Systems and methods for validating RFID tag data prior to writing into RFID tag

• US 20070138280A1
• Filed: 12/15/2005
• Published: 06/21/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Inventors: Doyle, Michael, Guzik, Christopher, Skaistis, Jeffrey
• Granted Patent: US 7,506,803 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/451
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/00 Methods or arrangements for effecting co-operative working between equipments covered by two or more of main groups G06K1/00 - G06K15/00, e.g. automatic card files incorporating conveying and reading operations

Abstract

The present invention is generally directed to systems and methods for validating RFID tag data prior to encoding the data onto an RFID tag, utilizing at least one computing device separate from an RFID encoder. An embodiment of the present invention describes a method of receiving RFID tag data at a computing device, validating that data in compliance with an RFID format, such as the EPC Global standard, and sending the validated data to an RFID encoder. An alternative embodiment provides a method for receiving RFID tag data at a computing device configured for verifying the data, and if the data is not valid, returning an informative error message to a user indicating the component of the data that was invalid and how the error can be corrected. A further embodiment provides a method for allowing a user to correct the RFID tag data and re-validate the data.

Claims

1. A method of validating data to be written into a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag, comprising the steps of:

a) receiving RFID tag data;

b) determining if said RFID tag data is valid by compliance with an RFID format; and

c) if so, transmitting said RFID tag data to an RFID encoder to encode an RFID tag.

2. A method of validating data to be written into a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag using at least one computing device separate from an RFID encoder, comprising the steps of:

a) receiving RFID tag data;

b) executing an RFID validator object to determine if said RFID tag data is valid;

c) if said RFID tag data is determined to be valid by said RFID validator object, transmitting the RFID tag data to an RFID encoder for writing said RFID tag data into an RFID tag;

d) if said RFID tag data is determined to be not valid by said RFID validator object, generating a message indicating one or more reasons that said RFID tag data is not valid; and

e) displaying said message at the computing device to prompt a user to correct said RFID tag data.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of receiving RFID tag data further comprises the step of executing a computer program by a computing device to gather RFID tag data, wherein said RFID tag data comes from at least one source, and wherein further said computer program concatenates said RFID tag data into a segmented string comprised of one or more components.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said segmented string is in an RFID format, wherein said RFID format provides standards for the segmented string, wherein further said standards define the correct placement of said components, the number of said components in the string, and rules for the length and range of values of said components.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said RFID format is the Electronic Product Code (EPC) Global format.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of executing an RFID validator object to determine if said RFID tag data is valid further comprises the step of the computer program passing the segmented string to said RFID validator object as a parameter.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, in determining whether the RFID tag data is valid, said RFID validator object performs the following steps:

b1) determining if said components are in the correct placement for encoding;

b2) determining if said segmented string has the correct number of said components for encoding; and

b3) determining if each component of said segmented string is formatted according to said component'"'"'s specific rules regarding length and range of values.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of transmitting said RFID tag data to an RFID encoder for writing said RFID tag data into an RFID tag further comprises the sub-step of generating a message indicating that said segmented string is correctly formatted.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of generating a message indicating one or more reasons that said RFID tag data is not valid further comprises the sub-step of generating a specific error message for each component of said segmented string that is not valid.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of generating a specific error message for each component of said segmented string that is not valid further comprises the sub-step of generating an informative message indicating how a user can correct the specific error of each component.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein, if the determining of step (d) establishes that one or more component is not valid, the method further comprises the steps of:

f) allowing a user to change the RFID tag data input; and

g) re-executing step (a) and subsequent steps based on the changed RFID tag data to be written into an RFID tag.

12. A system for validating radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag data comprising:

at least one computing device comprising;

a processor;

at least one memory connected to the processor and configured to store a computer program and an RFID validator object, wherein the computer program is executable by the processor to retrieve and assemble a segmented string of RFID tag data and to pass the segmented string of RFID tag data to the RFID validator object, the processor further executing the RFID validator object to determine whether the segmented string of RFID tag data is valid by compliance with an RFID format, and if so, to cause the RFID tag data determined to be valid to be transmitted from the computing device; and

an RFID encoder connected to the computing device to receive the RFID tag data, for encoding an RFID tag with the RFID tag data.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein said processor and said at least one memory are included in one of said computing devices.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein said processor and a first memory are included in one of said computing devices, wherein said first memory is configured to store said computer program;

wherein further a second memory is included in another of said computing devices, wherein said second memory stores said RFID validator object.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein said RFID format is the Electronic Product Code (EPC) Global format.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein if said RFID validator object validates said segmented string, said RFID validator object returns said segmented string to said processor, wherein further said processor transmits said segmented string to said RFID encoder for writing and printing an RFID tag.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein said computing device further comprises an output device, wherein further if said RFID validator object determines said segmented string to be not valid, said processor is configured to generate an error message to be displayed on said output device, and wherein further said processor is configured to allow a user to correct said segmented string.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein said computing device further comprises an input device, wherein said input device is configured to receive a corrected segmented string from a user in response to said error message.

19. A computer-readable storage medium storing an RFID validator object, wherein said RFID validator object is configured to be executed by a computing device to perform the following steps:

a) receive RFID tag data from a computer program;

b) determine if the RFID tag data is valid by compliance with an RFID format;

c) if the RFID tag data is valid, return the validated RFID tag data to the computer program; and

d) if the RFID tag data is invalid, return an error message to the computer program indicating that the RFID tag data is not valid.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein said medium further stores said computer program.

21. The object of claim 19, wherein said RFID format is the Electronic Product Code (EPC) Global format.