Programmable memory for an encoding system

Claim 2

In a system including a transponder and a reader for programming the transponder to generate information individually identifying the transponder to the reader, means at the reader for generating a first individual sequence of pulses indicative of a related generation of signals representing a binary "1", a binary "0" or a reset, and means at the reader for generating a first related individual sequence of signals representative of a binary "0", a second related individual sequence of signals representative of a binary "1" and a third related individual sequence of signals representative of a reset, means for providing a programmable memory at the transponder, and means responsive at the transponder to the generation of the first and the first, second and third related sequences of signals in a particular pattern for programming the transponder to record a plurality of binary "1's" and binary "0's" in an individual pattern in accordance with the pattern of the first, second and third related sequences of signals generated by the reader.

Claim 3

In a system as set forth in claim 1, means at the reader for programming the reader to generate the first, second, third and fourth sequences of signals in the particular pattern to obtain the recording of the binary "1's" and binary "0's" in the transponder in the individual pattern.

Claim 4

In a system as set forth in claim 2, means at the transponder for programming the transponder to respond to the first and the first, second and third related sequences of signals to obtain the recording of the binary "1's" and binary "0's" in the transponder in the individual pattern.

Claim 5

In a system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the generating means at the reader generates a pair of signals of alternate polarity as the first sequence and generates, at a particular time relative to the first sequence of signals, a pair of signals of alternate polarity to represent a binary "0", a pair of signals of a first polarity to represent a binary "1" and a pair of signals of a second polarity opposite to the first polarity to represent a reset.

Claim 6

In a system including a transponder and a reader for programming the transponder to generate information individually identifying the transponder to the reader, means at the reader for providing clock signals, means at the reader for counting the clock signals, means at the reader for providing a code in which the transponder is to be programmed, means for controlling successive counts of the clock signals at the reader in accordance with the code in which the transponder is to be programmed, means at the reader for generating pulses of alternate polarity with a separation in time dependent upon the control of the successive counts in the counter, means at the reader for transmitting the pulses of the opposite polarities to the transponder.

Claim 7

In a system including a transponder and a reader for programming the transponder to generate information individually identifying the transponder to the reader, means at the reader for providing clock signals, means at the reader for counting the clock signals, means at the reader for providing a code in which the transponder is to be programmed, means for controlling successive counts of the clock signals at the reader in accordance with the code in which the transponder is to be programmed, means at the reader for generating pulses of alternate polarity with a separation in time dependent upon the control of the successive counts in the counter, means at the reader for transmitting the pulses of the opposite polarities to the transponder.

Claim 8

In a system as set forth in claim 5, means at the transponder for decoding the pulses of the first and opposite polarities, means at the transponder for providing a memory, means for recording the decoded information in the memory.

Claim 9

In a system as set forth in claim 5 wherein the generating means include a coil and a capacitance connected to the coil and means for alternately providing for a storage of energy in the coil to generate pulses in the coil of one polarity and a discharge of such stored energy through the capacitance to generate pulses in the coil of a polarity opposite to the one polarity.

Claim 10

In a system as set forth in claim 7 wherein the generating means include bistable means having first and second states of operation and wherein the bistable means are responsive to the beginning and end of each successive count in the counter to become triggered to the opposite state of operation relative to its previous state of operation.

Claim 11

In a system as set forth in claim 8, the generating means further including means responsive to the operation of the bistable means in the first state for providing for the storage of energy in the coil to generate the pulses of the one polarity and being responsive to the operation of the bistable means in the second state for providing for the discharge of the energy in the coil through the capacitance to generate the pulses of the opposite polarity.

Claim 12

In a system including a transponder and a reader for programming the transponder to generate coded information individually identifying the transponder to the reader, means at the reader for generating clock signals, means at the reader for providing a count of the clock signals, means at the reader for controlling the count to be provided at each instant in the counting means, in accordance with the code to be provided for the transponder, to control at each instant the number of clock signals for completing a count, means responsive to each initiation of a count for producing a signal of a first polarity and responsive to each completion of a count for generating a signal of a second polarity opposite to the first polarity, and means for providing for the transmission of the signals of the first and second polarities to the transponder to provide for the programming of the code in the transponder.

Claim 13

In a system including a transponder and a reader for programming the transponder to generate coded information individually identifying the transponder to the reader, means at the reader for generating clock signals, means at the reader for providing a count of the clock signals, means at the reader for controlling the count to be provided at each instant in the counting means, in accordance with the code to be provided for the transponder, to control at each instant the number of clock signals for completing a count, means responsive to each initiation of a count for producing a signal of a first polarity and responsive to each completion of a count for generating a signal of a second polarity opposite to the first polarity, and means for providing for the transmission of the signals of the first and second polarities to the transponder to provide for the programming of the code in the transponder.

Claim 14

In a system as set forth in claim 10, the controlling means providing for an individual count in the counting means at each instant in accordance with the information to be programmed into the transponder at that instant.

Claim 15

In a system as set forth in claim 10, the signal generating means including a coil for alternately generating the signals of the first and second polarities in accordance with the count in the counting.

Claim 16

In a system as set forth in claim 12, the signal generating means including bistable means having first and second states of operation and operative in the first state to provide for the introduction of energy into the coil and operative in the second state to provide for the transfer of energy from the coil and including a capacitance for receiving the energy transferred from the coil.

Claim 17

In a system as set forth in claim 13, means at the transponder for receiving the signals transmitted from the reader, means at the transponder for decoding the received signals to recover the code, a programmable memory at the transponder, and means at the transponder for recording the recovered code in the programmable memory.

Claim 18

In a system including a transponder and a reader for programming the transponder to generate coded information individually identifying the transponder to the reader, the reader being operative to transmit pulses to identify a binary "1", a binary "0" and a reset and to precede such pulses by pulses indicating that the coded pulses providing such information follow, means at the transponder for receiving the pulses transmitted by the reader, means at the transponder for operating upon the received pulses to recover the coding pulses, means responsive at the transponder to the recovered decoding pulses for decoding the coded pulses to recover the coded information, a programmable memory at the transponder, and means for recording the coded information in the programmable memory.

Claim 19

In a system including a transponder and a reader for programming the transponder to generate coded information individually identifying the transponder to the reader, the reader being operative to transmit pulses to identify a binary "1", a binary "0" and a reset and to precede such pulses by pulses indicating that the coded pulses providing such information follow, means at the transponder for receiving the pulses transmitted by the reader, means at the transponder for operating upon the received pulses to recover the coding pulses, means responsive at the transponder to the recovered decoding pulses for decoding the coded pulses to recover the coded information, a programmable memory at the transponder, and means for recording the coded information in the programmable memory.

Claim 20

In a combination as set forth in claim 15, demodulating means at the transponder for identifying the pulses indicating the positions the coding pulses providing the coding information follow and for recovering the coding pulses.

Claim 21

In a combination as set forth in claim 16, the coding pulses having an individual sequence of pulses of first and second opposite polarities and the detecting means detecting the polarities of the successive pulses in the sequences to recover the decoded information.

Claim 22

In a system including a transponder and a receiver for programming the transponder to generate information individually identifying the transponder to the reader means at the reader for generating first pulses in a first code to identify programmable items and for transmitting the pulses to the transponder, a programmable memory at the transponder, means at the transponder for receiving the pulses and for decoding the pulses and for recording in the programmable memory the code identified by the pulses, means at the reader for generating interrogating pulses and transmitting the interrogating pulses to the transponder, means responsive at the transponder to the interrogating pulses for producing and transmitting signals at first and second frequencies in a pattern indicative of the code in the programmable memory, means responsive at the reader to the signals at the first and second frequencies for providing for the continued generation and transmission of the interrogating pulses, and means responsive at the reader to the signals at the first and second frequencies for decoding the signals to identify the code in the programmable memory at the transponder.

Claim 23

In a system including a transponder and a receiver for programming the transponder to generate information individually identifying the transponder to the reader means at the reader for generating first pulses in a first code to identify programmable items and for transmitting the pulses to the transponder, a programmable memory at the transponder, means at the transponder for receiving the pulses and for decoding the pulses and for recording in the programmable memory the code identified by the pulses, means at the reader for generating interrogating pulses and transmitting the interrogating pulses to the transponder, means responsive at the transponder to the interrogating pulses for producing and transmitting signals at first and second frequencies in a pattern indicative of the code in the programmable memory, means responsive at the reader to the signals at the first and second frequencies for providing for the continued generation and transmission of the interrogating pulses, and means responsive at the reader to the signals at the first and second frequencies for decoding the signals to identify the code in the programmable memory at the transponder.

Claim 24

In a system as set forth in claim 18, the generating means for the pulses in the first code including a capacitance and a coil and means for alternately charging and discharging the capacitance through the coil, the generating means for the interrogating pulses including the capacitance and the coil and means for alternately charging the capacitance through the coil, the coil providing the transmission of the pulses from the reader to the tranponder.

