Low-powered RF-linked price display system
First Claim
1. An electronic price display system comprising a central computer and an RF transceiver communicatively coupled therewith, and further comprising a multiplicity of electronic price display labels each with a unique address, each electronic price display label comprising:
- a housing,a display within the housing,a power source within the housing,a controller within the housing and controlling the display and powered by the power source,a passive RF transceiver within the housing and not powered by the power source,an antenna communicatively coupled with the transceiver,the controller further characterized in having a clock speed switchable between a high speed and a low speed, the low speed selected to be sufficient to control the display, the controller comprising an interrupt input causing a switch to the high speed,the transceiver further characterized in having a register defined to contain the unique address of the label, and in having means responsive to received RF energy at the antenna for receiving an address modulated in the RF energy, for testing for a match between the unique address of the label and the received address, and for generating an interrupt output in the event of the match;
the interrupt output of the transceiver operatively coupled with the interrupt input of the controller.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic price display system uses an RF communications channel between a central computer and a multiplicity of electronic price display labels. Each label is powered by a voltaic cell ("battery") such as a lithium cell. The receiver-on time, which in other RF-linked systems contributes heavily to the overall battery drain, here does not contribute appreciably to battery drain because a passive RF transceiver is used to receive and address-decode the address portion of received packets. Upon an address match, the passive RF transceiver generates an interrupt to the controller of the display label, and the interrupt prompts the controller to go to a higher-power-drain state to process the received data. If the received command requires a response, the controller of the label generates a response which is transmitted via RF from the label back to the central computer.
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Citations
45 Claims
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1. An electronic price display system comprising a central computer and an RF transceiver communicatively coupled therewith, and further comprising a multiplicity of electronic price display labels each with a unique address, each electronic price display label comprising:
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a housing, a display within the housing, a power source within the housing, a controller within the housing and controlling the display and powered by the power source, a passive RF transceiver within the housing and not powered by the power source, an antenna communicatively coupled with the transceiver, the controller further characterized in having a clock speed switchable between a high speed and a low speed, the low speed selected to be sufficient to control the display, the controller comprising an interrupt input causing a switch to the high speed, the transceiver further characterized in having a register defined to contain the unique address of the label, and in having means responsive to received RF energy at the antenna for receiving an address modulated in the RF energy, for testing for a match between the unique address of the label and the received address, and for generating an interrupt output in the event of the match; the interrupt output of the transceiver operatively coupled with the interrupt input of the controller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for use with an electronic price display system having a central computer and an RF transceiver communicatively coupled therewith, and further comprising a multiplicity of electronic price display labels each with a unique address, each electronic price display label comprising a housing, a display within the housing, a power source within the housing, a controller within the housing and controlling the display and powered by the power source, a passive RF transceiver within the housing and not powered by the power source, an antenna communicatively coupled with the transceiver, the controller further characterized in having a clock speed switchable between a high speed and a low speed, the low speed selected to be sufficient to control the display, the controller comprising an interrupt input causing a switch to the high speed, the transceiver further characterized in having a register defined to contain the unique address of the label, and in having means responsive to received RF energy at the antenna for receiving an address modulated in the RF energy, for testing for a match between the unique address of the label and the received address, and for generating an interrupt output in the event of the match, the interrupt output of the transceiver operatively coupled with the interrupt input of the controller;
- the method comprising the steps of;
preparing, within the central computer, a packet comprising address and data portions, the address portion selected to match the unique address of a particular one of the labels; transmitting RF energy; modulating the RF energy to communicate the address portion of the packet; receiving, within the passive RF transceiver, the RF energy and deriving power therefrom; demodulating, within the passive RF transceiver, the address portion of the packet; testing, within the passive RF transceiver, for a match between the demodulated address portion of the packet and the unique address of the label; generating an interrupt in the event of a match; switching the controller to the high speed in the event of the interrupt; modulating the RF energy to communicate the data portion of the packet; demodulating, within the passive RF transceiver, the data portion of the packet and communicating the demodulated data to the controller; receiving the demodulated data at the controller and acting upon said data; and switching the controller to the low speed after receiving the demodulated data. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
- the method comprising the steps of;
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13. An electronic price display label comprising:
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a housing, a display within the housing, a power source within the housing, a controller within the housing and controlling the display and powered by the power source, a passive RF transceiver within the housing and not powered by the power source, an antenna communicatively coupled with the transceiver, the controller further characterized in having a clock speed switchable between a high speed and a low speed, the low speed selected to be sufficient to control the display, the controller comprising an interrupt input causing a switch to the high speed, the transceiver further characterized in having a register defined to contain the unique address of the label, and in having means responsive to received RF energy at the antenna for receiving an address modulated in the RF energy, for testing for a match between the unique address of the label and the received address, and for generating an interrupt output in the event of the match; the interrupt output of the transceiver operatively coupled with the interrupt input of the controller. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A passive RF transceiver comprising:
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an antenna; a power supply; a demodulator; a decoupler connected to the antenna coupling a portion of any RF energy received at the antenna to the power supply and coupling a portion of the RF energy to the demodulator; a reset circuit responsive to energy at the power supply for generating a reset signal associated with a predefined level of energy; the demodulator further characterized in demodulating the RF energy to received data and a clock; a latch responsive to the data and clock for storing a portion of the received data therein; a first address store containing a predetermined address; means comparing the contents of the latch and the first address store and generating an interrupt output from the transceiver in the event of a match thereof; and means communicating received data as an output from the transceiver. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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25. An electronic price display system comprising a central computer and an RF transceiver communicatively coupled therewith, and further comprising a multiplicity of electronic price display labels each with a unique address, each electronic price display label comprising:
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a housing, a display within the housing, a power source within the housing, a controller within the housing and controlling the display in response to an input and powered by the power source, a passive RF transceiver within the housing and not powered by the power source, an antenna communicatively coupled with the transceiver, the transceiver further characterized in having a register defined to contain the unique address of the label, and in having means responsive to received RF energy at the antenna for receiving an address modulated in the RF energy, for testing for a match between the unique address of the label and the received address, and for generating an output in the event of the match; the output of the transceiver operatively coupled with the input of the controller. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A method for use with an electronic price display system having a central computer and an RF transceiver communicatively coupled therewith, and further comprising a multiplicity of electronic price display labels each with a unique address, each electronic price display label comprising a housing, a display within the housing, a power source within the housing, a controller within the housing and controlling the display in response to an input and powered by the power source, a passive RF transceiver within the housing and not powered by the power source, an antenna communicatively coupled with the transceiver, the transceiver further characterized in having a register defined to contain the unique address of the label, and in having means responsive to received RF energy at the antenna for receiving an address modulated in the RF energy, for testing for a match between the unique address of the label and the received address, and for generating an output in the event of the match, the output of the transceiver operatively coupled with the input of the controller;
- the method comprising the steps of;
preparing, within the central computer, a packet comprising address and data portions, the address portion selected to match the unique address of a particular one of the labels; transmitting RF energy; modulating the RF energy to communicate the address portion of the packet; receiving, within the passive RF transceiver, the RF energy and deriving power therefrom; demodulating, within the passive RF transceiver, the address portion of the packet; testing, within the passive RF transceiver, for a match between the demodulated address portion of the packet and the unique address of the label; generating an output in the event of a match; demodulating, within the passive RF transceiver, the data portion of the packet and communicating the demodulated data to the controller; and receiving the demodulated data at the controller and acting upon said data. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
- the method comprising the steps of;
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37. An electronic price display label comprising:
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a housing, a display within the housing, a power source within the housing, a controller within the housing and controlling the display in response to an input and powered by the power source, a passive RF transceiver within the housing and not powered by the power source, an antenna communicatively coupled with the transceiver, the transceiver further characterized in having a register defined to contain the unique address of the label, and in having means responsive to received RF energy at the antenna for receiving an address modulated in the RF energy, for testing for a match between the unique address of the label and the received address, and for generating an output in the event of the match; the output of the transceiver operatively coupled with the input of the controller. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification