Radio frequency identification (RFID) network system and method

• US 20050198228A1
• Filed: 02/10/2005
• Published: 09/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Blue Vector Systems
• Original Assignee: Blue Vector Systems
• Inventors: Dharap, Sanjeev, Moranganti, Pavithra Reddy, Muralidharan, Radhika, Bajwa, Raminder Singh, Mendhekar, Anurag
• Granted Patent: US 7,423,527 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling

Abstract

A bidirectional radio frequency identification (RFID) network system and method are presented. The system allows users to configure, monitor, and manage different sensor devices by using a graphical user interface real-time. The reconfiguration is done through a network management computer at the top system level that receives user input, generates code images according to the user input, and appropriately routes the code images to sensor routers that directly control the sensors. If the system is multi-layered, some code images are also sent to the intermediate-level network management computers. The system allows users to not only monitor a business flow but react to problematic situations quickly by adjusting the workflow. The aspect-oriented nature of the system allows users to reconfigure the system based only the Functionality aspects without worrying about the Partitioning aspects (e.g., how the network and the sensors are physically connected).

Claims

1. A system for communicating with remote devices, the system comprising:

a primary network management computer coupled to a user interface to receive user instructions and generate code images;

a sensor router that receives the code images from the primary network management computer and applies the code images to a plurality of sensors, wherein data travels bidirectionally between the primary network management computer and the plurality of sensors according to the user instructions.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising one or more layers of secondary network management computers, wherein the primary network management computer communicates with the sensor router through the secondary network management computers.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors comprise different types of sensors that detect different events.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the user instructions comprise a request for data and the sensor router activates one or more of the plurality of sensors to collect the data.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the user instructions comprise assignments to one or more of the plurality of sensors to report back upon sensing a predefined event.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the user instructions comprise a condition and a contingent action, wherein the contingent action is taken by the sensor router if the condition is fulfilled by one of the plurality of sensors.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the sensor router receives data from the plurality of sensors and forwards the data to the primary network management computer.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the primary network management computer processes the data from the plurality of sensors and presents it to the user interface in a predefined format.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface is a web-based graphical user interface.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the user instructions comprise configuration of the plurality of sensors into subgroups.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the user instructions pertain to a functionality aspect and the partitioning aspects are stored in a database, and wherein the primary network management computer comprises a weaver that combines the functionality aspect with the partitioning aspects to generate the code images, wherein the partitioning aspects define hard connections between the plurality of sensors, the sensor router, and the primary network management computer.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the functionality aspect and the partitioning aspects are independently received by the primary network management computer.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the network management computer generates a set code images for each sensor router.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the user instructions comprise an aspect specification, wherein the aspect specification is a collection of annotations around a core syntax tree.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the core syntax tree reflects zones in the system.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors comprise RFID sensors.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the type and number of sensors is changeable.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein a subsection of the code images is applied to the primary network management computer.

19. A system for communicating with remote devices, the system comprising:

a user interface for receiving user instructions;

a network management system that is coupled to the user interface, the configuration management system generating code images according to the instructions; and

a plurality of RFID sensors that are remotely coupled to the network management computer and controlled by the code images, wherein the plurality of RFID sensors exchange data with the configuration management system bidirectionally.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the RFID sensors are a mixture of different types of RFID sensors.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the configuration management system combines a functionality aspect in the user instructions with partitioning aspects retrieved from a database to generate the code images.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the partitioning aspect includes a schema that is transformable into a logical map of sensors, routers, and network management computer nodes.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein one of the code images applies to a subgroup of the RFID sensors.

24. The system of claim 19, wherein some of the code images apply to the network management system.

25. The system of claim 19, wherein the types and total number of RFID sensors in the system is changeable.

26. A method of communicating with remote sensors, the method comprising:

receiving a user instruction from a user interface;

generating code images according to the user instruction;

applying the code images to the sensors to define a condition under which the sensors are to generate a signal;

processing the signal upon its generation; and

feeding the signal to the user interface.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the user instruction is a functionality aspect, further comprising retrieving partitioning aspects from a database and combining the functionality aspect with the partitioning aspects to generate the code images, wherein the partitioning aspect indicates electrical connections among system components.

28. The method of claim 26 further comprising dividing the sensors into groups according to the user instruction.

29. The method of claim 26 further comprising changing a total number of sensors to which the code images are applied.

30. The method of claim 26 further comprising partitioning the sensors into multiple layers of zones, wherein the user instruction is zone-specific.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein a zone in the multiple layers of zones has a plurality of subzones.

32. The method of claim 26 further comprising locally storing some of the code images.

33. The method of claim 26 further comprising generating a signal if the sensor fulfills a predetermined condition defined by the user instruction.

34. The method of claim 26 further comprising:

parsing the user instruction to extract annotations; and

propagating the annotations.

35. The method of claim 34 further comprising:

constructing a physical layout of the sensors and components coupled to the sensors, wherein the physical layout includes multiple zones; and

compiling the annotations separately for each of the zones.

36. The method of claim 34 further comprising generating a notice to the user interface upon identifying a conflict between annotations.

37. The method of claim 26 further comprising customizing the code images for different types of sensors.

38. The method of claim 26, wherein the sensors comprise RFID sensors.

39. A method of configuring remotely located sensors, the method comprising:

receiving configuration information from a user interface;

parsing the configuration information to extract aspect annotations;

retrieving physical layout data from a database; and

combining the annotations with the physical layout data to generate a code image for the remotely located sensors so that the remotely located sensors will generate signals according to the configuration information.