Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide a using method and a using system of an electronic price tag, wherein the electronic price tag is used for replacing a paper price tag, so that more labor can be saved, and meanwhile, the invention realizes the quick networking of the electronic price tag and the effective receiving of display information, so that the electronic price tag is easier to use.
The technical scheme provided by the invention is as follows:
the invention provides a using method of an electronic price tag, which comprises the following steps: s1, the base station broadcasts an inquiry signal of the electronic price tag which is not networked; s2, when the electronic price tag is in an active state and receives the inquiry signal broadcast by the base station, replying a heartbeat data packet to the base station; s3, the base station uploads the heartbeat data packet of the electronic price tag to a server; s4, the server organizes the electronic price tags according to the heartbeat data packets of the electronic price tags uploaded by at least one base station; and S5, the server sends the display information of the commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag through the base station corresponding to the electronic price tag after networking.
Preferably, the method further comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that S0, a server obtains commodity information of a commodity and identification information of an electronic price tag, the commodity information of the commodity is bound with the identification information of the electronic price tag, and display information of the commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag is generated according to the commodity information of the commodity.
In the scheme, when the display information of the commodity is generated, the staff only needs to scan the bar code of the electronic price tag and the bar code of the commodity by using the handheld terminal to obtain the identification information of the electronic price tag and the commodity information of the commodity, and the method and the device are very convenient.
Preferably, the heartbeat data packet includes identification information and a status signal of the electronic price tag, and signal strength information between the electronic price tag and the base station, and step S4 specifically includes the steps of: s41, the server analyzes the heartbeat data packet of the electronic price tag uploaded by at least one base station, and obtains the signal intensity information of the electronic price tag to the at least one base station respectively; s42, the server selects a base station meeting the preset signal strength condition as a target base station, and binds the target base station and the electronic price tag according to the identification information of the electronic price tag.
In the scheme, the base station with the strongest signal intensity with the electronic price tag can be selected as the target base station, or the base station with the signal intensity larger than the threshold value can be selected as the target base station, so that the electronic price tag can be well communicated with the target base station after being networked, and the transmission of display information is guaranteed.
Preferably, the step S5 specifically includes: s51, the server sends the display information of the commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag to the target base station bound with the electronic price tag; s52, the target base station broadcasts display information of the commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag and a data transmission instruction of the electronic price tag; and S53, when the electronic price tag is in an active state and the data transmission instruction is received, keeping the active state until the display information of the commodity is received.
In the scheme, the display information is broadcasted by the base station when the data is transmitted, the display information broadcasted by the base station can be received when the electronic price tag is in an active state, the electronic price tag keeps the active state at the moment, and the electronic price tag enters a dormant state after the display information of the commodity is received, so that the power consumption of the electronic price tag is reduced to the greatest extent under the condition of ensuring the data transmission.
Preferably, the method further comprises the following steps: and the base station or the server monitors the electronic price tag according to the heartbeat data packet sent by the electronic price tag.
In the scheme, when uploading the heartbeat data packet, the electronic price tag can upload the state information of the electronic price tag to the base station, so that the electronic price tag is convenient to monitor, and the situation that the used electronic price tag is damaged and not discovered is prevented.
The invention also provides a using system of the electronic price tag, which comprises the electronic price tag, a base station and a server:
the base station includes: the first communication module is used for broadcasting an inquiry signal of an electronic price tag which is not networked;
the electronic price tag includes: the third communication module is communicated with the first communication module and used for replying a heartbeat data packet to the base station when the electronic price tag is in an active state and receives the inquiry signal broadcasted by the base station; the first communication module is further used for uploading the heartbeat data packet of the electronic price tag to a server;
the server includes: the networking control module is used for networking the electronic price tags according to the heartbeat data packets of the electronic price tags uploaded by at least one base station; and the second communication module is communicated with the first communication module and is used for sending the display information of the commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag through the base station corresponding to the electronic price tag after networking.
Preferably, the server further includes: the acquisition module is used for acquiring commodity information of a commodity and identification information of an electronic price tag; and the display information generating module is electrically connected with the acquiring module and used for binding the commodity information of the commodity with the identification information of the electronic price tag and generating the display information of the commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag according to the commodity information of the commodity.
Preferably, the heartbeat data packet includes identification information of the electronic price tag, a status signal, and signal strength information between the electronic price tag and the base station, and the server further includes: the analysis module is used for analyzing the heartbeat data packet of the electronic price tag uploaded by at least one base station and acquiring the signal intensity information of the electronic price tag to the at least one base station respectively; the networking control module is electrically connected with the analysis module, and is further used for selecting a base station meeting a preset signal strength condition as a target base station, and binding the target base station and the electronic price tag according to the identification information of the electronic price tag.
