Networked computer system for remote RFID device management and tracking

• US 10,114,990 B2
• Filed: 03/02/2016
• Issued: 10/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Purple Deck Media Inc.
• Original Assignee: Purple Deck Media Inc.
• Inventors: Shope, Daniel Lee, Sulfare, Jr., James Henry, Neil, Nathan James
• Primary Examiner(s): Pendleton, Dionne H
• Application Number:
  US15/058,965
• Publication Number:
  US 20160259953A1
• Time in Patent Office: 972 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/14 Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10366 the interrogation device being adapted for miscellaneous applications
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10386 the interrogation device being of the portable or hand-handheld type, e.g. incorporated in ubiquitous hand-held devices such as PDA or mobile phone, or in the form of a portable dedicated RFID reader
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/101 Access control lists [ACL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/12 Access point controller devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements

Abstract

A networked computer system for remote RFID device management and tracking provides a means for quickly deploying and managing RFID based technologies, serving both large and small use cases. The remote management and auditing tools significantly reduce labor force requirements by removing the physical interaction requirement, and permit new possibilities since clients can manage devices from any internet connected locale. The low entry and operational costs permit solutions which provide RFID devices to end users and their devices.

Claims

1. A method for tracking articles or providing information, comprising:

reading at least one token from at least one RFID device and conveying the at least one token over a network to a server;

searching by the server a database using the at least one token to identify a stored dataset associated with the at least one token;

communicating a payload associated with the identified dataset to a device for displaying information in the payload on a display device; and

providing by a client to a plurality of third parties third party access options that controls access to resources including the stored dataset, as credentials of the client authorizes the client to grant to each of the third parties,

wherein the dataset is associated with a plurality of tokens, and the dataset links the payload and the plurality of tokens.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one RFID device is a near field communication device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the display device comprises an RFID reader.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing by the server at least one client credential for creating the plurality of datasets and tokens.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing by the server at least one third party credential, the third party credential permitting a third party to create at least one second dataset and at least one second token for associating with a physical object.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a request from a client or third party to change the payload of the stored dataset associated with the token from a first set of information to a second set of information different from the first set of information.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising permanently writing the at least one token to the RFID device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein further comprising authenticating at least one client to create one or more third party credentials for at least one third party.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising creating by the at least one third party a second dataset and a second payload for displaying on the display device based on the at least one conveyed token.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the third party is a plurality of third parties and each third party creates a set of datasets and tokens for associating with different RFID devices and objects.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the third party access options include a plurality of:

an ability to create new datasets, an ability to list existing datasets, an ability to modify existing datasets, an ability to retrieve token details for datasets and an ability to retrieve payload details for a dataset.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating by the client, third party credentials including an identifier for the third party, a public encryption key for the third party, an identifier for the client, a public encryption key for the client, and an encoded list of the third party access options granted by the client.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the third party credentials include an expiration time after which the third party credentials will no longer be authorized.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising providing by the client to the plurality of different third parties, third party access options that controls access to resources, as credentials of the client authorizes the client to grant to each of the different third parties.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the third party access options include a plurality of:

an ability to create new datasets, an ability to list existing datasets, an ability to modify existing datasets, an ability to retrieve token details for datasets and an ability to retrieve payload details for a dataset.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising creating by the client, third party credentials including an identifier for the third party, a public encryption key for the third party, an identifier for the client, a public encryption key for the client, and an encoded list of the third party access options granted by the client.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the third party credentials include an expiration time after which the third party credentials will no longer be authorized.

14. A method for tracking articles or providing information, comprising:

creating different credentials for different third parties by a client, the different credentials permitting the different third parties to create different datasets and different tokens for associating with different objects;

receiving a request including a token from at least one RFID device over a network;

searching a database to locate a dataset and payload associated with the token; and

displaying information associated with the payload on a display device at a RFID reader that generated the request.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the RFID device is a near field communication device.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising permanently writing the token to the at least one RFID device.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising permanently writing the token to a plurality of RFID devices so that each RFID device has the same token.

22. A method for tracking articles or providing information, comprising:

reading at least one token from at least one RFID device and conveying the at least one token over a network to a server;

searching by the server a database using the at least one token to identify a stored dataset associated with the at least one token;

communicating a payload associated with the identified dataset to a device for displaying information in the payload on a display device;

receiving metadata at the server over a network;

comparing the metadata to a database of dataset payloads; and

providing a response over the network to a computing device of matched at least one dataset payload based on results of the comparing,

wherein the stored dataset links the at least one payload and the at least one token.