Systems and Methods for Validating RFID Tag Data Prior to Writing Into RFID Tag

• US 20090166405A1
• Filed: 02/13/2009
• Published: 07/02/2009
• 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: Guzik, Christopher A., Doyle, Michael S., Skaistis, Jeffrey B.
• Granted Patent: US 8,042,731 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/375
• 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 system for validating radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag data comprising:

a computing device comprising one or more memory storage areas and one or more processors, the one or more processors configured to;

receive RFID tag data and concatenate the RFID tag data into a segmented string that comprises a plurality of data components;

execute an RFID validator object, wherein to execute the RFID validator object, the one or more processors of the computing device are further configured to;

pass the segmented string to the RFID validator object to determine if the segmented string is in an RFID format, wherein the RFID format provides standards that define (a) the correct placement for each of the plurality of data components in the segmented string, (b) the correct number of data components in the segmented string, and (c) rules for the length and range of values for each of the plurality of data components;

determine, in accordance with the RFID format, if the plurality of data components are in the correct placement;

determine, in accordance with the RFID format, if the segmented string has the correct number of data components; and

determine, in accordance with the RFID format, if each data component is in compliance with the rules for the length and range of values for the respective data components; and

an RFID encoder connected to the computing device configured to;

receive the RFID tag data after being validated via the RFID validator object; and

encode an RFID tag with the RFID tag data.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the RFID format is the Electronic Product Code (EPC) Global format.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors of the computing device are further configured to transmit the RFID tag data to the RFID encoder for writing the RFID tag data into an RFID tag in response to the RFID validator object determining that the RFID tag data is valid in accordance with the RFID format.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the one or more processors of the computing device are further configured to:

in response to the RFID validator object determining that the RFID tag data is not valid in accordance with the RFID format, generate a message indicating one or more reasons that the RFID tag data is not valid; and

cause display of the message via the computing device to prompt a user to correct the RFID tag data.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the computing device further comprises an input device configured to receive a corrected segmented string from a user in response to the error message.

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

a computing device comprising one or more memory storage areas and one or more processors, the one or more processors configured to;

receive RFID tag data and concatenate the RFID tag data into a segmented string that comprises a plurality of data components;

determine if the segmented string is in an RFID format, wherein the RFID format provides standards that define (a) the correct placement for each of the plurality of data components in the segmented string, (b) the correct number of data components in the segmented string, and (c) rules for the length and range of values for each of the plurality of data components;

determine, in accordance with the RFID format, if the plurality of data components are in the correct placement;

determine, in accordance with the RFID format, if the segmented string has the correct number of data components; and

determine, in accordance with the RFID format, if each data component is in compliance with the rules for the length and range of values for the respective data components; and

an RFID encoder connected to the computing device configured to;

receive the RFID tag data after being validated; and

encode an RFID tag with the RFID tag data.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the RFID format is the Electronic Product Code (EPC) Global format.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors of the computing device are further configured to transmit the RFID tag data to the RFID encoder for writing the RFID tag data into an RFID tag in response to determining that the RFID tag data is valid in accordance with the RFID format.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the one or more processors of the computing device are further configured to:

in response to determining that the RFID tag data is not valid in accordance with the RFID format, generate a message indicating one or more reasons that the RFID tag data is not valid; and

cause display of the message via the computing device to prompt a user to correct the RFID tag data.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the computing device further comprises an input device configured to receive a corrected segmented string from a user in response to the error message.

11. A method of validating data to be written into a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag using a computing device and an RFID encoder, comprising the steps of:

receiving, via a computing device, RFID tag data and concatenating the RFID tag data into a segmented string that comprises a plurality of data components;

executing, via the computing device, an RFID validator object, wherein executing the RFID validator object further comprises;

passing the segmented string to the RFID validator object to determine if the segmented string is in an RFID format, wherein the RFID format provides standards that define (a) the correct placement for each of the plurality of data components in the segmented string, (b) the correct number of data components in the segmented string, and (c) rules for the length and range of values for each of the plurality of data components;

determining, in accordance with the RFID format, if the plurality of data components are in the correct placement;

determining, in accordance with the RFID format, if the segmented string has the correct number of data components; and

determining, in accordance with the RFID format, if each data component is in compliance with the rules for the length and range of values for the respective data components;

receiving, via an RFID encoder, the RFID tag data after being validated via the RFID validator object; and

encoding, via the RFID encoder, an RFID tag with the RFID tag data.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the RFID format is the Electronic Product Code (EPC) Global format.

13. The method of claim 11 further comprising transmitting the RFID tag data from the computing device to the RFID encoder in response to determining that the RFID tag data is valid in accordance with the RFID format.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

generating, via the computing device, a message indicating one or more reasons that the RFID tag data is not valid in response to the RFID validator object determining that the RFID tag data is not valid in accordance with the RFID format; and

causing display of the message via the computing device to prompt a user to correct the RFID tag data.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising receiving a corrected segmented string from a user in response to the error message.

16. The method of claim 14 further comprising re-executing the RFID validator object to determine if the corrected segmented string is valid in accordance with the RFID format.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of generating a message indicating one or more reasons that the RFID tag data is not valid further comprises the sub-step of generating a specific error message for each component of the segmented string that is not valid.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of generating a specific error message for each component of the 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.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of transmitting the RFID tag data to an RFID encoder for writing the RFID tag data into an RFID tag further comprises the sub-step of generating a message indicating that the segmented string is correctly formatted.

20. A method of validating data to be written into a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag using a computing device and an RFID encoder, comprising the steps of:

receiving, via a computing device, RFID tag data and concatenating the RFID tag data into a segmented string that comprises a plurality of data components;

determining, via the computing device, if the segmented string is in an RFID format, wherein the RFID format provides standards that define (a) the correct placement for each of the plurality of data components in the segmented string, (b) the correct number of data components in the segmented string, and (c) rules for the length and range of values for each of the plurality of data components;

determining, in accordance with the RFID format, if the plurality of data components are in the correct placement;

determining, in accordance with the RFID format, if the segmented string has the correct number of data components; and

determining, in accordance with the RFID format, if each data component is in compliance with the rules for the length and range of values for the respective data components; and

receiving, via an RFID encoder, the RFID tag data after being validated; and

encoding, via the RFID encoder, an RFID tag with the RFID tag data.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the RFID format is the Electronic Product Code (EPC) Global format.

22. The method of claim 20 further comprising transmitting the RFID tag data from the computing device to the RFID encoder in response to determining that the RFID tag data is valid in accordance with the RFID format.

23. The method of claim 20 further comprising:

generating, via the computing device, a message indicating one or more reasons that the RFID tag data is not valid in response to determining that the RFID tag data is not valid in accordance with the RFID format; and

causing display of the message via the computing device to prompt a user to correct the RFID tag data.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising receiving a corrected segmented string from a user in response to the error message.

25. The method of claim 24 further comprising determining, via the computing device, if the corrected segmented string is the RFID format.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the step of generating a message indicating one or more reasons that the RFID tag data is not valid further comprises the sub-step of generating a specific error message for each component of the segmented string that is not valid.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of generating a specific error message for each component of the 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.

28. The method of claim 20, wherein the step of transmitting the RFID tag data to an RFID encoder for writing the RFID tag data into an RFID tag further comprises the sub-step of generating a message indicating that the segmented string is correctly formatted.

29. A method of validating data to be written into a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag using a computing device and an RFID encoder, comprising the steps of:

receiving, via a computing device, a segmented string that comprises a plurality of data components;

executing, via the computing device, an RFID validator object, wherein executing the RFID validator object further comprises;

passing the segmented string to the RFID validator object to determine if the segmented string is in an RFID format, wherein the RFID format provides standards that define (a) the correct placement for each of the plurality of data components in the segmented string, (b) the correct number of data components in the segmented string, and (c) rules for the length and range of values for each of the plurality of data components;

determining, in accordance with the RFID format, if the plurality of data components are in the correct placement;

determining, in accordance with the RFID format, if the segmented string has the correct number of data components; and

determining, in accordance with the RFID format, if each data component is in compliance with the rules for the length and range of values for the respective data components;

receiving, via an RFID encoder, the RFID tag data after being validated via the RFID validator object; and

encoding, via the RFID encoder, an RFID tag with the RFID tag data.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the RFID format is the Electronic Product Code (EPC) Global format.

31. The method of claim 29 further comprising transmitting the RFID tag data from the computing device to the RFID encoder in response to determining that the RFID tag data is valid in accordance with the RFID format.

32. The method of claim 29 further comprising:

generating, via the computing device, a message indicating one or more reasons that the RFID tag data is not valid in response to the RFID validator object determining that the RFID tag data is not valid in accordance with the RFID format; and

causing display of the message via the computing device to prompt a user to correct the RFID tag data.

33. The method of claim 32 further comprising receiving a corrected segmented string from a user in response to the error message.

34. The method of claim 32 further comprising re-executing the RFID validator object to determine if the corrected segmented string is valid in accordance with the RFID format.

35. The method of claim 29, wherein the step of generating a message indicating one or more reasons that the RFID tag data is not valid further comprises the sub-step of generating a specific error message for each component of the segmented string that is not valid.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the step of generating a specific error message for each component of the 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.

37. The method of claim 29, wherein the step of transmitting the RFID tag data to an RFID encoder for writing the RFID tag data into an RFID tag further comprises the sub-step of generating a message indicating that the segmented string is correctly formatted.