tag reader module configured to generate an access signal according to a control signal, to transmit the access signal within a predetermined range, and to generate a successful access signal according to whether the tag reader module receives the response signal from the target tag; a transforming device coupled to each of the tag readers via a power line network; and a control device coupled to the transforming device via Ethernet and configured to adjust transmitting power of the access signals of selected tag readers according to whether the selected tag readers generated the successful access signal and to determine the position of the target item according to whether the tag readers receive the response signal, wherein the transforming device receives the access signals from the tag readers on the power line network and is configured to convert power line network access signals to Ethernet access signals for transmission to the control device, and wherein the transforming device receives the control signal from the control device via Ethernet and is configured to convert an Ethernet control signal to a power line network control signal for sending to the tag readers.