Patent ID: 8102238

Claim:
A method for controlling access to an area, said method comprising the steps of: detecting the presence of a particular person in said area who is not in possession of one of a number of specified radio frequency identification (RFID) devices that each authorize a person to be in said area; responsive to detecting the presence of said particular person, initiating a search to determine whether any authorized person is present in said area by sensing whether a specified RFID device is present on one or more authorized persons; upon sensing the presence of the one or more authorized persons in said area, monitoring motion of the particular person relative to the sensed one or more authorized persons within the area over time; determining whether any of said sensed one or more authorized persons is accompanying said particular person based upon the monitored motion of the particular person relative to the sensed one or more authorized persons within the area over time; and responsive to determining that no authorized person is accompanying said particular person, initiating a pre-specified corrective action with respect to said particular person.