Self-referential integrity checking system and method
First Claim
1. A method of generating and associating identifiers for use in checking the integrity of stored items associated with a storage item, the method comprising:
- defining an identifier for each stored item;
defining an identifier for the storage item;
storing the identifiers in a plurality of readable tags, with a plurality of identifiers being stored in each readable tag;
attaching each readable tag to one of the items; and
wherein the plurality of identifiers stored in each readable tag includes the identifier associated with the item to which the readable tag is attached and the identifier associated with at least one other selected item.
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Abstract
An integrity checking system includes a tag programming device that generates a plurality of identifiers. Each identifier is associated with either a storage item or an item to be stored by the storage item. The programming device stores each of the identifiers in a plurality of readable tags, each readable tag being adapted to be attached to a corresponding item. A tag reading device reads the identifiers stored in the readable tags and, using only information from the read tags, provides information indicating whether any item supposed to be stored on the storage item is missing from the storage item. Also, methods for storing and reading the identifiers are disclosed along with storing additional information about the items in the tags, such as physical information like weight and/or volume of the items, and then using this information to determine whether any items have been altered.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of generating and associating identifiers for use in checking the integrity of stored items associated with a storage item, the method comprising:
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defining an identifier for each stored item; defining an identifier for the storage item; storing the identifiers in a plurality of readable tags, with a plurality of identifiers being stored in each readable tag; attaching each readable tag to one of the items; and wherein the plurality of identifiers stored in each readable tag includes the identifier associated with the item to which the readable tag is attached and the identifier associated with at least one other selected item. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method generating checking the integrity of items associated with a storage item, the method comprising:
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defining an identifier for each item; defining an identifier for the storage item; storing the identifiers in a plurality of readable tags, with a plurality of identifiers being stored in each readable tag; attaching each readable tag to one of the items; and wherein a sequence of N identifiers is defined from the identifiers, and wherein each identifier is stored in a corresponding readable tag and in the readable tags corresponding to the next two identifiers in the sequence, and wherein the sequence wraps back on itself for the determining the identifiers stored in the readable tags associated with the N and N-1 identifiers in the sequence.
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12. A method of performing an integrity check to identify missing stored items contained on a storage item, a readable tag being attached to each stored item and to the storage item, the method comprising:
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reading identifiers stored in each of the readable tags, wherein each readable tag includes at least two identifiers and wherein at least one of the two identifiers stored in each tag is associated with another item; and using only information read from the readable tags, determining whether any stored item supposed to be stored on the storage item is missing from the storage item. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. An integrity checking system, comprising:
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a tag programming device operable to generate a plurality of unique identifiers, each unique identifier being associated with either a storage item or stored item to be stored by the storage item, and the programming device further operable to store each of the unique identifiers in a plurality of readable tags, each readable tag adapted to be attached to a corresponding item; and a tag reading device operable to read the unique identifiers stored in the readable tags and operable using only information from the read tags to provide information indicating whether any stored item supposed to be stored by the storage item is missing from the storage item. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification