Method and apparatus for routing data in an automatic identification system

• US 7,621,447 B1
• Filed: 01/30/2004
• Issued: 11/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Original Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Inventors: Engels, Daniel W., Putta, Laxmiprasad, Waldrop, James L., Sarma, Sanjay, Ramachandran, Sridhar
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee; Seung H
• Application Number:
  US10/769,292
• Time in Patent Office: 2,125 Days
• Field of Search: 235/383, 235/385, 235/377, 235/487, 235/472.02, 235/492, 705/22, 707/203, 707/204
• US Class Current: 235/385
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/18 Network protocols supporting networked applications, e.g. including control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99954 Version management

Abstract

A control system for routing data in an automatic identification system includes an event management system (EMS), a real-time in-memory data structure (RIED) and a task management system (TMS). The control system can be provided in a distributed hierarchical arrangement. The EMS of each control system can include filters which limit the amount of information provided to the next level in the hierarchy. In this manner the hierarchical control system network acts as a high volume data collector and processor. In some embodiments a level of the hierarchy can be removed spatially and/or temporally from an adjacent level in the hierarchy.

Claims

1. A system for controlling the collection, storing, and use of data in an RFID system, comprising:

an event management system (EMS) connected for receiving data from at least two RFID tag readers, said event management system being configured for processing said data and for logging the data to a database;

means for maintaining a real-time in-memory event database (RIED) wherein said RIED comprises a versioned data structure having an updated snapshot of the database maintained by said EMS and an outdated snapshot of said database; and

a task management system configured for monitoring data in said RIED and performing a task in response to a status of the monitored data;

wherein the RIED maintaining means comprises a sequence manager that identifies the database snapshots with indicia that indicates a sequence in which the database snapshots were obtained and the sequence manager is configured to identify the plurality of database snapshots with a unique name and a sequence number that corresponds to a time at which a database snapshot was taken; and

wherein the versioned data structure of the RIED maintaining means comprises a persistent datum data structure, wherein each version of a data item in the RIED is stored with its associated sequence number, such that in response to a query or search for a data item of a desired version, the RIED maintaining means returns a version of the data item with a latest sequence number smaller than the desired version'"'"'s sequence number.

2. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the outdated snapshot of said database is a read only database.

3. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the versioned data structure of the RIED maintaining means comprises a plurality of outdated database snapshots each being chronologically different from each other.

4. A system as set forth in claim 3 wherein the outdated snapshots of said database are read only databases.

5. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the versioned data structure of the RIED maintaining means comprises a persistent set data structure, wherein versions of data items are stored in sets based on a common data item indexing value, such that in response to a query or search for data items of a desired version, the RIED maintaining means returns a set of data items having a common indexing value.

6. A system as set forth in claim 5 wherein the versioned data structure of the RIED maintaining means comprises a hash table that maintains a table index as a mapping from an indexed column value to a persistent set of corresponding keys.

7. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the versioned data structure of the RIED maintaining means comprises a hash table that maintains a data table as a mapping from a primary key to a persistent datum containing a row value.

8. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the EMS comprises a data adapter for receiving RFID tag data from at least one of the tag readers and providing the data in a standard format.

9. A system as set forth in claim 8 wherein the EMS comprises a data filter for receiving the tag data from the data adapter to clean or smooth the tag data.

10. A system as set forth in claim 9 wherein the EMS comprises a reader interface for receiving the data from the data filter and for communicating the data to a data event consumer that implements the reader interface.

11. A system as set forth in claim 10 wherein the data event consumer comprises a data logger for receiving data from the reader interface and logging the data to the database or broadcasting the data to a remote server.

12. A system as set forth in claim 11 wherein the EMS comprises a plurality of data loggers and a data event queue for asynchronously providing event data to the data loggers.

13. A system as set forth in claim 8 wherein the EMS comprises a reader interface for receiving the data from the data adapter and communicating the data to a data event consumer that implements the reader interface.

14. A system as set forth in claim 13 wherein the data event consumer comprises a data logger for receiving data from the reader interface and logging the data to the database or broadcasting the data to a remote server.

15. A system as set forth in claim 14 wherein the EMS comprises a plurality of data loggers and a data event queue for asynchronously providing event data to the data loggers.

16. A system for controlling the collection, storing, and use of data in an RFID system, comprising:

an event management system (EMS) connected for receiving data from at least two RFID tag readers, said event management system being configured for processing said data and for logging the data to a database;

means for maintaining a real-time in-memory event database (RIED) wherein said RIED comprises a versioned data structure having an updated snapshot of the database maintained by said EMS and an outdated snapshot of said database; and

a task management system configured for monitoring data in said RIED and performing a task in response to a status of the monitored data;

wherein the EMS comprises a data adapter for receiving RFID tag data from at least one of the tag readers and providing the data in a standard format and a data filter for receiving the tag data from the data adapter to clean or smooth the tag data.

17. A system as set forth in claim 16 wherein the outdated snapshot of said database is a read only database.

18. A system as set forth in claim 16 wherein the versioned data structure of the RIED maintaining means comprises a plurality of outdated database snapshots each being chronologically different from each other.

19. A system as set forth in claim 18 wherein the outdated snapshots of said database are read only databases.

20. A system as set forth in claim 16 wherein the RIED maintaining means comprises a sequence manager that identifies the database snapshots with indicia that indicates a sequence in which the database snapshots were obtained.

21. A system as set forth in claim 20 wherein the sequence manager is configured to identify the plurality of database snapshots with a unique name and a sequence number and wherein said sequence number corresponds to a time at which a database snapshot was taken.

22. A system as set forth in claim 21 wherein the versioned data structure of the RIED maintaining means comprises a persistent datum data structure, wherein each version of a data item in the RIED is stored with its associated sequence number, such that in response to a query or search for a data item of a desired version, the RIED maintaining means returns a version of the data item with a latest sequence number smaller than the desired version'"'"'s sequence number.

23. A system as set forth in claim 22 wherein the versioned data structure of the RIED maintaining means comprises a persistent set data structure, wherein versions of data items are stored in sets based on a common data item indexing value, such that in response to a query or search for data items of a desired version, the RIED maintaining means returns a set of data items having a common indexing value.

24. A system as set forth in claim 23 wherein the versioned data structure of the RIED maintaining means comprises a hash table that maintains a table index as a mapping from an indexed column value to a persistent set of corresponding keys.

25. A system as set forth in claim 22 wherein the versioned data structure of the RIED maintaining means comprises a hash table that maintains a data table as a mapping from a primary key to a persistent datum containing a row value.

26. A system as set forth in claim 16 wherein the EMS comprises a reader interface for receiving the data from the data adapter and communicating the data to a data event consumer that implements the reader interface.

27. A system as set forth in claim 26 wherein the data event consumer comprises a data logger for receiving data from the reader interface and logging the data to the database or broadcasting the data to a remote server.

28. A system as set forth in claim 27 wherein the EMS comprises a plurality of data loggers and a data event queue for asynchronously providing event data to the data loggers.

29. A system as set forth in claim 16 wherein the EMS comprises a reader interface for receiving the data from the data filter and for communicating the data to a data event consumer that implements the reader interface.

30. A system as set forth in claim 29 wherein the data event consumer comprises a data logger for receiving data from the reader interface and logging the data to the database or broadcasting the data to a remote server.

31. A system as set forth in claim 30 wherein the EMS comprises a plurality of data loggers and a data event queue for asynchronously providing event data to the data loggers.