System for locating and describing

• US 7,965,187 B2
• Filed: 06/25/2008
• Issued: 06/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Symbol Technologies, LLC (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Symbol Technologies, Inc. (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Inventors: Malik, Ajay
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Hung T.
• Application Number:
  US12/145,812
• Publication Number:
  US 20090322532A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,091 Days
• Field of Search: 340/572.1, 340/572.3, 340/572.4, 340/539.11, 340/539.13, 340/539.21, 340/825.49
• US Class Current: 340/572.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/42 Determining position
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A system includes a tag associated with an item wirelessly transmitting data; a network device receiving the data and determining a location of the item; and a mobile unit receiving the location of the item from the network device. The mobile unit further receives the data from the tag and outputs a description of the item based on the data.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a tag associated with an item wirelessly transmitting data;

a network device receiving the data and determining a location of the item; and

a mobile unit receiving the location of the item from the network device, the mobile unit further receiving the data from the tag and outputting a description of the item based on the data.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the description is one of a text description, an audio description, and a video description.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the description is one of included in the data, stored in the mobile unit, stored in the network device, and stored in a further network device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the tag is one of a passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, an active RFID tag, a semi-passive RFID tag, and a WiFi tag.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the data comprises a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being used to determine the location and the second portion being used to output the description.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the location is determined using one of a triangulation, a global positioning system (GPS), and a received signal strength indication (RSSI).

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the first portion is transmitted by the tag using a greater power than the transmission of the second portion.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

at least one further tag associated with a further item wirelessly transmitting further to the network device to determine a further location of the further item and to the mobile unit to output a further description of the further item.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the network device verifies that the description of the item is correct.

10. The system of claim 5, wherein the network device transmits an updated second portion of the data to the tag.

11. A method, comprising:

transmitting data from a tag associated with an item to a network device and a mobile unit;

determining, by the network device, a location of the item;

transmitting the location from the network device to the mobile unit; and

outputting a description of the item based on the data.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the description is one of a text description, an audio description, and a video description.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the description is one of included in the data, stored in the mobile unit, stored in the network device, and stored in a further network device.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the tag is one of a passive RFID tag, an active RFID tag, a semi-passive RFID tag, and a WiFi tag.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the data comprises a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being used for the determining of the location and the second portion being used for the outputting of the description.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the determining of the location uses one of a triangulation, a GPS, and a RSSI.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the first portion is transmitted using a greater power than the transmission of the second portion.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

verifying, by the network device, that the description of the item is correct.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

transmitting an updated second portion of the data from the network device to the tag.

20. A system, comprising:

a transmitting means for wirelessly transmitting data, the transmitting means being associated with an item;

a network device receiving the data and determining a location of the item; and

a mobile unit receiving the location of the item, the mobile unit further receiving the data from the transmitting means and outputting a description of the item based on the data.