Method and system for identifying and managing radio frequency identification (RF-ID) attached objects

• US 7,761,347 B2
• Filed: 06/10/2003
• Issued: 07/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Asai, Shojiro, Fujisawa, Hiromichi, Ashizawa, Minoru
• Primary Examiner(s): Frenel; Vanel
• Application Number:
  US10/457,440
• Publication Number:
  US 20030234718A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,597 Days
• Field of Search: 705/28, 705/16, 705/21, 340/10.2, 340/5.62, 340/10.1, 235/492, 235/380
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0008 General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method and system for making losses due to the counterfeiting of RF-ID tags to a minimum, enhancing the reliability of RF-ID tag read-out and improving the overall reliability of the RF-ID tag system. An ID reader for communicating by radio with the RF-ID tag and reading tag data from the RF-ID tag transmits the data read-out results to a terminal management server connected to the ID reader. The terminal management server decodes the error correction signal from the read-out result data, also extracts the identification number section from the tag, and decides whether or not that identification number is valid. When determined to be a valid identification number, an inquiry is made to the system operation server connected over the network to find out if that identification number was previously read out and if that identification number might be counterfeit. The system operation server then refers to the log database, the blacklist database and process transition rule, calculates the probability of counterfeiting and automatically sends a warning message to the related department when there is a high probability of counterfeiting.

Claims

1. An RF-ID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag management method for authenticating an RF-ID tag attached to merchandise, comprising:

reading tag data from the RF-ID tag by a first ID-reader, and reporting the tag data to a system operation server with a first process ID assigned to the first ID-reader;

registering the first process ID as being related to an identification number of the tag data in a log database on the system operation server;

searching the log database for a second process ID which is the most recently recorded process ID as being related to the identification number; and

detecting a counterfeit RF-ID tag by determining whether a transition from a second process indicated by the second process ID to a first process indicated by the first process ID is possible as compared with process transition rules which are used to determine whether transitions between processes performed in an overall business system are possible or not,

wherein each of the first process and the second process indicates one of the processes in the overall business system, and

wherein process IDs, including the first process ID and the second process ID, are numbers indicating which of the processes in the overall business system have been performed on the merchandise.

2. The RF-ID tag management method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether or not a time difference between a first time when the first ID-reader read out the tag data and a second time when a second ID-reader read out the tag data is greater than normal required time for moving from the second geographic position where the second ID-reader read out the tag data to a first geographic position where the first ID-reader read out the tag data.

3. The RF-ID tag management method according to claim 1,

wherein said tag data comprises at least a physical header, a service header and service data, and said service data is an integer of a limited fixed length indicating an identification number for said service, which is generated as a pseudo-random number.

4. The RF-ID tag management method according to claim 1, wherein said tag data contains redundant data for error code correction, and error correction code decoding is performed on tag data read-out results, and the specified error correction is performed when an error is correctable.

5. The RF-ID tag management method according to claim 1,

wherein the processes indicated by the first process ID and the second process ID are any one of product inspection, factory shipment, wholesaler shipment, retailer shipment, sale, merchandise return and maintenance, and

wherein the process transition rules determine that transitions from the product inspection to the factory shipment, from the factory shipment to the wholesaler shipment, from the wholesaler shipment to retailer shipment, from the retailer shipment to the sale, from the sale to the merchandise return, and from the sale to the maintenance are possible.

6. An RF-ID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag management method for authenticating a RF-ID tag attached to paper currency, comprising:

reading tag data from the RF-ID tag by a first ID-reader and reporting the tag data to a system operation server with a first process ID assigned to the first ID-reader;

registering the first process ID as being related to an identification number of the tag data in a log database on the system operation server;

searching the log database for a second process ID which is the most recently recorded process ID as being related to the identification number for the tag data; and

detecting a counterfeit RF-ID tag by determining whether a transition from a second process indicated by the second process ID to a first process indicated by the first process ID is possible as compared with process transition rules which are used to determine whether transitions between processes performed in an overall business system are possible or not,

wherein each of the first process and the second process indicates one of the processes in the overall business system, and

wherein the process IDs, including the first process ID and the second process ID, are numbers indicating which of the processes in the overall business system have been performed on the merchandise.

7. The RF-ID tag management method according to claim 6,

wherein the process indicated by the first process ID and the second process ID is any one of depositing money in a bank or ATM (Automated Teller Machine) and withdrawing money from the bank or ATM.

8. A method for detecting a counterfeit of an RF-ID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag comprising:

reading an identification number from an RF-ID tag by a first reader;

reporting the identification number with a first process ID from the first reader to a log database in a system operation server;

registering the first process ID, a read-out date and a read-out time as being related to the identification number in the log database;

reading an identification number from an RF-ID tag by a second reader;

reporting the identification number with a second process ID from the second reader to a log database in the system operation server; and

retrieving the first process ID with the identification number from the log database and detecting a counterfeit RF-ID tag by determining whether a transition from a first process indicated by the first process ID to a second process indicated by the second process ID is possible as compared with process transition rules which are used to determine whether transitions between processes performed in an overall business system are possible or not,

wherein each of the first process and the second process indicates one of processes in the overall business system, and

wherein process IDs, including the first process ID and the second process ID, are numbers indicating which of the processes in the overall business system have been performed on the merchandise.

9. The method according to claim 8,

wherein each of the processes indicated by the first process ID and the second process ID is either one of product inspection, factory shipment, wholesaler shipment, retailer shipment, sale, merchandise return and maintenance, and

wherein the process transition rules determine that transitions from the product inspection to the factory shipment, from the factory shipment to the wholesaler shipment, from the wholesaler shipment to retailer shipment, from the retailer shipment to the sale, from the sale to the merchandise return, and from the sale to the maintenance are possible.

10. The method according to claim 8,

wherein each of the processes indicated by the first process ID and the second process ID is either one of depositing money in a bank or ATM (Automated Teller Machine) and withdrawing money from the bank or ATM.