Preferably, the second communication module is further configured to send display information of a commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag to the target base station bound to the electronic price tag; the first communication module is also used for broadcasting display information of the commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag; the third communication module is also used for receiving display information of the commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag; the electronic price tag further comprises a state control module, and the state control module is further used for keeping the electronic price tag in an active state after receiving the display information broadcasted by the target base station until the display information of the commodity is received.
Preferably, the base station further includes: the first monitoring module is used for monitoring the electronic price tag according to the heartbeat data packet sent by the electronic price tag; or; the server further comprises: and the second monitoring module is used for monitoring the electronic price tag according to the heartbeat data packet sent by the electronic price tag.
The use method and the system of the electronic price tag provided by the invention can bring the following beneficial effects:
because the electronic price tag is a low-power-consumption product and is periodically in an active state and a dormant state, the invention can complete the networking of the electronic price tag and the transmission of display information by combining the characteristics of the electronic price tag. When the usage amount of the electronic price tags is less, the invention can complete networking and data transmission more quickly.
Detailed Description
In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following description will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some examples of the invention, and that for a person skilled in the art, other drawings and embodiments can be derived from them without inventive effort.
For the sake of simplicity, only the parts relevant to the present invention are schematically shown in the drawings, and they do not represent the actual structure as a product. In addition, in order to make the drawings concise and understandable, components having the same structure or function in some of the drawings are only schematically illustrated or only labeled. In this document, "one" means not only "only one" but also a case of "more than one".
The present invention provides an embodiment of a method for using an electronic price tag, as shown in fig. 1, comprising:
s1, the base station broadcasts an inquiry signal of the electronic price tag which is not networked;
s2, when the electronic price tag is in an active state and receives the inquiry signal broadcast by the base station, replying a heartbeat data packet to the base station;
s3, the base station uploads the heartbeat data packet of the electronic price tag to a server;
s4, the server organizes the electronic price tags according to the heartbeat data packets of the electronic price tags uploaded by at least one base station;
and S5, the server sends the display information of the commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag through the base station corresponding to the electronic price tag after networking.
Specifically, the electronic price tag in this embodiment is a low power consumption product, and is periodically in an active state and a sleep state during operation, that is, in a periodic cycle state of "active state-sleep state-active state-sleep state", in order to save energy consumption of the electronic price tag, the time that the electronic price tag is in the active state is usually only several tens of milliseconds, and the time that the electronic price tag is in the sleep state is usually several tens of seconds.
In the using process of the electronic price tag, the electronic price tag needs to be applied to other equipment such as a server and a base station, and the electronic price tag needs to be in data communication with the server through the base station to complete the display of commodity information. In many large supermarkets or large drug stores, the working efficiency of one base station is limited, and a plurality of base stations are often used at the same time to ensure the normal use of the electronic price tags, and at the moment, the electronic price tags need to be networked to distribute the electronic price tags to the base stations.
In this embodiment, when an electronic price tag needs to be networked, the base station broadcasts an inquiry signal of the electronic price tag, where the inquiry signal includes identification information of the electronic price tag, an inquiry function instruction, and identification information of the base station. The electronic price tag can be periodically in an active state and a dormant state, when the electronic price tag is in the active state, an inquiry signal broadcasted by the base station can be received, then the electronic price tag can generate a heartbeat data packet according to the signal intensity detected by the electronic price tag and the base station and the identification information of the electronic price tag, and the heartbeat data packet is replied to the base station.
In the networking process of applying a plurality of base stations, the base stations broadcast inquiry signals of the same electronic price tag and upload heartbeat data packets replied by the electronic price tag to a server. The server receives heartbeat data packets of the same electronic price tag uploaded by the base stations respectively, and can acquire the signal intensity between the electronic price tag and the base stations from the heartbeat data packets.
The server may use the base station satisfying the predetermined signal strength condition as a target base station, and bind the electronic price tag with the base station, for example, use the base station with the strongest signal strength of the electronic price tag as the target base station and bind the electronic price tag with the target base station, or use any base station with the signal strength between the base station and the electronic price tag reaching the predetermined signal strength as the target base station and bind the electronic price tag with the target base station. The binding process specifically comprises the following steps: firstly, a server generates channel information and sends the channel information to a target base station, wherein the channel information comprises identification information of an electronic price tag and a channel setting instruction; and after receiving the channel information, the target base station sends the channel information to the electronic price tag according to the identification information of the electronic price tag, so that the communication between the electronic price tag and the base station is kept in the same channel.
The networking process can also be referred to for the networking mode of other electronic price tags. After all the electronic price tags are networked, each electronic price tag is bound with a corresponding target base station, and at the moment, the server can send display information of a commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag through the base station corresponding to the electronic price tag after networking.
The networking method of the electronic price tag provided by the embodiment can be combined with the low power consumption characteristic of the electronic price tag, the transmission of the commodity display information is completed under the condition that the low power consumption of the electronic price tag is kept, and the service life of the electronic price tag is prolonged.
As shown in fig. 2, the present invention provides another embodiment of a method of using an electronic price tag, comprising:
s0, the server acquires commodity information of a commodity and identification information of an electronic price tag, binds the commodity information of the commodity with the identification information of the electronic price tag, and generates display information of the commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag according to the commodity information of the commodity;
s1, the base station broadcasts an inquiry signal of the electronic price tag which is not networked;
s2, when the electronic price tag is in an active state and receives the inquiry signal broadcast by the base station, replying a heartbeat data packet to the base station;
s3, the base station uploads the heartbeat data packet of the electronic price tag to a server;
s41, the server analyzes the heartbeat data packet of the electronic price tag uploaded by at least one base station, and obtains the signal intensity information of the electronic price tag to the at least one base station respectively;
s42, the server selects a base station meeting the preset signal strength condition as a target base station, and binds the target base station and the electronic price tag according to the identification information of the electronic price tag.
S51, the server sends the display information of the commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag to the target base station bound by the electronic price tag;
s52, the target base station broadcasts display information of the commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag;
s53, when the electronic price tag is in an active state and the display information broadcasted by the target base station is received, the electronic price tag keeps in the active state until the display information of the commodity is received.
In this embodiment, when an electronic price tag needs to be provided for a certain commodity, a worker may scan a barcode of the commodity with the handheld terminal, obtain commodity information (for example, basic information such as a commodity code and a commodity name) of the commodity, then scan the barcode of the electronic price tag, obtain identification information of the electronic price tag, and transmit the commodity information of the commodity and the identification information of the electronic price tag to the server. The server can find out detailed information such as real-time price, production place, production date, quality guarantee period and the like of the commodity from the commodity information base according to the commodity information of the commodity, and generate display information of the commodity according to a pre-designed electronic price tag display frame. Optionally, the electronic price tag has a plurality of specifications, and different display frames can be designed according to the specification of the electronic price tag.
The server will send out the networking command of the electronic price tag to all base stations, and the base station will continuously broadcast the inquiry signal of the electronic price tag, as described in the above embodiment, the electronic price tag is periodically in the active state and the dormant state, and when the electronic price tag is in the active state, the server will receive the inquiry signal broadcasted by the base station, and at this time, the electronic price tag will reply a heartbeat data packet to the base station. Therefore, the plurality of base stations receive the heartbeat data packet returned by the electronic price tag and transmit the heartbeat data packet to the server.
The server will perform networking on the electronic price tags according to the heartbeat data packets of the electronic price tags uploaded by the base stations, and as stated in steps S41 and S42, the server will select the base station satisfying the preset signal strength condition as the target base station, for example, the server may bind the base station with the strongest signal strength of the electronic price tags as the target base station with the electronic price tags, or may bind the electronic price tags with any base station with the signal strength of the electronic price tags reaching the preset signal strength as the target base station.
After networking is completed, the server sends display information corresponding to the goods bound with the electronic price tags to a target base station bound with the electronic price tags, and the electronic price tags are in an active state and a dormant state periodically, so that the active time is very short and is only dozens of milliseconds usually, and the dormant time is longer and can be dozens of seconds usually; the target base station cannot directly transmit the display information of the goods to the electronic price tag. In the embodiment, in order to effectively transmit the display information of the commodity while the electronic price tag is in low power consumption, the target base station broadcasts the display information of the commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag and a data transmission instruction; and when the electronic price tag is in an active state, receiving a data transmission instruction broadcasted by the base station, keeping the electronic price tag in the active state until the display information of the commodity is received, and then entering a dormant state.
Preferably, the base station can also be provided with a plurality of antennas, display information of commodities corresponding to the electronic price tags is broadcast at the same time, and the data transmission efficiency is improved.
