Method and system for correlating external data to a plant with an electronic tag

• US 20090231110A1
• Filed: 06/27/2008
• Published: 09/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Searete LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Ishikawa, Muriel Y., Wood, Lowell L. JR., Hyde, Roderick A., Kare, Jordin T.
• Granted Patent: US 8,258,951 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.410
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 7/00 Botany in general
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 9/006 Labels or label holders specially adapted for plant receptacles
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13095 PIN / Access code, authentication

Abstract

One or more plants may be associated with an electronic tag including a memory circuit and interrogation interface. The memory circuit in the electronic tag may include data corresponding to the one or more plants. According to an embodiment the data may include at least one data coordinate corresponding to an external database holding data related to the one or more plants. The external database may hold plant care information such as a record of treatments received by the one or more plants and/or plant care instructions, for example. The data may be structured.

Claims

1. A method for providing plant care information, comprising:

associating an electronic tag carrying identification data with at least one plant; and

storing in a database the identification data and related data corresponding to care of the at least one plant.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification data includes a unique electronic tag identifier.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic tag is selected from the group consisting of read-only, field-programmable, write-once-read-many-times, and read/write.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising writing the identification data to an electronic memory circuit in the electronic tag via an interrogation interface.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising reading the identification data from an electronic memory circuit in the electronic tag via an interrogation interface.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein reading the identification data from the electronic memory circuit in the electronic tag includes at least one selected from the group consisting of:

performing radio frequency interrogation;

performing touch memory interrogation, performing proximity card interrogation, performing photonic tag interrogation, and performing smart card interrogation.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic tag includes at least one selected from the group consisting of a radio frequency tag, a passive radio frequency tag, an active radio frequency tag, a backscatter radio frequency tag, a half-duplex radio frequency tag, a full-duplex radio frequency tag, a touch memory device, a proximity card, a photonic tag, and a smart card.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the related data corresponding to care of the at least one plant includes data corresponding to a record of treatments received by the at least one plant.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the data corresponding to the record of treatments includes data corresponding to at least one selected from the group consisting of seed variety, seed batch, seed source, sprouting date, cutting variety, cutting batch, cutting date, cutting source, rizome variety, rizome batch, rizome harvest date, rizome source, bulb variety, bulb batch, bulb source, bulb harvest date, corm variety, corm batch, corm source, corm harvest date, planting date, graft date, soil temperature, air temperature, light intensity, light duration, light schedule, soil pH, air humidity, soil humidity, watering volume, watering duration, watering schedule, fertilizer type, fertilizer amount, fertilizer application, fertilizer schedule, pesticide type, pesticide amount, pesticide application, pesticide schedule, herbicide type, herbicide amount, herbicide application, herbicide schedule;

fungicide type, fungicide amount, fungicide application, fungicide schedule, forcing conditions, pruning application, pruning schedule, pruning style, caretaker identity, plant source identity, shipper identity, ship date, packer identity, and packing date.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the related data corresponding to care of the at least one plant includes data corresponding to plant care instructions for the at least one plant.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the data corresponding to plant care instructions includes data corresponding to at least one selected from the group consisting of watering instructions, sunlight instructions, planting instructions, fertilizing instructions, temperature instructions, type of soil instructions, soil pH instructions, and pruning instructions.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the data corresponding to plant care instructions includes data corresponding to one or more region or geographical location.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the data corresponding to plant care instructions includes data corresponding to one or more time intervals.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a query specifying the identification data; and

responsive to the query, transmitting the related data corresponding to care of the at least one plant.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the query is received via at least one selected from the group consisting of:

the Internet, an intranet, a local area network, and a virtual private network.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing additional related data corresponding to the care of the at least one plant when the additional data is subsequently generated.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the additional data corresponds to a treatment provided to or a growth condition measured relative to the at least one plant and wherein the additional related data is stored at about the same time the treatment or measurement occurs.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification data includes a database record identifier disposed in a user accessible section of a memory circuit in the electronic tag.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification data includes a uniform resource locator or internet protocol address corresponding to a location of the database.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting at least a portion of the database to a reseller when the at least one plant is transferred to the reseller.

