Methods and Systems To Improve RFID Inventory Polling Accuracy

• US 20080001748A1
• Filed: 06/30/2006
• Published: 01/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hyman, Stewart J., Childress, Rhonda L., Watt, Stephen J., Huffman, Joann, Kumhyr, David B., Childs, Bradley
• Granted Patent: US 7,468,650 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/572.1
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring

Abstract

Methods, systems, and media to improve polling accuracy in RFID systems are disclosed. Embodiments comprise receiving information from one or more tags by a tag reader, comparing the information from the tags to other information, and adding the tag to an inventory if the tag does not exist in the other information. While some embodiments compare the tag information from the tags to baseline inventories for other areas, some embodiments compare it to current inventories for the other areas or compare it to a combination of both inventories. Some embodiments involve polling RFID tags in storage containers. Other embodiments involve machine-accessible mediums with instructions to receive information from the tag reader, analyze the information with baseline and current inventories of other areas, and store identification information for the tag in a current inventory database if the information is absent from the baseline and current inventories.

Claims

1. A method to improve polling accuracy in a radio frequency identification system, the method comprising:

receiving a first set of information of a first RFID tag by a tag reader, wherein the tag reader receives information from one or more tags located in a first area;

comparing the first set of information to a set of inventory information; and

adding identification information of the first RFID tag to a first inventory if the comparison reveals that at least some of the first set of information is absent from the set of inventory information.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the set of inventory information in a memory device coupled to the radio frequency identification system.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising updating the set of inventory information on a periodic basis.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising polling the first area to generate the set of inventory information.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising polling a second area to generate the set of inventory information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing the first set of information to a set of inventory information comprises comparing the first set of information to information of a baselineinventory of a second area.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing the first set of information to a set of inventory information comprises comparing the first set of information to information of a current inventory of a second area.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing the first set of information to a set of inventory information comprises comparing the first set of information to information of a current inventory for the first area.

9. A radio frequency identification (RFID) polling system, the system comprising:

a first area to store one or more items having one or more RFID tags;

an RFID receiving module to poll the first area and receive a quantity of data transmitted from an RFID tag; and

a computing module coupled to the RFID receiving module to compare the quantity of data to data in a first database and store status data in a second database based upon the comparison.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the first area is a storage container.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the quantity of data comprises identification information for the RFID tag.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the first database comprises a current inventory for a second area.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the first database comprises a baseline inventory and a current inventory for a second area.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the status data comprises identification information for the RFID tag.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the second database comprises a current inventory for the first area.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the first database comprises a baseline inventory for the first area.

17. A machine-accessible medium containing instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations for improving the polling accuracy of an RFID system, comprising:

receiving information from an RFID tag reader, wherein the information is read from a tag;

analyzing the information in conjunction with a first set of inventory information to determine if the tag is located in a first area; and

storing location information for the tag in an inventory for a second area if the analysis reveals the location information is absent from the first set of inventory information.

18. The machine-accessible medium of claim 17, further comprising analyzing the information in conjunction with a second set of inventory information to determine if the location information exists in the second set of inventory information.

19. The machine-accessible medium of claim 17, wherein analyzing the information in conjunction with a first set of inventory information comprises analyzing the information in conjunction with a baseline inventory and a current inventory for the first area.

20. The machine-accessible medium of claim 17, wherein storing location information for the tag in an inventory for a second area comprises storing unique identification information for the tag in a current inventory database for the second area.