FffiLD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to radio frequency identification (RFID) networks, particularly in the area of controlling operation of appliances for mechanical networks such as a car park barrier controller.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is the use of an object called an RFID tag/device that is applied to or incorporated into a product, animal, or person for the purpose of identification and tracking by a reade^ase station, ^" using radio waves. Some devices can be read from several meters away and beyond the line of sight of the base station.

RFID devices typically contain an integrated circuit for storing and processing information, modulating and demodulating a radio frequency signal, and for other specialized functions. The devices also contain antenna for receiving and transmitting the signal.

An active RFID device contains a battery and can transmit signals autonomously. A passive RFID device has no battery and requires an external source to provoke signal transmission. A battery assisted passive (BAP) RFID device requires an external source to wake up but have significant higher forward link capability providing greater read range.

The applications and importance of RFID technology has significantly grown in recent years due to the improvements in the progress of integrated circuits, RFID standards development and allocations of increased spectrum for RFID. The RFID networks have progressed from relatively simple, low frequency (LF) networks to high frequency (HF) to more complex networks that operate in the ultra high frequency (UHF) spectrum. The LF is typically in the range of 30-300 KHz and the HF is typically in the range of 30-300 MHz and the UHF is in the 300-3000 MHz range. 1

An REIP network can be useful in car- sharing sendee where RFID devices are used for locking and unlocking cars and for member identification. Similarly, RFID networks are widely used for house door opening, garage door opening, and the like. In radio communications, a base station is a wireless communications station installed at a fixed location and used to communicate with a handheld device, which is a mobile pocket-sized computing device, typically having a display screen with touch input or a miniature keyboard. A hopping code or a rolling code is used in keyless entry networks to prevent replay attacks, where an eavesdropper records the transmission and replays it at a later time to cause the base station to 'unlock'. Such networks are typical in garage door openers and keyless car entry networks. The most widely spread algorithm for code hopping networks today is eeLoq . Standard literature may be referred to for more details in the hopping code networks.

In car parks particularly in residential areas, typically a passive mode network is used, such that when the device is taken within about 2 meters from the base station, the barrier opens.

A prior art regarding the use of RFID for facilitating control of passage at a security gate is described in United States Patent No. US20090121897. The prior art relates to scanning RFID information related to a vehicle and its driver with a scanner. The scanned information is used to access stored information that is retrieved and displayed. Verification of the vehicle and its driver is quickly made to determine whether the is permitted passage through the security gate.

Another prior art, United States Patent No. US20080061926 has disclosed a method utilizing a transmitter to control movable barrier operator. The prior art employs two radio frequency transmitters, one to broadcast an identification signal and the other to transmit a command to the barrier operator to open the barrier once the identification signal from the first radio frequency transmitter is received and authenticated.

Most of the patented technologies use RFID in the control of a security or traffic barrier. However, none of the patented technology ¾s disclose or suggest a dual mechanism for controlling the security barrier using RPID.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention consists of certain novel features and a combination of parts hereinafter fully described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings and particularly pointed out in the appended claims; it being understood that various changes in the details may be possible without departing from the scope of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages of the present invention.

The invention may be applied particularly to car parks in residential areas. According to an embodiment, the portable device and the base station communicate with each other in both active as well as passive modes. The car barrier controller can open either when the driver having the device is within about 2 meters from the base station or when the user of the device presses a switch in the device from a longer distance such as about 10 meters. This dual mode feature in the device is useful in situations where the user is not able to locate/reach for the device, yet can still get the barrier controller to open in passive mode. Similarly, when the power supply in the device is insufficient to trigger the active mode, the user still may be able to rely on the passive mode. The owner may also open up the barrier controller in the active mode probably for his guest to leave, without having to go near the barrier controller, as active mode has a longer range of functionality. The invention may be used for other suitable applications as well, such as for opening garage doors, car doors, house doors and the like.

According to an embodiment of the invention, an active and passive mode RFID network is proposed for wirelessly activating an appliance. The network comprises a base station that is powered by a first power supply and the base station further includes a first microcontroller, a first transmitting means and a first receiving means. Further, the network comprises a portable device that is powered by a second power supply and the device further includes a second microcontroller, a second transmitting means, a Second receiving means and a user control means. In the passive mode, the first transmitting means continuously transmits a first radio frequency signal (RFS) wirelessly. that is produced b}' the first microcontroller. Upon receiving the first RFS the second receiving means passes the first RFS to the second microcontroller for a first verification and when successful, the second microcontroller produces a second RFS for wireless transmission by the second transmitting means. Upon wirelessly receiving the second RFS the first receiving means passes the second RFS to the first microcontroller for a second verification and when successful, the first microcontroller produces an output signal for activating the appliance. In the active mode the user control means is user triggerable for sending out a command to the second microcontroller for producing a third RFS and wirelessly transmitting by the second transmitting means. Upon wirelessly receiving the third RFS the first receiving means passes the third RFS to the first microcontroller for a third verification and when successful the first microcontroller produces the output signal for activating the appliance.

According to an embodiment, the network further comprises a user triggerable command means such as a biometric scan, a numerical keypad, or a switch for the passive mode, the user triggerable command means being required to be triggered after the successful second verification, for activating the appliance. To illustrate an example of the application, in the event the invention is applied in an office area, the user may walk pass the base station without the intention of exiting the office. Without the user triggerable command means, the appliance will automatically be activated in the passive mode should the user with the portable device come within the range. So to avoid this, the user triggerable command means is added so that in the passive mode, the appliance will only be activated once the user triggerable command means is triggered by the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following drawings, same reference numbers generally refer to the same parts throughout. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, instead emphasis is placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. The various embodiments and advantages of the present invention will be more full} ⁷ understood when considered with respect to the following detailed description, appended claims and accompanying drawings wherein: Fig. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a base station and a portable device that communicate with each other in both passive and active modes.

Fig. 2a illustrates the flowchart of the present invention in the passive mode. Fig. 2b illustrates the flowchart of the present invention in the active mode.

Fig. 3 illustrates the flowchart of the present invention in the passive mode in another embodiment with the user triggerable command means. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following description presents several preferred embodiments of the present invention in sufficient detail such that those skilled in the art can make and use the invention.

Before describing in detail embodiments that are in accordance with the present invention, it should be noted that all of the figures are drawn for ease of explanation of the basic teachings of the present invention only. The extension of the figures with respect to the number, position, relationship and dimension of the parts of the preferred embodiment will be within the skill of the art after the following teachings of the present invention have been read and understood. Further, the exact dimensions and dimensional proportions to conform to specific force, weight, strength and similar requirements will likewise be within the skill of the art after the following teachings of the present invention have been read and understood.

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, where a base station (100a) and a portable device (100b) in a radio frequency identification (RFID) network (100), communicate with each other. In this illustration, the network (100) wirelessly operates an appliance such as a car park barrier controller. The base station (100a) is powered by a first power supply (1J 0) ^nc comprises a first microcontroller (105), a first transmitting means (115). and a first receiving means (120). The portable device (100b) is powered by a second power supply (135) and comprises a second microcontroller (130). a second transmitting means (150). a second receiving means (140) and a user control means (145). According to the embodiment shown, a first radio frequency signal (RFS) (215) transmitted in the passive mode is in a low frequency (LF) range and the second (218) and the third RFSs (250) transmitted in the passive and the active modes respectively are in an ultra high frequency (UHF) range. Fig. 2 illustrates the operation of the network (100) by means of flow charts. In the passive mode as shown in Fig. 2a, the base station (100a) in which the first transmitting means (115) continuously transmits the first RFS (215) wirelessly. that is produced by the first microcontroller (105), the second receiving means (140) wirelessly receives and passes the first RFS (215) to the second microcontroller (130) for a first verification (217) and if successful the second microcontroller (130) produces the second RFS (218) for wireless transmission by the second transmitting means (150). The first receiving means (120) upon wirelessly receiving the second RFS (218) passes it to the first microcontroller (105) for a second verification (220) and upon successful verification the first microcontroller (105) produces an output signal (125) for activation of the appliance.

In the active mode as shown in Fig. 2b, the user control means (145) being triggered by a user sends out a command to the second microcontroller (130) to produce the third RFS (250) for wireless transmission by the second transmitting means (150) to the first receiving means (120). The first receiving means (120), upon wirelessly receiving the third RFS (250) passes it to the first microcontroller (105) for a third verification (255) and upon successful verification the first microcontroller (105) produces the output signal (125) for activation of the appliance. In a preferred embodiment, the passive mode is operated in a short distance and the active mode is operated in a long distance, the distance being the gap between the base station (100a) and the portable device (100b). The present invention with the second power supply (135) in the portable device (100b) boost the range of the second receiving means (140) to receive the first RFS (215) at a further range than .conventional passive RFID devices. The second power supply (135). enables, the communication efficiency between the first transmitting means (115) and the second receiving means (140) to be increased to a range of up to 2 meters within which the user may activate the appliance passively. In active mode, the present invention operates over a longer distance than in the passive mode. The second transmitting means (150) of the portable device (100b) is able to transmit the second (218) or the third RFSs (250) to be received by the first receiving means (120) of the base station (100a) when the portable device (100b) is within a range of up to 10 meters from the base station (100a). And in any unforeseen circumstances where the portable device (100b) is unable to activate the appliance passively even though the portable device (100b) is within the passive functional range, the user may still be able to actively activate the appliance by triggering the user triggerable command means (370).

