MXPA04007066A - Inventory management system. - Google Patents

Abstract

Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention collect item information from RFID tags attached to items in an inventory, and uses the collected item information to perform various inventory management processes. In one aspect, the inventory management processes may include determining, reporting, and/or providing corrective actions for one or more events associated with at least one of depletions of items in the inventory, changes in the design of items in the inventory, defects with one or more items, misplaced items, the movement of an unusual umber of items within a short period of time (i.e., shrinkage), and malfunctions of one or more components includes in the environment.

Description

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to inventory management systems and, more particularly, to methods and systems for performing an inventory management process that uses an intelligent station to track and / or inventory items that They are labeled with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. Inventory management becomes increasingly important in today's growth economy. The new products are being continuously developed and placed on the market for consumer purchase. Although this growth provides consumers with more selection to select various items and services, businesses (for example, retailers, wholesalers, etc.) are tasks assigned with the management of this growth inventory. For the management of product inventories of growth, businesses have implemented perpetual inventory management systems, which are systems that use data with Point of Sale (POS) in the products sold, data billed, and historical data in audits of inventory or cycle accounts (for example, periodic product inventory accounts) to determine the inventory that exists within the walls of a retail store. POS data generally refers to data generated in a cash system (ie, cash register). Based on the level of inventory within retail stores, products can be reordered from a manufacturer. Alternatively, the manufacturer and the retailer may have an agreement directing the manufacturer to preventively supply products in accordance with the terms of the agreement. Ideally, the inventory is re-established in such a way that the inventory arrives at a retail store just before the existing merchandise levels are exhausted. Although perpetual inventory management systems alleviate some of the burdens in the handling of large inventories, they employ handling that provides inaccuracies in cycle accounts, POS tracking data, misdirected shipments, redundant re-ordering, and / or Unusual sales speed (that is, the sale of products that take place too fast or too slow). The result is physical depleted stock levels (current) as high as 11-12 percent or even higher for specially promoted products or products that are closely monitored for security purposes (for example, products with expiration dates). Another shortcoming associated with perpetual inventory management systems includes inventory reduction, also described as inventory reduction due to non-sale circumstances. For example, the reduction can occur at any point in a supply chain, stemming from invoice errors, vendor fraud, misdirected shipments, retail employee theft and customer theft. If the inventory is computed as described above (ie, using perpetual inventory management techniques), the reduction percentages (amount to various sales percentages) may cause divergence of theoretical inventory (ie, inventory that is proposed). or planned) and physical. Another problem with perpetual inventory management systems is the uncertainty associated with the effectiveness of product promotions. For example, if the relationship between price and inventory speed, known as price flexibility, is not well understood, promotions can result in a depleted stock condition that negatively impacts customer satisfaction and return. Alternatively, promotions may fail to achieve a desired reduction in inventory when too much inventory is ordered and price flexibility is poorly estimated or measured. In addition, another problem related to inventory management systems is associated with poorly placed inventory on a sales shelf or similar support unit.

The product manufacturers devote large sums of money to certain market products to consumers. In some examples, this market may include fighting a competitor who makes a similar product. Because retailers generally want to present as much inventory as possible for sale to the customer, some employees can fill an invoice on the shelf dedicated to the output of the merchandise product with the related products. In some cases, the related products may include products produced by the manufacturer's competitor. This can result in loss sales for the manufacturer and, in some cases, reduction in customer satisfaction. This can also violate agreements between retailers and manufacturers or their distributors. To address the shortcomings of conventional inventory management systems, businesses have begun to incorporate wireless identification devices to aid in product inventory management. This advance contemplates attacking Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags on products during manufacturing or when products are stored in a warehouse. Each RFID tag includes an Integrated Circuit (IC) that allows the tag to have a unique identification number. Therefore, when a product is taken from a warehouse and placed on a retail shelf, for example, the products can be scanned to give a comprehensive inventory. In addition, RFID tag technologies have been contemplated to provide distributed inventory management between a manufacturer and a retailer. For example, a manufacturer may be alerted through the Internet at any time that a product is sold at a retailer using the information stored on the product's RFID tag. The manufacturer can then use this information to forecast replenishment schedules with the retailer to prevent a merchandise out situation. Although the RFID tag developments mentioned above help overcome some of the shortcomings of conventional perpetual inventory management systems, these developments lack the capabilities to provide comprehensive, almost real or real time inventory management at almost any point in time. a supply chain. As a result, there is a need to provide an intelligent inventory management system to provide a comprehensive view of inventory without a particular environment. Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention provide a process for managing an inventory of items, each article being placed in a respective location within an environment that is associated with a corresponding wireless identification device. In one aspect of the invention, the process may include providing information of the article associated with each article in each corresponding wireless identification device. Based on the information in the article, the process can perform an inventory management process to provide real-time information associated with the inventory of items. The inventory management process can include at least one output merchandise control process, a reduction recognition process, a rapid product recovery process, an alert monitor process, and a sales optimization process. Each of these processes can perform various tasks that are useful for inventory management of items in the environment, such as monitoring inventory levels of items, detecting misplaced items in the environment, and providing feedback information associated with articles based on detected events (for example, alternative locations sufered for certain items based on sales data). Additional features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will be obvious from the description or can be learned by the practice of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It will be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restricted from the invention, as claimed. The accompanying drawings that are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate various embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings: Figure 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary system consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention; Figure 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary environment consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention; Figure 3 is a flow diagram of an exemplary EPC literary process consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention; Figure 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary interface map consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention; Figure 5 is a flow chart of an exemplary inventory analysis process consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention; Figure 6 is a flow diagram of an exemplary reduction process consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention; and Figure 7 is a flow diagram of an exemplary recovery process consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention. The following description of the embodiments of this invention refers to the accompanying drawings. Where appropriate, the same reference numbers in different drawings relating to the same or similar elements. Systems and methods consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention allow an intelligent inventory management process to monitor and collect information associated with an inventory of items (e.g., products) included in an environment. An article, as the term is used here, can be any type of product that is manufactured, developed, grows through a farm business, and is provided by a manufacturer, business entity, individual, group of individuals, etc., by example, an article may be food (eg, fruit, dairy products, canned goods, etc.), an article of clothing, a plant or a similar type of horticultural product, a part of machinery for an engine, sports articles , etc. In addition, an article may be associated with live animals or fish, such as cattle (eg, cattle) that is increased by a livestock supplier and sold to a livestock processing business. Alternatively, an article may be a domestic or non-domestic animal, such as a dog or reptile that is educated and / or maintained by a provider or animal caretaker (eg, a pet store, zoo, etc.). The information collected can be used to perform various inventory management processes that allow a user to control the inventory of items, monitor reduction, ease and identification of recovered or defective items included in the inventory, management of misplacement of items. items within the environment, and receipt of alert messages associated with a variety of items in inventory conditions, such as safety conditions, outbound merchandise conditions, etc. In one aspect of the invention, an environment (eg, retail store, etc.) uses a system of RFID-enabled structures, such as shelf units, to maintain the tracking of an inventory of items. As a system is described in Annex A, which corresponds to the North American Patent Application Serial No., filed on January 9, 2003. The methods and systems consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention allow data associated with the Items to be repeatedly collected by a data collection system. A user may operate a user interface that provides item-based information on demand (ie, when the user requests it) or article information based on the exception (ie, when something unusual or remarkable occurs). Based on the data collected, an intelligent inventory management application and / or the user can handle merchandise items from departures, monitor reduction, perform quick recovery functions, and send alerts about notable events. System Architecture Figure 1 is a high level block diagram of an exemplary inventory management system 100 consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention. As shown, system 100 may include one or more environments 110-1 to 110-N interconnected by a network 180. Environments 110-1 to 110-N may also be directly connected by a direct communication path between the environments (not shown) . Network 180 can represent any type of communication configuration that allows environments 110-1 to 110-N to exchange information. For example, network 180 may be a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), and a combination of networks, such as the Internet. In addition, network 180 may include the infrastructure that allows environments 110-1 to 110-N to exchange information using wireless-based communications. Environments 110-1 to 110-N each represent an environment associated with a business entity or without a business. In one aspect of the invention, each environment 110 may include, or be associated with, physical structures that manufacture, produce, maintain, store and / or sell items. For example, environments 110-1 to 110-N may represent a retail store that sells items, a store that buys, stores, holds, and / or ships items, a room of merchandise that stores supplies, etc. Environments 110-1 to 110-N may also represent a principal office business entity that handles the sale, production, storage, etc., of items located and sold in other 110 environments. For example, various environments (e.g. , 110-1) can represent a retail distribution store, such as a supermarket that sells items directly to consumers (ie, users) and the 110-N environment can represent a main office that handles inventory and other aspects of business from each of the different environments. In accordance with certain aspects of the present invention, one or more environments (eg, 110-1) can perform the intelligent inventory management based on the information of the are collected by the automated services performed within the environments. To perform the intelligent inventory management services consistent with the aspects related to the present invention, each environment 110-1 to 110-N may include an Intelligent Inventory Management System (IIMS) 105, a Data Collection System (DCS) ) 160, and inventory 170 of are. IIMS 105 may represent one or more computer systems, such as a server, personal computer, workstation, portable computer, or any other similar computer system known in the art that performs one or more processes consistent with certain aspects of the present invention. Although Figure 1 shows IIMS 105 located within each environment, certain aspects of the invention allow the IIMS 105 to be located outside of an environment as well. For example, a chain of department stores can have several stores connected by a network to a single IIMS 105. DCS 160 can be configured as hardware, firmware, and / or software that performs data collection functions consistent with certain aspects of the invention. In one aspect, DCS 160 includes components that collect are information from one or more items included in the are inventory 170 using RFID technologies. The item inventory 170 may represent one or more items that are physically located within the respective environment 110. The item inventory 170 may also include one or more types of items that may or may not be similar in characteris, size, price, taste, functionality, etc. For example, in the example that the 110-1 environment represents a supermarket store, the inventory of the item may include different types of food and beverages, with each of the types of items including a number of items. Thus, in the previous example, environment 110-1 may include thousands of items of different types of beverages and other edible items. Alternatively, if environment 110-1 is associated with an improved warehouse retailer store, item inventory 170 may include different types of tools, machines, appliances, etc. For descriptive purposes in this application, the items described herein are associated with retailer merchandise that is assumed to be accommodated on shelves in the store containing an RFID antenna included in the respective environment 110. Each item can be associated with an RFID tag that includes information of the article associated with the respective article. For example, an RFID tag may include unique identification information of the article to which the label adheres, such as a serial number or a price number. Alternatively, the RFID tag may include information of the article representing an associated type and / or characteristics of the article, and identification of information is located in an RFID tag environment (eg, for scenarios where IIMS 105 is located outside of an environment). ). DCS 160 may be configured to retrieve the item information from the RFID tags associated with each item included in the item inventory 170 and provides the information to IIMS 105. Other types of information retrieval mechanisms may be implemented within the 110-1 environment associated with the item. the antenna, including board displays, clothes rack, last-shelf displays, cabinets, kiosks, in-door door racks, or warehouses, display cases, and outlets or verification passage equipment. In addition, although the following description of certain aspects of the invention involve RFID, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can also be applied with RFID readers associated with POS locations (eg, verification passages), warehouse shelves, Portal areas, etc. Those of the antenna (for example, the form factor), and the percentage in which the antenna is read, may require adjustment for use in applications other than shelves. For example, warehouse applications may require a higher reading range and less frequent data updates, while point-of-sale applications may require faster data updates with less possible reading ranges. The type and functionality of RFID based on the components and systems that can be implemented with the methods and systems consistent with the present invention are described in Annex A. ENVIRONMENT 110-1 EXAMPLE As described, the system 100 allows the iinnvveennttaarriiooss 117700 ooff aarrttiíccuulloo mmaanneejjaarrssee iinntteelliiggeenntteemmeennttee ppoorr 1100 uunnoo oo ,, tthhee mmááss aammbbiieenntteess 111100 FFiigguurraa 22 SShhoowwss uunn ddiiaaggrraammaa ooff tthhee bbllooqquuee uunn aammbbiieennttee 111,100 to -11 eejjeemmppllaarr ccoonnssiisstteennttee wwiitthh tthhee cciieerrttaass FFeeaattuurreess pprreesseennttee iinnvveenncciióónn .. ,, tthhee CCoommoo ssee SShhoowwss aammbbiieennttee 111,100 to -11 ppuueeddee iinncclluuiirr IIIIMMSS 110055 ,, uunn MMaanneejjoo ooff tthhee RReessppuueessttaa SSoolliicciittuudd ((RRRRMM)) 222 200 116 600 .. ,, yy DDCCSS IIIIMMSS 1155 110055 220011 iinncclluuiirr ppuueeddee uunn CCPPUU ,, 220022 ,, mmeemmoorriiaa ppaannt taallllaa 220044 ,, ooff bbaassee yy .. TThhee CCPPUU ddaattooss 221,155 220,011 ppuueeddee sseerr ccuuaallqquuiieerr ttiippoo pprroocceessaaddoorr ooff ((oo pprroocceessaaddoorreess)) iinn tthhee ccoonnoocciiddooss ttééccnniiccaa .. TThhee CCPPUU 220011 ttoo ccoonnffiigguurraarrssee ppuueeddee eejjeeccuuttaarr iinnssttrruucccciioonneess yy rreeaalliizzaarr pprroocceessooss ccoonnssiisstteenntteess cciieerrttooss wwiitthh aa 2200 pprriinncciippiiooss rreellaacciioonnaaddooss tthhee pprreesseennttee iinnvveenncciióónn .. AAuunnqquuee tthhee FFiigguurraa 22 SShhoowwss ssóólloo uunn CCPPUU 220011 110055 iinncclluuiiddoo iinn IIIIMMSS ,, iinn tthhee uunn eexxppeerrttoo ttééccnniiccaa ddeebbee rreevviissaarr ttoo tthhee uunn nnúúmmeerroo aarrqquuiitteeccttuurraass ddiiffeerreenntteess ppuueeddee iimmpplleemmeennttaarrssee ppoorr tthhee mmééttooddooss, ssiisstteemmaass yy aarrttíiccuullooss of ffaabbrriiccaacciiónn ccoonnssiisstteenntteess ccoonn cciieerrttaass 2255 * rreellaacciioonnaaddaass aa pprreesseennttee iinnvveenncciióónn .. For example, the CPU 201 can be replaced, or supplemented, by a plurality of processors with one or more of the multiprocessing and / or multitasking operations . Screen 204 may be a type of device that presents information to a user, such as a computer screen on a workstation, laptop, elementary terminal, kiosk, etc. The database 215 may be one or more storage device systems that store information used by IIMS 105 to perform the intelligent inventory handling characteristics consistent with the present invention. The database 215 can be controlled by a database server (not known), such as a SQL database server. In addition, a Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) disk for the SQL server can be used to access the SQL server database. The Database 215 can store information associated with each identifier included in the RFID tags. Thus, for each Unit of Identification Number of Existence (SKU) (ie, the information associated with an article that reflects at least certain type of product (for example, the type article), made by a certain manufacturer, in certain size, color, style, etc.), the information of the article is stored in the database 215 that can be selected from: 1) The Universal Price Code (UPC) and / or a Universal Product Code and / or a Electronic Price Code (EPC). Note that items made by a certain manufacturer in a certain size, color, etc., can all have the same UPC although each can have a unique EPC. In addition, the EPC description is provided in the following with respect to the "EPC Writer" entity section. 2) The current price of the item. 3) The season indicator of the article. A seasonal indicator can represent a relationship between an item and a period of time associated with different events or seasons, such as holidays, a time protocol near a certain date of a special event (for example, the Super Bowl), etc. For example, a soap product may have a seasonal indicator that represents features without season, such as "no season", crowns may have a "Christmas" indicator, the snail may have a "summer" indicator, etc. In addition, promotional items (for example, items that are specially marked by a manufacturer or retailer) may have a season indicator associated with a time protocol, such as "July 2003," etc. Seasonal indicators can be used by ISSA 200 and / or a user to determine when to remove or replenish certain items in the article inventory 170. 4) A life of storage of the article. A storage life can be a period of time that an article can accept to be included in inventory 170 of the article. For example, perishable products, such as milk, may have a limited period of time that can be presented on the shelf for sale to a customer. Non-perishable products may also have a limited period of time to be presented in inventory 170 based on one or more factors, such as prior sales of items of a similar type, limited promotional time protocols, etc. 5) Historical data about the sales percentages of each type of item. Historical sales data may extend after a certain period of time, such as a certain number of days, hours, etc. The historical sales data can be formatted to provide information that reflects a number of sales items of a given type over a period of time, such as a table that includes a sales data column that has 168 rows representing 7 days multiplied by 24 hours. The column may have few rows during an environment that operates less than 24 hours per day, such as a retail store or business that does not open throughout the day. In addition, the database 215 may include additional columns of percentage sales data for an article, for example, representing certain conditions, such as a standard price, a promotional price, a holiday season, a liquidation condition, etc. , The holiday seasons can be extended (for example, Christmas) or shortened (for example, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, etc.). Other situations that can lead to unusual sales patterns (for example, accelerated selling patterns) include the Super Bowl, or days before intense weather forecast such as a snowstorm or hurricane. 6) The historical depleted stock data represent one or more conditions when a type of article has not been available in the article inventory 170. 7) Historical data representing a number of items of the times an item has been removed and then returned to a shelf without a purchase. 8) A "shelf volume" size of an item that represents a size feature of a single package unit of an item. The size feature can be measured as a rectilinear solid or other types of geometric spaces that can be mathematically represented and manipulated by a process performed by a computer and / or user. For items that can not be stacked on top of each other, the shelf volume size can be considered to extend to another adjacent shelf placed on the shelf with respect to an article that is currently located. 9) One or more locations within an environment 110-1 where the item is preferably located, such as numerous shelves or warehouse locations. 10) The information that summarizes the reduction that reflects a movement of a certain number of specific items in time and place within the 110-1 environment. For example, reduction information may be associated with a condition where a large number of items of a certain type are removed from a shelf in a small amount of time. 11) The information that results from the events of specific depleted stocks at the time and place within the 110-1 environment. Additionally, for an article collection of a certain type of (e.g., an individual box of any type of article), database 215 may store information of the selected article of: 1) The EPC of the article. 2) The UPC of the article to relate back to the SKU information described in the above. 3) Other types of information not directly known from the SKU (for example, color, style, size). 4) A serial number associated with the item (if different from the EPC). 5) A cost of the item in a business entity associated with the 110-1 environment, such as a retailer. 6) An item date is first placed in a location within environment 110-1, such as a particular shelf. 7) An expiration date of the article (if any). 8) The item location information that represents a current physical location of the item in environment 110-1 (or if it is sold, the last known location of the item). 9) A price of an item sold was sold (if it was already sold). 10) A date of the item that was sold (if it was already sold). 11) A buyer's preferred customer number (if already sold) that represents a unique number assigned to a user who purchases or can purchase items located within the 110-1 environment. Database 215 can be configured to store data in various data formats and database configurations. For example, the database 215 may store one or more tables that include information used by ISSA 200 to perform certain functions related to the present invention. These tables may include: 1) tblAlerts - a table that stores alert confirmations and alerts associated with certain events within the 110-1 environment. 2) tblCompany: a table that stores information about a business entity (for example, company) that owns, rents, manages, and / or associates with environment 110-1. 3) tolCurEPC - a table that stores information regarding a current EPCs at a given location within environment 110-1 (for example, a given shelf). 4) tblEPC: a tablet that stores information related to an EPC code to a product information, such as a manufacturer, SKU, and other types of information associated with a product (for example, an article). 5) tblEPCReader - a table that stores information that relates to an EPC reader device, such as a reader 262. 6) tblEPCSkuBase - a table that stores information regarding the base-level inventory for an EPC reader device (for example, reader 262) and any articles associated with the reader. 7) tblERPInv - a table that stores information associated with a current theoretical inventory (for example, a planned or proposed inventory that should be presented in the 110-1 environment as opposed to the current inventory) provided by a Source Planning system. Company (ERP) or other types of inventory systems. An ERP system is a business management system that integrates any facets of a business, including planning, manufacturing, sales, and marketing, such as those ERP systems provided by SAP, Oracle, and PeopleSoft. 8) tblInventoryAlertConfig: A table that stores configuration items for an inventory alert job (for example, a task performed by IIMS 105 that provides alert messages based on one or more inventory conditions). 9) tblInventoryRemovalAlertConfig: a table that stores configuration data for an Inventory Removal Alerts process. 10) tblManu - a table that stores information associated with one or more manufacturers of items included in inventory 170. 11) tblReaderType - a table that stores information that defines actions that an EPC reader can perform (for example, reading, turning screens on / off, power level adjustment, etc.). 12) tblReaderTypeActions: a table that stores a list of possible actions for a given EPC reader. 13) tblRelatedEPC - a table that stores identification information for any EPC readers that are related to each other (eg, connected to a common shelf unit, associated with a common antenna or antenna, etc.). 14) tblRemEPC - a table that stores EPCs that are no longer located in a given location within a 110-1 environment (for example, no longer on a designated shelf). 15) tblRequest3roker - a table that stores information that defines a request intermediary location and associated ports (for example, TCP / IP port identifiers). 16) tblSku - a table that maintains information about the SKU information of the article. 17) tblSkuCat - a table that stores information regarding one or more categories for several items. 18) tblStore: a table that stores information about the 110-1 environment. 19) tblUser - a table that stores a list of users that is authorized to access ISSA 200. 20) tblVirtualCommands: a table that stores a list of virtual commands for an EPC reader. The list of commands can include commands that can be sent to an RFID reader to direct the RFID card to perform one or more operations, such as stored item information. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the tables listed in the foregoing are exemplary and are not intended to be limited. Database 215 may include more or fewer tables that are configured to store various types of information used by ISSA 200. Memory 202 may be one or more known types of storage devices that store data used by IIMS 105. Memory 202 it may be, but is not limited to, a magnetic, semiconductor, and / or optical type storage device. The memory 202 can also be a storage device that allows the CPU 201 to access the data quickly, such as the hidden memory. In a configuration consistent with selected features related to the present invention, the memory 202 may store data and / or program instructions (e.g., applications) to implement methods that consist of certain features that relate to the present invention. Although the software may be included in the memory 202 it is the Smart Shelf Software Application (ISSA) 200. ISSA 200 ISSA 200 may be an application program, such as a network-enabled application, which provides information to a user, or a ERP system. Consequently, ISSA 200 can be configured to receive data from, and supply data to, a user or an ERP system (or other types of business management systems). ISSA 200 can temporarily store collected inventory data DCS 160 in the database 215 before transferring portions of the data to the user and / or an ERP system. In one aspect of the invention, a user can adapt ISSA 200 to determine how much inventory data is handled and stored in a database 215 and how the inventory data is maintained in an ISSA system located in another environment, such as the environment 110-N. Additionally, ISSA 200 can perform and / or operate with one or more security processes that are configured to control access in the ISSA 200 functions. For example, ISSA 200 can execute a security process that requires a user to provide a name valid username and password (or other form of identification) to access the features provided by IIMS 105, including those made by ISSA 200. In addition, ISSA 200 can assign one or more roles to the user. Based on the assigned role, ISSA 200 (or any other application and / or process included in IIMS 105) can determine which tasks (for example, programs executed by ISSA 200 through CPU 201) a corresponding user can access. In addition, ISSA 200 can control whether a user receives certain types of alerts that may be received by ISSA 200 from other components within the 110-1 environment, such as DCS 160. Also, ISSA 200 may include a process that, when performed by the CPU 201 creates and maintains a record of any transactions performed by a user, such as adding data, requesting data and / or modifying data in database 215. ISSA 100 may include one or more user interface 210 that allows a user The user exchanges information with ISSA 200, such as through the screen 204. The user interface 210 allows a user to request data in a form of commands or require to be processed by a business transaction / logical processor 230. The transaction / business logic processor 230 can be software, when executed by CPU 201, handles one or more tasks (i.e., processes) consistent with certain features related to the present invention. In one aspect, these tasks may include an output of the existence control task 231, reducing the monitoring task 232, the quick recovery task 233, the EPC writing task 234, other task features 235, and the alert task 239. Task 231 Out of stock The out-of-stock control task 231 provides management functions for ISSA 200 associated with the inventory item 170. For example, the inventory control task 231 can perform an inventory process that determines, at the command and / or periodically, a physical inventory of items included in some of all inventories 170, such as a current inventory of items currently supported on a store shelf. Task 231 may allow a user (e.g., customer, employee, etc.) to request and view the results of the inventory process on a display device, such as a peripheral device 255 or display 204. Task 231 may determine whether Any type of items are not stocked (for example, not available for purchase by a customer because none of the items of that type is placed in a location that the customer can collect and buy.) Task 231 can create a list of These types of items lack stock and gives them priority based on one or more factors, such as the loss of earnings due to the type of item that is out of stock for a period of time (for example, the last month), profit losses because the type of item is depleted at the time the exhausted stock condition is determined, available, otherwise, in environment 110-1 (for example, in the back storage room), and the sale term (for example, a new release of some popular DVD sales, snow shovels during a snowstorm, etc.). Additionally, the depleted stock control task 231 can perform a misplacement process that creates a record of any items that are placed in an incorrect location within the 110-1 environment, such as when an article is placed on a shelf wrong. In addition, task 231 may generate and / or send a warning message of misplacement when an item is determined to be misplaced. Also, task 231 can perform a shelf count threshold process that allows a user and / or ISSA 200 to receive and / or be alert in the case of an indication of any type of item having a shelf count below a threshold value for a given location. A shelf count represents a number of items of a certain type that are present in a given location associated with the type of item. For example, in a supermarket, a certain shelf can be assigned to a type of item (for example, canned soup). The shelf count of the exemplary item type must represent how many items of a particular type are located on the assigned shelf. In one aspect of the invention, the threshold value can be determined by a user and / or calculated by ISSA 200 based on one or more conditions, such as how many articles of a certain type were previously removed from the given location on the same day, the the previous week, during the hours of a present time until the 110-1 environment is no longer open to customers and / or until a next scheduled replenishment of the type of items. Also, the threshold value can be adjusted by one or more factors that represent certain conditions associated with the item or external conditions, such as if the type of items were exposed to a sales promotion, a holiday shopping station, a protocol of time corresponding to a special event (for example, the Super Bowl, weather conditions, etc). In addition to the feedback provided in ISSA 200 and / or inventory conditions with respect to the user associated with one or more types of items in inventory 170, the inventory control task 231 can also determine how much sale (eg, money) was lost as a function of a certain period of time (loss of income per hour) based on an item that is out of stock (for example, unavailability to a customer for the purchase). Also, the stock control task 231 can determine one or more factors that can influence the sale of items of a particular type. These factors may include, but are not limited to, pricing of articles of the article type, seasonal characteristics associated with the sale of articles, and sales of other types of items included in inventory 170. The control task 231 of depleted stock may also determine one or more alternate locations within, and / or outside of, the 110-1 environment that a type of item may be repositioned based on prior sales associated with the type of item and / or the type of item. it is exhausted existence. In addition, when a type of article is determined to be out of stock, task 231 may generate a message to be displayed on a display device that reflects the condition of the lack of assortment. The assortment lack message may also include other information, such as an apology for the condition of lack of assortment, an offer for a sale price discount or another item of similar type to the item type of depleted stock (for example, a generic store or brand product), a ticket for assortment items, and addresses in an alternate environment (for example, a nearby store) that includes an item of the same type in your inventory and the price of the item. Reduction Task 323 Reduction task 232 can perform the processes that handle the reduction of items included in inventory 170, such as inventory loss through theft, accounting errors, and misplacement. In one aspect of the invention, the reduction task 232 can perform a process that determines, and / or allows a user to receive reflective information, when the physical shelf inventory and / or shelf inventory are out of site for a certain percentage. The theoretical shelf inventory represents a value determined by ISSA 200 that corresponds to an inventory of items that must be located in a particular location in the 110-1 environment. For example, in the case of high value merchandise, a user may wish to know when the theoretical and physical inventory quantities are different by only one unit. In addition, the reduction task 232 can perform a process that determines, and / or allows a user to see, which environment locations 110-1 are experiencing the greatest reduction. Also, the task 232 can perform a process that determines, and / or allows a user to see or be fin, when the items are removed from the shelf in a predetermined amount, such as an amount defined by a store management. The predetermined amount can represent a large number of items that move in a relatively short time, which may possibly indicate the theft condition. The elimination of a large number of items, however, can also indicate an exceptionally good customer who deserves immediate customer service. Accordingly, the reduction task 232 can register a reduction condition detected in a register and can send an interruption signal to one or more peripheral devices such as silent alarms, lights flashing on a nacelle, a camera or video dater, or an audio message of "thank you". In addition, reduction task 232 can create and provide a message to a user (e.g., sales clerk, employee of environment 110-1, etc.) that includes information to dispatch the user in the area to offer assistance to a "valued customer". Quick Recovery Task 233 Quick recovery task 233 can perform one or more processes that allow a user or business organization (for example, retailer, article maker, etc.) to flag items based on critical data, such as number of lot, age, etc. Task 233 can determine and provide information about an item or items that may need to move from a shelf, or those sales that must be accelerated for other reasons. For example, certain types of articles may have an associated expiration date, determined by their manufacturer, such as pharmaceuticals, health and beauty products, perishable items (for example food products). Although some of these items can still be safe (and pharmacists are still effective) for some time beyond the expiration date, the accepted practice can not sell the items after their expiration date. Therefore, the reduction task 233 can identify items that approach an expiration date and provide information to a user indicating the expiration date condition. In addition, task 233 may provide suggestions to promote the sale of these items before their expiration date, such as the determination of an alternate location in, or outside of environment 110-1 that has a high item sale history (for example, a front of a shelf), and / or suggests selling the items at low prices. Also, task 233 can provide information to a user when an article or articles have expired so that items can be moved from inventory 170. Quick-recovery task 233 can also provide information associated with the purchase plan for article types. . For example, a type of item that does not sell well (for example, item sales that do not reach expected levels) before its corresponding expiration date may be an indication of excess inventory. Consequently, task 233 can provide information that reflects a relationship between previous sales and a type of item and the expiration dates for articles of that type of item. Additionally, the quick recovery task 233 can access databases 215 to the shelf life information collected associated with each item in inventory 170. The shelf life information can represent an approximate shelf life of an item, which can determined from an expiration date for certain types of items. Alternatively, life on the shelf may represent a usual billing time for the item, with respect to its useful life or expiration date. The task 233 can determine when an item has exceeded its shelf life and provide an indication of its condition to a user, by means of a display device (e.g., display 204). Quick recovery task 233 can also access database 215 to collect the dated temperature data associated with certain items in inventory 170. Temperature data may reflect a temperature value of an area close to one or more items stored in environment 110-1, such as a refrigerated shelf unit. Quick recovery task 233 can use the temperature data to calculate a reduced shelf life or debris predicted by temperature dependent items, such as milk. In addition, task 233 can provide and / or send a warning message to a user that reflects a condition when the temperature of a particular area (e.g., a refrigerated shelf unit) falls below an acceptable level by any items stored in the room. the area. further, for any items of certain types that have a shelf life or expiration date, the quick recovery task 233 can provide, as an additional security features against the database error, an alert to one or more locations within from an external to the 110-1 environment. For example, an alert message (e.g., sound message and / or screen) may be provided at a POS or departure location that has the cashier's verification on the expiration date normally printed on the package for an item close to bought at the POS location. Quick recovery task 233 can also determine which items have been modified by a manufacturer or supplier and, based on this determination, provide possible actions that reflect information that can help move the old inventory. For example, products (ie, items, sometimes experience a change of style, such as a new package style, a different size, a change of color, a change in flavor, etc. While the existing product is still good A retailer may want to sell existing old merchandise as soon as possible because customers may be unwilling to buy an old product in a concrete way, so the quick-recovery task 233 allows the retailer to locate the redesigned merchandise and move it to more tradable locations, such as on the sales floor, in front of shelves and / or offering merchandise at a discounted price to move old merchandise from inventory 170. Items can also be defective when they arrive in environment 110-1. In the case of pharmacists, it may be imperative to immediately move the items to prevent possible health risks. the 110-1 environment or return to the manufacturer. In addition, a defective item may need to be recovered by the manufacturer. Consequently, removal of the defective item from inventory 170 before it is purchased can save time for a retailer and the customer, as well as allow the item to be returned to the manufacturer intact in its original packaging. The quick recovery task 233 can perform one or more processes that address these types of situations. For example, in some cases, an article may have a defect that represents it less valuable, as long as it does not constitute a health or safety risk, such as an article with the loss part, a cosmetic defect, an incompatible part, etc. A manufacturer may be able to identify these items after they have been delivered to environment 110-1 based on an identification number associated with the delivery (eg, lot numbers). However, once a large number of items are stored and / or shipped, different batches can be mixed together and the retailer may have problems identifying the affected items without opening the packages. In addition, with the RFID tagging characteristics associated with certain aspects of the present invention, the manufacturer can identify a range of serial RFID numbers that are incorrectly packaged. Environment 110-1 can receive these serial numbers and allow ISSA 200 to identify defective items in inventory 170. Quick recovery task 233 can perform a process that searches database 215 for items associated with serial numbers received by the defective items and provide this information to a user, perhaps through the screen 204 or other peripheral devices. The user can then offer several items with market incentives to move the defective items from inventory 170. For example, a customer can offer a discount on a defective item to buy it "as such". In the sale of a product, a teller can either take the name and address of the customer and transmit this information to the manufacturer, or the customer can give a key number that orders a lost part for free at the manufacturer's expense, such as through the Internet. Alternatively, the known lost part can be sent to the retailer to pass it off as a free "service pack". Procedures similar to this should save shipping and handling costs to the manufacturer involved in the return of the complete package. In addition, a retailer can still use this feature to offer a special discount to a customer who wants to buy an "open box" or such a product to return it for another customer, who may lack items not due to manufacturer error. Using items tagged RFID, a retailer can offer a special discount on damaged packages in the retailer's inventory 170, without worrying that corrupt customers may damage the boxes in good condition on the shelf and seek a discount. Additionally, certain types of items, such as software products, sometimes contain known errors or "failures" that may require a "corrective patch." For example, a computer-readable medium (for example, CD-ROM, DVD, magnetic disk, etc.) includes one or more programs and data that may require a revision that includes only a few megabytes that can be downloaded over the Internet. Quick recovery task 233 can identify these types of defective items using the RFID tags 280 in inventory 170. Consequently, the retailer and / or manufacturer can offer a customer a small discount to buy a product with "departure date" or "error", with the client who understands that the product can raise the specification with a few minutes of time on the Internet to download the correct code. In addition, environment 110-1 can provide one or more work stations that a user can use to download the correct code while in environment 110-1. Writer 234 EPC The writer 234 EPC can be a process that is used to help EPC ISSA 200 writers on particular 280 RFID tags. In one aspect of the invention, the 234 EPC may access the database 215 to obtain identification numbers, such as a UPC, for particular items that are tagged with an EPC on an RFID tag 280. In addition to the description of these aspects of the invention is described in the following with respect to the EPC Writer section. Other Features of Task 235 Other features of tasks 235 can perform one or more applications associated with advertising, price susceptibility, sales optimization, automatic pricing, and customer information and services. In one aspect of the invention, other features of task 235 include an application of Advertising, Price Sensitivity, and Sales Optimization (APSSO) that determine relationships that reflect how to publish (e.g., marketing and / or representation of items) and / or possible sales or sales influences of items or types of items that are presented to customers interacting with inventory 170. This application may create, on demand or periodically, a summary of how some of the items or items of a certain type are physically moved by their current location in environment 110-1, such as when an item is removed from a shelf and replaced. In this way, the APSSO application can request and receive periodic inventory data inventory updates that reflect a current inventory of items in inventory 170. The APSSO application can influence the output of task goods 231 to collect inventory information , or alternatively sending commands to the inventory request interface 250 to collect the information by itself, as requested by an inventory read the contents of the shelf at least every few seconds. The APSSO request can compare the inventory information collected for the sales percentage data associated with the items corresponding to the inventory information collected to provide an indication (e.g., a proportion) of a number of simple article-by-event examination events. The indication, or proportion, can describe how much attention a customer's item is getting, when it is set against the percentage of item purchases. The data may be associated with the location information associated with the item, for example, if the item was at eye level, at a display at the end of the shelf, placed in front of a store, placed in a promotional display, placed behind the store. the store, etc. The term eye level, as used herein, may refer to one or more distances extending from the floor of room 110-1 where items are displayed for purchase, such as 1.52m to 2.34m (5 feet to 7 feet ) Tall. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the term eye level is not intended to be limited by this exemplary range of distance. Any distance from the base of a structure that supports articles that remain on the floor of room 110-1 may be associated with the term eye level without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, the distance associated with the term eye level may be based on the type of environment 110-1 depicted. For example, a clothing manufacturer and / or retailer may determine that the level of the eye refers to a distance lower than a distance defined by a food retailer. Also, the APSSO application can determine how often an item is purchased in pairs, triples, etc. In addition, for a given type of item, the APSSO application can identify other items or other types of thatare moved from its current position in environment 110-1 to, or approximately (eg, within a few seconds, minutes, etc.) .), the same time as the type of item given has a moved item, known as a corrected purchase time. The APSSO application can also determine which items of a given type, if any, have not moved from their respective positions for a defined period of time. Alternatively, or additionally, the APSSO application can determine which items of a given type have been moved and placed for a defined period of time (ie, items that are not purchased by customers). And, the APSSO application can identify any items of a given type that have experienced a price change within a prior period of time, such as the day, week, month, past, etc. the APSSO application can generate a list of these changed price items and provide the list to a user via a peripheral device (eg, device 255) and / or screen 204. In addition, the APSSO application can determine, based on the items of identification with price changes, a relationship between these items and the number of item examination events (for example, when a customer takes an item and replaces it). In one aspect of the invention, the APSSO application can interact with an expert system (internal or external in II S 105) to analyze historical data through the article or correlated sales, sales speed (ie, how fast or how fast slow the items were sold and their respective inventory was reduced), the sensitivity of the sale price (for example, a relationship between previous sales of a type of item and events of sale prices for that article type), season, etc., to suggest improvements in store layout and shelf organization. That is, the expert system and / or the APSSO application can determine and provide suggestions to a user by means of a peripheral device in alternate locations for certain types of articles based on the information analyzed in the above. Other features of task 235 may also include an Automatic Price Fixation Application (APP) that performs the processes that handle the selling price of an item. In an aspect of the invention, the APP can receive and / or collect price plans from database 215 (or any other memory device that can store these plans) and automatically update an item sale price displayed on an exhibit device (eg, an LCD mounted on a shelf that supports the article). A price plan can represent a price program for certain or all kinds of items in inventory 170 that is generated by a price plan process executed by a computer device (for example, IIMS 105) or generated by a user ( for example, store manager). For example, an exemplary price plan may include scheduled promotions that suggest reducing the price of certain types of items based on these promotions. In addition, a price plan may consider the season or time depending on the conditions, such as holidays, weather conditions, etc., to determine how to modify the price of a type of item. For example, the price plan process can collect periodic time information from a server system that accesses and stores current time data for an adjacent area close to environment 110-1 (for example, 50-100 mile radios). , city limits, etc.). The price plan may use the collected time information to determine if the sale price of certain items (for example, snow shovels, wooden merchandise crossbars, etc.) should be adjusted. Alternatively, a user (for example, store manager) can collect, or automatically receive, the time information and adjust the sales price manually through the price plan process and / or the APP. The APP can also correlate, in real time, the price of an object item with the age of the shelf inventory associated with the object article, a quantity of items of the same type as the article object in theoretical inventory, and the speed of sales of other types of article whose sales are correlated with the sale of the article object. The APP can generate a report that reflects the correlations and provides the report on request or on a scheduled basis in a peripheral device (for example, storage device, display device, printer, etc.). Other features of task 235 may also include a Customer Information and Special Services Application (CISSA) that performs the processes provided by users (for example, customers who purchase in a 110-1 environment) with assistance in locating a service. Article of interest under a variety of special circumstances. In one aspect of the invention, CISSA can also provide available inventory information of items to remote users (i.e., customers). For example, a user remotely located from environment 110-1 can access a website hosted by a server operated in association with environment 110-1 through network 180. By using the network site, the user can request availability of one or more items of one or more 110-1 environment types (for example, there is an item in inventory 170). The CISSA can receive the request from the computer server and determine if the request for items is available in the inventory 170. In another aspect of the invention, the CISSA can access the database 215 to collect inventory information collected by the task 231 of merchandise Alternatively, or additionally, the CISSA may request a search for the requested items through environment 110-1 by providing one or more commands to RR 220 and DCS 160. In addition, the CISSA may generate a request for the availability of the items requested in one or more remote environments (for example, environment 110-N) and receive back a response indicating whether the requested item (s) are available in these respective locations. In this stage, the remote environment can perform a local inventory search process to determine if the item is currently in the merchandise. Based on the local search, the remote environment can provide a response message to environment 110-1 that indicates the result of the local search (for example, the article is or is not available in that location). Alternatively, remote environments can periodically provide their current inventory data to the 110-1 environment. ISSA 200 can receive and store this information received in a database (for example, database 215) to be accessed by the CISSA as needed. Based on the information received indicating whether the article is available, the CISSA can provide the user (via the computer server and the network 180) with a response indicating a real-time availability of a requested article in the 110-1 environment and / or in alternate environments, such as a retail store of a user's favorite retailer or the three or four nearest alternative distribution stores. Additionally, CISSA can provide the same available article functions described in the above through computer devices located within environment 110-1 (for example, kiosks located in a store). For example, when a customer arrives at a store (for example, environment 110-1) expects to find a particular item and is disappointed to learn that the item is sold out, the customer can request the availability of the item using a kiosk located within the store. In addition to one or more alternative store addresses that have the item in the merchandise, the kiosk may show the customer an offer for an inconvenient discount (for example, a discount cent coupon for the item or perhaps another item). The customer can accept the discount, for example, by providing a simple word / number code of their selection. This discount will be valid for a limited period of time and the client only needs to use the word / number selected within 24 or 48 hours of which this word / code number is given the right to discount in the alternative stores. In addition, the CISSA may also provide alternate location information in a display device mounted on a shelf unit that supports an article or group of items. For example, for any of the items that are not in the merchandise, the display device may display the location of, and / or addresses in, the nearest alternate location (eg, store) that currently includes the item in the inventory. . For items that are not assorted, the display device can display the prices within alternate locations. As described above, alternate locations can be determined based on these locations by performing, in a periodic search, or requested base, an inventory for the requested item. Monitor 239 Alert The Alert Monitor 239 can perform one or more processes that notify a user of certain events. In one aspect of the invention, the alert monitor 239 can notify a user via email, paging, cell phone, audible or visual signal, etc. The alert monitor 239 may include the appropriate software to interact with other devices, software, and / or computer systems that include the infrastructure to facilitate communications during a particular medium. That is, the alert monitor 239 can send an alert message to an outgoing interface that carries the message in a format compatible with a message transmission or delivery system (e.g., wireless network device, etc.). monitor 239 alert can receive data reflecting an event from the interface 250 and / or other processes, such as one of the tasks 231-234, and formulates an alert message in this way. The data received may reflect a pending article known to be in an alternate location (eg, a later room) so that a user (eg, a retail employee) may carry the reservation merchandise to a retail floor. If the non-existing article can not be replaced from the alternate location, the user and / or ISSA 200 can reorder the article. In addition, the received data may reflect a malfunction in one or more components within the environment 110-1, such as an antenna 270. In one aspect of the invention, the alert monitor 239 may operate on an "exception" basis. That is, provide alert messages when an event is detected to indicate to a user when something unusual happens. The alert monitor 239 can operate on a promotion base, where events that must give a higher priority are repeated or prolonged. For example, a merchandise clerk should be alert whenever an item approaches a stock depleted situation or when a single shelf malfunctions. In addition, a department manager can be alert if several types of items are lacking in stock, if a lack of stock situation persists for more than a day, and if a gondola goes out of service. ISSA 200 can also include one or more inventory request interface 250 that collects RFID tag reading events and can receive data and / or requests from business layer 230 and request a response from manager 220. The exchange of commands, data, and / or information within the environment 110-1 denotes a typical information flow, which may be associated with a high level entity, such as the inventory request interface 250, which sends a command to a low level entity such as DCS 160, and in turn, receives data from the DCS 160. In addition, the flow of information can also be reversed. For example, DCS 160 may request information from ISSA 200, such as the antenna tunes data, or may report certain ISSA 200 events, such as a malfunction in one or more components (e.g., antenna 270). Interface 250 can be an Active Service Page (ASP) that other applications can send HTTP information. Interface 250 can receive EPC data from RRM 220 and send Extensible Language data for EPC Document Analysis (XL) in a message queue that is established for each reader 262 in DCS 160. ISSA 200 can be configured using different types of architectures . For example, in one aspect of the invention, ISSA 200 can be configured in a three-row architecture structure that includes a higher level associated with the business / transaction logic 210, a lower layer associated with the business logic / transactions 230, and a base layer associated with the database 215. The upper layer user interface 210 may be software running in the navigation program, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer (v5.0 or greater). user interface 210 may, when executed by CPU 201, send requests and receive responses from a computer system, such as a server (e.g., Microsoft® Internet Information Server (IIS)). The server may return information XSL Extensible Style Language XML to the user interface 210. The XML and XSL information can be applied together by a user interface 210 using one of many of the Document Object Model (DOM) techniques (e.g., Microsoft DOM). When the XML and XSL are applied by the user interface 210, the content presented in the Hypertext Language through Codes (HTML) can be displayed on a screen 204 through the reader executed by IIMS 105. Although the previous examples describe services based on XL and HTML, one skilled in the art will appreciate that many types of data processing and presentation languages can be implemented without departing from the scope of the invention. The half or row 230 of Business Logic exposes the business logic in ISSA 200. The components of business logic can be developed, for example, using the Microsoft.NET, Microsoft VB.NET or C # Classes. In addition, the .NET class components can be created within the ASP.NET Network Services. These classes may be without information about the previous state, and multi-threaded unless otherwise specified by business logic 230. The database row 215 may store data used to perform one or more inventory management processes that consist of certain features of the invention. In one aspect of the invention, there may be no business logic in this row, which allows IIMS 105 to implement multiple types of databases. The database 215 can be accessed using different types of database languages, depending on the architecture of the database being configured. For example, Structured Query Language (SQL) commands through ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) and / or Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) over the Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP). In addition, preventing mishandling of information, database row 215 can be configured to allow access only to row 230 of business logic. RRM 220 RRM 220 can be an application running through a computer system (eg, a RRM system (not shown) to provide a bridge (ie, interface) between the high level components (eg, such software). as ISSA 200) and low level components (eg, hardware / firmware, such as DCS 160) Although Figure 2 shows RRM 220 as a separate component, RRM 220 can be stored in memory 202 and executed by CPU 201. In one aspect of the invention, RRM 220 can communicate between an inventory request interface 250 and one or more primary controllers 260, located in DCS 160, or primary controller substitutes (not shown) located within RRM 220, which performs the data handling or analysis in the information collected from RFID tags 280 in inventory 170. RRM 220 may include a user interface that allows a user to see a current status of RRM 220. The user interface can access is from IIMS 105 that RRM 220 can execute. In one aspect of the invention, RRM 220 can load XML configuration documents from a RRM configuration interface (not shown) included in ISSA 200. The configuration file can include one or more event lists and / or list of commands, which are a list of events provided by DCS 160 and the commands provided by ISSA 200, respectively. RRM 220 can create request broker 222 for each event list in the configuration file from the XML configuration document provided by ISSA 200 (e.g., inventory request interface 250). Alternatively, RRM 220 can create a primary controller substitute (not shown) for each event list. A primary controller substitute is further explained in the following with respect to DCS 160 and the primary controller 260. Also, RRM 220 can create one or more response corridors 224 that handle the responses of one or more primary or substitute controllers 260 of the primary controller included within RRM 220. A response broker 224 can also send recognition information and / or fail to request the broker 222 to indicate whether a response has been received from the primary controller 260. In one aspect of the invention, the response runner 224 can initiate an oriented object class based on a reader 262 that receives read data and converts it to an EPC XML document. The response broker 224 can also send the EPC XML document to ISSA 200, if available. If ISSA 200 is not available at that time, the response broker 224 can store the EPC XML document in a queue until ISSA 200 is available. When the application broker 222 is started by RRM 220, you can send a command list from ISSA 200. The request broker 222 can access the received list and can execute each command. After each command is executed, the request broker 222 can wait for a response from a response broker 224, such as recognition or failure response. If there is no reply from the response broker 224 within a certain period of time (which can be defined in the command list), or the failure message is returned, another list of commands can be executed in response to the failure. Otherwise, if an acknowledgment is received from the response broker 224, then the request broker 222 can execute the following command in the command list. Once all the commands in a command list are executed, the request broker 222 can re-execute the commands in the command list in the original order of execution. The response runner 224 monitors for any responses provided by the primary controller 260 or a primary substitute controller included within RRM 220. When a response arrives, the response runner 224 may determine an Internet Protocol (IP) address for response and create a control flow to process the received response while continuing to monitor for any additional input responses. Based on the response received from the primary controller 260, the response broker 224 can provide an appropriate request broker 222 with recognition or failure information representing the status of the broker's request. The appropriate request broker 222 may be the broker executing a command or request corresponding to the response received. In the case of the data containing the received response, the response broker 224 can dynamically initiate a method of an object to parse the data based on the XML configuration. Each class that starts can return the similar EPC XML data. The response broker 224 can place each of the returned EPC XML data in a data structure, such as a table. The response runner 224 may also retrieve one or more read sequences for a reader 262 given from the table (e.g., a sequence of read command data that receives the EPC information from certain RFID tags 280). If the response broker 224 determines that XML EPC data exists on the left in the queue for a current reader 262, then the response broker 264 can send the data to ISSA 200. In one aspect of the invention, the response broker 224 You can send the EPC XML data from the queue in a particular sequence, such as the oldest to the newest. Once the EPC XML data in the queue is provided in ISSA 200, the response broker 224 can then send the received EPC XML stream. Otherwise, if there is no XML EPC data in the queue for the current reader 262, then the current EPC XML data is passed to ISSA 200. At that time, if ISSA 200 is not available, then the response broker 224 can place The current EPC XML in the queue. In one aspect of the invention, ISSA 200 may request data (eg, provide a read command) on request (eg, request with response times of a few seconds or less) or periodically, such as requesting that they be automatically started on the established programs (for example, every minute, hour, day, etc.). DCS 160 may acquire the requested data from the 280 FID tag through one or more antennas 270. The percentage of acquisition of the data may be based on the number of RFID tags 280 included in the inventory 170. Thus, for example, DCS 160 can collect the requested data within a few seconds during an inventory that includes a few hundred labeled items or within a few minutes for much longer inventories, such as those that include thousands of items labeled RFID. There is responsibility for RRM 220 to manage data collection through the components that are operated within DCS 160. For example, RRM 220 can be configured to sequentially provide a queue for requested data on various RFID tag reading devices (for example, example, reader 262) that is dedicated to collecting item information from RFID tags placed in different locations within environment 170. Tag data collection DCS 160 and RFID DCS 160 can be a collection of hardware, firmware, and / or software that performs data collection functions consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention. DCS 160 may include a primary controller 260, one or more readers 262, and one or more secondary controllers 266. DCS 160 may control one or more antennas 270 that are associated with (eg, assembled) corresponding to support structures (eg, shelf units) from which one or more items remain. The items in inventory 170 can each be labeled with RFID tags 280 that include item information, such as an EPC that reflects various features associated with the respective item. When a corresponding antenna 270 is activated by DCS 160, the information within any RFID tags 280 located within the readable proximity of the activated antenna can be retrieved and provided in DCS 160. The RFID tags 280 respond to the RF energy emitted by the antenna 270, and this response is perceived by the reader 262, which returns digital serial data to the primary controller 260. The digital serial data may be analyzed syntactically by the primary controller 260 and then returned to the response corridor 224 to further process by ISSA 200. The primary controller 260 may be a device and / or process that monitors and receives requests (eg commands) from the broker 222 of request and consequently generates a series of specific corresponding commands in a reader 262 that environment 110-1 can use to access particular items in inventory 170. In one aspect of the invention, commands provided by a request broker 222 they can be formatted according to a network protocol, for example, the TCP / IP protocol. The primary controller 260 may send the received commands (e.g., TCP / IP packets) to the reader 262 and / or one or more secondary controllers 266. In another aspect of the invention, the controller 260 may pass the commands to the reader 262 and / or one or more secondary controllers 266 in an RS-485 form or other types of serial communication protocols. Table I shows a list of exemplary commands that the primary controller 260 can provide to the reader 262 and / or the secondary drivers 266.

EXAMPLE COMMAND Select an antenna 270 Place the reader 262 in the active mode Adjust a reader 262 energy level for the selected antenna 270 Perform a first read operation Determine which EPC numbers have been read Prevent the reading tag (s) from responding also during a current reading cycle Perform read operations until no longer read EPC numbers Place the reader 262 in standby mode De-select the antenna 270 Continue with the next antenna 270 to read Table I Exemplary Primary Controller Commands The primary controller 260 also monitors for a response from the reader 262 and / or secondary controller 266 that sends one or more commands. Based on whether a response is received in the response type, the primary controller 260 may generate and send acknowledgment information, without recognition (eg, failure), and / or reading in response to the broker 224. The reading information may include EPC information associated with the RFID tags 280 in the inventory 170. For example, the primary controller 260 may provide one or more EPC numbers to the response runner 224 each time a read operation is completed by the reader 262. Alternatively, the controller 260 primary can store the EPC numbers temporarily in a memory device (not shown). Once a number of RFID tags 280 for one or more antennas 270 have to be read by the reader 262 (e.g., all labels, a portion of the tags, etc.), the primary controller 260 can also perform a process of batch transfer that provides the read data (e.g., EPC data) all at once, in the groups, to respond to the broker 224. In another aspect of the invention, the primary controller 260 may be adjusted for any differences in a command received or data stream that may be peculiar to a reader 262 that the controller may use read information from the RFID tags 280. The primary controller 260 may use any of a number of readers 262 provided that the selection reader 262 is physically capable of operating one or more antennas 270. Each antenna 270 may be configured to be compatible with one or more different types of readers 262. In an aspect of the invention, a given antenna 270 can be optimized (i.e., tuned) by a frequency, so that the antenna 270 can work with any reader 262 that uses the same frequency. Accordingly, more than one reader 262 can activate any given antenna 270 within the environment 110-1 while the reader 262 provides its signals using the frequency tuned to that given antenna 270. As explained in the above, although Figure 2 shows the primary controller 260 as part of DCS 160, the controller 260 may be implemented as a substitute for the primary software controller (not shown) within the RRM 220. Accordingly, the communications of the Substitute primary controller software can drive RRM 220 as TCP / IP commands and converted to RS-485 data communications by a separate device and / or process (not shown). The reader 262 may be one or more of any type of RFID readers off the shelf provided by many different manufacturers, such as the I-CODE reader provided by Philips®. More than one type of reader 262 can be implemented within DCS 160, while primary controller 260 (or an equivalent device dedicated to communication with reader 262) is configured to communicate with reader 262 (eg, provides validity commands and properly interprets returned data). Although Figure 2 shows reader 262 as a separate component within DCS 160, primary controller 260 and reader 262 can physically be combined into a single electronic entity, depending on the type of environment 110-1 and / or inventory 170 of article, one, various, hundreds of several, etc., readers 262 can be used by DCS 160 to collect item information from Inventory 170. Although each reader 262 can associated with its own primary controller 260, a primary controller 260 may be assigned to work with one or more readers 262 to facilitate the collection of item information from inventory 170. Secondary 266 Controller On the other hand communication with the reader 262, the controller 260 primary also communicates with one or more secondary 266 controllers. The secondary controller 266 is a device and / or computer process that can select one or more antenna 270 by controlling the electronic components that act as switches to activate or deactivate a corresponding antenna 270. Each secondary controller 266 can be physically located next to and connected to the antenna group 270, such as various antennas contained within a shelf or facility located within a localized shelf or accessory that stores items included in the inventory 170. For example, the environment 110-1 may have hundreds of secondary controllers 266 and thousands of antennas 270. In addition, secondary controller 266 may also, on receipt of one or more commands of primary controller 260, operate a peripheral device 255 to display information of the item from the RFID tags 280 included in the inventory 170 of the article and / or provide inventory information to a user. For example, the peripheral device 255 may be a display mounted on a front edge of a shelf that supports one or more items. Alternatively, the peripheral device 255 can be directly connected to a serial database that communicates between the primary controller 260 and the secondary controller 266. In addition, peripheral device 255 may be connected to a dedicated bus that is linked to secondary controllers 266 (eg, USB). In addition, output devices such as displays, peripheral devices 255 may include an input / output device, such as a bar code reader or any other type of device that can be connected to the rack to facilitate data collection / retrieval of data. Items with or without 280 RFID tags. For example, a user can use such a barcode scanner to collect and read the UPC number for an article and associate an EPC number with the UPC numbers already in a database. Accordingly, in the circumstances where one or more items are received by environment 110-1 without an RFID tag 280, the scanner can be used to facilitate the association of an item not labeled with UPC or EPC. Also, the peripheral device 255 can be a monitoring device that is connected to an interface mounted on a shelf unit. The monitoring device can perform verification functions, such as checking the status of any antenna in the shelf unit and items that remain on the shelf. In one aspect of the invention, one or more peripheral devices 255 may communicate with one or more secondary controllers 266. For example, the peripheral device 255 may represent a plurality of nearby sensors that each detect the presence of a user (e.g., client) within a predetermined vicinity of the device 255. Based on whether a user, or entity, is within of proximity (eg, a few inches, a few feet, etc.), the device 255 can generate a signal (eg, analog or discrete signal, digital signal, etc.) that can be monitored by a processor device and / or process executed by computer with analog and / or digital processing capabilities. Alternatively, the device 255 may be a video camera mounted within or near one or more shelves for monitoring purposes. The camera can receive a signal (for example, switch) of the secondary controller 266 when it determines that an article, or a number of items near a certain threshold number, was removed from a particular location. The camera can be activated by the signal to continuously record the video or can still take a description only when the signal is received. One task of the secondary controller 266 may be to switch the antenna 270 mounted within a single rack unit (or a similar support unit) that stores one or more items from the inventory 170. Also, the secondary controller 266 may be used to communicate information to and from a user (for example, customer, retail employee, etc.). For example, the secondary controller 266 may receive from ISSA 200 (via the database 215) the article information about each known article to be on a shelf served by a secondary controller 266. This item information may include the current price, size, weight, unit price, and / or sales status (for example, discount on a current sale price). The article information may be displayed on a peripheral device 255, such as a shelf edge screen. If there are more than one type of items on the shelf, multiple shelf edge displays may be mounted on or near the shelf. Alternatively, the information for each type of item must sequentially be cycled in a single display, paused for several seconds before continuing the next type of item. The screen edge display may be provided with a user interface below the temporary interruption of the deployment cycle and request additional information about the product that is displayed when pressed by the user. Also, if ISSA 200 perceives an item that is removed from the shelf based on the data provided by DCS 160, it can instruct the secondary controller 266 to display information associated with that item on the peripheral device 255. The secondary controller 266 can also be configured to facilitate other interactive operations between ISSA 200 and a client. In one aspect of the invention, a customer can be provided with an RFID-based customer card that includes an RFID tag that contains related information or that identifies a customer. The customer identification information may relate to the information stored in the database 215 or other memory device that maintains customer information, such as a current shopping list provided by the customer (through the Internet and reader software). , kiosk device, etc.), and the profile information associated with the customer and / or the customer's family members (eg, brand preferences, clothing sizes, etc.). When a customer carries a customer RFID card and is entered and moved through environment 110-1, the presence of the customer's card in the vicinity of a shelf equipped with the RFID antenna associated with the secondary controller 266 may cause a signal or data are passed to ISSA 200 through a primary 260 controller. In response to the signal or data, ISSA 200 can direct the secondary controller 266 to display information about an item on the shelf that senses the customer's card, such as through the peripheral device 255. In this case, ISSA 200 can access the database 215 to collect any customer information associated with the identifier corresponding to the detected customer card. ISSA 200 can then determine if any article or types of items located near or on the shelf that the card detects related to customer information stored in the database 215. For example, ISSA 200 can determine if an item is included in a shopping list created by the customer and / or relates to a list of products preferred by the customer. further, ISSA 200 can provide additional information to the secondary controller 266 to display in the peripheral device 255, such as the availability of the customer's size in the case of a garment article, the capacity of a rebate for an article, and the capacity of sales or sales of other items. The exemplary features associated with the secondary 266 controller are not limited to the RFID-based customer cards. The methods and systems consist of certain aspects of the invention that may also allow a user who is a similar employee or individual to affiliate with environment 110-1 to assign an employee card based on RFID. For example, a vendor working for a retail store can be provided with an RFID-based employee card that can be detected by antenna 270 located on any similar shelf unit or structure included in the retail store. The presence of the RFID-based employee card within the vicinity of a secondary controller 266 associated with the shelf may cause ISSA 200 to provide commands to DCS 160 and ultimately to secondary controller 266 which directs peripheral device 255 to display information associated with the shelf. For example, the information displayed may include data that identifies any expired items that need to be removed from the shelf, items near an expiration date that can be repositioned in front of the shelf, moved to another location (for example, a promotional area), and / or offer at a reduced price, items that are few in stock and where additional units of items are located within the store (eg, environment 110-1), and items that are misplaced and relocated within the store . For short items in stock but not available from a third party supplier, such as a warehouse, ISSA 200 can train the secondary controller 266 to display a message that carries expected delivery data of a new commodity. In addition, the message may also report an availability of a lost item in nearby stores or remote alternate locations from environment 110-1. ISSA 200 and RRM 220 can also communicate with DCS 160 which is located at the POS locations, such as the exit passages. In these locations, ISSA 200 can interact with the POS system to facilitate certain sales transactions. For example, ISSA 200 can automatically register an item that has a guarantee with a manufacturer using the serial number information obtained from the EPC information of the item number and / or customer identification (eg, name, address, etc.) collected from a customer (or conventional) RFID card. The client may be giving an option if he accepts the registration in the verification passage, or defer it until later. RFID Tag Reading Optimization Performed by DCS 160. In one aspect of the invention, reader 262 can send RF energy through the RF bus (eg, wire) to antenna 270 through secondary controller 266. A single antenna 270, or an antenna group 270 located adjacent to another and working together can activate and operate in a given time based on the signals provided by the secondary controller 266 and / or reader 262. The activated period for a given antenna 270 it can be based on the amount of time it takes to collect information from the RFID tags 280 located in proximity to the antenna 270. The secondary controller 266, under the directions of the primary controller 260, can select and activate each antenna 270 in turn. The order in which the antenna 270 is selected can be optimized so that the reader 262 can be divided among many antennas 270. The splitting of the reader 262 can allow DCS 160 to collect inventory data more or less regularly, as well as to focus attention immediately to antenna 270 where one or more items move. In one aspect of the invention, ISSA 200 can determine which antenna 270 is activated based on one or more priority factors. These factors may include: 1) the antenna 270 that is located in proximity to the RFID tag 280 that is most recently added or moved; 2) the antenna 270 which is located in the vicinity of one or more antennas 270 with recent activity; 3) the antenna 270 associated with one or more items known historically because they have high sales volumes during a particular period of time (e.g., day or week time); 4) antenna 270 associated with a push button request from a client for information, such as an interactive display peripheral device 255 mounted on a shelf including antenna 270; 5) antenna 270 having an RFID card (eg, customer or employee card) located within its reading range; 6) antenna 270 that has been activated for a predetermined period of time; 7) the antenna 270 having one or more articles prone to theft within its reading range, such as high elevated items of final merchandise (eg, alhaj as, etc.); 8) the antenna 270 that is expected to have a product of intermediate interest for a user (e.g. employee or customer), such as when a user requests information that reflects whether a desired item is available "on the shelf" or in the room of merchandise from subsequent inventory; 9) the antenna 270 that is associated with one or more items that have passed through a POS terminal within a predetermined time period (e.g., recent POS sales); and 10) the antenna 270 is associated with one or more items that approach its life on the shelf. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the above list of priority factors is not intended to limit and ISSA 200 and / or a user may determine other priority factors based on one or more variables and load factors associated with the characteristics of the items in the inventory 170. Operation of the DCS 160 Monitoring Capabilities In one aspect of the invention, the DCS 160 hardware / software components include the primary 260 controller, reader 262, and secondary controllers 266, can perform self-monitoring and self-diagnosis operations to determine and report any operational problems to ISSA 200. For example, to perform some of the self-diagnostic operations, a shelf unit may include, within the read range 270 of the rack antenna, at least one RFID tag to provide a self-check function. Accordingly, even when the shelf is emptied (ie none of the items remains on the shelf) there is at least one RFID tag that can be read by the antenna 270 included in the shelf. In one aspect of the invention, at least one of the RFID tags can be embedded near the center of, or at another location easily read by an antenna 270 included in the rack and another RFID tag embedded near the limit of the antenna reading range 270. The secondary controller 266 may, either periodically or in command of ISSA 200, send test read signals / commands to the antenna of the object rack 270 and monitor any responses collected from the embedded RFID tag included in a shelf unit. correspondent. In the event that the secondary controller 266 does not receive an adequate response from one or more embedded RFID tags, the controller 266 (or other device, such as a primary controller 260) can find out that a malfunction may have occurred. To locate the source of a malfunction, DCS 160 can perform several self-test reading operations through the neighboring components in an object rack unit and / or antenna 270 object. For example, if another antenna 270 is operated by the same secondary controller 266 can still be read, then the DCS 160 can associate the malfunction with the target antenna 270. Otherwise, if all the antennas 270 service by a given secondary controller 266 do not respond to the command signals from the controller (ie, they do not read any RFID tag 280), then DCS 160 may associate the malfunction with the controller 265 secondary. Further, if all the antennas 270 service a primary controller 260 and the reader 262 does not read data from a secondary controller 266, then the problem is probably within the primary controller 260 or the reader 262. To determine which of these components is the As a result of the malfunction, the DCS 160 can determine whether the primary controller 260 can still communicate the diagnostic data with one or more secondary controllers 266. If so, DCS 160 may associate the malfunction with the reader 262. Additionally, if the RS-485 serial data communication techniques are used between the primary controller 260, the reader 262, and one or more secondary 266 controllers, DCS 160 may provide a sequential order of secondary drivers 266 that the primary controller 260 may communicate with during a tag reading operation. Accordingly, if an RS-485 data cable is disconnected somewhere along its length, the primary controller 260 has to be provided in advance with the sequence information indicating the order of the secondary controllers 266 as length of the RS-485 link, you can determine at what point the RS-485 link was disconnected. In one aspect, the recognition command protocols may be performed by the primary controller 260 to determine which secondary controller 266 does not respond to a command. That is, communications along with the RS-485 link can include commands that are recognized by the receiving entity in the link, and lack of recognition is another means to deduce where the problems may lie. Exemplary Software Objects for ISSA 200 In one aspect of the invention, ISSA 200 can perform certain functions related to the present invention using constructions and object-oriented programming techniques. For example, ISSA 200 may employ network services to perform certain functions related to aspects of the present invention. Table II shows a list of exemplary software objects that can be implemented by ISSA 200 that can be used by one or more processes (for example, tasks 231-239) and interact with one or more of the exemplary tables included in the database 215 Services IssaServ / Admln. asmx Management of all Web functions related to administrati or methods GetEPCReadersLis tXML Retrieval of the list of the Request Intermediary selected from the GetUserListXML zones Retrieve the list of users Sta rtRequestBroker Tell the Intermediary Mgr to INITIATE the selected Request Intermediary GetRequestBrokerDetailXML Retrieve the information from the Selected Request Intermediary Sa veRequestBroker Save the Request Intermediary data GetRequestBrokerListXML Retrieve the list of Request Intermediaries SaveEPCReader Save the data in the area StopRequestBroker Tell the Intermediary Mgr to STOP the selected Request Intermediary StartAl IRequestBrokers Tell the Intermediary Mgr to INTCTAR all the Request Intermediaries GetEPCReaderDetailsXML Retrieve the information from the selected zone SaveUser Save the user data DemoGetZonesinvListXML Retrieve the list of the items in the selected list of the readers St? OpAHRequestBrokers Tell the Intermediary Mgr to STOP ALL the Request Intermediates Ge tPeques tBrokerSta your Retrieve the current status of a Request Intermediary Ge t UserDe ta HXML Retrieve the information of the selected user Services IssaServ / lnventory. asmx Manage all web functions related to inventory Getl temDetail method Return item detail for a given SKU including product information, EPCs and IssaServ / OutOfStock locations. asmx Interface for the client Web application to execute all the business logical functions related to the functionality of depleted stocks. Methods GetInven toryXML Returns the XML Stream of the physical inventory. The data is returned from tbllnv. Out OfL2773i tSKUXML Returns the XML Stream of all SKUs above or below a starting point inventory. My spl to cedSKUXML Returns the XML Stream of all the SKUs that are currently incorrectly placed on the shelves. SKUrrangement Returns the XML stream of the SKUs and their currently acceptable locations. SetShelfArrangement Sets the current shelf array, and optionally sets the starting point inventory. Services IssaServ / InventoryRequest Initializes from the Web interface. asmx of Inventory Reading Request. Executed when EPC codes are sent from the Response Intermediary ReadEPC Method Update tblCurEPC and tblRemEPC IssaServ / Shrinkage Services. asmx Management of all Web processes related to product reduction MajorPullXML methods Returns the XML Stream of the SKUs or a SKU that has been pushed from the locations in a specific amount of time based on a specified amount. Inven toryCompareXML Compare tbllnv and tblERPinv and return the XML Stream of the SKUs and the locations where the inventory difference is greater or less than a given value. IssaServ Services / Login. asmx Management of all Web functions related to the user Method Login Validate a given user name and password.

Services IssaServ / RapidRecall. asmx Used for Web processes related to RapidRecall.

Methods ExpiredProductsXML The XML Stream returns all products that have been expired based on the expiration date in the tblSKU table. Services IssaServ / Alerts. asmx Used for all Web related alert functions Methods Get inventoryAlertJobs Retrieve the alert configuration information from the current inventory. GetCurrentAlertsXML Return an XML Stream of all current alerts in the system. RemoveAlerts Remove specific alerts from the database.

NewinventoryñlertJob Set up an alert job to monitor products at a given location that goes to or below a given percentage of your starting point inventory ConfirmAlerts Updates the selected list of alerts to show the confirmation. NewInventoryRemovalJob Set an alert job to monitor the products that have been eliminated in a given amount in a given number of seconds. Services Iss Serv / LookupLists. asime Manage all population Web functions of the abandoned list. Method GetLists Return items to populate a given abandoned list.

Table II. Exemplary Software Objects Jobs 240 Jobs 240 may be one or more processes that are executed internally and / or externally from ISSA 200 and may be used to activate alert and recovery information from remote locations, such as a manufacturer's network site, or from entities located within the 110-1 environment. Each process, or work, included in Works 240 can be developed using known programming languages, such as the JAVA programming language and JDBC provided by Sun Microsystems, Inc., and known planning software, such as Microsoft Scheduler. In one aspect of the invention, Jobs 240 may include an inventory work limit that runs periodically (e.g., every 60 seconds) and monitors inventory levels based on configurations that may have been established by a user through a user interface provided in the interface 210 and stored in a configuration table within a database 215. The work can generate an inventory outside the warning limits and any inventory items are found to go outside the limits in relation to to the baseline inventory (for example, the current merchandise around and / or below a predetermined value). The alert can be generated using an alert method, such as the exemplary WebService ISSAserv / Alerts. asmx / NewInventoryAlertJob described in Table II. In one aspect of the invention, the inventory limit work may direct a message-proportion service to send an e-mail from one or more predefined users at any time an inventory exceeds the warning limits that occur. Works 240 can also perform a wrong shelf job that can run continuously and monitor misplaced items that are on an incorrect shelf. If ISSA 200 determines that an article is placed on an incorrect shelf, Jobs 240 may generate an alert message corresponding to that type of alert (ie, misplaced article) and the insert in a table within the database 215, such as an alert table (for example, tblAlerts). In one aspect of the invention, incorrect shelf work can direct a message provision service to send an e-mail to one or more predefined users at each time an incorrectly placed item alert occurs. Jobs 240 can also perform a removal limit work that can run continuously and monitor items that have been removed from their desired locations (eg, shelf) in a quantity and period of time specified by a user through the user interface 210 . The removal limit job can generate and store information associated with the deleted items in a table in the database 215, such as an inventory removal table (for example, tbllnventoryRemove). In addition, if this work determines one or more items that have been deleted, based on the amount and specific time period values, this work can create a new alert message associated with this condition and insert it into the alert table (for example , tblAlerts). Works 240 can also perform a work of expired products that can run each day at a predetermined time (for example, 12:01 a.m.), and determine if any of the items have been placed in inventory 170 that have reached or exceeded their corresponding expiration limit (for example, expiration date). If the expired product job finds an item that has been expired, or if it approaches an expiration date, this can create a corresponding alert message and insert it into the alert table (for example, tblAlerts). In addition, Jobs 240 may perform the SKU update work that may run periodically (eg, every 10 minutes) that identifies any new items (eg, SKUs) that may have been added to environment 170. This work may request information from article associated with new articles identified from an ERP system or a manufacturer's network site using XML. Also, Jobs 240 can perform a manufacturer update job that can run periodically (e.g., every 10 minutes) that monitors a table in database 215 that is updated when an item is included in inventory 170 that is provided by a manufacturer that is not registered with ISSA 200 (ie, a new manufacturer). This update job can retrieve information associated with the new manufacturer from the manufacturer's network site or another type of external data source. EPC Writer As the RFID tag industry increases, it is expected that articles can be "tagged by source". That is, RFID tags 280 can be applied to articles and to EPCs on labels by a manufacturer. There may be cases, however, when items are included in inventory 170 that do not include items labeled by the source. Accordingly, the environment 110-1 can perform an EPC writer process that is designated to write the EPCs to the RFID tags 280. Since the EPC process can be configured to access data on a particular label at a time, the process can be performed by a system that separates from ISSA 200. Alternatively, ISSA 200 can include a separate EPC writer process (in addition to, or instead, the EPC writer task 234) that is run by IIMS 105. The EPC writer process can be a Windows® executable process that can use serial .NET implementations to communicate to a reader 262. The EPC writer can store , in a file location, the last EPC writer's number to an RFID tag by a given manufacturer and its SKU information (for example, item type information). In addition, the EPC writer process can store a range of serial numbers, SKU information, and manufacturer IDs by an EPC and write this EPC information to the memory of one or more RFID tags 280. Also, the EPC writer can write RFID tags based or in a standard, such as the Philips SLRM900 specification, depending on the type of RFID tags implemented by environment 110-1. Alternatively, the EPC writer can write labels using RS-232 or other serial interface communication protocols. In one aspect of the invention, inventory 170 may include one or more shelves empowered by RFID that include communication capabilities with peripheral device 255, such as a bar code reader. Therefore, each shelf can, at least temporarily or periodically, or exclusively communicate with the EPC writer process. For example, a group of items of a certain type can be placed on a shelf by a user (for example, merchandise person). One of the items may be scarce with a barcode reader to determine its corresponding UPC number. The EPC writer can then sequentially assign the EPC numbers to each article in the group by incorporating the information derived from the UPC number. The differences between a UPC and a common EPC are shown in Table III. A UPC may consist of decimal data (ie, base ten) including the manufacturer's number, object number, and a check digit, making a total of 12 digits. An EPC includes binary data that may include a reader, manufacturer number, object number and electronic serial number. In both UPC and EPC, the manufacturer's number can be assigned by a governing body, such as the governing body of price code standards. An object class (including the object number) can be assigned by a manufacturer. In the case of an EPC, the serial number can also be assigned by the manufacturer.

Table III. Differences Between UPCs and EPCs In situations where a manufacturer or manufacturers have not assigned EPC manufacturer codes, the EPC writer can use assignments of the arbitrary number until EPC manufacturer codes are assigned. Alternatively, existing UPC manufacturer codes, which are adapted directly in the long EPC manufacturer's field can be used. Also, the existing UPC object class must be adapted in the long EPC object field. In such situations where a governing body has not assigned manufacturer codes, the EPC writer can be used in a pseudo-EPC field layout for use in initial inventory operations, such as experimental inventory management processes that incorporate field values Current UPC or arbitrary values such as manufacturer codes. However, if a standard EPC field layout has been implemented, the EPC writer can be used by environment 110-1 to ensure that items are properly labeled. Also, if a standard EPC field layout is enacted, the EPC writer can be used by retailers, distribution centers, or manufacturers, possibly by limited product lines. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the case of RFID tagging becomes more extensive and "source tagging" by the manufacturer becomes more common, the use of EPC writer may decrease in retail locations although it increases in manufacturing sources , which can implement manufacturing methods, systems and articles consistent with certain aspects of the invention. If the pseudo-EPC field arrangement is implemented as described above, environment 110-1 may assign EPC codes by defining a certain number of fields (eg, three) by the pseudo-EPC number. For example, the pseudo-EPC number may be arranged with an 8-bit header (1111.1111) corresponding to the type of header in the EPC, a 52-bit UPC field that is divided into 13 subfields of 4 bits each, and a 36-bit serial number field, such as a sequential number 0 to 68, 719, 476, 735). The size of the data segments in the EPC may vary without departing from the scope of the present invention. The UPC number is made up to 13 digits, using the binary representation of each digit, a quartet per UPC digit. That is, 0 is 0000, 1 is 0001, 2 is 0010, ... and 9 is 1001. Individual packages of a given item can be assigned to unique serial numbers up to more than 68.7 billion packages found. Note that there may be a difference in how the UPC number and the serial number are handled by the EPC writer and the 110-1 environment when they cover a binary representation. In the case of the UPC number, each UPC digit (up to 13 digits) is assigned to a quartet in the EPC. A binary conversion can be performed by the EPC writer digit by the digit, keeping the particular decimal digits in correspondence with the particular EPC quartets. In the case of the EPC serial number, however, a linear conversion can be made from the serial serial number in the binary serial number, which is recorded in the 36-bit EPC field. For example, considering an exemplary 96-bit pseudo-EPC code that has been presented with an exemplary barcode for a type of article (eg, a 10-ounce bottle of a multi-cold flu / decongestant medicine). symptom ) . The bar code can be 23900,00296 (or 000,23900,00296 in the form of 13 digits). A serial number of 34782 may have been assigned to make the package for this unique type of item. In the binary representation, 34782 is 0100,0011, 1110.1111. Table IV shows the corresponding EPC and UPC data associated with this type of exemplary article.

Quartet Pseudo- Digit Description EPC EPC bits UPC 1 1111 8-bit header, first half 2 1111 8-bit header, second half 3 0000 0 Cuarteto 13av0 - digit UPC 13avo 4 0000 0 Cuarteto 12avo - digrto UPC 12avo 5 0000 0 Cuarteto llavo - digito UPC llav0 6 0010 2 Quartet 10th - digit UPC 10mo 7 0011 3 Quartet 9th - digit UPC 9no 8 1001 9 Quartet 8av0 - digit UPC 8th 9 0000 0 Quartet 7th - digit UPC 7th 10 0000 0 Quartet 6th - digit UPC 6th 11 0000 0 Quartet 5t0 - digit UPC 5th 12 0000 0 Quartet 4th - UPC digit 4th 13 0010 2 Quartet 3rd - UPC digit 3rd 14 1001 9 Quartet 2nd - UPC digit 2nd 15 0110 6 Quartet 1st - UPC digit 1st 16 0000 Serial number quartet 9th 17 0000 Serial number quartet 8th0 18 0000 Quartet number serial 7th 19 0000 Serial number quartet 6t ° 20 0000 Serial number foursome 5t0 21 0100 Serial number foursome 4t0 22 0011 Serial number foursome 3rd 23 1110 Serial number foursome 2d0 24 1111 Serial number foursome 1st Table IV. Exemplary UPC and EPC codes for the Exemplary Article Type To facilitate the assignment of the appropriate pseudo-EPC number in the tagged items, the EPC writer can register the 12- or 13-digit UPC number at the time when the serial number is assigned in the RFID tag 280 that is applied to the package. Article. Figure 3 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary EPC writer process that can perform the RFID tagging process described in the above. As shown, the EPC writer process can obtain a list of the SKUs (item types) to be labeled (Stage 310). This list can include the UPC number for each type of article and a character string that identifies the article, and can be stored in a SKU table that can be filled by any known type of software and / or bar code scanning hardware. In one aspect of the invention, the SKU table may include three fields, a UPC number field, a manufacturer name field, and a character string to include general description information, such as size, flavor, etc. At the time when an RFID tag 280 is assigned to an article, the EPC writer process can call the EPC writer task 234 which operates as an assignment module in ISSA 200. The call can direct the task 234 to access the table SKU (which can be stored in the database 215) and locate a corresponding UPC for each SKU included in the list obtained in Step 310 (Step 320). For example, the EPC writer task 234 may generate a question to look up the SKU table for the manufacturer and / or article name. Once a UPC is located for a corresponding SKU, the EPC writer task 234 can provide this information back to the EPC writer process. Once received, the EPC writer process can use the UPC to write the complete pseudo-EPC number in the RFID tag in each package of the article type, for example, using a writing on the command label that is executed by the reader RFID (Stage 330). This stage assigns the unique serial numbers in each label. In addition, the EPC writer process may register the pseudo-EPC in a table during this procedure, such as a table stored in data entry 215 (Step 340). In one aspect of the invention, an RFID tag 280 may contain the serial number that is assigned as the unique RFID tag number and the pseudo-EPC number that is encoded as extra data. Although the pseudo-EPC number includes information that identifies an article, the serial number can be read faster by the software / hardware of the reader than the pseudo-EPC number. For example, a command anti-collision selection provided by a certain bar code reader, such as the Philips reader, can automatically return serial RFID tag numbers. In instances where the type of items located on a particular shelf changes very little from one RFID tag reading operation to another, the reading cycle can be obtained from the pseudo-EPC number that can be improved by the storage of EPC information and information from the corresponding serial number in a local cache device (not shown). Therefore, the reader can issue a select anti-collision command when it attempts to read an RFID tag 280 and initially receive the serial number of the RFID tag. The reader can then determine if the tag serial number is located in the local cache. If this is, then the reader can retrieve the corresponding EPC number from the cache. If the tag is not stored in the cache, then the reader can read the tag data blocks to obtain the pseudo EPC number. The serial number of the RFID tag and the EPC number can then be added to the cache memory for a subsequent reading cycle. Environment 110-1 can perform a removal process that can remove the information from the label contained within the cache on a periodic basis. This can provide similar data access operation as a relational type database containing the serial number of the tag and EPC, with fewer data handling delays. User Interface Pages The user interface 210 may provide content-based interfaces to a user that allows the user to request and enter information associated with the functions of intelligent inventory management consistent with certain related aspects of the invention. Figure 4 shows a map 400 that provides a scheme that ISSA 200 can implement to answer a user's questions through a user interface 210. Each box on the map 400 may represent a page process performed by a user interface 210 that allows a user to request and / or receive information. Each page can verify a security key taken in a session by a current user to determine if the user is allowed to access the corresponding page. In addition, each page can mail an XML document to ISSA 200 and retrieve the XML information. Also, the content can be displayed on a screen device (for example, screen 204) by applying style sheets to XML of the C0M + components described for each page. In addition, the page process on map 400 may interact with one or more corresponding processes included in ISSA 200 (for example, tasks 231-239) and jobs 240. As shown, Figure 4 includes a local page 402 that allows that a user navigates to other pages displayed by the page process in map 400. Between these pages there is a page 410 user login that allows a user to enter a username and password. The page 410 can then start a login process such as a WebService I SSAserv / Login method. asmx / Login. If the user is a valid user, the login page process can direct the user interface 210 to execute the process 402 of the local page. Otherwise, page 410 login can again request a name and the user's password. The page 408 of the file directs the user to connect as a new user page 410 that allows the user to create and edit user information and set the subscription alert (for example, it defines certain types of alerts that are desired to be reported). The disconnection page page 412 allows the user to disconnect from the current login session. The merchandise level control page 414 allows the user to access various inventory level information through the user's address, for example, on page 416 of the Live View Inventory. This page allows users to view the current physical inventory at a particular location, such as a shelf. The user can generate a question using several fields defined by the user interface 210. Table V shows a list of exemplary search fields for a user that they can use to filter a search. Once the question is entered by the user, the interface 210 can display the search results for page 416 of Live Inventory initiates a process (for example, ebService I SSAserv / OutofStock. asmx / GetInventoryX L) that allows the user to search and view the information associated with an article. This process may allow the user to receive information from another page, such as an Article Detail page (not shown). In one aspect of the invention, a user who is a merchant with merchandise included in environment 110-1 can give the limited location or remote access to page 416 of the Live View Inventory to guess where his item is displaying in accordance to the present agreement. For example, the seller can determine if his items are present in a certain number of shelf covers, located in a particular location within a store, if his items are placed in a preferred location within a set of shelves, such as at the of the eye as opposed to high or low levels, etc.

Manufacturer Number SKU Category Current inventory count (From, To) (on shelf) Current inventory count (From, To) (back room or warehouse) Inventory count provided (From, To) an order Expected Delivery Date Serial number (From, A) Price (From, A) Cost (From, A) Aisle number Gondola number Shelf number EPC reader (For purification purposes ) Renewal (price x speed) Activates the Time of an Alarm Time elapsed since the last sale Time elapsed since the count of the item arrived until an exit date Other arbitrariness assigned or calculated by priority codes Table V. Search Fields The Item Detail page (not shown) can perform a process that allows a user to vthe information associated with an item, determine where the item was currently located in environment 110-1, and the time when the item was placed in that location The articles may be considered to be located in a particular physical location (eg, a particular shelf) if the shelf is read by a single reader antenna 270, or in a "virtual shelf" if the article is read by reader antenna 270 multiple that is associated with each other with a relationship table, such as a tblRelatedEPC table included in the database 215. The SKU Von page 418 of Limit Exit allows a user to vthe information associated with one or more of the Article types that are currently above or below a permissible percentage of starting point inventory. The user may be able to filter a search using the fields shown in Table V. Once the filter information is entered by the user, the user interface 210 may display search results for the SKUs outside the limits page. (not shown). This page can start a process (for example, ebService ISSAserv / Ou ofStock.asmx / OutofLimitsSKUX L) that shows a user a current inventory to give an article or type of articles in a current location. In addition, the process can also provide the starting point inventory value for that item in the specified location, and, the difference in the current inventory is diverted by approximately or below the desired starting point inventory. In addition, the process can display the percentage allowed above and below by a given SKU and location. This limit information output can be used by 1SSA 200 to suggest which out-of-bounds item replenishes first the information of expected or expected sales provided by a user and / or a software process that produces this information. ISA 200 can also access current and historical sales data held in a memory device (for example, database 215) to generate a report that predicts expected times in which each item can get out of the warehouse. Also, ISSA 200 can use several factors, such as pricing, season, etc., to adjust the expected information provided in the report. Page 420 of the Loss Sales Vcan allow a user to vthe information associated with the types of items that have loss sales due to their leaving the warehouse. The user may be able to filter a search question for these SKUs using the fields listed in Table V. Once the filter information is entered, by a user, the user interface 210 may display search results by the page. of loss of sale (not shown). This page can initiate a sales estimation process that allows the user an estimate of lost sales (for example, in dollars) due to items of the type of item that is in depleted stock. The estimate provided by the sales estimation process can be based on the comparison of inventory levels, sales volumes (current and historical), and the traditional correlation of sales events by similar types of article. For example, ISSA 200 can access inventory damages, sales information, etc., from database 215 to perform the comparisons used by the sales estimation process. The estimate of the sales of loss of lack of assortment may also be based entirely on factors provided by a user (for example, administrator, retailer manager, etc.) to describe replacement percentages associated with the similar article types. Alternatively, ISSA 200 can be configured to train by itself recognizing trends associated with previous sales of these types of articles and searching from a database including similar information. Page 422 of misplaced SKUs may allow a user to view information associated with items that are currently placed in an incorrect location within environment 110-1. The user may be able to filter a search for misplaced items by using the fields in Table V. Once the filter information is provided by the user, interface 210 may display search results for the wrong SKU page. placed. This page can start a process (for example, WebService ISSAserv / OutofStock. asmx / MisplacedSKUXML) that displays any current items that are misplaced and their current location in environment 110-1. The user can choose an article using, for example, the SKU information of the article, from a list displayed on a display device to see the location of the selected SKU. The merchandise level maintenance page 424 directs the user to the pages (for example, 426 and 428) that allow the user to configure and / or view the current inventory agreements in the 110-1 environment. The page 428 of Rack View Arrangement may allow a user to view the information with respect to any item in inventory 170 and their currently assigned locations corresponding to environment 110-1. The user may be able to filter a search by using the fields in Table V. Once the filter information is entered by the user, the user interface 210 may display a shelf layout page (not shown). The provisions page can perform a process (for example, WebService ISSAserv / OutofStock.asmx / SKUArrangement) that shows that items and their acceptable locations (for example, locations in environment 110-1 are assigned to the respective items). ISSA 200 can access price velocity data and / or article sales from a database (eg, database 215) to provide priority locations within the 110-1 environment that items of certain types can be located for promote increased sales and / or movement of these items. Page 426 of Rack Game Layout may allow a user to establish a location for certain types of items, a category of items, items provided by certain manufacturers, a specific SKU number, and a particular range of locations within the environment 110- 1 (for example, an island, a gondola, and / or a shelf). The page 426 can also allow a user to establish a starting point user for each type of article. In addition, the 110-1 environment can implement software for planographic, which is a blueprint (eg, a diagram, paint, etc.) that describes how and where items should be placed on the shelves and exhibitors of retailers. A planogram analyzes the use of space, provides financial data, along with other reports that allow retailers and manufacturers to effectively plan, establish and manage their businesses to maximize the profitability of the retail space. Accordingly, the shelf layout page set can be downloaded from a planogram program executed by environment 110-1. Similarly, ISSA 200 can allow the planogram program to update the current inventory information using the interface page information provided by the inventory data provided by the pages on map 400. Also, the planogram routine can be incorporated into ISSA 200 for execution by IIMS 105. Page 430 of Reduction Control directs the user to the reduction information provided by pages 432 and 434. Page 432 of View On Deleted Inventory may allow a user to filter the articles by means of individual items , by a category of items, items provided by a particular manufacturer, by SKU numbers that are in locations within environment 110-1, by particular locations within environment 110-1 (for example, an island, a gondola, and a shelf number). The page 432 may allow a user to view the request items that have been removed from their designated locations by a certain amount within a certain period of time that may be specified by the user. A Removed Inventory Results page (not shown) is also displayed. This page can start a process (for example, WebService ISSAserv / Shrinkage. asmx / Maj orPullXML) that can display the location, item information, time when a first article of the number of items is removed from the designated location, a time when a last item of the number of items was deleted, and how many items are deleted in this period . Page 434 of Vista Actual vs. ERP inventory may allow a user to receive information associated with items located in environment 110-1 that has a defined percentage variation of the user over and / or under a defined inventory level. The user can filter a search for these items individually, by a category of items, articles provided by a particular manufacturer, and a SKU number that is in a location within environment 110-1, such as an island, gondola, and a shelf number Inventory 434 can show a Current Results page vs. ERP (not shown). This results page can start a process (for example, WebService ISSAserv / Shrinkage. asmx / InventoryCompareXML) that can display the present physical inventory in inventory 170, such as those items located on the shelves, a defined business inventory (for example, an ERP inventory), and the percentage variation between the two. Rapid Recovery page 436 can direct the user to one or more pages (eg, 438-442) that provides information associated with items that may have expired or approach an expiration date. Page 438 of Expired Viewing SKUs may allow a user to filter items individually, through a category of items, through articles provided by a particular manufacturer, by a number SKUs that may be in a location within the environment « 110-1, such as an island, a gondola and a particular shelf. Page 438 can display an Expired SKU Results page (not shown) that can start a process (for example WebService 5 I SSAserv / RapidRecall. asmx / ExpiredProductsXML) that can display item descriptions, locations of items that have expired, and a period of time that these expired items have been placed in their current locations from their corresponding expiration dates. 10 Page 440 of the Next-Expiration View SKUs may allow the user to filter the articles individually, through a category of items, through the articles provided by a particular manufacturer, by a SKU number that may be in a 15 location within environment 110-1, such as an island, a gondola and a particular shelf. Page 440 can allow a user to receive information regarding items that are expiring within a certain period of time (for example, minutes, hours, days, weeks, etc.). Besides, the 20 page 440 you can display the SKU Results Next to Expiration page (not shown). This results page can perform a process (for example, WebService I SSAserv / RapidRecall.asmx / ExpiredProductsXML), which can show associated locations and items that are just 25 to expire within a certain period of time by the given products based on the user's defined filter. The Serial Number Found page 442 can allow a user to view the articles within a certain serial number range. The user may be able to filter a search using the fields in Table V. Once the filter information is provided by the user, the user interface 210 may display the Search Results for the Current Inventory page, described in the above. This page can perform a process (for example, ebService I SSAserv / OutofStock.asmx / GetinventoryXML) that provides information regarding articles with corresponding serial numbers within the range specified by the user. Alert page 444 can direct the user to one or more pages (eg, pages 446-452) that allows the user to receive and / or establish information associated with one or more types of inventory alerts. Page 446 of Established SKU Inventory Alert may allow the user to set alert settings for items that fall below or go near a defined percentage of a baseline inventory. Alert page 446 can allow the user to set alert settings for all items in inventory 170, for items of a particular type, for a category of items, for items provided by a manufacturer and for particular SKU numbers that are they place in particular locations within the 110-1 environment such as an island, a gondola, and a particular shelf. The page 446 of Alert can initiate a process that performs the desired monitoring set by the user (for example, WebService ISSAserv / Alerts.asmx / NewInventoryAlertJob) . Page 448 of the Inventory SKU Inventory Alerts can display an alert configuration for the items and their corresponding locations in environment 110-1 that are currently being monitored by an inventory alert process. Page 448 allows the user to remove the inventory alert settings that are no longer needed. Page 450 of Inventory Removal Alerts Established may allow a user to set alert settings for situations where a certain number of items is removed within a certain period of time. Page 450 can allow the user to set these types of alert settings for individual items, all items, for a category of items, or items provided by a particular manufacturer, and for items with a SKU number that may be within a location within the 110-1 environment, such as an island, a gondola, and a shelf particular. Page 450 can start a process that # perform the configurations described in the above (for example, WebService ISSAserv / Alerts.asmx / NewI ventoryAlertJob). Page 452 of Visualization Inventory Removal Limits may display alert settings for the items and their corresponding locations in environment 110-1 that are currently being monitored by a process of inventory removal limits. This page may allow the user to remove the settings from the inventory removal limits that are no longer necessary. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the pages shown in Figure 4 and described in the foregoing are exemplary and are not intended to be limited. The environment 110-1 may implement few or additional types of pages that perform various functions that may or may not be associated with the inventory management aspects related to the invention. For example, the user interface 210 may include one or more page processes that provide the user with general and / or specific assistance in navigating pages provided by the interface 210. In addition, the interface 210 may include one or more pages that they allow the user to set, display and / or modify various features associated with individual items or article types, such as price, size characteristics, defect states, etc.

Additionally, interface 210 may include one or more page processes that allow the user to view information related to the client, such as customer profile information that is used with a customer ID card. Inventory Management Process As described, the environment 110-1 includes an ISSA 200 that performs one or more intelligent inventory management processes consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention. Each of these inventory management processes may be performed in response to an ISSA 200 for accessing the user through the user interface 210 and / or in response to a request initiated from a non-user source, such as another task, process, and / or computing entity. Figures 5-7 show flow charts of several exemplary inventory processes that can be performed by environment 110-1 consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention. Figure 5 shows an exemplary inventory analysis process that can be performed consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention. Initially, environment 110-1 can perform processes that determine the inventory of items in inventory 170 (Stage 510). This step can be initiated by a user, through the interface 210 and the pages described with respect to Figure 4. Alternatively, a process performed by ISSA 200 or a job performed by Jobs 240, can periodically initiate the collection of inventory information. Also, Step 510 may initiate by an event detected by one or more sensors (e.g., software- and / or hardware-based sensors) located in environment 110-1. Once the environment 110-1 collects the inventory information (e.g., the number of items of each type included in the inventory 170, it can be stored in the database 215 for subsequent accesses.) In addition, the inventory information can be used. by ISSA 200 to produce a report and / or content that is provided to a user through various types of media, such as a printer, web page, telephone message, etc. Environment 110-1 can also determine if a number of items of an inventory type 170 is followed by a predetermined level (Step 520) Environment 110-1 can execute the appropriate process described above (eg, by output view of the boundary SKUs on page 418, outside of task 231 of merchandise control, etc.) to determine and identify an inventory of items of any type that have fallen below the predetermined level for that type, if so, (Step 520); SI), an appropriate item below the merchandise level process can be performed (Stage 530). This process may include providing an alert message to a user by means of an output device (for example screen 204, a pager, a telephone call, etc.) that indicates what type of article needs to be replenished and the location of the out-of-stock items in the environment 110-1. Once the user is notified, he / she can determine if there are any additional items of the depleted type in an alternate location, such as a back room. