Methods and apparatus for self-diagnosing electronic price labels
First Claim
1. An electronic price label operating independently of an external power source and wirelessly communicating information with a communication base station, the communication base station wirelessly transmitting a status request to the electronic price label to perform a status request dependent diagnostic test, the electronic price label comprising;
- a battery for powering the electronic price label independent of an external controller;
memory for storing price information;
an interface for receiving the price information for storage;
a display for displaying the price information; and
a processor being powered by the battery and adapted to control operation of the memory, the interface and the display, the processor being operative to perform one or more independent diagnostic tests independent of the communication base station according to a predetermined schedule on one or more of the memory, the interface and the display, the processor being further operative to report a detected failure of one or more of the independent diagnostic tests.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A self-diagnosing electronic price label. The label communicates with a central processor in order to receive price information for display and to report the status of the label to the central processor. The label periodically runs a self-test program to verify proper operation of its components. If a component fails the self-test, the failure is reported to a central processor, and the central processor reports the failure for investigation. During normal operation, the label issues a signal to the central processor indicating normal operation. In the event of a failure, the label ceases to send the signal indicating normal operation. When the signal is not received as expected, the central processor reports the failure to receive the signal for investigation. This allows the central processor to be alerted to failures which disable communication between the label and the central processor.
-
Citations
16 Claims
-
1. An electronic price label operating independently of an external power source and wirelessly communicating information with a communication base station, the communication base station wirelessly transmitting a status request to the electronic price label to perform a status request dependent diagnostic test, the electronic price label comprising;
-
a battery for powering the electronic price label independent of an external controller; memory for storing price information; an interface for receiving the price information for storage; a display for displaying the price information; and a processor being powered by the battery and adapted to control operation of the memory, the interface and the display, the processor being operative to perform one or more independent diagnostic tests independent of the communication base station according to a predetermined schedule on one or more of the memory, the interface and the display, the processor being further operative to report a detected failure of one or more of the independent diagnostic tests. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. An electronic price label system for use in a retail establishment, the electronic price label system comprising:
-
a central processor for maintaining price and other information relating to a plurality of retail items; and a plurality of labels operative to wirelessly communicate with the central processor, each label having a memory, an interface, a display, and a battery for independently powering said label independent of an external power source, the labels being operative to display information based on information received from the central processor, each of the labels being operative to perform internal self-diagnostic tests according to a predetermined schedule on the memory, the interface and the display, the internal self-diagnostic tests being independent of a status request transmitted by the central processor, each of the plurality of labels being further operative to report a detected failure of one or more of the internal self-diagnostic tests independent of a status request transmitted by the central processor, and provide an alert or indication reporting failure of the self-diagnostic test. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
Specification