US 12,095,169 B2
Systems and methods for enhanced fault tolerance for RFID phased array antennas
Benjamin J. Bekritsky, Modiin (IL); Michael J. Koch, Saint James, NY (US); and Alexander M. Jacques, Kings Park, NY (US)
Assigned to Zebra Technologies Corporation, Lincolnshire, IL (US)
Filed by ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, Lincolnshire, IL (US)
Filed on Mar. 31, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/218,302.
Prior Publication US 2022/0320710 A1, Oct. 6, 2022
Int. Cl. H01Q 3/26 (2006.01); G06K 7/10 (2006.01); H04B 7/06 (2006.01); H04B 17/12 (2015.01); H04B 17/17 (2015.01)
CPC H01Q 3/267 (2013.01) [G06K 7/10346 (2013.01); G06K 7/10475 (2013.01); H04B 7/0617 (2013.01); H04B 17/12 (2015.01); H04B 17/17 (2015.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A radio frequency identification (RFID) reader comprising:
a phased array antenna having N antenna elements;
a controller operatively connected to the phased array antenna, wherein the controller is configured to:
monitor a characteristic for each antenna element of a set of the N antenna elements;
based on the characteristic, detect a fault of a faulty antenna element of the set of the N antenna elements;
responsive to detecting the fault of the faulty antenna element of the set of the N antenna elements, adjust a parameter of at least one other antenna element of the N antenna elements, wherein the parameter is a weight applied to a signal that is transmitted to or received at an antenna element;
generate an adjusted beam to compensate for an azimuth angle and elevation angle associated with the faulty antenna element; and
execute an RFID scan cycle using the adjusted beam to interrogate RFID tags.