21. A method for receiving plant care information, comprising:

interrogating an electronic tag associated with at least one plant to receive identification data;

performing a query of a relational database specifying a query parameter corresponding to the identification data; and

receiving information from the relational database corresponding to care of the at least one plant.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

determining a relational database in which to perform the query.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

parsing the identification data to extract data corresponding to a data storage location; and

accessing the relational database corresponding to the data storage location.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

performing an algorithm on the parsed data corresponding to the data storage location to determine an address on a network corresponding to an access node corresponding to the database.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein the relational database includes a plurality of relational databases.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

sequentially accessing at least one of the plurality of relational databases; and

if the query returns a null, improperly formatted, improper data, or non-decodable response, incrementing to the next of the plurality of relational databases.

27. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

inputting the identification data to an algorithm or look-up table (LUT).

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

receiving a query address from the algorithm or LUT; and

performing the query at the query address.

29. The method of claim 21, wherein the database includes an in-premises or leased database.

30. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

transmitting the query to a plant information processor including;

a networked node providing access to a plurality of manufacturer database resources; and

a message router configured to conditionally route the query across the networked node to the plurality of manufacturer database resources.

31. The method of claim 21, wherein the electronic tag is selected from the group consisting of read-only, field-programmable, write-once-read-many-times, and read/write.

32. The method of claim 21, wherein interrogating the electronic tag includes at least one selected from the group consisting of:

performing radio frequency interrogation;

performing touch memory interrogation, performing proximity card interrogation, performing photonic tag interrogation, and performing smart card interrogation.

33. The method of claim 21, wherein interrogating an electronic tag includes interrogating at least one selected from the group consisting of a radio frequency tag, a passive radio frequency tag, an active radio frequency tag, a backscatter radio frequency tag, a half-duplex radio frequency tag, a full-duplex radio frequency tag, a touch memory device, a proximity card, a photonic tag, and a smart card.

34. The method of claim 21, wherein the information includes data corresponding to a record of treatments received by the at least one plant.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the data corresponding to the record of treatments includes data corresponding to at least one selected from the group consisting of seed variety, seed batch, seed source, sprouting date, cutting variety, cutting batch, cutting date, cutting source, rizome variety, rizome batch, rizome harvest date, rizome source, bulb variety, bulb batch, bulb source, bulb harvest date, corm variety, corm batch, corm source, corm harvest date, planting date, graft date, soil temperature, air temperature, light intensity, light duration, light schedule, soil pH, air humidity, soil humidity, watering volume, watering duration, watering schedule, fertilizer type, fertilizer amount, fertilizer application, fertilizer schedule, pesticide type, pesticide amount, pesticide application, pesticide schedule, herbicide type, herbicide amount, herbicide application, herbicide schedule;

fungicide type, fungicide amount, fungicide application, fungicide schedule, forcing conditions, pruning application, pruning schedule, pruning style, caretaker identity, plant source identity, shipper identity, ship date, packer identity, and packing date.

36. The method of claim 21, wherein the information corresponding to care of the at least one plant includes data corresponding to plant care instructions for the at least one plant.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the data corresponding to plant care instructions includes data corresponding to at least one selected from the group consisting of watering instructions, sunlight instructions, planting instructions, fertilizing instructions, temperature instructions, type of soil instructions, soil pH instructions, pruning instructions, regional information, climate information, geographical location information, and one or more time intervals.

38. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

receiving a query specifying the parameter corresponding to the identifier; and

responsive to the query, transmitting the information corresponding to care of the at least one plant.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the query is received via at least one selected from the group consisting of:

the Internet, an intranet, a local area network, and a virtual private network.

40. The method of claim 21, wherein the information includes data corresponding to a treatment provided to the at least one plant;

and wherein the data was stored at about the same time the treatment was provided.

41. The method of claim 21, wherein the information includes data corresponding to a growth condition measured relative to the at least one plant;

and wherein the data was stored at about the same time the measurement occurred.

42. The method of claim 21, wherein the identification data includes a database record identifier disposed in a user accessible section of a memory circuit in the electronic tag.

43. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

receiving from the electronic tag a uniform resource locator or internet protocol address corresponding to a location to which the query is transmitted.

44. A system for receiving plant care information, comprising:

an electronic tag interrogator configured to read identification data from an electronic tag associated with at least one plant; and

a computer configured to receive the identification data from the electronic tag interrogator, perform a database query specifying the identification data, and receive plant care information related to the identification data.