Claim 25

In a system as set forth in claim 18, the generating means at the reader for the pulses in the first code including means for generating identifying pulses in a code indicating that pulses coding for programmable items precede the identifying pulses, the decoding means at the transponder for the pulses in the first code being operative to demodulate the pulses to recover the pulses coding for the programmable items and being operative to decode the recovered pulses to recover the code which is to be recorded in the programmable memory.

Claim 26

In a system as set forth in claim 20, the generating means at the reader for the interrogating pulses alternately producing pulses of first and second opposite polarities, and the means at the transponder for producing the signals at the first and second frequencies being responsive to the polarity of the pulses from the reader and to the code in the programmable memory to produce signals at a particular one of the first and second frequencies and then the other one of the first and second frequencies to identify each of the successive programmable items in the code.

Claim 27

In a system as set forth in claim 21, the generating means for the pulses in the first code including a capacitance and a coil and means for alternately charging and discharging the capacitance through the coil, the generating means for the interrogating pulses including the capacitance and the coil and means for alternately charging the capacitance through the coil, the coil providing the transmission of the pulses from the reader to the transponder.

Claim 28

In a system including a transponder and a reader for programming the transponder to generate information individually identifying the transponder to the reader, means at the reader for alternately generating pulses of first and second opposite polarities, means operatively coupled at the reader to the generating means for obtaining the generation by the generating means of the pulses alternately of the opposite polarities in a sequential code identifying a plurality of programmable items, the sequential code for each programmable item including pulses identifying the position of the code for such programmable item, means for transmitting the pulses alternately of the opposite polarities in the sequential code to the transponder for reception by the transponder, a programmable memory in the transponder, means at the transponder for demodulating the received pulses to recover the pulses coding for each programmable item from the pulses of opposite polarities in the sequential code, means at the transponder for decoding the pulses coding for each programmable item and recording the decoded information in the programmable memory, means at the reader for thereafter producing alternately the pulses of opposite polarities to interrogate the transponder for the code in the programmable memory, means responsive at the transponder to the interrogating pulses alternately of opposite polarities and to the code in the programmable memory for producing a number of signals initially of a first frequency and subsequently of a second frequency, the order of the signals ar the first and second frequencies for each programmable item being dependent upon the polarity of the interrogating pulses and the identity of the programmable item, means responsive at the reader to each generation of a particular number of signals at each of the first and second frequencies for providing for the generation at the reader of an interrogating pulse of a polarity opposite to the polarity of the interrogating pulse previously generated at the reader, and means at the reader for detecting the signals at the first and second frequencies to identify the code in the programmable memory at the transponder.

Claim 29

In a system including a transponder and a reader for programming the transponder to generate information individually identifying the transponder to the reader, means at the reader for alternately generating pulses of first and second opposite polarities, means operatively coupled at the reader to the generating means for obtaining the generation by the generating means of the pulses alternately of the opposite polarities in a sequential code identifying a plurality of programmable items, the sequential code for each programmable item including pulses identifying the position of the code for such programmable item, means for transmitting the pulses alternately of the opposite polarities in the sequential code to the transponder for reception by the transponder, a programmable memory in the transponder, means at the transponder for demodulating the received pulses to recover the pulses coding for each programmable item from the pulses of opposite polarities in the sequential code, means at the transponder for decoding the pulses coding for each programmable item and recording the decoded information in the programmable memory, means at the reader for thereafter producing alternately the pulses of opposite polarities to interrogate the transponder for the code in the programmable memory, means responsive at the transponder to the interrogating pulses alternately of opposite polarities and to the code in the programmable memory for producing a number of signals initially of a first frequency and subsequently of a second frequency, the order of the signals ar the first and second frequencies for each programmable item being dependent upon the polarity of the interrogating pulses and the identity of the programmable item, means responsive at the reader to each generation of a particular number of signals at each of the first and second frequencies for providing for the generation at the reader of an interrogating pulse of a polarity opposite to the polarity of the interrogating pulse previously generated at the reader, and means at the reader for detecting the signals at the first and second frequencies to identify the code in the programmable memory at the transponder.

Claim 30

In a system as set forth in claim 23, the means at the reader for generating the interrogating pulses including a counter for counting the signals generated at the transponder at each of the first and second frequencies and for generating the next interrogating pulse upon each occurrence of a particular count in the counter, the means at the reader for obtaining the generation of the pulses in the coded sequence also including the counter and the counter being operative to count to the particular count to generate the successive pulses in the coded sequence.

