Location tracking of products and product display assemblies in a wirelessly connected environment
First Claim
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1. A system comprising:
- a plurality of wireless nodes that are configured to form a mesh network for utilization in a retail store environment, each wireless node including a wireless transceiver for wireless communication over the mesh network;
wherein a first plurality of the wireless nodes are part of a plurality of product display assemblies, each product display assembly comprising a puck assembly configured to connect with a product for merchandising to consumers, each puck assembly having an associated puck assembly identifier;
wherein a second plurality of the wireless nodes are part of a plurality of door locks for regulating access to a plurality of lockable enclosures, each door lock having an associated lock identifier;
wherein another of the wireless nodes is part of a computer system through which users remotely monitor and control the product display assemblies and door locks;
wherein a plurality of the wireless transceivers are configured to in aggregate wirelessly transmit data to the computer system via the mesh network that (1) pairs a plurality of the puck assembly identifiers with identifiers for the products connected to the puck assemblies corresponding to those puck assembly identifiers, and (2) pairs a plurality of the lock identifiers with status information for the door locks corresponding to those lock identifiers; and
wherein the computer system is further configured to (1) receive the wirelessly transmitted data via the mesh network, (2) store data that identifies a location for each of a plurality of the product display assemblies in association with the puck assembly identifiers, (3) create a first data structure based on the received data and the stored data, wherein the first data structure tracks locations for the products based on the pairings between the puck assembly identifiers and product identifiers and the associations between the locations and puck assembly identifiers, and (4) create a second data structure based on the received data that tracks the status information for the door locks.
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Abstract
Disclosed herein are a number of example embodiments where wireless nodes are arranged in a wirelessly connected environment to support a variety of remote management operations, including location tracking, status monitoring, and remote control. In an example embodiment, the wireless nodes can be deployed in a retail store and provide remote management and control over any combination of product display assemblies, locks, power strips, display shelves, display hooks, and other node types.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a plurality of wireless nodes that are configured to form a mesh network for utilization in a retail store environment, each wireless node including a wireless transceiver for wireless communication over the mesh network; wherein a first plurality of the wireless nodes are part of a plurality of product display assemblies, each product display assembly comprising a puck assembly configured to connect with a product for merchandising to consumers, each puck assembly having an associated puck assembly identifier; wherein a second plurality of the wireless nodes are part of a plurality of door locks for regulating access to a plurality of lockable enclosures, each door lock having an associated lock identifier; wherein another of the wireless nodes is part of a computer system through which users remotely monitor and control the product display assemblies and door locks; wherein a plurality of the wireless transceivers are configured to in aggregate wirelessly transmit data to the computer system via the mesh network that (1) pairs a plurality of the puck assembly identifiers with identifiers for the products connected to the puck assemblies corresponding to those puck assembly identifiers, and (2) pairs a plurality of the lock identifiers with status information for the door locks corresponding to those lock identifiers; and wherein the computer system is further configured to (1) receive the wirelessly transmitted data via the mesh network, (2) store data that identifies a location for each of a plurality of the product display assemblies in association with the puck assembly identifiers, (3) create a first data structure based on the received data and the stored data, wherein the first data structure tracks locations for the products based on the pairings between the puck assembly identifiers and product identifiers and the associations between the locations and puck assembly identifiers, and (4) create a second data structure based on the received data that tracks the status information for the door locks. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification