Auto-id simulator

• US 7,756,902 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2004
• Issued: 07/13/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Lin, Tao
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong; Don
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hwa; Shyue Jiunn
• Application Number:
  US11/024,872
• Publication Number:
  US 20060149776A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,021 Days
• Field of Search: 707/104.1, 360/74.1, 360/137
• US Class Current: 707/802
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management

Abstract

An auto-identification system is described that includes a plurality of distributed auto-id nodes that are operable to track physical objects as they move through an operation of an enterprise, such as, for example, a supply chain network or a sales network. The auto-id nodes are distributed across sites of the network, and are in communication with enterprise application systems and/or data acquisition systems such as RFID readers or sensor devices. By focusing on their respective sites, the auto-id nodes minimize the amount of data tracked by their respective enterprise applications. Further, a simulator may be associated with one or more of the auto-id nodes. In this case, the simulator may project certain movements of the physical objects through an environment of an auto-id node, and then feed corresponding data to the auto-id node. In this way, the auto-id node may be tested and optimized, without requiring actual, physical testing.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a user selection, through a user interface, of a type and quantity of physical objects that are currently being processed within a process flow of a physical processing environment, for which a virtual movement data is to be generated in order to run a simulation which tests a functionality or a capability of the physical processing environment;

accessing a movement graph defining, for each of two or more possible destination reading points within the process flow that the physical objects may move to from each origin data reading point, a probability that the physical objects will move to each respective possible destination reading point, and a time window that the physical objects are expected to move from the origin data reading point to each of the two or more possible destination data reading points within the process flow;

accessing current status information of the user-selected type of physical objects within the physical processing environment wherein the type of physical object is a palletized type, a grouped type, or an individual type;

generating, based on the selected type of the physical objects, the accessed movement graph, and the accessed current status information, the virtual movement data for the selected quantity of physical objects within the process flow, the virtual movement data specifying a sub-quantity of the physical objects likely to move to, and an expected time of arrival of the specified sub-quantity at, each respective possible destination reading point from the origin data reading point, for input to the origin data reading point or possible destination data reading points wherein the virtual movement data is generated as a simulation model or a testing script;

inputting at least a portion of the generated virtual movement data to the origin or possible destination data reading points, thereby simulating the virtual movement within the process flow; and

outputting a representation of the simulated virtual movement to the user through the user interface.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the status information further comprises one or more origins associated with the selected type of physical objects, one or more destinations associated with the selected type of physical objects, an inventory status associated with the selected type of physical objects, a current location associated with the selected type of physical object, and special banding instructions associated with the selected type of physical object.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual movement data is formatted in an event message format that is native to the origin data reading point.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least the portion of the generated virtual movement data is input to the origin reading point or the possible destination reading points without placing the origin reading point or the destination reading point into a simulation mode, and without physically moving the physical objects from the origin reading, point to the possible destination reading points.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the representation comprises a return on investment analysis of the origin or destination data reading points.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically selecting the movement graph based on the selected type and quantity of the physical objects.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual movement represents a progression of the selected type of the physical objects through the origin and possible destination data reading points.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing the current status information further comprises determining a current location for the selected quantity of the selected type of the physical objects.

9. The method of claim 1, generating the virtual movement data further comprises:

determining a selected destination data reading point from amongst the two or more possible destination data reading points based on the accessed status information and the probability; and

determining a random time within the time window associated with the selected destination data reading point.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining that a total processing time will be exceeded if of the selected type of the physical requires a high end of the time window for greater than a predetermined threshold of virtual movements.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising constructing the movement graph as a matrix, in which paths between the origin data reading point and the possible destination data reading points are filled in according to the probability and the time window associated with each of the possible destination data reading points.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining appropriate physical objects for which to generate virtual movement data, based on the selected quantity and the accessed current status information.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a second user selection through the user interface, the second user selection adjusting the probability and the time window.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising regenerating the virtual movement data based on the adjusted probability and the adjusted time window.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the origin data reading point is associated with a radio frequency identification device (RFID) reader.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the representation comprises an illustration of the type of the physical objects moving through the process flow.