INTERROGATING TAGS ON MULTIPLE FREQUENCIES AND SYNCHRONIZING DATABASES USING TRANSFERABLE AGENTS

• US 20020084889A1
• Filed: 07/30/1998
• Published: 07/04/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (Northrop Grumman Corporation)
• Original Assignee: PRC, Inc. (Arthur D. Little, Inc.)
• Inventors: BOLAVAGE, JOSEPH T., VALENTINO, ROBERT K., LAWLOR, JAMES E.
• Granted Patent: US 6,509,828 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

A system and method of using a smart interrogator which can communicate with RF tags on multiple frequencies and bandwidths is disclosed. Advantageously, the smart interrogator can communicate with tags from various manufacturers and thus permits assets to be tracked even if the assets are being tracked using tags from different manufacturers. This eliminates the need to track assets using many different interrogators. The smart interrogators communicate with a logistics server via the internet using transferable agents. The agents forward tag information from the interrogator to the logistics server. A Java database connection (JDBC) is established between the logistics server and the smart interrogator. The logistics server communicates with a logistic server database where transaction information from the tags is logged. The information from the interrogator is forwarded to appropriate external servers and networks over the internet. A client can query the logistics server to determine the whereabouts and status of a particular asset. The logistics server can spawn a transferable agent to locate the asset. If the asset cannot be located while the client is logged onto the logistics server, then the transferable agent will push the information back to the logistics server. The client will then be updated with the information pushed back by the transferable agent. The transferable agents can be used to forward information from the logistics server to other servers and clients.

Claims

1. A method of locating assets over the internet with each asset having an associated tag, comprising:

interrogating tags on multiple frequencies;

transmitting, from one or more of the tags, information about the associated asset; and

receiving the transmitted information and forwarding the received information over the internet to registered client databases.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising interrogating and transmitting over a plurality RF links, each RF link being at a particular frequency.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising storing information about an asset on an associated tag.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the interrogating step is performed by an IWEB smart interrogator.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the information includes Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) transactions.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the forwarding is performed by intelligent agents.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising querying from a local client and spawning an agent to search for assets using at least one interrogator.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the interrogating step is performed by scanning a plurality of frequencies.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the interrogating step is performed by listening to a plurality of different predetermined frequencies.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the agents are Java database connectivity agents.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein the agents are transferable.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein the agents are spawned by an interrogator performing the interrogating step.

13. The method of claim 1, comprising reading information from the tags, writing information to the tags, collecting information from the tags and storing information read from the tags.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the forwarding is performed periodically.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the forwarding is performed each time information is received.

16. The method of claim 1, comprising spawning an agent at a logistics server to search for assets using at least one interrogator.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the interrogating step uses automatic identification technology.

18. The method of claim 2, wherein each of the RF links is approximately a 300 foot radius.

19. The method of claim 7, comprising tracking locations of tags by scanning the information forwarded to either the logistic server database or the at least one client database.

20. The method of claim 7, comprising spawning agents to update the logistic server database.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein each interrogator has a Universal Resource Locator.

22. The method of claim 1, comprising forwarding the information from the logistic server database to one or more client databases., and synchronizing the information between the logistic server database and the one or more client databases.

23. The method of claim 1, comprising:

setting up a database connection at a location and wherein the forwarded information is received at the database connection; and

using agents to forward the information over the internet.

24. The method of claim 22, comprising communicating between the database connection and an AIT engine using object embedding and linking.

25. The method of claim 1, comprising:

setting up a database connection at a location wherein the forwarded information is received at the database connection; and

deploying agents to forward the information over the internet.

27. The article of claim 25, comprising instructions which cause the one or more processors to:

set up a database connection at a location wherein the forwarded information is received at the database connection; and

use agents to forward the information over the internet.

29. The computer architecture of claim 27, further comprising:

setting up means for establishing a database connection at a location wherein the forwarded information is received at the database connection; and

agent means for deploying agents to forward the information over the internet.

31. The computer system of claim 29, further comprising instructions, which, when executed by said processor, cause said processor to perform the steps of:

set up a database connection at a location wherein the forwarded information is received at the database connection; and

deploy agents to forward the information over the internet.

26. An article, comprising:

at least one sequence of machine executable instructions;

a medium bearing the executable instructions in machine readable form,

wherein execution of the instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to;

interrogate tags on multiple frequencies;

transmit, from one or more of the tags, information about the associated asset; and

receive the transmitted information and forward the received information over the internet to a logistic server database.

28. A computer architecture, comprising:

interrogating means for interrogating tags on multiple frequencies;

transmitting means for transmitting from one or more of the tags, information about the associated asset; and

receiving means for receiving the transmitted information and forwarding the received information over the internet to a data warehouse.

30. A computer system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to said processor, the memory having stored therein sequences of instructions, which, when executed by said processor, cause said processor to perform the steps of;

interrogate tags on multiple frequencies;

transmit, from one or more of the tags, information about the associated asset; and

receive the transmitted information and forward the received information over the internet to a client data warehouse.