Multi-user wireless display tag infrastructure and methods

• US 20050156031A1
• Filed: 12/20/2004
• Published: 07/21/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Agile Displays LLC
• Original Assignee: Altierre Corp.
• Inventors: Goel, Anurag, McDonald, Mark Douglas, Saxena, Sunit, Wang, Jih Lung
• Granted Patent: US 7,413,121 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/383
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1446 display composed of modules, e.g. video walls
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/201 Price look-up processing, e.g. updating
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0248 Avoiding fraud
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/009 the reader being an RFID reader
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/01 Details for indicating displaying information in general G09F, G09G
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/026 Video wall, i.e. juxtaposition of a plurality of screens to create a display screen of bigger dimensions
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/04 Display device controller operating with a plurality of display units
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/16 Use of wireless transmission of display information
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2380/04 Electronic labels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/2092 Details of a display terminals using a flat panel, the details relating to the control arrangement of the display terminal and to the interfaces thereto suitable for both CRT and flat panel G09G5/003; specific for a CRT G09G1/165

Abstract

A multiuse system for use with Wireless Display Tags (WDTs) includes, in one or more exemplary arrangements, techniques for automatically maintaining synchronicity between pricing data for a product and advertising, marketing or promotional data associated with that product, and for detecting the proximity and location of a customer within a category of goods displayed within a managed environment. A messaging format suitable for such low power operation among a large number of peers is also disclosed, as is a technique for integrating a plurality of smaller displays to yield a single large display. An access point capable of serving as a communications hub within such a network, while at the same time offering visual and audio surveillance capabilities, is also disclosed.

Claims

1. A method for synchronizing marketing and pricing information comprising the steps of

maintaining, on a host system, at least one database comprising advertising, marketing or promotional data associated with at least one product and pricing data associated with the at least one product,

providing to an in-store processor, for at least one product, pricing data and at least some of the advertising, marketing or promotional data associated with that product,

distributing, from the in-store processor, the pricing data to a display device proximately associated with that product,

distributing;

from the in-store processor to a display, at least some of the advertising, marketing or promotional data associated with that product.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of

updating the database by updating any data within the group of the pricing data and the advertising, marketing or promotional data, and

automatically distributing the updated data so that the pricing data and advertising, marketing or promotional data remain synchronized.

3. A method for detecting the presence of a customer proximate to a wireless display tag comprising the steps of

providing a plurality of wireless display tags in a predetermined configuration within a space wherein the location of each wireless display tag is known,

detecting, at each WDT within a proximate distance from a consumer, a signal from a transmitting device associated with the consumer,

determining relative signal strengths for each detected signal, and

comparing the relative signal strengths with the known location of the associated wireless display tags.

4. A system for detecting the presence of a customer proximate to a wireless display tag comprising

a plurality of wireless display tags arranged in a predetermined configuration within a space wherein the location of each wireless display tag is known with respect to product placement,

logic for detecting, at each WDT within a proximate distance from a consumer, a signal from a transmitting device associated with the consumer,

logic for determining the relative signal strengths for each detected signal, and

comparison logic for comparing the relative signal strengths with the known location of the associated wireless display tags.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the logic for determining relative signal strength is in a host computer.

6. The system of claim 4 wherein the comparison logic is in a host computer.

7. A message format optimized for low-power active radio applications having large numbers of peers, comprising

a small packet length,

a low bit rate,

a low bandwidth requirement, and

a short on time compared to bit time.

8. A multiunit display for creating a single larger display comprising

a plurality of bit-mapped display units, each display unit disposed in a predetermined configuration relative to the other display units, and all of the display units juxtaposed adjacent to at least one other display unit, and

at least one display driver adapted to drive the multiple display units in a coordinated manner to generate an image which spans at least some of the plurality of display units.

9. An access point for wireless communication between a plurality of wireless display tags and a host, the access point comprising

a first transmitter and receiver for receiving communications from the display tags,

a second transmitter and receiver for communicating with the host,

a camera for maintaining visual surveillance of a portion of a managed environment, and

a microphone for maintaining audio surveillance of a portion of a managed environment.