In a preferred embodiment, the first transmitting means (115) is a LF transmitter which communicates with the second receiving means (140) which is a LF receiver. Low frequency suffer less from energy losses and hence can propagate farther away. This allows the first transmitting means (1 15) and the second receiving means (140) to a longer range of communication. The second transmitting means (150) is an UHF transmitter which communicates with the first receiving means (120) that is an UHF receiver. The user control means (145) is a first switch, which when pressed by the user, sends out a -command to activate the appliance. Although the second power supply (135) is for the activation of the appliance through the active mode, the communication efficiency in the passive mode is increased. The second power supply (135) enables the second receiving means (140) of the portable device (100b) to receive the first RFS (215) at a further distance from the first transmitting means (1 15) of the base station (100a).

The first RFS (215) is a fixed code signal transmitted by the first transmitting means (115) and received by the second receiving means (140). The advantage of using the fixed code signal is that it has a faster reaction time and have anti-collision effects. Anti-collision effect refers to different ways to keep radio frequency signals from one device from interfering with radio frequency signals from another device. RFID readers may make use of anti-collision algorithms to enable a single reader to read more than one tag in the reader's field. The second (218) and the third RFSs (250) are hopping code signals transmitted by the second tran iiitti ig means (150) and received by the first receiving means (120). In an embodiment, there may be more than one portable device (100b) so that more than one user may be authorized to activate the appliance.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention where the appliance is a car park barrier controller, an authorized user may approach the barrier and choose to activate the barrier controller passive!)' or actively, regardless if the user is going in or out of the car park. The authorized user may actively activate the barrier controller to allow temporary access or exit of the car park by other drivers. The authorized user may also passively activate the barrier controller in the event the authorized user is not able to reach for the portable device (100b) for activation in the active mode.

In an embodiment, the network (100) further comprises a user triggerable command means (370). The user triggerable command means (370) is required to be triggered after the successful second verification, before the first microcontroller (105) produces the output signal (125) for activating the appliance. The user triggerable command means (370) may include a biometric scan, a numerical keypad, or a second switch.

In the case that the user triggerable command means (370) is a biometric scan or a numerical keypad, the user triggerable command means (370) is utilized to enhance the security feature of the present invention. The user who activates the appliance would have to have their identity authenticated by going through the biometric scan or keying-in a preset pin on the numerical keypad. Any unauthorized user who didn't have their biometric data pre-scanned and saved in a database linked to the user triggerable command means (370) which records all the biometric data of all authorized users or saving the preset pin of the authorized users will not be able to activate the appliance. In this embodiment, the user triggerable command means (370) may be applicable to both the active and passive mode as the purpose of enhancing the security feature of the present invention may be nullified if it is only triggerable in the passive mode in which any unauthorized user may activate the appliance actively without having their identity authenticated. In another embodiment where the user triggerable command means (370) is a second switch, the user triggerable command means (370) is utilized to prevent unnecessary activation of the appliance through the passive mode as shown in Fig. 3. In this embodiment where the appliance is an automated door in an office space, the user may walk pass the base station (100a) without the intention of exiting the office. Without the user triggerable command means (370), the appliance will automatically be activated in the passive mode should the user with the portable device (100b) come within the range of the first transmitting means (1 15) which enables the second receiving means (140) to receive the first RFS (215) for application of the appliance passively. So to avoid this, the user triggerable command means (370) is added so that in the passive mode, the appliance will only be activated once the user triggerable command means (370), is triggered by the user.

The term 'successful verification' used in this text indicates that the result of the verification is acceptable for proceeding towards activating the appliance.

As to further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of the present invention, the same should be apparent from the above description. Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided.

While the foregoing description presents preferred embodiments of the present invention along with many details set forth for purpose of illustration, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many variations or modifications in details of design, construction and operation may be made without departing from the present invention as defined in the claims. The scope of the invention is as indicated by the appended claims and all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.