TRANSLATION OF DESTINATION IDENTIFIERS

• US 20160358118A1
• Filed: 08/16/2016
• Published: 12/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.), IMDb.com, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.), IMDb.com, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: SIEGEL, HILLIARD BRUCE, BURFORD, KENNETH THOMAS
• Granted Patent: US 9,767,426 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1413 1D bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1417 2D bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08355 Routing methods

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for translation of destination identifiers. In one embodiment, a destination identifier applied to a shipment is scanned. The destination identifier is translated to a first shipping address based at least in part on a mapping of destination identifiers to shipping addresses. The shipment is routed for delivery to the first shipping address. The destination identifier is then translated to a second shipping address based at least in part on the mapping. The shipment is then rerouted to the second shipping address.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable in at least one computing device, wherein when executed the program causes the at least one computing device to at least:

initiate scanning of a destination identifier applied to an exterior of a shipment, the destination identifier corresponding to a globally unique character string that represents a specific recipient;

perform a verification upon the destination identifier using a checksum portion of the destination identifier;

determine a first projected delivery time for the shipment;

translate the destination identifier to a first shipping address based at least in part on the first projected delivery time and a stored mapping of destination identifiers to shipping addresses;

initiate a first action to route the shipment for delivery to the first shipping address;

determine a second projected delivery time for the shipment;

translate the destination identifier to a second shipping address based at least in part on the second projected delivery time and the stored mapping;

initiate a second action to reroute the shipment for delivery to the second shipping address; and

wherein neither the first shipping address nor the second shipping address are applied to the exterior of the shipment.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein when executed the program further causes the at least one computing device to at least:

receive a user specification of the destination identifier; and

determine whether the destination identifier is available for registration.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein when executed the program further causes the at least one computing device to at least assign the globally unique character string to the recipient at least partly on a random basis.

4. A system, comprising:

at least one computing device; and

at least one application executable in the at least one computing device, wherein when executed the at least one application causes the at least one computing device to at least;

initiate scanning of a destination identifier applied to a shipment;

translate the destination identifier to a first shipping address based at least in part on a mapping of destination identifiers to shipping addresses;

initiate a first action to route the shipment for delivery to the first shipping address;

translate the destination identifier to a second shipping address based at least in part on the mapping; and

initiate a second action to reroute the shipment for delivery to the second shipping address.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein neither the first shipping address nor the second shipping address are applied to an exterior of the shipment.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the destination identifier is translated to the second shipping address instead of the first shipping address in response to a change in a projected delivery time for the shipment.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein when executed the at least one application further causes the at least one computing device to at least perform a verification upon the destination identifier.

8. The system of claim 4, wherein the destination identifier corresponds to a globally unique character string that represents a specific recipient.

9. The system of claim 4, wherein the destination identifier is applied to an exterior of the shipment.

10. The system of claim 4, wherein the destination identifier is translated to the second shipping address based at least in part on rerouting configuration data indicating that rerouting the shipment to the second shipping address instead of the first shipping address meets at least one of:

a cost tolerance criterion or a delivery time tolerance criterion.

11. The system of claim 4, wherein the destination identifier excludes any personally identifiable information.

12. The system of claim 4, wherein the second action comprises sending a message to a delivery vehicle driver indicating that the shipment is not to be delivered to the first shipping address.

13. A method, comprising:

scanning, in a first instance, by at least one computing device, a destination identifier applied to a shipment;

translating, by the at least one computing device, the destination identifier to a first shipping address based at least in part on a mapping of destination identifiers to shipping addresses in response to the first instance of scanning;

initiating, by the at least one computing device, a first action to route the shipment for delivery to the first shipping address;

scanning, in a second instance, by the at least one computing device, the destination identifier applied to the shipment;

translating, by the at least one computing device, the destination identifier to a second shipping address based at least in part on the mapping in response to the second instance of scanning; and

initiating, by the at least one computing device, a second action to reroute the shipment for delivery to the second shipping address.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the destination identifier is applied to an exterior of the shipment, and neither of the first shipping address or the second shipping address are on the exterior of the shipment.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining, by the at least one computing device, that a projected delivery time for the shipment to the first shipping address has changed beyond a threshold; and

updating, by the at least one computing device, the mapping to map the destination identifier to the second shipping address instead of the first shipping address.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining, by the at least one computing device, that a location of a recipient of the shipment has changed; and

updating, by the at least one computing device, the mapping to map the destination identifier to the second shipping address instead of the first shipping address.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the destination identifier includes a user-specified string that is uniquely registered to a single recipient.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the destination identifier further includes a checksum or a hash.

19. The method of claim 13, further comprising causing, by the at least one computing device, the second shipping address to be rendered on a display of a client device.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the destination identifier is translated based at least in part on a characteristic of the shipment, and the characteristic comprises at least one of:

a size of the shipment, a weight of the shipment, a value of the shipment, or a fragility of the shipment.