Solution for managing serialization of EPC identifiers for use with RFID tags

• US 7,827,200 B2
• Filed: 07/14/2006
• Issued: 11/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Rowe, Frederick W., Senegal, John K.
• Primary Examiner(s): LEWIS, CHERYL RENEA
• Application Number:
  US11/457,704
• Publication Number:
  US 20080041944A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,572 Days
• Field of Search: 707/802, 707/999.1, 707/769, 707/792
• US Class Current: 707/792
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

The present invention includes a method for managing serialization of ELECTRONIC PRODUCT CODES (EPCs). The method can include a step of identifying a software system for managing Tag Data Specification (TDS) compliant EPCs. The software system can include a database containing two or more related tables. A tuple can be included for each unique nonserialized portion of an EPC ID URN. The database can utilize the nonserialized portion to manage a serialized portion of the EPC. In one embodiment, the database can use the nonserialized portion of an EPC to automatically generate the serialized portion of the EPC. Different sets of sequentially increasing (or sequentially decreasing) serial numbers (that are assigned to the associated unique nonserialized portions of the EPCs) can be associated with different nonserialized values.

Claims

1. A method for managing serialization of ELECTRONIC PRODUCT CODES (EPCs) comprising:

identifying a software system for managing Tag Data Specification (TDS) compliant EPCs, said software system having a database containing a plurality of related tables;

including a tuple for each of the EPCs within one of the tables;

for each tuple, determining a nonserialized portion of an EPC associated with the tuple; and

the database utilizing the nonserialized portion to manage a serialized portion of the EPC, wherein each of the EPCs is formatted as a Uniform Resource Name (URN), and wherein the nonserialized portion is a portion of the URN exempting the serial number portion of the URN.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

digitally encoding the EPC into a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag; and

using the RFID tag to uniquely identify an object to which the RFID tag is physically linked.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

the database utilizing the nonserialized portion to automatically generate the serialized portion of the EPC.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein different generation functions are used by the database, which are selected based upon a value of the nonserialized portion.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the nonserialized portion is a candidate key for another one of the tables.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of related tables are in third normal form.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the tuples includes a field for the nonserialized portion, which is used as a foreign key.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the tuples includes a field for the nonserialized portion and a field for a serialized portion that together are a compound key.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

establishing a plurality of pools of unassigned serial numbers;

selecting one of the pools based upon the nonserialized portion; and

automatically assigning a value from the selected pool for the serial portion.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

establishing a plurality of mathematical functions, each function including an ordered set of unique numbers;

mapping different values for nonserialized portions of the EPC to different ones of the mathematical functions;

based upon the nonserialized portion, selecting a mapped one of the mathematical functions;

utilizing the selected mathematical function to automatically generate the serial portion; and

increasing a parameter associated with the selected mathematical function to ensure the function will not regenerate the generated serialized portion in the future.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said steps of claim 1 are steps performed by at least one machine in accordance with at least one computer program having a plurality of code sections that are executable by the at least one machine.

12. A method for assigning serial numbers for ELECTRONIC PRODUCT CODES (EPCs) comprising:

mapping a plurality of classification values to different serial number generation functions using at least one table of a database;

determining a nonserial value for a nonserialized portion of an EPC, wherein a serialized portion of the EPC is needed;

querying the database to match the determined nonserial value to one of the classification values;

using results from the querying step to automatically select an associated one of the serial number generation functions;

using the selected serial number generation function to generate a serial number, wherein the generated serial number is uniquely generated relative to the selected serial number generation function;

using the generated serial number as a serialized portion of the EPC, and

utilizing the database to manage the EPC and a plurality of other EPCs, wherein EPCs are stored in a database table having a field for the nonserial value, wherein the field is a foreign key linking the database table to a different database table, and wherein the tables of the database are in third normal form.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

digitally encoding the EPC into a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag; and

using the RFID tag to uniquely identify an object to which the RFID tag is physically linked.

14. A database structure comprising:

a plurality of related tables normalized in third normal form, said tables including an object table and a collection table;

the object table comprising an ELECTRONIC PRODUCT CODE (EPC) field, which is a candidate key of the object table, wherein a pure identity of a value associated with the EPC field comprises a serialized portion and a nonserialized portion; and

the collection table comprising a candidate key having a value equivalent to the nonserialized portion, said object table comprising a collection field having a value equivalent to the nonserialized portion, wherein the collection field is a foreign key relating the object table to the collection table.

15. The database of claim 14, wherein the value in the EPC field is automatically generated for the object table by concatenating the candidate key and an automatically generated serial number.

16. The database of claim 15, further comprising:

a plurality of different serial number generation functions, each function mapped to a particular value of the nonserialized portion, wherein the database uses a value of the nonserialized portion to determine which of the serial number generation functions is used to generate the automatically generated serial number.

17. The database of claim 15, wherein the automatically generated EPC value is digitally encoded into a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag and is used to uniquely identify an object to which the RFID tag is physically linked.