Automatic data collection device that intelligently switches data based on data type

• US 6,398,105 B2
• Filed: 01/29/1999
• Issued: 06/04/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Intermec IP Corporation (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Intermec IP Corporation (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Katsandres, James T., Ramberg, Jon R., Hunt, Jeffrey M., Shoeman, Paul David
• Primary Examiner(s): Frech, Karl D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): FRANKLIN, JAMARA ALZAIDA
• Application Number:
  US09/239,222
• Publication Number:
  US 20020000464A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,222 Days
• Field of Search: 235/375, 235/380, 235/462-1-4, 235/472-1-4, 709/223, 700/295, 707/1, 707/10, 340/10-- 1
• US Class Current: 235/375
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing

Abstract

A method and system for intelligently routing data received from an automatic data collection (“ADC”) device in an ADC device platform based on its type. A data routing mechanism operates on the data-receiving side of an ADC data server. After identifying the characteristics of the input data, the data routing mechanism determines the destination for the data based on the characteristics, then routes the data to the selected destination. For some types of data, the selected destination may be an intermediate destination where the data undergoes additional processing before being transmitted to another location, while for other types of data the selected destination may be the application that ultimately processes the data. For example, the data routing mechanism may receive a set of input data, analyze the data to determine that the data is voice data, and then route the data to a speech recognition module that processes voice data. ADC devices accommodated by the system include bar code readers, speech recognition systems, RF tag readers, resonator readers, and two-dimensional symbol readers optical character recognition (“OCR”) systems. The invention finds application within a network of ADC device platforms that receive requests for input data from both local and remote applications. Data may be communicated to remote users using any data protocol, including the Transmission Control Protocol (“TCP”), the User Datagram/Internet Protocol (“UDP/IP”) or the User Datagram Plus Protocol (“UDP+”).

Claims

1. A method for routing a data set from at least one automatic data collection (“

ADC”

) device, comprising;

receiving the data set from the at least one ADC device, wherein the data set has a data type;

identifying the data type of the data set;

identifying at least one client application from a plurality of client applications to receive the data set using the identified data type; and

routing the data set only to the identified at least one client application.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the at least one client application comprises locating a data routing instruction for the at least one ADC device and the identified data type of the data set.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the at least one client application comprises locating a data routing instruction for the at least one ADC device and the identified data type of the data set and wherein the data routing instruction for the at least one ADC device and the identified data type of the data set are located in an ADC data grid.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the data type of the data set is performed when the received data set from the at least one ADC device does not include a client handle that identifies the at least one client application.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the data set is received by an ADC data server in an ADC device platform that contains the at least one ADC device, the ADC data server identifying the data type of the data set.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the data type of the data set includes bar code data, radio frequency (“

RF”

) tag data, resonator data, magnetic stripe data, two-dimensional symbol data, optical character recognition (“

OCR”

) data, dipole device data, text data, or speech input data.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one ADC device is one of a bar code reader, a radio frequency (“

RF”

) tag reader, a resonator reader, a SmartCard reader, a magnetic stripe reader, a two-dimensional symbol reader, an optical character recognition (“

OCR”

) reader, a dipole device reader, and a speech input recognizing device.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a data reading instruction from the at least one client application for the at least one ADC device;

sending the data reading instruction to the at least one ADC device; and

reading the data set by the at least one ADC device that sends the data set to a data processor that identifies the data type of the data set.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a data reading instruction from the at least one client application for the at least one ADC device;

sending the data reading instruction to the at least one ADC device; and

reading the data set by the at least one ADC device that sends the data set to an ADC data server that receives the data reading instruction from the at least one client application, directs the translation of the data reading instruction into a native format of the at least one ADC device, and identifies the data type of the data set.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a data reading instruction from the at least one client application for the at least one ADC device;

sending the data reading instruction to the at least one ADC device;

reading the data set by the at least one ADC device that sends the data set to an ADC data server that receives the data reading instruction from the at least one client application, directs the translation of the data reading instruction into a native format of the at least one ADC device, and identifies the data type of the data set, wherein the ADC data server directs a protocol handler and a device handler to translate the data reading instruction into the native format of the at least one ADC device.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying at least another client application of the plurality of client applications to receive the data set using the identified data type.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying at least another client application of the plurality of client applications to receive the data set using the identified data type, wherein the at least one client application resides in an ADC device platform that contains the at least one ADC device and the at least another client application resides on a remote computing system.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying at least another client application of the plurality of client applications to receive the data set using the identified data type, wherein the at least one client application resides in an ADC device platform that contains the at least one ADC device and the at least another client application resides on a remote computing system and wherein communications between the at least one client application and the ADC device platform pass over at least one of an intranet, an internet, a local area network, a wide area network, and the World Wide Web.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying at least another client application of the plurality of client applications to receive the data set using the identified data type, wherein the at least one ADC device resides in an ADC device platform, the at least one client application resides in a remote computing system, and the at least another client application resides in another remote computing system.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying at least another client application of the plurality of client applications to receive the data set using the identified data type, wherein at least another client application resides on a remote computing system and the ADC device platform communicates with the remote computing system using one of the Transmission Control Protocol (“

TCP”

), the User Datagram Protocol (“

UDP”

), and the User Datagram Protocol Plus (“

UDP+”

).

16. A system for routing a plurality of data sets from a plurality of automatic data collection (“

ADC”

) devices, comprising;

an ADC data server that receives the plurality of data sets from the plurality of ADC devices wherein each data set has a data type;

an ADC data grid that retains data type requests for a plurality of client applications; and

an ADC grid data matcher that identifies a data type of each data set of the plurality of data sets and matches the identified data type of the data set against the data type requests in the ADC data grid to determine if one or more client applications of the plurality of client applications should receive the data set; and

a data router that routes the data set of the plurality of data sets only to the at least one client application of the plurality of client applications having the data type request that matches the identified data type.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the ADC data grid further comprises a data routing instruction for the data set based upon the ADC device that provided the data set and upon the identified data type of the data set.

18. The system of claim 16 wherein the ADC data server resides in an ADC device platform that contains the plurality of ADC devices.

19. The system of claim 16 wherein a data type for the data set of the plurality of data sets comprises one of bar code data, radio frequency (“

RF”

) tag data, resonator data, SmartCard data, magnetic stripe data, optical character recognition (“

OCR”

) data, text data, two-dimensional symbol data, dipole device data, and speech input data.

20. The system of claim 16 wherein at least one ADC device of the plurality of ADC devices is one of a bar code reader, a radio frequency (“

RF”

) tag reader, a resonator reader, a SmartCard reader, a magnetic stripe reader, an optical character recognition (“

OCR”

) reader, a two-dimensional symbol reader, a dipole device reader, and a speech input recognizing device.

21. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

an instruction receiver in the ADC device platform that receives a data reading instruction from at least one client of the plurality of clients;

an ADC device handler that receives the data reading instruction from the instruction receiver and translates instructions for the ADC device into a native format for the ADC device; and

a data reading instruction router that routes instructions in the native format to the ADC device for receipt by the ADC data server.

22. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

an instruction receiver in the ADC device platform that receives a data reading instruction from at least one client of the plurality of clients;

an ADC device handler that receives the data reading instruction from the instruction receiver and translates instructions for the ADC device into a native format for the ADC device;

a data reading instruction router that routes instructions in the native format to the ADC device for receipt by the ADC data server; and

an ADC protocol handler that translates device-specific portions of the data reading instruction into a native formation of the at least one ADC device for transmission by the data reading instruction router.

23. The system of claim 16 wherein the grid data matcher identifies at least one client application and at least another client application, both of the plurality of client applications, to receive the data set based upon examination of the ADC data grid.

24. The system of claim 16 wherein the grid data matcher identifies at least one client application and at least another client application, both of the plurality of client applications, to receive the data set based upon examination of the ADC data grid and wherein the at least one client application resides in an ADC device platform that contains the at least one ADC device and the at least another client application resides on a remote computing system.

25. The system of claim 16 wherein the grid data matcher identifies at least one client application and at least another client application, both of the plurality of client applications, to receive the data set based upon examination of the ADC data grid and wherein the ADC data server and the plurality of ADC devices reside in an ADC device platform, the at least one client application resides in a remote computing system and the at least another client application resides in another remote computing system.

26. The system of claim 16 wherein the grid data matcher identifies at least one client application and at least another client application, both of the plurality of client applications, to receive the data set based upon examination of the ADC data grid and wherein the at least another client application resides in a remote computing system and the ADC device platform communicates with the remote computing system using one of the Transmission Control Protocol (“

TCP”

), the User Datagram Protocol (“

UDP”

), and the User Datagram Protocol Plus (“

UDP+”

).

27. The system of claim 16 wherein the grid data matcher identifies at least one client application and at least another client application, both of the plurality of client applications, to receive the data set based upon examination of the ADC data grid and wherein communications between at the least one client application of the plurality of client applications and the ADC device platform pass over at least one of an intranet, an internet, a local area network, a wide area network, and the World Wide Web.

28. An automatic data collection (“

ADC”

) network that transmits data, comprising;

a plurality of ADC device platforms, such that each ADC device platform comprises;

at least one ADC device;

an ADC data server that receives a plurality of data sets having data types from the at least one ADC device;

an ADC data grid that contains data type requests for a plurality of client applications;

an ADC grid data matcher that identifies the data type of each data set of the plurality of data sets and matches the identified data type of the data set against the data type requests in the ADC data grid to determine if one or more client applications of plurality of client applications should receive the data set; and

a data router that routes the data set of the plurality of data sets only to the at least one client application of the plurality of client applications having the data type request matching the identified data type.

29. The system of claim 28 wherein the ADC data grid further comprises a data routing instruction for the data set based upon the ADC device that provided the data set and upon the identified data type of the data set.

30. The system of claim 28 wherein a data type for the data set of the plurality of data sets comprises one of bar code data, radio frequency (“

RF”

) tag data, resonator data, SmartCard data, magnetic stripe data, optical character recognition (“

OCR”

) data, two-dimensional symbol data, text data, dipole device data, and speech input data.

31. The system of claim 28 wherein at least one ADC device of the plurality of ADC devices is one of a bar code reader, a radio frequency (“

RF”

) tag reader, a resonator reader, a SmartCard reader, a magnetic stripe reader, an optical character recognition (“

OCR”

) reader, a dipole device reader, two-dimensional symbol reader and a speech input recognizing device.

32. The system of claim 28 wherein each ADC device platform further comprises:

an instruction receiver that receives a data reading instruction from at least one client of the plurality of clients;

an ADC device handler that receives the data reading instruction from the instruction receiver and translates instructions for the ADC device into a native format for the ADC device; and

a data reading instruction router that routes instructions in the native format to tie ADC device for receipt by the ADC data server.

33. The system of claim 28 wherein each ADC device platform further comprises:

an instruction receiver that receives a data reading instruction from at least one client of the plurality of clients;

an ADC device handler that receives the data reading instruction from the instruction receiver and translates instructions for the ADC device into a native format for the ADC device;

a data reading instruction router that routes instructions in the native format to the ADC device for receipt by the ADC data server; and

an ADC protocol handler that translates device-specific portions of the data reading instruction into a native formation of the at least one ADC device for transmission by the data reading instruction router.

34. The system of claim 28 wherein the grid data matcher identifies at least one client application and at least another client application, both of the plurality of client applications, to receive the data set based upon examination of the ADC data grid.

35. The system of claim 28 wherein the grid data matcher identifies at least one client application and at least another client application, both of the plurality of client applications, to receive the data set based upon examination of the ADC data grid and wherein the at least one client application resides in an ADC device platform that contains the at least one ADC device and the at least another client application resides on a remote computing system.

36. The system of claim 28 wherein the grid data matcher identifies at least one client application and at least another client application, both of the plurality of client applications, to receive the data set based upon examination of the ADC data grid and wherein the at least one client application of the plurality of client applications resides in a remote computing system and at least another client application resides in another remote computing system.

37. The system of claim 28 wherein the grid data matcher identifies at lease one client application to receive the data set based upon examination of the ADC data grid and wherein the at least one client application resides in a remote computing system and the at least one ADC device platform communicates with the remote computing system using one of the Transmission Control Protocol (“

TCP”

), the User Datagram Protocol (“

UDP”

), and the User Datagram Protocol Plus (“

UDP+”

).

38. The system of claim 28 wherein the grid data matcher identifies at least one client application to receive the data set based upon examination of the ADC data grid and wherein communications between the at least one client application and the at least one ADC device platform pass over at least one of an intranet, an internet, a local area network, a wide area network, and the World Wide Web.