KR20090012578A - Method for managing information using rfid tag and system therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

An information management method and system using an RFID tag are provided to acquire information from a remote storehouse by using the RFID tag, thereby managing information about products stored in the storehouse. A storage(100) stores products for managing by using an RFID(Radio Frequency Identification) tag. A RFID tag recognition unit(110) obtains information about products adhering the RFID tag stored in the storage. The RFID tag recognition unit transmits the obtained information to a management server(200) by using a local communications method. The management server comprises a Zigbee coordinator(210). The management server receives the product information from the storage by using the Zigbee coordinator. The management server updates and stores information about a corresponding product by using the received product information. The management server transmits the stored information to a portable terminal(300).

Description

Method for managing information using RFID tag and System therefor}

The present invention relates to information management, and more particularly, to a method and system for managing information by using a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag.

RFID technology is a radio frequency identification technology that uses a small semiconductor chip to transmit and process information of an article and surrounding environment without direct contact. In other words, the RFID technology is a technology for obtaining information about the article using a radio frequency within a predetermined range from a tag having the information about the article. In general, an RFID tag attached to each item and an RFID recognizer capable of recognizing the RFID tag are required for obtaining information from the items by using RFID technology. Since this is already known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Using RFID technology that can include a variety of information in the article can manage the article usefully according to the user's convenience, the RFID technology is frequently used for article management. Korean Patent No. 10-2005-0110147 proposes an RFID tag-related RFID technology for managing item information stored in a refrigerator. In detail, the refrigerator includes an RFID recognizer for recognizing item information of the refrigerator, and acquires information on the items by recognizing an RFID tag attached to items stored in the refrigerator through the RFID recognizer. The refrigerator then stores the obtained information in a memory in the refrigerator, and provides the user with the item information stored in the refrigerator by displaying the information through the display unit of the refrigerator.

However, in this case, since the storage and processing of the information on the items must be performed in the refrigerator, there is a problem that a memory and a processing apparatus must be provided in the refrigerator to store and process the information. In addition, since the user can be provided with the item information only through the display unit of the refrigerator, when the user is far from the refrigerator, the information cannot be provided.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for managing article information stored in a store.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a method of managing information by using a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag (tag) is to obtain information of items stored in the storage using the RFID tag when the storage is set up; Transmitting the information to the management server, receiving the information of the goods from the storage by the management server, updating the information stored by the management server with the received information, and transmitting the information of the goods from the mobile terminal. If requested, the management server includes transmitting the requested information to the portable terminal.

According to another aspect of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a system for managing information using a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag may recognize the RFID tag and, when set, the RFID tag using the RFID tag. A storage for acquiring information of the items attached to the storage device, transmitting the storage information to the management server, receiving the information of the goods, updating the stored information with the received information, and requesting the information of the goods from the mobile terminal; The management server for transmitting the received information to the mobile terminal, and when there is a request for information on the items of the storage from the user, request the information on the items from the management server, and request the request from the management server. And a portable terminal for receiving the received information.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that those skilled in the art may better understand it from the following detailed description of the invention. In addition to these features and advantages, further features and advantages of the present invention which form the subject of the claims of the present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the invention.

The present invention has the advantage of not having a complicated computing system in the storage because the management server to update and store the information of the goods stored in the storage. In addition, since the management server manages the information transmitted from the storage, the portable terminal does not have to consume memory to update and store the information. In addition, the portable terminal of the present invention only needs to install a service application in software and does not need to install a separate hardware device, and the storage only needs to be equipped with an RFID reader and a device for short-range communication. Therefore, there is an advantage that can reduce the memory and process cost of the portable terminal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosed concept and specific embodiments of the invention described below may be changed or modified to achieve the technical problem to be achieved by the present invention. Those skilled in the art will also recognize that concepts and structures equivalent to the concepts and structures disclosed herein do not depart from the spirit and scope of the broadest form of the invention. It should be noted that reference numerals and like elements among the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals and symbols as much as possible even though they are shown in different drawings. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

1 is a view schematically showing a product information management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the storage 100 may store an article, and in particular, the present invention refers to a place where articles for managing using an RFID tag are stored and stored. As an example of the storage 100, a washing machine that needs to manage clothes such as a wardrobe that needs to manage clothes, information about things suitable for washing by the material or color of the cloth to be washed, the date of the goods to be shipped and received, and the expiration date There may be a refrigerator that needs to manage the condition. In the following description, the refrigerator is described as an example of the storage 100 for convenience. However, in addition to the refrigerator, various other things may be storage. The storage 100 acquires information of articles attached to the RFID tag stored in the storage 100 through the RFID tag recognition unit 110 and uses a short range communication method, for example, a Zigbee method. Transfer to the management server 200 by using.

The management server 200 may be a personal computer or the like, and may be equipped with a short range communication module for short range communication with the storage 100. In the present invention, the communication between the management server 200 and the storage 100 using the Zigbee communication method having the advantages of low cost and low power for short-range communication with the storage 100 will be described. However, the present invention is not limited to using only the Zigbee communication method for communication between the storage 100 and the management server 200, of course, other short-range communication methods such as Bluetooth (Bluetooth) can be used. The management server 200 may be provided with a Zigbee Coordinator 210, and receives the goods information from the storage 100 through the Zigbee Coordinator 210. The corresponding article information stored in the management server 200 is updated and stored with the received article information. The stored information is transmitted to the portable terminal 300 at the request of the portable terminal 300. Although only the storage 100 is illustrated in FIG. 1, the management server 200 may be connected to one or more storages and manage information received from a plurality of storages. Here, the Zigbee technology is a technology proposed by the international standard (IEEE 802.15.4), and is one of the representative technologies of low-speed, low-power, short-range wireless communication.

The portable terminal 300 is a conventional portable terminal having a wireless communication function, and transmits and receives information on article information to the management server 200. Detailed description thereof will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of a refrigerator according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the refrigerator is described as an example of the storage 100 of FIG. 1. As mentioned above, the present invention will be described by adopting a communication method used as a Zigbee communication method that the storage is used to communicate with the management server.

Referring to FIG. 2, the article 105 is an article stored in the refrigerator 100 and has an RFID tag attached thereto. The control unit 120 of the refrigerator 100 controls the RFID tag attached to the article to be scanned by the RFID tag recognition unit 110 when it is set. By scanning the RFID tag attached to the article, information about the article can be obtained. The information that may be included in the RFID tag may be a date and time received in the refrigerator 100, an expiration date of an article, a replacement time, a remaining amount, and the like, and the information may be changed according to a user's intention. The set time may be set when the user wants to acquire the item information. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, the present invention will be described assuming that the state detecting unit 130 detects the opening and closing of the door of the refrigerator.

The controller 120 controls the overall operation of the refrigerator. Particularly, the control unit 120 according to the present invention controls the RFID tag attached to the article 105 stored in the refrigerator 100 by the RFID tag recognition unit 110 when the door of the refrigerator is opened and closed. do. In addition, the controller 120 controls to transmit the information about the article obtained by scanning the RFID tag of the article to the management server 200 of FIG. 1 through the Zigbee module 150. The state detector 130 detects a state of the refrigerator under the control of the controller 120. In particular, the state detection unit 130 detects the time when the RFID tag attached to the article, and detects when the refrigerator door is opened and closed. That is, the controller 120 may know when it is set from the state detected by the state detector 130. Upon receiving a state of whether the refrigerator door is opened or closed from the state detection unit 130, the controller 120 controls the RFID tag recognition unit 110 to recognize the RFID tag of the article. Each time the refrigerator door is opened and closed, the items stored in the refrigerator may be changed, and the amount of the stored items may be changed.

The Zigbee module 150 largely includes a Zigbee signal processor 152 and a Zigbee signal transmitter 154. The ZigBee signal processor 152 processes the information about the items transmitted from the controller 120 into a ZigBee signal suitable for transmission for ZigBee communication and transmits the information to the ZigBee signal transmitter 154. The Zigbee signal transmitter 154 transmits the information about the delivered items to the management server 200 by the Zigbee communication method.

3 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of a management server according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The management server 200 of the present invention receives the information on the items transmitted from the refrigerator 100 and compares the stored information, and stores the existing information while updating. The management server 200 transmits the stored information to the mobile terminal 300 when a request is received from the mobile terminal. In the present invention, it is described that the information on the items is transmitted only when there is a request from the mobile terminal. However, it should be noted that the received information may be implemented differently depending on the setting such as when the received information is transmitted to the portable terminal whenever there is a changed content compared to the existing information.

