SBIR-STTR Award

A radio frequency identification tag system is proposed which has the unique capability to provide location information as well as tag id. This system uses radar and interferometric techniques to provide range and direction with resolutions less than 1 meter and less than 1 degree, respectively. The system is real-time and has -: the unique capability to work with groups of -located tags with zero probability of tag interference. The system is relatively inexpensive and can be used to track equipment as well as people, animals and materials.

A system that quickly locates items and guides personnel to their exact location is proposed. This system uses an innovative radio/acoustic identification tag, called DFTag that communicates with stationary interrogator modules in order to automate the tracking of items. The result is a substantial improvement in both asset utilization and individual productivity. Assets within an instrumented environment will no longer get lost or misplaced and personnel will no longer need to search extensively to locate inventory. Previous identification technology such as barcode cannot compare to DFTag because they operate at shortranges and are read-only. Such technologies require direct human involvement in the process of finding an asset (commonly referred to as exhaustive search). A person must physically locate an item and its identification mark before the mark can be read. DFTag, in contrast, provides a means to find an asset, read its identification code and retrieve information about it from a remote computer console. No manual labor and no exhaustive search are required.