Preferably, the heartbeat data returned by the electronic price tag to the base station includes a status signal of the electronic price tag, and the base station or the server can monitor the electronic price tag according to the heartbeat data packet sent by the electronic price tag. For example, the status signal may be a real-time operating voltage value or a real-time operating current value of the electronic price tag, and when the real-time operating voltage value or the real-time operating current value is detected to be in a non-operating voltage range or a non-operating current range, it may be determined that the electronic price tag is in an abnormal state.
As shown in fig. 3, the present invention provides an embodiment of a system for using an electronic price tag, which includes an electronic price tag 3, a base station 1, a server 2:
the base station 1 includes:
a first communication module 11 for broadcasting an inquiry signal of an electronic price tag which is not networked;
the electronic price tag 3 includes:
a third communication module 31, in communication with the first communication module 11, configured to reply a heartbeat packet to the base station when the electronic price tag is in an active state and receives the inquiry signal broadcast by the base station;
the first communication module 11 is further configured to upload the heartbeat data packet of the electronic price tag to a server;
the server 2 includes:
the second communication module 21 is in communication with the first communication module 11, and is configured to receive the heartbeat data packet of the electronic price tag uploaded by the first communication module 11.
The networking control module 22 is used for networking the electronic price tags according to the heartbeat data packets of the electronic price tags uploaded by at least one base station;
and the second communication module 21 is configured to send display information of a commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag through a base station corresponding to the electronic price tag after networking.
Specifically, the electronic price tag in this embodiment is a low power consumption product, and is periodically in an active state and a dormant state during operation, that is, in a periodic cycle state of "active state-dormant state-active state-dormant state", in order to save energy consumption of the electronic price tag, the time that the electronic price tag is in the active state is usually only several tens of milliseconds, and the time that the electronic price tag is in the dormant state is usually several tens of seconds.
In the using process of the electronic price tag, the electronic price tag needs to be applied to other equipment such as a server and a base station, and the electronic price tag needs to be in data communication with the server through the base station to complete display of commodity information. In many large supermarkets or large drug stores, the working efficiency of one base station is limited, and a plurality of base stations are often used at the same time to ensure the normal use of the electronic price tags. At this time, the electronic price tag needs to be networked, and the electronic price tag is distributed to the base station.
In this embodiment, when an electronic price tag needs to be networked, the base station broadcasts an inquiry signal of the electronic price tag through the first communication module 11, where the inquiry signal includes identification information of the electronic price tag and an inquiry function command. The electronic price tag is periodically in an active state and a dormant state, when the electronic price tag is in the active state, an inquiry signal broadcasted by the base station is received through the third communication module 31, and then a heartbeat data packet is replied to the base station through the third communication module 31, wherein the heartbeat data packet comprises identification information of the electronic price tag and signal strength of the electronic price tag and the base station.
In shopping malls, drug stores, etc., since the coverage area of one base station is limited, a plurality of base stations are often needed to cover the whole application environment. In the networking process, a plurality of base stations broadcast inquiry signals of the same electronic price tag and upload heartbeat data packets replied by the electronic price tag to a server. The second communication module 21 of the server receives heartbeat data packets of the electronic price tags uploaded by the multiple base stations respectively, and can acquire the signal strength from the electronic price tags to the multiple base stations respectively from the multiple heartbeat data packets of the same electronic price tag.
The server may use the base station satisfying the preset signal strength condition as a target base station, and bind the electronic price tag with the base station, for example, the base station with the strongest signal strength of the electronic price tag may be used as the target base station and bound with the electronic price tag, or any base station with the signal strength of the electronic price tag reaching the preset signal strength may be used as the target base station and bound with the electronic price tag. The binding process specifically comprises the following steps: firstly, a server generates channel information and sends the channel information to a target base station, wherein the channel information comprises identification information of an electronic price tag and a channel setting instruction; and after receiving the channel information, the target base station sends the channel information to the electronic price tag according to the identification information of the electronic price tag, so that the communication between the electronic price tag and the base station is kept in the same channel.
The networking process can also be referred to for the networking mode of other electronic price tags. After all the electronic price tags are networked, each electronic price tag is bound with a corresponding target base station, and at the moment, the server can send display information of a commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag through the base station corresponding to the electronic price tag after networking.
As shown in fig. 4, the present invention further provides another embodiment of a system for using an electronic price tag, which includes:
the server further comprises:
the acquisition module 23 is configured to acquire commodity information of a commodity and identification information of an electronic price tag;
and the display information generating module 24 is electrically connected to the obtaining module 23, and is configured to bind the commodity information of the commodity with the identification information of the electronic price tag, and generate display information of the commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag according to the commodity information of the commodity.
