Location Tracking of Products and Product Display Assemblies in a Wirelessly Connected Environment
First Claim
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1. A system comprising:
- a plurality of wireless nodes arranged as a wireless network, wherein each of a plurality of the wireless nodes includes a wireless transceiver for wireless communication over the wireless network, and wherein a plurality of the wireless nodes are part of different product display assemblies, each product display assembly configured to connect with a product for presentation of the product to a consumer; and
a computer system configured for wireless communication with the wireless network;
wherein each of a plurality of the product display assemblies is configured to wirelessly transmit data to the computer system via the wireless network that pairs an identifier for the product display assembly with an identifier for the product; and
wherein the computer system is further configured to (1) receive the wirelessly transmitted data via the wireless network, (2) store data that identifies a location for each of a plurality of the product display assemblies in association with identifiers for the product display assemblies, and (3) create a data structure based on the received data and the stored data, wherein the data structure tracks locations for the products based on the pairings between product display identifiers and product identifiers and the associations between locations and product display identifiers.
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Abstract
Disclosed herein are a number of example embodiments where wireless nodes are arranged in a wirelessly connected environment to support a variety of remote management operations, including location tracking, status monitoring, and remote control. In an example embodiment, the wireless nodes can be deployed in a retail store and provide remote management and control over any combination of product display assemblies, locks, power strips, display shelves, display hooks, and other node types.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a plurality of wireless nodes arranged as a wireless network, wherein each of a plurality of the wireless nodes includes a wireless transceiver for wireless communication over the wireless network, and wherein a plurality of the wireless nodes are part of different product display assemblies, each product display assembly configured to connect with a product for presentation of the product to a consumer; and a computer system configured for wireless communication with the wireless network; wherein each of a plurality of the product display assemblies is configured to wirelessly transmit data to the computer system via the wireless network that pairs an identifier for the product display assembly with an identifier for the product; and wherein the computer system is further configured to (1) receive the wirelessly transmitted data via the wireless network, (2) store data that identifies a location for each of a plurality of the product display assemblies in association with identifiers for the product display assemblies, and (3) create a data structure based on the received data and the stored data, wherein the data structure tracks locations for the products based on the pairings between product display identifiers and product identifiers and the associations between locations and product display identifiers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method comprising:
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associating an identifier for a product display assembly with a location, the product display assembly comprising a wireless transceiver; the product display assembly determining a product identifier for a product connected to the product display assembly; the product display assembly wirelessly transmitting data that is indicative of a pairing between the product display assembly identifier and the determined product identifier to a remote computer system via the wireless transceiver; the remote computer system building a data structure that associates the determined product identifier with the location based on the association between the product display identifier and the location and the pairing data; and repeating the method steps with respect to a plurality of different ones of the product display assemblies that are arranged to form a wireless network of product display assemblies so that the data structure tracks the locations of a plurality of different products connected to the product display assemblies. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 28, 29)
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27. The method of any 26 wherein the trigger event comprises a new connection of a different puck assembly with the product display assembly.
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30. A system comprising:
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a plurality of wireless nodes, wherein each of a plurality of the wireless nodes includes a wireless transceiver, and wherein a plurality of the wireless nodes are part of different product display assemblies, each product display assembly configured to connect with a product for presentation of the product to a consumer; and a plurality of processor-executable instructions that are resident on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the instructions configured for execution by a processor to cause the processor to communicate with the wireless transceivers of the wireless nodes over a wireless network; wherein each of a plurality of the product display assemblies is configured to wirelessly transmit data via the wireless network that pairs an identifier for the product display assembly with an identifier for the product; and wherein the instructions are further configured for execution to cause the processor to (1) receive the wirelessly transmitted data via the wireless network, (2) store data that identifies a location for each of a plurality of the product display assemblies in association with identifiers for the product display assemblies, and (3) create a data structure based on the received data and the stored data, wherein the data structure tracks locations for the products based on the pairings between product display identifiers and product identifiers and the associations between locations and product display identifiers.
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Specification