Method and Apparatus Pertaining to Facilitating the Reading of RFID Tags

• US 20120013441A1
• Filed: 07/27/2010
• Published: 01/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Wal-Mart Stores Texas LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Inventors: Ulrich, Richard Bennett
• Application Number:
  US12/844,499
• Publication Number:
  US 20120013441A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/6.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10039 interrogator driven, i.e. synchronous

Abstract

These teachings generally comprise interrogating a plurality of RFID tags and receiving corresponding responses from various ones of these tags. A corresponding plurality of end user-perceivable indications are then provided to thereby inform an end user of the RFID tag reader with respect to a completeness level of the reading activity. By one approach, this can comprise providing only one such end user-perceivable indication for each of the tags notwithstanding that a given one of the plurality might respond to the interrogation more than once. This can further comprise, if desired, only providing such end user-perceivable indications for responses from those of the plurality of RFID tags that comprise a previously identified RFID tag of interest. These indications can comprise any of an audible sound, a visual alert, and/or a haptic sensation.

Claims

1. A method to facilitate an end user reading a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags using an RFID tag reader, the method comprising:

interrogating en masse the plurality of RFID tags;

receiving corresponding responses from various ones of the plurality of RFID tags;

providing at the RFID tag reader a plurality of end user-perceivable indications corresponding to the responses from the various ones of the plurality of RFID tags to thereby inform an end user of the RFID tag reader with respect to a corresponding reading state as regards the plurality of RFID tags.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein providing at the RFID tag reader a plurality of end user-perceivable indications corresponding to the responses from the various ones of the plurality of RFID tags comprises providing only one such end user-perceivable indication for each of the plurality of RFID tags notwithstanding that a given one of the plurality of RFID tags might respond to the en masse interrogation more than once.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the end user-perceivable indications are substantially identical to one another.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the end user-perceivable indications are each no longer than about 100 milliseconds in duration.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the end user-perceivable indications, when rendered audible by the RFID tag reader, temporally overlap by no more than about ten percent.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein providing at the RFID tag reader a plurality of end user-perceivable indications corresponding to the responses from the various ones of the plurality of RFID tags comprises providing the end user-perceivable indications substantially in real-time with respect to when the corresponding responses were received.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein providing at the RFID tag reader a plurality of end user-perceivable indications corresponding to the responses from the various ones of the plurality of RFID tags comprises only providing the end user-perceivable indications for responses from those of the plurality of RFID tags that comprise a previously identified RFID tag of interest.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the previously identified RFID tag of interest is identifiable as a function of a stock-keeping unit (SKU) number that comprises a part of the RFID.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

while receiving the responses;

transmitting at least a portion of at least some of the responses to a remote processor;

receiving from the remote processor a plurality of messages;

and wherein providing at the RFID tag reader a plurality of end user-perceivable indications corresponding to the responses from the various ones of the plurality of RFID tags comprises providing the plurality of end user-perceivable indications as a function of the messages.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

following the plurality of end user-perceivable indications, providing at the RFID tag reader an end user-perceivable indication that is audibly different than the plurality of end user-perceivable indications to signal that the en masse interrogation of the plurality of RFID tags is complete.

11. A apparatus to facilitate reading a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, the apparatus comprising:

an RFID tag reader configured to interrogate the plurality of RFID tags and to receive corresponding responses from various ones of the plurality of RFID tags;

an annunciator configured to provide end user-perceivable indications;

a control circuit operably coupled to the annunciator and configured to provide a plurality of end user-perceivable indications corresponding to the responses from the various ones of the plurality of RFID tags to thereby inform an end user of the apparatus with respect to a completeness level of the reading of the plurality of RFID tags.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the control circuit is configured to provide at the RFID tag reader a plurality of end user-perceivable indications corresponding to the responses from the various ones of the plurality of RFID tags by providing only one such end user-perceivable indication for each of the plurality of RFID tags notwithstanding that a given one of the plurality of RFID tags might respond to the interrogation more than once.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the end user-perceivable indications are substantially identical to one another.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the end user-perceivable indications are each no longer than about 100 milliseconds in duration.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the end user-perceivable indications, when rendered audible by the RFID tag reader, temporally overlap by no more than about ten percent.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the control circuit is configured to provide at the RFID tag reader a plurality of end user-perceivable indications corresponding to the responses from the various ones of the plurality of RFID tags by providing the end user-perceivable indications substantially in real-time with respect to when the corresponding responses were received.

17. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the control circuit is configured to provide at the RFID tag reader a plurality of end user-perceivable indications corresponding to the responses from the various ones of the plurality of RFID tags by only providing the end user-perceivable indications for responses from those of the plurality of RFID tags that comprise a previously identified RFID tag of interest.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the control circuit is configured to identify a particular RFID tag as being of interest as a function of a stock-keeping unit (SKU) number that comprises a part of the RFID.

19. The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising:

a wireless transceiver that is operably coupled to the RFID tag reader and the control circuit and that is configured to;

transmit at least a portion of at least some of the responses to a remote processor; and

receive from the remote processor a plurality of messages;

and wherein the control circuit is configured to provide a plurality of end user-perceivable indications corresponding to the responses from the various ones of the plurality of RFID tags by providing the plurality of end user-perceivable indications as a function of the messages.

20. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the control circuit is further configured to, following the plurality of end user-perceivable indications, provide at the RFID tag reader an end user-perceivable indication that is different than the plurality of end user-perceivable indications to signal that interrogation of the plurality of RFID tags is complete.