Electronic label system and operation method thereof

• US 9,197,704 B2
• Filed: 06/27/2012
• Issued: 11/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yuanhan Materials Incorporated (Eink Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SiPix Technology Inc. (E Ink Holdings Incorporated)
• Inventors: Sun, Wei-Min, Hsieh, Yao-Jen, Jou, Ming-Jong, Hung, Chi-Mao
• Primary Examiner(s): Previl, Daniel
• Application Number:
  US13/533,978
• Publication Number:
  US 20130002406A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,245 Days
• Field of Search: 340/10.6, 340/568.1, 340/539.13, 340/568.5, 340/988, 340/10.41, 3405721-5729, 340/588, 340/591
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

An electronic label system and an operation method thereof are provided. The electronic label system includes a control unit and a plurality of electronic label units. The control unit is used for sending display information. The electronic label units are coupled to the control unit to receive the display information and display according to the corresponding display information, respectively. The electronic label units respectively output a plurality of state information to the control unit so that the control unit can monitor operation states of the electronic label units according to the state information.

Claims

1. An electronic label system, comprising:

a control unit, sending display information; and

a plurality of electronic label units, coupled to the control unit, for receiving the display information and displaying according to the corresponding display information, wherein the electronic label units respectively output a plurality of state information to the control unit, so that the control unit monitors operation states of the electronic label units according to the state information and adjusts forms of the display information of the electronic label units according to the state information,

wherein the state information is transmitted to the control unit when a state of the electronic label units is varied.

2. The electronic label system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

a network unit, coupled between the control unit and the electronic label units, wherein the control unit transmits the display information to the electronic label units through the network unit via a wireless signal, and the electronic label units respectively transmit the corresponding state information to the network unit through the wireless signal, so as to transmit the state information to the control unit.

3. The electronic label system as claimed in claim 2, wherein each of the electronic label units comprises:

a network connecting unit, coupled to the network unit;

a display unit, coupled to the network connecting unit, for receiving the display information through the network connecting unit, displaying according to the display information, and outputting device information to the network connecting unit; and

a detecting unit, coupled to the network connecting unit and the display unit, for detecting operation state information of the display unit, and outputting the operation state information to the network connecting unit,

wherein the network connecting unit outputs the corresponding state information according to the device information and the operation state information.

4. The electronic label system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the display unit comprises:

a display panel; and

a driving circuit, coupled to the display panel and the network connecting unit, for driving the display panel according to the display information.

5. The electronic label system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the display panel is one of a liquid crystal display panel and an electrophoretic display panel.

6. The electronic label system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the network unit is coupled to the control unit through one of an Ethernet interface, an inter-integrated circuit interface, a serial peripheral interface, an RS232 interface and an ARM bus interface.

7. The electronic label system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the electronic label units are respectively coupled to the network unit through one of a WiFi communication protocol, a ZigBee communication protocol and a 3^rd generation (3G) mobile communication protocol.

8. The electronic label system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electronic label units are coupled to the network unit through one of an Ethernet interface, an inter-integrated circuit interface, a serial peripheral interface, an RS232 interface and an ARM bus interface.

9. The electronic label system as claimed in claim 8, wherein each of the electronic label units comprises:

a network connecting unit, coupled to the control unit;

a display unit, coupled to the network connecting unit, for receiving the display information through the network connecting unit, displaying according to the display information, and outputting device information to the network connecting unit; and

a detecting unit, coupled to the network connecting unit and the display unit, for detecting operation state information of the display unit, and outputting the operation state information to the network connecting unit,

wherein the network connecting unit outputs the corresponding state information according to the device information and the operation state information.

10. The electronic label system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit generates the display information corresponding to each of the electronic label units according to the state information.

11. The electronic label system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit is coupled to a server through an Ethernet, so as to obtain the display information corresponding to each of the electronic label units from the server.

12. The electronic label system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the server is coupled to a database through a virtual private network, so as to update the display information corresponding to each of the electronic label units through the database.

13. The electronic label system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the virtual private network is established in a wide area network.

14. The electronic label system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each state information comprises a part of, all of or one of an operating temperature, an operating voltage, a display resolution and a display panel type.

15. The electronic label system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the state information is transmitted to the control unit when the label system is booted.

16. The electronic label system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the state information is transmitted to the control unit once every predetermined period.

17. An operation method of an electronic label system, wherein the electronic label system comprises a control unit and a plurality of electronic label units, the operation method of the electronic label system comprising:

sending display information to the electronic label units by the control unit;

displaying according to the corresponding display information, and respectively outputting a plurality of state information to the control unit by the electronic label units;

monitoring operation states of the electronic label units by the control unit according to the state information; and

adjusting forms of the display information of the electronic label units according to the state information,

wherein the state information is transmitted to the control unit when a state of the electronic label units is varied.

18. The operation method of the electronic label system as claimed in claim 17, further comprising:

generating the display information corresponding to each of the electronic label units by the control unit according to the state information.

19. The operation method of the electronic label system as claimed in claim 17, wherein each state information comprises a part of all of or one of an operating temperature, an operating voltage, a display resolution and a display panel type.

20. The operation method of the electronic label system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the state information is transmitted to the control unit when the label system is booted.

21. The operation method of the electronic label system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the state information is transmitted to the control unit once every predetermined period.