3, the Zigbee coordinator 210 is responsible for the initialization and management of the ZigBee node (Node) in the network and comprises a ZigBee signal transceiver 212, ZigBee signal processor 214, the network manager 216 Can be. The Zigbee signal transceiver 212 receives a Zigbee signal including the item information transmitted from the refrigerator 100, and transmits the Zigbee signal to the Zigbee signal processor 214. The Zigbee signal transmission and reception unit 212 performs a wireless communication function using ZigBee, a low-noise amplification of the signal and the received signal up-converts and down-converts the frequency of the transmitted signal within a frequency range for ZigBee communication Receiver may be included. Typically, the frequency ranges defined by international standards for Zigbee communications are 868 / 915Mhz and 2.4Ghz. The Zigbee signal processor 214 may include a modem (MOdulator / DEDodulator: MODEM) that modulates and demodulates the transmitted Zigbee signal. That is, the Zigbee signal processor 214 includes a transmitter for modulating the Zigbee signal, a receiver for demodulating the received signal, and the like to process the transmitted and received signal in a suitable form. The network management unit 216 manages nodes when one or more ZigBee nodes are connected in a network, and may serve as a router. Thus, since a device for ZigBee communication is installed in the management server, a ZigBee communication device is installed. In the case of a mobile terminal, the problem of battery consumption due to ZigBee communication can be solved, and a management server equipped with a ZigBee coordinator for network management can be installed in another storage unit equipped with an RFID reader, a ZigBee module, or another device. Devices can also be connected to form a network.

The controller 220 controls the overall operation of the management server 200. In particular, the present invention compares and updates the information on the article transmitted from the Zigbee coordinator 210 with the existing information. In detail, the control unit 220, in particular, the information checking unit 225, upon receiving the information on the items stored in the refrigerator 100, compares the refrigerator with existing information about the items stored in the memory 230. Check the newly received goods information or the information of the goods shipped from the (100). The information checking unit 225 updates the existing information with the received information, if there is changed information among the information on the previously stored items. The identified information and the updated information are stored in the article information storage unit 237 of the memory 230. In addition, by storing the number of times the RFID tag is scanned in the item information storage unit 237, information such as the food preference and the number of times of use of the user may also be obtained.

If there is information that is not stored in the item information storage unit 237 among the information of the items included in the received information, the information check unit 225 is the tag information storage unit 236 in the tag information for the unstored items Check if it is saved. As a result of the check, if the tag information about the article is stored in the tag information storage unit 236, the information checking unit 225 stores the information about the received article using the tag information about the article to store the item information Stored in the section 237. If the tag information about the article is not stored in the tag information storage unit 236 as a result of the check, the information verification unit 225 inquires of an external server using an internet network to know the tag information about the article. do. The external server may use RFID ODS (Object Directory Service), an RFID search system. The RFID ODS refers to a service that informs a location of a server (Uniform Resource Location: URL) in which information of an article related to an RFID code inserted in an RFID tag is located. The tag information storage unit 236 includes a list of tags that the user has previously used or intends to use. As a method for storing information in the tag information storage unit 236, as described above, when a user puts food into a container, information is input to the tag attached to the container using mobile RFID, and the tag is stored in the tag information. There may be a way to store in section 236. Alternatively, in the case of a general commercial article to which a tag is typically attached, there may be a method of obtaining and storing information from an external server for an RFID tag attached to the article. The article information storage unit 237 stores a list of tags currently included in the refrigerator and corresponding information.

In addition, the controller 220 also checks information requested from the mobile terminal 300 of FIG. 1. For example, when the user of the mobile terminal 300 receives a request for a recipe for food that can be cooked with items stored in the refrigerator, the controller 220 may use the Internet connected to the management server 200 by wire or wirelessly. The recipe may be searched and provided to the mobile terminal. In addition, when a user of the mobile terminal 300 receives a request for a recipe of a specific food and information of items to be purchased, the controller 220 searches for a recipe of the food by using the Internet, and then displays the items required for the recipe. The list and the list of items stored in the refrigerator are compared and the information of the items to be purchased is transmitted to the mobile terminal 300. In this way, since the management server 200 performs a comparison of goods information and recipe search on behalf of the mobile terminal 300, the mobile terminal 300 does not have to search for a recipe of food on its own through the wireless Internet. . Therefore, the mobile terminal can reduce the cost and time due to the use of the wireless Internet, and can perform other tasks at the time of performing the wireless Internet search.

When information on the items stored in the refrigerator 100 is requested from the portable terminal 300 of FIG. 1, the controller 220 transmits the information to the portable terminal 300, which is used for communication with the portable terminal 300. The signal is transmitted and received through the data processing unit 240 and the wireless communication unit 250 through the wireless Internet or a local area network. In other words, when a signal for requesting information from the mobile terminal 300 is received through the wireless communication unit 250, the wireless communication unit 250 amplifies the received signal under the control of the control unit 220, lowers the frequency down-converts the data. Transfer to the processing unit 240. The data processor 240 demodulates and decodes the transmitted signal under the control of the controller 220. That is, the data processor 240 may include a modem (MOdulator / DEModulator: MODEM) and a codec (COder / DECoder: CODEC).

