Locator inventory system
First Claim
1. An inventory management system that is arranged for tracking inventory in a predefined area, the system comprising:
- a central processing unit that is arranged to process and track inventory in response to communications received from locators over a communication network;
a plurality of locators that are each arranged at different locations proximal to the predefined area, wherein each of the plurality of locators is arranged for communicating with the central processing unit over the communication network, and also for communicating with transponders located within the predefined area,wherein a selected one of the plurality of locators is configured toencode a transmission sequence with an identifier associated with a predefined group of transponders, andtransmit the encoded transmission sequence in a first wireless broadcast; and
wherein each of the plurality of locators is configured toreceive one or more reply transmission sequences after transmission of wireless broadcast is initiated,correlate each received reply transmission sequence with a group identified sequence to generate a correlation vector for each received transmission sequence, wherein the group identified sequence is associated with the predefined group of transponders,determine a time of arrival for each corresponding correlation vector, andforward each time of arrival and corresponding correlation vector to the central processing unit for inventory and location tracking; and
a transponder that is arranged to receive the wireless transmission sequence, wherein the transponder is positioned within the predefined area, identified with the group of transponders and arranged to;
receive and capture information from at least a portion of the wireless broadcast;
correlate the captured information with an internally stored reference sequence,wherein the internally stored reference sequence is associated with a designated group;
identify a correlation when the received and captured information correlates with the internally stored reference sequence;
encode a reply sequence with an identifier associated with the transponder after a correlation is identified;
determine a precise time interval based on the previously received locator signal timing parameters for transmitting the encoded reply sequence after the correlation is identified; and
transmit the encoded reply sequence in a second wireless broadcast, wherein the transmission of the encoded reply sequence is transmitted at the precisely determined time interval to avoid transmission collisions.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A transmission sequence is broadcast from a locator to a group of transponder devices. Each transponder identified with the group is arranged to receive and capture at least a portion of the transmission, correlate the captured information with an internally stored reference sequence for the identified group, and identify a correlation when the captured information correlates with the internally stored reference sequence. Each transponder that finds a correlation is arranged to broadcast a transmission reply sequence at a precisely determined time interval so that the transponders in a group transmit at different times. A series of locators receive the transmission reply sequence(s), each at a precisely logged time of arrival, and the locators forward the received results to a central processing unit for time synchronization, location tracking, and inventory logging.
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Citations
46 Claims
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1. An inventory management system that is arranged for tracking inventory in a predefined area, the system comprising:
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a central processing unit that is arranged to process and track inventory in response to communications received from locators over a communication network; a plurality of locators that are each arranged at different locations proximal to the predefined area, wherein each of the plurality of locators is arranged for communicating with the central processing unit over the communication network, and also for communicating with transponders located within the predefined area, wherein a selected one of the plurality of locators is configured to encode a transmission sequence with an identifier associated with a predefined group of transponders, and transmit the encoded transmission sequence in a first wireless broadcast; and wherein each of the plurality of locators is configured to receive one or more reply transmission sequences after transmission of wireless broadcast is initiated, correlate each received reply transmission sequence with a group identified sequence to generate a correlation vector for each received transmission sequence, wherein the group identified sequence is associated with the predefined group of transponders, determine a time of arrival for each corresponding correlation vector, and forward each time of arrival and corresponding correlation vector to the central processing unit for inventory and location tracking; and a transponder that is arranged to receive the wireless transmission sequence, wherein the transponder is positioned within the predefined area, identified with the group of transponders and arranged to; receive and capture information from at least a portion of the wireless broadcast; correlate the captured information with an internally stored reference sequence, wherein the internally stored reference sequence is associated with a designated group; identify a correlation when the received and captured information correlates with the internally stored reference sequence; encode a reply sequence with an identifier associated with the transponder after a correlation is identified; determine a precise time interval based on the previously received locator signal timing parameters for transmitting the encoded reply sequence after the correlation is identified; and transmit the encoded reply sequence in a second wireless broadcast, wherein the transmission of the encoded reply sequence is transmitted at the precisely determined time interval to avoid transmission collisions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. An inventory management system that is arranged for tracking inventory in a predefined area, the system comprising:
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a central processing unit that is arranged to process and track inventory in response to communications received from one or more locators over a communication network; a locator that is positioned within the predefined area, wherein the locator is arranged for communicating with a group of transponders positioned within the predefined area, wherein the locator is configured to encode a transmission sequence with an identifier associated with a predefined group of transponders, transmit the encoded transmission sequence in a first wireless broadcast; receive two or more reply transmission sequences after transmission of wireless broadcast is initiated, correlate each received reply transmission sequence with a group identified sequence to generate a correlation vector for each received reply transmission sequence, wherein the group identified sequence is associated with the group of transponders, determine a time of arrival for each corresponding correlation vector, and forward each time of arrival and corresponding correlation vector to the central processing unit for inventory and location tracking; and a first transponder and a second transponder that are each arranged to receive the wireless transmission sequence, wherein the first transponder and the second transponder are positioned within the predefined area, identified with the group of transponders and each arranged to; receive and capture information from at least a portion of the wireless broadcast; correlate the captured information with an internally stored reference sequence, wherein the internally stored reference sequence is associated with a designated group; identify a correlation when the received and captured information correlates with the internally stored reference sequence; encode a reply sequence with an identifier associated with the transponder after a correlation is identified; determine a precise time interval for transmitting the encoded reply sequence after the correlation is identified, wherein the precise time interval for the first transponder is different from the precise time interval of the second transponder; and transmit the encoded reply sequence in a second wireless broadcast, wherein the transmission of the encoded reply sequence is transmitted at the precisely determined time interval to avoid transmission collisions between transmissions of the first transponder and the second transponder. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A method for tracking an inventory positioned within a predefined area, the method comprising:
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selecting a group identifier, wherein the selected group identifier corresponds to one or more transponders identified with at least a portion of the inventory; encoding a transmission sequence with a group identifier, wherein the group identifier is associated with a predetermined group of transponders; broadcasting the transmission sequence from a selected one of a plurality of locators, wherein each of the plurality of locators are positioned within the predefined area, whereby the; receiving a reply transmission sequence from a transponder that is located within the predefined area with two or more of the plurality of locators, wherein the transponder is identified with at least a portion of the inventory that is positioned within the predefined area, the transponder is identified with the predefined group of transponders, and wherein the transponder is arranged such that the; correlating each received transmission sequence with an Fast Fourier Transformer (FFT) reference sequence, wherein the FFT reference sequence is encoded with the group identifier; identifying a correlation vector when the received and captured information correlates with the FFT reference sequence; determining a time of arrival for each generated correlation vector, and forwarding each time of arrival and corresponding correlation vector from each transponder to a central processing unit for inventory and location tracking; processing each time of arrival and corresponding correlation vector received from the transponders to determine a position associated with the transponder within the predefined area.
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Specification