The base station includes:
a first communication module 11 for broadcasting an inquiry signal of an electronic price tag which is not networked;
the electronic price tag includes:
a third communication module 31, in communication with the first communication module 11, configured to reply a heartbeat packet to the base station when the electronic price tag is in an active state and receives the inquiry signal broadcast by the base station; the heartbeat data packet comprises identification information of the electronic price tag, a status signal and signal strength information between the electronic price tag and the base station,
the first communication module 11 is further configured to upload the heartbeat data packet of the electronic price tag to a server;
the server includes:
the analysis module 25 is configured to analyze the heartbeat data packet of the electronic price tag uploaded by at least one base station, and acquire signal strength information of the electronic price tag from the at least one base station;
the networking control module 22 is electrically connected to the analysis module 25, and is further configured to select a base station that meets a preset signal strength condition as a target base station, and bind the target base station and the electronic price tag according to the identification information of the electronic price tag.
The second communication module 21 is further configured to send display information of a commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag to the target base station bound to the electronic price tag;
the first communication module 11 is further configured to broadcast display information of a commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag;
the third communication module 31 is further configured to receive display information of a commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag;
the electronic price tag further comprises a state control module 32, which is further configured to keep the electronic price tag in an active state after receiving the display information broadcast by the target base station until the display information of the commodity is received.
The base station further comprises: the first monitoring module 12 is configured to monitor the electronic price tag according to the heartbeat data packet sent by the electronic price tag;
or;
the server further comprises: and the second monitoring module 26 is configured to monitor the electronic price tag according to the heartbeat data packet sent by the electronic price tag.
As shown in fig. 5, the cloud end establishes communication with the base station through a switch poe (power Over ethernet), when an electronic price tag needs to be provided for a certain commodity, a worker may scan a barcode of the commodity with a handheld terminal (PDA), obtain commodity information (for example, basic information such as a commodity code and a commodity name) of the commodity, then scan the barcode of the electronic price tag, obtain identification information of the electronic price tag, and transmit the commodity information of the commodity and the identification information of the electronic price tag to the server. The server can find out detailed information such as real-time price, production place, production date, quality guarantee period and the like of the commodity from the commodity information base according to the commodity information of the commodity, and generate display information of the commodity according to a pre-designed electronic price tag display frame. Optionally, the electronic price tag has a plurality of specifications, and different display frames can be designed according to the specification of the electronic price tag.
The server will send out the networking command of the electronic price tag to all the base stations, and the base stations will continuously broadcast the inquiry signal of the electronic price tag. Therefore, a plurality of base stations receive the heartbeat data packet returned by the electronic price tag and transmit the heartbeat data packet to the server.
And the server can perform networking on the electronic price tags according to the heartbeat data packets of the electronic price tags uploaded by the base station. Specifically, the server selects a base station that meets the preset signal strength condition as a target base station, for example, the server may use the base station with the strongest signal strength of the electronic price tag as the target base station to bind with the electronic price tag, or may use any base station with the signal strength of the electronic price tag reaching the preset signal strength as the target base station to bind with the electronic price tag.
After networking is finished, the server sends display information corresponding to the goods bound with the electronic price tags to a target base station bound with the electronic price tags, and the electronic price tags are in an active state and a dormant state periodically, so that the active time is very short and is only dozens of milliseconds generally, and the dormant time is long and can be dozens of seconds generally; the target base station cannot directly transmit the display information of the goods to the electronic price tag. In the embodiment, in order to effectively transmit the display information of the commodity while the electronic price tag is in low power consumption, the target base station broadcasts the display information of the commodity corresponding to the electronic price tag and a data transmission instruction; and when the electronic price tag is in an active state, receiving a data transmission instruction broadcasted by the base station, keeping the electronic price tag in the active state until the display information of the commodity is received, and then entering a dormant state.
Preferably, the base station can also be provided with a plurality of antennas, and display information of commodities corresponding to the plurality of electronic price tags is broadcast at the same time, so that the data transmission efficiency is improved.
Preferably, the heartbeat data returned by the electronic price tag to the base station includes a status signal of the electronic price tag, and the base station or the server can monitor the electronic price tag according to a heartbeat data packet sent by the electronic price tag. For example, the status signal may be a real-time operating voltage value or a real-time operating current value of the electronic price tag, and when the real-time operating voltage value or the real-time operating current value is detected to be in a non-operating voltage range or a non-operating current range, it may be determined that the electronic price tag is in an abnormal state.
It should be noted that the above embodiments can be freely combined as necessary. The foregoing is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and it should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, various modifications and decorations can be made without departing from the principle of the present invention, and these modifications and decorations should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.