4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a portable terminal according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 4 are essential components required for the transmission and reception of article information of the present invention, and of course, other components may be added in addition to the illustrated components.

Referring to FIG. 4, the RF unit 310 performs a wireless communication function of a mobile terminal, an RF transmitter for upconverting and amplifying a frequency of a transmitted signal, and an RF for low noise amplifying and downconverting a received signal. Receiver and the like. The data processor 320 includes a transmitter for encoding and modulating the transmitted signal and a receiver for demodulating and decoding the received signal. That is, the data processor 320 may be configured of a modem and a codec CODDEC. The codec includes a data codec for processing packet data and an audio codec for processing an audio signal such as voice.

The controller 330 performs a function of controlling the overall operation of the portable terminal. In addition, the controller 330 may be configured to include the data processor 320. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 330 controls communication such as receiving goods information from the management server 200 and requesting goods information to the management server 200 through a wireless Internet network or a local area network. The memory 340 may include program memory and data memories. The program memory includes programs for controlling a general operation of the portable terminal and product information of the refrigerator 100 transmitted from the management server 200 of FIG. 1 or product information for purchase from a user according to an embodiment of the present invention. If there is an input for the article information can be stored.

The key input unit 350 includes keys for inputting numeric and character information and function keys for setting various functions. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the user requests item information through the input of the key input unit 350. The display unit 360 displays various menus, applications, contents, and the like related to the operation of the mobile terminal, and provides an input / output screen of various data. In addition, the display unit 260 may use a liquid crystal display (LCD) window. In this case, the display unit 260 may include an LCD controller, a memory capable of storing display data, an LCD display device, and the like. Herein, when the LCD window is implemented using a touch screen method, the LCD window may operate as an input unit. In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the display unit 360 displays the information requested by the user and the article information received from the management server 200 in response to the request.

As described above, the portable terminal required in the present invention can obtain article information according to an embodiment of the present invention by adding only an application to be used in software without adding additional hardware.

5 is a flowchart for transmitting information of articles in a refrigerator according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the control unit 120 of FIG. 2 detects that the refrigerator 100 is turned on in step 501 by the state detection unit 130, and in this state, the door of the refrigerator 100 in step 503. Make sure it is open and closed. The meaning of opening / closing the refrigerator door is when a new item has been put into the refrigerator or a product has been taken out for cooking, and thus, the control unit 120 controls all of the items in the refrigerator 100 by the RFID tag recognition unit 110 in step 505. Allow the RFID tag to be scanned. In step 507, the control unit 120 transmits the information of the items obtained by the scan to the management server 200 through short range communication.

6 is a flowchart of processing information of articles in a management server according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the control unit 220 of FIG. 3 checks whether information on items stored in the refrigerator is received from the refrigerator 100 of FIG. 1 in step 601. When information about the items is received from the refrigerator, the controller 220, in particular, the information checker 225 confirms the received information by comparing the information received in step 603 with existing information. In step 605, the control unit 220, in particular, the information checking unit 225 checks whether new item information exists in the item information list. The information of the new article refers to information about the article newly put into the refrigerator. If the new item information exists, the controller 220 proceeds to step 621. If the new item information does not exist, the controller 220 proceeds to step 607. In step 607, the control unit 220 updates the existing information by storing the result of the information compared in step 603.

In step 611, the controller 220 checks whether there is an information request from the mobile terminal 300 of FIG. 1. The information requested here may be information about items stored in the memory 230, or may be information requesting an additional search using an internet network. Therefore, if there is a request for information from the mobile terminal 300, the controller 220 checks whether the requested information is information that requires further search in step 613. If the requested information is information that does not require further retrieval, the controller 220 transmits the requested information from the information stored in the memory 230 to the mobile terminal 300 using a wireless Internet network or a local area network in step 615. send. If the requested information is information requiring further search, in step 627, the controller 220 searches for information for the additional search by using an internet network connected by wire or wirelessly. The controller 220 proceeds to step 615 and transmits the requested information to the portable terminal using the wireless Internet or a local area network using the additionally retrieved information. Extensible Markup Language (hereinafter referred to as XML) may be used as a message format of a communication protocol used when transmitting requested information through a wireless Internet network. XML is one of the Internet standard document formats. It has the advantages of systematic and consistent access, ease of reprocessing, and simple configuration. By using XML having such advantages as a communication message format, the present invention can easily and concisely configure a communication message between a mobile terminal and a management server. In addition, since the XML does not require a specific communication device, communication with the management server can be performed without a separate communication device. In the present invention, the communication message format between the mobile terminal and the management server will be described using XML as an example. However, it is noted that various message formats can be used without being limited thereto.

