Method and System for Identifying Expired RFID Data

• US 20090009334A1
• Filed: 07/02/2007
• Published: 01/08/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Smith, Donnie Allen Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 7,616,093 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/572.400
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

For reducing the frequency with which RFID transponders are read in an RFID system, the RFID system logs a timestamp associated with each read of an RFID transponder along with the tag ID and reader identifier. The timestamp associated with each log entry is monitored with respect to an expiration value so that expired log entries may be identified. When a log entry is determined to be expired, other elements of the RFID system are notified of the associated tag ID and reader identifier, and the storage occupied by the expired log entry is freed.

Claims

1. A method of identifying expired RFID data comprising:

storing a log entry associated with reading an RFID transponder by an RFID reader, the stored log entry comprising a tag ID, a reader identifier corresponding to the RFID reader, and a timestamp corresponding to the time at which the log entry is created;

monitoring the timestamp for each log entry with respect to an associated expiration value to determine whether the stored log entry has expired; and

if the log entry has expired, initiating an event to notify other system elements of the tag ID and reader identifier associated with the log entry determined to be expired and freeing storage occupied by the log entry determined to be expired.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the log entry is stored in a cache memory.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein monitoring the timestamp comprises:

subtracting the timestamp from current time to provide a difference; and

comparing the difference with a predetermined value.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein monitoring the timestamp is performed by a savant or worker task that is initiated when the first log entry is stored.

5. An apparatus for identifying expired RFID data comprising:

storage for storing log entries associated with reading an RFID transponder by an RFID reader, the log entry comprising a tag ID, a reader identifier corresponding to the RFID reader, and a timestamp corresponding to the time at which the log entry is created;

logic for monitoring the timestamp with respect to an associated expiration value to determine whether the stored log entry has expired; and

logic for notifying other system elements of the tag ID and reader identifier associated with the log entry determined to be expired and for freeing storage occupied by the log entry determined to be expired.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the logic for monitoring the timestamp comprises:

a realtime clock for ascertaining current time;

logic for computing an elapsed time for each stored log entry, the elapsed time being the difference between the realtime clock and the timestamp; and

logic for comparing the elapsed time for each stored log entry with a programmable expiration value.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the logic for monitoring the timestamp comprises a decrementing counter associated with each stored log entry, the counter being capable of being initialized with a programmable value at the time the log entry is stored, and that decrements in time and, upon reaching a predetermined value, indicates expiration of the associated log entry.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the logic for monitoring the timestamp comprises an incrementing counter associated with each stored log entry, the counter being capable of being initialized with a programmable value at the time the log entry is stored, and that increments in time and, upon reaching a predetermined value, indicates expiration of the associated log entry.

9. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the logic for monitoring the timestamp comprises:

a realtime clock used to ascertain current time; and

logic for comparing the current contents of the realtime clock to the timestamp for each stored log entry.

10. A computer program product for identifying expired RFID data, the computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer usable program code tangibly embodied therewith, the computer usable medium comprising:

computer usable program code configured to store log entries associated with reading an RFID transponder by an RFID reader, the stored log entry comprising a tag ID, a reader identifier corresponding to the RFID reader, and a timestamp corresponding to the time at which the log entry is created;

computer usable program code configured to monitor the timestamp with respect to an associated expiration value to determine whether the stored log entry has expired; and

computer usable program code configured to notify other system elements of the tag ID and reader identifier associated with an expired log entry, and to free storage occupied by a log entry determined to be expired.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the log entries are stored in a cache memory.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the computer usable program code configured to monitor the timestamp comprises:

computer usable program code configured to subtract the timestamp from current time to provide a difference; and

computer usable program code configured to compare the difference with a predetermined value.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the computer usable program code configured to monitor the timestamp executes as a savant or worker task that is initiated when the first log entry is stored.