Goods information providing terminal and goods management server for managing goods at home

• US 20070131766A1
• Filed: 12/08/2006
• Published: 06/14/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Inventors: Lee, Kyung, Kwak, Ji, Kim, Ji, Ahn, Sung
• Granted Patent: US 7,905,402 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/385
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0875 Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials

Abstract

Provided is a goods information providing terminal that includes an authentication unit authenticating a user based on bio information including a user'"'"'s fingerprint and initiating a user session when the user is authenticated; a goods information request unit requesting a goods management server that manages goods information and information on the location of goods from a radio frequency identification (RFID) attached to the goods to provide the goods information and the information on the location of the goods; a goods information display unit displaying to the user the goods information or the information on the location of the goods acquired from the goods management server; and a goods processing unit acquiring goods information including how to contact a seller from the goods management server, and contacting an associated agency including the seller when the goods need to be repaired or exchanged.

Claims

1. A goods information providing terminal comprising:

an authentication unit authenticating a user based on bio information including a user'"'"'s fingerprint and initiating a user session when the user is authenticated;

a goods information request unit requesting a goods management server that manages goods information and information on the location of goods from an RFID (radio frequency identification) attached to the goods in order to provide the goods information and the information on the location of the goods; and

a goods information display unit displaying to the user the goods information or the information on the location of the goods acquired from the goods management server.

2. The goods information providing terminal of claim 1, wherein the authentication unit comprises:

a bio information recognition unit acquiring the bio information including the user'"'"'s fingerprint;

an authentication processing unit authenticating the user based on the user'"'"'s bio information acquired from the bio information recognition unit; and

a session processing unit initiating a user session when the user is authenticated.

3. The goods information providing terminal of claim 1, wherein the goods information request unit comprises:

a personal goods registration unit registering specific goods as the user'"'"'s personal goods.

4. The goods information providing terminal of claim 1, wherein the goods information display unit displays to a registered user information on goods registered as the user'"'"'s personal goods.

5. The goods information providing terminal of claim 1, wherein the goods information display unit displays the goods information or the information on the location of the goods in at least one of text, voice, and graphic form.

6. The goods information providing terminal of claim 1, further comprising:

a goods processing unit acquiring goods information including how to contact a seller from the goods management server, and contacting an associated agency including the seller when the goods need to be repaired or exchanged.

7. A goods management server comprising:

a goods information acquiring unit periodically acquiring goods information from RFIDs attached to goods;

a location information acquiring unit mapping the location of the goods and a map of a space in which the goods exist based on information on the distance of the goods acquired from the strength of a signal between RFIDs or a signal transfer delay;

a goods information management unit storing the goods information and the information on the location of the goods and periodically updating the goods information and the information on the location of the goods; and

a goods information providing unit providing the goods information providing terminal that provides the user with the goods information with the goods information or the information on the location of the goods.

8. The goods management server of claim 7, wherein the goods information acquiring unit comprises:

an RFID scanner acquiring the goods information from the RFIDs attached to the goods using an RF signal; and

an RFID recognition unit receiving the goods information and transferring the goods information to the goods information management unit.

9. The goods management server of claim 7, wherein the location information acquiring unit acquires the information on the location of the goods using the information on the location of the goods measured by a goods location recognizer based on the strength of a signal between RFIDs or the signal transfer delay.

10. The goods management server of claim 7, wherein the goods information management unit comprises:

a goods information update unit periodically updating the goods information and the information on the location of the goods in a database; and

a session management unit authenticating the user and initiating a user session when the user is authenticated.

11. The goods management server of claim 7, wherein the goods information providing unit comprises:

a location information display unit providing the information on the location of the goods on the goods information display unit in two dimensional graphic form when the user requests that information on the location of the goods be provided.