When the additional search is required, it may be a case of searching for a recipe of cooking. An example will be described in detail. Assuming that a user of the mobile terminal 300 wants to cook some food using the items stored in the refrigerator 100, the user will want to know the information of the items stored in the refrigerator and the cooking recipe. Since the information of the items stored in the refrigerator is stored in the memory 230 as the RFID tags are scanned and the information transmitted from the refrigerator is updated every time the door of the refrigerator is opened and closed, no additional search is required. However, the cooking recipe should be provided from an associated menu providing unit (not shown) using an internet network connected by wire or wirelessly. The control unit 220 transmits the information about the recipe and the stored items provided in this way to the mobile terminal 300 using a wireless Internet network or a local area network.

If no new item information exists in step 605, the controller 220 checks whether the tag information of the new item is stored in the memory 230, in particular, the tag information storage unit 236. If tag information is stored, the controller 220 proceeds to step 625 and stores the new article information in the memory 230, in particular, the article information storage unit 237, using the stored tag information. If the tag information is not stored, the controller 220 proceeds to step 623 to obtain corresponding tag information from the external server. Herein, tag information acquisition from an external server may be performed using a service such as an ODS.

As described above, in the present invention, operations such as updating and storing information of items are performed in the management server, not in the refrigerator. In addition, even when a user uses an application such as ordering items that are insufficient to search for information on the items in the refrigerator or searching for dishes that can be cooked with the items in the refrigerator, the mobile terminal can search through the wireless Internet. Do not perform it on the management server. Since the management server transmits only the result performed instead to the portable terminal, the portable terminal can save time and money by not performing a search through the Internet on its own.

Meanwhile, in the detailed description of the present invention, specific embodiments have been described, but various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be determined not only by the scope of the following claims, but also by those equivalent to the scope of the claims.

1 is a diagram schematically showing a goods information management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of a refrigerator according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the management server according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a portable terminal according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flow chart for transmitting information of articles in a refrigerator in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart for processing information of articles in a management server according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (18)

In the method for managing information by using a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag (RFID), Acquiring information of items stored in the storage and transmitting the information to the management server by using the RFID tag when the storage is set; Receiving, by the management server, the information of the items from the storage; Updating, by the management server, the stored information with the received information; And when the information on the items is requested from the portable terminal, the management server transmitting the requested information to the portable terminal. The information management method according to claim 1, wherein the set time is when the door of the storage is opened and closed. The method of claim 1, wherein the management server receives the information of the items from the storage by a short range communication method. The method of claim 3, wherein the short range wireless communication method is a Zigbee method. The method of claim 1, wherein the updating is performed. Comparing the information of the received items with the information of stored items; And when the information of the received items includes an unstored tag, acquiring the non-stored tag information from a server that provides RFID tag information. The information management method according to claim 1, wherein if the requested information includes information requesting a search from the management server, the management server further comprises performing the search. The method of claim 6, wherein the searching is performed through an internet network connected to the management server by wire or wirelessly. The information management method according to claim 1, wherein the communication between the management server and the portable terminal is performed through a wireless internet network or a local area network. The information management method of claim 8, wherein when the requested information is transmitted through the wireless Internet network, the management server uses a communication protocol message format using an extended markup language (XML). The method of claim 1, wherein the information of the items may be a name, an expiration date, a capacity, a storage date of the items, and may be changed by a user. A system for managing information using radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, A storage unit for recognizing the RFID tag, obtaining information of items attached to the RFID tag using the RFID tag, and transmitting the information to the management server; The management server for receiving the information of the items, updating the stored information with the received information, and transmitting the requested information to the portable terminal when the information of the articles is requested from the portable terminal; And a portable terminal for requesting information on the items from the management server and receiving the requested information from the management server when a request for information on the items in the storage is received from a user. Information management system. The information management system according to claim 11, wherein the set time is when the door of the storage is opened and closed. The information management system of claim 11, wherein the management server receives the information of the items from the storage by a short range communication method. The information management system of claim 13, wherein the short range wireless communication method is a Zigbee method. 12. The information management system according to claim 11, wherein when the requested information includes information requesting a search from the management server, the management server further performs the search. The information management system of claim 15, wherein the searching is performed through an internet network connected to the management server by wire or wirelessly. The information management system according to claim 11, wherein the communication between the management server and the portable terminal is performed through a wireless internet network or a local area network. 18. The information management system according to claim 17, wherein when the requested information is transmitted through the wireless Internet network, the management server uses a communication protocol message format in an extended markup language (XML).

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