45. The system of claim 44, wherein the computer is further configured to perform and operation to select a database for query.

46. The system of claim 44, further comprising:

a first plurality of electronic tags corresponding to a second plurality of plants.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein the first plurality substantially equals the second plurality.

48. The system of claim 46, wherein the first plurality of electronic tags are configured to collectively cross correlate to the second plurality of plants;

and further comprising;

a processor configured to calculate or determine inventory shrinkage in the second plurality of plants according to a relationship between nominally present identification data and actually present identification data.

49. The system of claim 48, wherein the processor is configured to process the queries made to the database to determine at least one selected from the group consisting of a location, time, time range, transportation status, and ownership corresponding to an instance of inventory shrinkage.

50. The system of claim 48, wherein the processor includes a software algorithm.

51. The system of claim 44, wherein the computer is further configured to determine a database in which to perform the query.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein the computer is configured to determine a database by parsing the identification data to extract data corresponding to a data access location.

53. The system of claim 52, wherein extracting data includes performing an algorithm on the parsed data corresponding to determine the data access location corresponding to the database.

54. The system of claim 44 wherein the database includes a plurality of databases.

55. The system of claim 54, wherein performing a database query includes sequentially accessing at least one of the plurality of databases;

and

if the query returns a null, improperly formatted data, improper data, or non-decodable response, incrementing to the next of the plurality of databases.

56. The system of claim 44, further wherein the computer is further configured to input the identification data to an algorithm or look-up table (LUT).

57. The system of claim 56, wherein the computer is further configured to:

receive a query address from the algorithm or LUT; and

perform the query at the query address.

58. The system of claim 44, wherein the database includes an in-premises database or leased database.

59. The system of claim 44, further comprising:

a plant information processor configured to receive the query, the plant information processor including;

a networked node providing access to a plurality of manufacturer database resources; and

a message router configured to conditionally route the query across the networked node to the plurality of manufacturer database resources.

60. The system of claim 44, wherein the electronic tag is selected from the group consisting of read-only, field-programmable, write-once-read-many-times, and read/write.

61. The system of claim 44, wherein the electronic tag interrogator includes at least one selected from the group consisting of:

a radio frequency tag interrogator;

a touch memory interrogator, a proximity card interrogator, a photonic tag interrogator, and a smart card interrogator.

62. The system of claim 44, wherein the electronic tag interrogator is configured to read an electronic tag including at least one selected from the group consisting of a radio frequency tag, a passive radio frequency tag, an active radio frequency tag, a backscatter radio frequency tag, a half-duplex radio frequency tag, a full-duplex radio frequency tag, a touch memory device, a proximity card, a photonic tag, and a smart card.

63. The system of claim 44, wherein the plant care information includes data corresponding to a record of treatments received by the at least one plant.

64. The system of claim 63, wherein the data corresponding to the record of treatments includes data corresponding to at least one selected from the group consisting of seed variety, seed batch, seed source, sprouting date, cutting variety, cutting batch, cutting date, cutting source, rizome variety, rizome batch, rizome harvest date, rizome source, bulb variety, bulb batch, bulb source, bulb harvest date, corm variety, corm batch, corm source, corm harvest date, planting date, graft date, soil temperature, air temperature, light intensity, light duration, light schedule, soil pH, air humidity, soil humidity, watering volume, watering duration, watering schedule, fertilizer type, fertilizer amount, fertilizer application, fertilizer schedule, pesticide type, pesticide amount, pesticide application, pesticide schedule, herbicide type, herbicide amount, herbicide application, herbicide schedule;

fungicide type, fungicide amount, fungicide application, fungicide schedule, forcing conditions, pruning application, pruning schedule, pruning style, caretaker identity, plant source identity, shipper identity, ship date, packer identity, and packing date.

65. The system of claim 44, wherein the plant care information includes data corresponding to plant care instructions for the at least one plant.

66. The system of claim 65, wherein the data corresponding to plant care instructions includes data corresponding to at least one selected from the group consisting of watering instructions, sunlight instructions, planting instructions, fertilizing instructions, temperature instructions, type of soil instructions, soil pH instructions, pruning instructions, regional information, climate information, geographical location information, and one or more time intervals.

67. The system of claim 44, further comprising a database query processor configured to:

receive a query specifying a parameter corresponding to the identification data; and

responsive to the query, transmitting the plant care information.

68. The system of claim 67, wherein the query is received via at least one selected from the group consisting of:

the Internet;

a local area network; and

a virtual private network.

69. The system of claim 44, wherein the information includes data corresponding to a treatment provided to the at least one plant;

and wherein the data was stored at about the same time the treatment was provided.

70. The system of claim 44, wherein the information includes data corresponding to a growth condition measured relative to the at least one plant;

and wherein the data was stored in the database at about the same time the measurement occurred.

71. The system of claim 44, wherein the identification data includes a database record identifier disposed in a user accessible section of a memory circuit in the electronic tag.

72. The system of claim 44, wherein the electronic tag interrogator is further configured to receive from the electronic tag a uniform resource locator or internet protocol address corresponding to a location to which the query is transmitted.

73. The system of claim 44, wherein the computer further includes a data storage apparatus configured to store the database.

74. The system of claim 44, wherein the computer includes a network interface and the database is located at a networked location separate from the computer.

75. The system of claim 44, further comprising a bar code reader operatively coupled to the computer and configured to read a bar code symbol associated with the plant to receive a manufacturer code;

and wherein the computer is configured to select for the query a database or portion of a database corresponding to the manufacturer code.

76. The system of claim 44, wherein the electronic tag interrogator is further configured to read a manufacturer code from the electronic tag;

and wherein the computer is configured to select for the query a database or portion of a database corresponding to the manufacturer code.

77. A method for receiving plant care information, comprising:

interrogating a machine-readable tag operatively coupled to at least one plant to receive a tag identification;

transmitting a query to a relational database specifying the tag identification;

receiving from the relational database information corresponding to the at least one plant; and

outputting the information.

78. The method of claim 77, wherein the electronic tag is interrogated during a sale transaction.

79. The method of claim 77, wherein the information is output on a sale transaction receipt.

80. The method of claim 77, wherein the information corresponding to the at least one plant includes plant care information.

81. The method of claim 77, wherein the information corresponding to the at least one plant includes plant care instructions for the at least one plant.

82. The method of claim 77, wherein the information corresponding to the at least one plant includes a record of treatments or growth conditions corresponding to the at least one plant.

83. A method for providing plant care information, comprising:

storing in a database data corresponding to the care of at least one plant, wherein the at least one plant has associated therewith an electronic identification tag carrying plant identification data.

84. The method of claim 83, wherein the identification data is disposed on the database for identifying a portion of the database corresponding to the at least one plant.

85. The method of claim 83, further comprising:

providing a treatment to the at least one plant; and

storing additional data in the database corresponding to a record of providing the treatment.

86. The method of claim 83, further comprising:

retrieving from the database at least a portion of the data corresponding to the care of the at least one plant; and

determining whether a treatment is scheduled to be provided to the at least one plant.

87. The method of claim 86, further comprising:

providing the treatment to the at least one plant if the treatment is scheduled.

88. The method of claim 87, further comprising:

storing in the database data corresponding to a record of providing the treatment.

89. The method of claim 83, further comprising:

storing location data in an industry accessible registry, the location data corresponding to an address for accessing the database.

90. A method for providing plant care information, comprising:

associating in a database data corresponding to the care of at least one plant with data identifying the at least one plant, wherein each of the at least one plant has associated therewith an electronic identification tag carrying identification data.

91. The method of claim 90, wherein the data corresponding to the care of the at least one plant includes at least one selected from the group consisting of plant care instructions and a record of at least one plant care treatment.

92. The method of claim 90, further comprising:

writing to the electronic identification tag a location corresponding to the database.

93. The method of claim 90, further comprising:

associating in a registry the data identifying the at least one plant with data corresponding to accessing the database.

94. The method of claim 90, further comprising:

transmitting to a second database at least a portion of the data identifying the at least one plant and data corresponding to the location of the database.

95. The method of claim 94, wherein the data corresponding to the location of the database includes at least one selected from the group consisting of an IP address and a URL from which the data corresponding to the care of the at least one plant may be retrieved.

96. The method of claim 94, wherein the data corresponding to the location of the database includes a location to where the data identifying the at least one plant may be transmitted for the purpose of receiving the data corresponding to the care of the at least one plant.