Claim 31

In a combination as set forth in claim 24, bistable means disposed at the reader and having first and second states of operation, means disposed at the reader and responsive to each count to the particular value in the counter for triggering the bistable means from one state of operation to the other, a capacitance at the reader, a coil at the reader, means responsive at the reader to alternate triggerings of the bistable means to produce a flow of current through the capacitance and the coil in a direction to charge the capacitance and produce a voltage pulse of the first polarity in the coil, means responsive at the reader to the other triggerings of the bistable means to produce a flow of current through the capacitance and the coil in a direction to discharge the capacitance and produce a voltage pulse of the second polarity in the coil.

Claim 32

In a system as set forth in claim 25, switching means disposed at the transponder and having open and closed states of operation, a coil disposed at the transponder in magnetically coupled relationship with the coil at the reader, the switching means and a first capacitance connected at the transponder to form a resonant circuit at the first frequency and an additional capacitance connected in the resonant circuit with the switching means in the closed state to form a resonant circuit at the second frequency, the switching means being operative in the open and closed states in accordance with the polarity of the interrogating pulses and the code in the programmable memory.

Claim 33

In combination, and a reader disposed at a first position, a transponder disposed at a second position displaced from the first position, means coupling the reader and the transponder, means in the reader for producing pulses to initiate a sequence of cyclic interactions between the reader and the transponder, a programmable memory in the transponder for providing a binary code identifying the information, means in the transponder for producing in each of the cyclic interactions signals having each of first and second frequencies in a sequence dependent upon the binary code programmed in the programmable memory in the transponder, means responsive to the signals produced by the transponder at each of the first and second frequencies in each of the cyclic interactions for producing a pulse in the coupling means to initiate in the transponder the signals in the other one of the first and second frequencies in the cyclic interactions, means at the reader for providing for the production of pulses in a pattern programming the binary code in the programmable memory in the transponder, and means at the transponder for decoding the pulses in the pattern programming the binary code and for recording the binary code in the programmable memory in the transponder in accordance with such decoding.

Claim 34

In combination, and a reader disposed at a first position, a transponder disposed at a second position displaced from the first position, means coupling the reader and the transponder, means in the reader for producing pulses to initiate a sequence of cyclic interactions between the reader and the transponder, a programmable memory in the transponder for providing a binary code identifying the information, means in the transponder for producing in each of the cyclic interactions signals having each of first and second frequencies in a sequence dependent upon the binary code programmed in the programmable memory in the transponder, means responsive to the signals produced by the transponder at each of the first and second frequencies in each of the cyclic interactions for producing a pulse in the coupling means to initiate in the transponder the signals in the other one of the first and second frequencies in the cyclic interactions, means at the reader for providing for the production of pulses in a pattern programming the binary code in the programmable memory in the transponder, and means at the transponder for decoding the pulses in the pattern programming the binary code and for recording the binary code in the programmable memory in the transponder in accordance with such decoding.

Claim 35

In a system as set forth in claim 27, means at the reader for alternately producing the pulses with first and second opposite polarities, the pulse producing means being operative during the identification of the transponder to produce a pulse of an opposite polarity from the previous pulse upon the reception of the signals from the transponder at each of the first and second frequencies, the pulse producing means being operative during the programming of the transponder to produce the pulses of opposite polarity in patterns individually indicative of different programmable items.

Claim 36

In a system as set forth in claim 28, the signal means at the transponder being responsive to the polarities of the pulses from the reader and the binary code in the programmable memory for producing in each cycle of interactions the signals at the first and second frequencies in a particular order indicative of such pulses, the pulse producing means at the reader producing, during the programming of the memory in the transponder, for each programmable item a pulse sequence including first pulses having a particular pattern to identify that the pulses for such programmable item follows and including second pulses individual to the programmable item, the decoding means at the transponder being operable to detect the first pulses in each pulse sequence to identify that the pulses for one of the programmable items follows and to decode the second pulses in each pulse sequence to obtain the binary code and to record the binary code in the programmable memory in transponder.

Claim 37

In a system as set forth in claim 29, the coupling means being magnetic and including a first coil at the reader and a second coil at the transponder and the pulse producing means at the reader including the first coil and a capacitance and bistable means having first and second states of operation and operative in the first state to produce a flow of current through the capacitance and the first coil in a direction for charging the capacitance and for producing a pulse of a first polarity in the coil and operative in the second state to produce a flow of current through the capacitance and the first coil in a direction for discharging the capacitance and for producing a pulse of a second polarity in the coil, the pulse producing means being operative upon each reception of a particular number of signals at each of the first and second frequencies during the identification of the transponder at the reader for producing a pulse of the opposite polarity from that previously produced.