Creation and Management of RFID Device Versions

• US 20170064542A1
• Filed: 11/11/2016
• Published: 03/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Gopalan, Krishnan, Sonnathi, Kalyan Chakravarthy, Jain, Bhuvanesh N.
• Granted Patent: US 9,867,036 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10198 setting parameters for the interrogator, e.g. programming parameters and operating modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/22 Processing or transfer of terminal data, e.g. status or physical capabilities

Abstract

The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or method that creates, manages, or maintains multiple device versions in a network of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices. The system can include components that detect whether a device has joined the network and based at least in part on such indication creates a device profile the first time that the device is detected, establishes a version trail containing configuration settings specific to the detected device, and thereafter builds and maintains the version trail when the device joins and/or leaves the network.

Claims

1. A device management system, comprising:

a receiver configured to acquire an indication of a device joining a network, the device configured to communicate with another device using a line of sight wireless technology, the device having an antenna, the device further configured to communicate with the another device using the antenna when within a range of the device;

an interface configured to interrogate the device via the network to obtain current configuration information associated with the device;

a manager configured to create a device profile for the device based on the obtained configuration information; and

memory configured to store the device profile for the device.

2. The device management system of claim 1, wherein the obtained configuration information comprises interdependent settings.

3. The device management system of claim 2, wherein the obtained configuration information further comprises at least one of parameters, network settings or antenna configuration aspects of the device.

4. The device management system of claim 1, wherein the manager is further configured to employ the indication as a time-sequence event to establish a check point.

5. The device management system of claim 4, wherein the manager is further configured to utilize the check point to create a version instance in a version trail, the version instance being configured to provide an aggregation of changes occurring between a previous check point and the check point.

6. The device management system of claim 1, wherein the receiver is further configured to employ an indication of the device leaving the network as a time-sequence event to establish a check point.

7. The device management system of claim 6, wherein the manager is further configured to utilize the check point to create a version instance in a version trail, the version instance being configured to provide an aggregation of changes occurring between a previous check point and the check point.

8. The device management system of claim 1, wherein the obtained configuration information comprises at least one antenna configuration associated with the device.

9. The device management system of claim 1, wherein the device is further configured to communicate with the another device using a Wi-Fi network.

10. The device management system of claim 1, wherein the device is further configured to communicate with the another device using Bluetooth wireless technology.

11. A device management system, comprising:

a receiver configured to acquire an indication of a device joining a network, the device having an antenna, the device configured to communicate with another device using a line of sight wireless technology, the device further configured to communicate with the another device using the antenna when within a range of the device

a memory configured to store a device profile comprising configuration information for the device;

a manager configured to obtain the device profile comprising configuration information from the memory; and

an interface configured to provide the obtained configuration information to the device.

12. The device management system of claim 12, wherein the obtained configuration information comprises at least one antenna configuration associated with the device.

13. The device management system of claim 12, wherein the device is further configured to communicate with the another device using a Wi-Fi network.

14. The device management system of claim 12, wherein the device is further configured to communicate with the another device using Bluetooth wireless technology.

15. A device management system, comprising:

memory configured to store a device profile comprising configuration information associated with a device, the device having an antenna, the device configured to communicate with another device using a line of sight wireless technology, the device further configured to communicate with the another device using the antenna when within a range of the device;

a receiver configured to acquire an indication of the device joining a network;

an interface configured to, based at least in part on the indication, interrogate the device to obtain current configuration settings of the device; and

a manager configured to create another device profile for the device based on the obtained configuration settings of the device;

wherein the memory is further configured to store the another device profile for the device as a second version.

16. The device management system of claim 15, wherein the manager is further configured to generate differences between the device profile and the another device profile associated with the device.

17. The device management system of claim 15, wherein the obtained configuration information comprises interdependent settings.

18. The device management system of claim 15, wherein the device is further configured to communicate with the another device using a Wi-Fi network.

19. The device management system of claim 15, wherein the device is further configured to communicate with the another device using Bluetooth wireless technology.

20. The device management system of claim 15, wherein the manager is further configured to employ the indication as a time-sequence event to establish a check point.