Patent ID: 8245930

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: an optical barcode scanner having a housing, a base, and an expansion port for connecting externally attachable accessory modules to the optical barcode scanner, wherein the base is operative to function as a support for the optical barcode scanner when the optical barcode scanner is placed on a flat surface, and wherein the optical barcode scanner is configured to operate in one of a hand-held mode and a presentation mode and provide a mode status indicating one of these modes; and an externally attachable accessory module having an RFID reader therein and having a form factor configured for attaching the accessory module to the optical barcode scanner, the accessory module further comprising an interface connector for forming a communication link between the RFID reader and the optical barcode scanner when the interface connector is connected with the expansion port of the optical barcode scanner, and wherein the RFID reader includes an RFID antenna, an RF transmitter, an RF receiver, and a demodulator, wherein the accessory module is externally attachable to the optical barcode scanner, wherein the RFID reader is configured to receive the mode status from the optical barcode scanner through the interface connector when the interface connector is connected with the expansion port of the optical barcode scanner, and wherein the RFID reader can lower an RFID transmit power level when the mode status indicates that the optical barcode scanner changes from hand-held mode to presentation mode and raises the RFID transmit power when the mode status indicates that the optical barcode scanner changes from presentation mode to hand-held mode, and wherein a duty cycle of RFID reader changes when the mode status changes.