Virtual readers for scalable RFID infrastructures
First Claim
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1. A networking method, comprising:
- receiving, from a requesting device, a first request for information regarding a virtual radio frequency identification (“
RFID”
) reader;
translating the first request into second requests for data from a first plurality of devices aggregated as a first logical RFID reader, the first plurality of devices comprising a first plurality of controllers;
wherein a plurality of physical RFID readers are associated with the first plurality of controllers by automatically updating a domain name server (DNS) entry of each of the plurality of RFID readers such that the DNS entry identifies a domain name of a corresponding one of the first plurality of controllers;
wherein the first plurality of controllers are associated with one or more middleware servers by automatically updating domain name server (“
DNS”
) entries;
sending at least one of the second requests to the first plurality of controllers;
receiving RFID data from the first plurality of controllers responsive to the second requests; and
sending at least some of the RFID data to the requesting device in response to the first request.
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Abstract
Some implementations of the invention involve forming “logical” or “virtual” devices by aggregating a plurality of physical devices. The physical devices may be, for example, controllers, RFID readers and/or storage devices. Some logical devices comprise components of physical devices, such as individual antennas from a plurality of RFID readers. The physical devices may be located near one another or may be distributed over a wide geographical area. Logical device definitions can also be concatenated to include devices having two or more levels of logical device definitions. A single logical device grouping may include physical devices at differing levels of a network hierarchy.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A networking method, comprising:
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receiving, from a requesting device, a first request for information regarding a virtual radio frequency identification (“
RFID”
) reader;translating the first request into second requests for data from a first plurality of devices aggregated as a first logical RFID reader, the first plurality of devices comprising a first plurality of controllers; wherein a plurality of physical RFID readers are associated with the first plurality of controllers by automatically updating a domain name server (DNS) entry of each of the plurality of RFID readers such that the DNS entry identifies a domain name of a corresponding one of the first plurality of controllers; wherein the first plurality of controllers are associated with one or more middleware servers by automatically updating domain name server (“
DNS”
) entries;sending at least one of the second requests to the first plurality of controllers; receiving RFID data from the first plurality of controllers responsive to the second requests; and sending at least some of the RFID data to the requesting device in response to the first request. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 21)
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14. A network, comprising:
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a plurality of RFID devices in various locations of a site; a plurality of controllers associated with the site; a plurality of middleware servers associated with the site; a DNS server configured to maintain network addresses and corresponding location and site information; an application server configured to create, automatically, an entry in the DNS server corresponding to all registered devices of a site; and an assigner configured to assign RFID devices to controllers and to assign controllers to middleware servers, wherein each of the plurality of RFID devices is provisioned with an RFID device network address, an assigner network address and instructions to send a request to the assigner for a controller, and wherein the assigner is configured to assign an RFID device to a controller in response to the request; and wherein each of the plurality of the controllers is provisioned with a controller network address, an assigner network address and instructions to send a request to the assigner for a middleware server, and wherein the assigner is configured to assign a controller to a middleware server in response to the request; wherein each of the plurality of RFID devices is associated with one of the plurality of controllers by automatically updating a domain name server (DNS) entry of each of the plurality of RFID devices such that the DNS entry identifies a domain name of a corresponding one of the plurality of controllers; and wherein the plurality of controllers are associated with the plurality of middleware servers by automatically updating DNS entries. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A network, comprising:
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means for receiving, from a requesting device, a first request for information regarding a virtual radio frequency identification (“
RFID”
) reader;means for translating the first request into second requests for data from a first plurality of devices aggregated as a first logical RFID reader, the first plurality of devices comprising a first plurality of controllers; means for automatically associating RFID readers with the first plurality of controllers by automatically updating a domain name server (DNS) entry of each of the RFID readers such that the DNS entry identifies a domain name of a corresponding one of the first plurality of controllers; means for automatically associating middleware servers with the first plurality of controllers by automatically updating domain name server (DNS) entries; means for sending at least one of the second requests to the first plurality of controllers; means for receiving RFID data from the first plurality of controllers responsive to the second requests; and means for sending at least some of the RFID data to the requesting device in response to the first request.
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20. Software stored on a machine-readable medium, the software comprising instructions for controlling one or more devices in a network to perform the following steps:
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receive, from a requesting device, a first request for information regarding a virtual radio frequency identification (“
RFID”
) reader;translate the first request into second requests for data from a first plurality of devices aggregated as a first logical RFID reader, the first plurality of devices comprising a first plurality of controllers; associate RFID devices with the first plurality of controllers by automatically updating domain name server (DNS) entries of the RFID devices such that each of the DNS entries identifies a domain name of a corresponding one of the first plurality of controllers; associate a middleware server with the first plurality of controllers by automatically updating (DNS) entries; send at least one of the second requests to the first plurality of controllers; receive RFID data from the first plurality of controllers responsive to the second requests; and send at least some of the RFID data to the requesting device in response to the first request.
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Specification