Locator inventory system
First Claim
1. An inventory management system that is arranged for tracking inventory in a tracking area, the system comprising:
- a central processing unit that is arranged to track inventory in response to communications received over a communication network;
a plurality of locators, wherein each of the plurality of locators is arranged to communicate with the central processing unit over the communication network, and also arranged to communicate with one or more transponders located within the tracking area,wherein a selected locator from the plurality of locators is configured toencode a transmission sequence with a first identifier associated with a group of transponders, andtransmit the encoded transmission sequence in a first wireless broadcast; and
wherein at least one of the plurality of locators is configured toreceive one or more reply transmission sequences,correlate received reply transmission sequences with an identified sequence to generate a correlation vector for each of the one or more reply transmission sequences, wherein the identified sequence is associated with the one or more transponders,determine a time of arrival for each corresponding correlation vector, andforward the time of arrival and corresponding correlation vector to the central processing unit; and
a transponder that is positioned within the tracking area and arranged to;
capture information from at least a portion of the first wireless broadcast;
correlate the captured information with a reference sequence, wherein the reference sequence is associated with the first identifier;
identify a correlation when the captured information correlates with the internally stored reference sequence;
encode a reply sequence with a second identifier associated with the transponder;
determine a precise time interval to transmit the encoded reply sequence based on the previously received first wireless broadcast; 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.
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
51 Claims
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1. An inventory management system that is arranged for tracking inventory in a tracking area, the system comprising:
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a central processing unit that is arranged to track inventory in response to communications received over a communication network; a plurality of locators, wherein each of the plurality of locators is arranged to communicate with the central processing unit over the communication network, and also arranged to communicate with one or more transponders located within the tracking area, wherein a selected locator from the plurality of locators is configured to encode a transmission sequence with a first identifier associated with a group of transponders, and transmit the encoded transmission sequence in a first wireless broadcast; and wherein at least one of the plurality of locators is configured to receive one or more reply transmission sequences, correlate received reply transmission sequences with an identified sequence to generate a correlation vector for each of the one or more reply transmission sequences, wherein the identified sequence is associated with the one or more transponders, determine a time of arrival for each corresponding correlation vector, and forward the time of arrival and corresponding correlation vector to the central processing unit; and a transponder that is positioned within the tracking area and arranged to; capture information from at least a portion of the first wireless broadcast; correlate the captured information with a reference sequence, wherein the reference sequence is associated with the first identifier; identify a correlation when the captured information correlates with the internally stored reference sequence; encode a reply sequence with a second identifier associated with the transponder; determine a precise time interval to transmit the encoded reply sequence based on the previously received first wireless broadcast; 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. - 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)
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36. An inventory management system that is arranged for tracking inventory in a tracking area, the system comprising:
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a plurality of locators that each include a respective antenna positioned at different positions proximate to the tracking area; a plurality of transponders associated with inventory positioned within the tracking area; a central processing unit that is configured in communication with the plurality of locators over a communication network to track the inventory positioned within the tracking area, wherein the central processing unit is configured to select one of the plurality of locators as a selected locator operated in either an interrogator mode or a locator mode, and also configured to select two or more of the plurality of locators as non-selected locators operated in either a synchronization mode or the locator mode; wherein the selected locator in the interrogator mode is configured to;
synthesize timing and frequency from a time base, encode a transmission sequence with an identifier, transmit an interrogation signal using the synthesized timing and frequency from the time base, wherein the interrogation signal corresponds to a wireless broadcast of the transmission sequence encoded with the identifier;wherein each non-selected locator in the synchronization mode is configured to;
capture samples of the interrogation signal, correlate the captured samples with a reference sequence to acquire timing and frequency for operating the non-selected locator, wherein the acquired timing and frequency is effectively associated with the time base of the selected locator;wherein each transponder is configured to capture samples of the interrogation signal and determine if the captured samples correlate with the reference sequence associated with the corresponding transponder, when the captured samples are determined to correlate the transponder is further configured to;
encode a reply sequence with an identifier associated with the transponder, determine a precise time interval for the transponder to transmit the encoded reply sequence in a reply signal, and transmit the reply signal at the precisely determined time interval for receipt by one or more of the plurality of locators; andeach locator that is configured in the locator mode is configured to;
capture samples of the reply signal, correlate the captured samples with a reference sequence to generate a correlation vector associated with a corresponding transponder, 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. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. An inventory management system that is arranged for tracking inventory in a tracking area, the system comprising:
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a plurality of locators that each include a respective antenna; a plurality of transponders associated with inventory positioned within the tracking area; a central processing unit that is configured in communication with the plurality of locators over a communication network to track the inventory positioned within the tracking area, wherein the central processing unit is configured to select one of the plurality of locators as a selected locator operated in an interrogator mode or a locator mode, and also configured to select two or more of the plurality of locators as non-selected locators operated in a synchronization mode, a calibration mode, or the locator mode; wherein the selected locator in the interrogator mode is configured to;
synthesize timing and frequency from a time base, encode a transmission sequence with an identifier, transmit an interrogation signal using the synthesized timing and frequency from the time base, wherein the interrogation signal corresponds to a wireless broadcast of the transmission sequence encoded with the identifier;wherein each non-selected locator in the synchronization mode or the calibration mode is configured to;
capture samples of the interrogation signal, correlate the captured samples with a reference sequence to acquire timing and frequency for operating the non-selected locator, wherein the acquired timing and frequency is effectively associated with the time base of the selected locator;wherein each non-selected locator in the calibration mode is further configured to;
encode a reply sequence with an identifier associated with the corresponding locator, determine a precise time interval for the corresponding locator to transmit the encoded reply sequence in a reply signal, and transmit the reply signal at the precisely determined time interval for receipt by one or more of the plurality of locators;wherein each transponder is configured to capture samples of the interrogation signal and determine if the captured samples correlate with the reference sequence associated with the corresponding transponder, when the captured samples are determined to correlate the transponder is further configured to;
encode a second reply sequence with an identifier associated with the transponder, determine a second precise time interval for the transponder to transmit the encoded second reply sequence in a second reply signal, and transmit the second reply signal at the second precisely determined second time interval for receipt by one or more of the plurality of locators; andeach locator that is configured in the locator mode is configured to;
capture samples of the reply signal, correlate the captured samples with a reference sequence to generate a correlation vector associated with a corresponding transponder, 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. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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Specification