Apparatus and method pertaining to conveying information via an RFID transceiver

• US 9,230,145 B2
• Filed: 04/25/2013
• Issued: 01/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Wal Mart Stores Inc (WalMart Inc.)
• Inventors: Jones, Nicholaus A., Wilkinson, Bruce W., Rasel, Abu
• Primary Examiner(s): Lim, Steven
• Assistant Examiner(s): Alizada, Omeed
• Application Number:
  US13/870,647
• Publication Number:
  US 20140320269A1
• Time in Patent Office: 985 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10297 arrangements for handling protocols designed for non-contact record carriers such as RFIDs NFCs, e.g. ISO/IEC 14443 and 18092 cryptographic protocols H04L9/00; network security protocols H04L63/00; real-time communication protocols in data switching networks H04L65/00; network protocols for data switching network services H04L67/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work

Abstract

An RFID transceiver and RFID-tag reader cooperate to convey information from one to the other and further accommodate the RFID-tag reader transmitting information to the RFID transceiver that causes a modification of information presented via the RFID transceiver. By one approach an RFID-tag reader detects a circumstance that evidences a particular status as pertains to a particular item of such information in a given RFID transceivers. An RFID-tag reader can then serve to modify the information at the corresponding RFID transceiver. By one approach, the aforementioned information comprises a to-do list. The aforementioned modification can comprise modifying at least one to-do item in that to-do list. The aforementioned detection of a circumstance can comprise detecting a physical location of the given RFID transceiver. That location information can be compared to locations that correspond to specific to-do items in the list to identify correlations that evidence completion of specific to-do items.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

by a control circuit that is operably coupled to a plurality of radio-frequency identification (RFID)-tag readers;

using at least one of the plurality of RFID-tag readers to send to-do list information to at least one given RFID tag;

detecting, via at least one of the plurality of RFID-tag readers, a physical location for the given RFID tag;

determining that a particular task in the to-do list information has a physical location that corresponds to the physical location for the given RFID tag for at least a predetermined amount of time;

automatically updating the to-do list information to indicate completion of the particular task in the at least one given RFID tag.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

identifying an additional to-do item to add to the to-do list as a function, at least in part, of one of the to-do items that comprises the to-do list;

using at least one of the plurality of RFID-tag readers to send the additional to-do item to the at least one given RFID tag.

3. An apparatus comprising:

a control circuit that is operably coupled to a plurality of radio-frequency identification (RFID)-tag readers, the control circuit being configured to;

use at least one of the plurality of RFID-tag readers to send to-do list information to at least one given RFID tag;

detect, via at least one of the plurality of RFID-tag readers, a physical location for the given RFID tag;

determine that a particular task in the to-do list information has a physical location that corresponds to the physical location for the given RFID tag for at least a predetermined amount of time;

automatically update the to-do list information to indicate completion of the particular task in the at least one given RFID tag.