Inventory management system and method for a cellular communications system
First Claim
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1. A method of managing inventory in a cellular communications network having inventory located at one or more base station sites, the method comprising:
- i wirelessly reading an ID tag of an item of inventory at a base station site;
ii communicating information encoded in the ID tag along with physical location information to a central database; and
iii automatically generating an entry for the item of inventory in an inventory management database.
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Abstract
A method and system for managing inventory in a cellular communications systems utilises wireless ID tag readers to monitor items of inventory. This enables all items of inventory at a cell site to be monitored and a central database periodically updated. In one embodiment GPS units at each site or associated with each ID tag may be used to monitor the position of the item of inventory. In another embodiment an item of inventory communicates its status to the ID tag which communicates this status information when read.
42 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method of managing inventory in a cellular communications network having inventory located at one or more base station sites, the method comprising:
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i wirelessly reading an ID tag of an item of inventory at a base station site;
ii communicating information encoded in the ID tag along with physical location information to a central database; and
iii automatically generating an entry for the item of inventory in an inventory management database. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An inventory management system for a cellular communications system comprising:
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i a central database; and
, at a base station;
ii a wireless ID tag reader; and
iii a controller linked to the central database via a communications link which receives data read by the wireless ID tag reader and communicates it to the central database. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method of monitoring inventory in a cellular communications network comprising:
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a. wirelessly monitoring inventory data of ID tags associated with items of inventory;
b. comparing received inventory data with prior inventory data; and
c. generating an alert signal when the inventory data for an ID tag changes. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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Specification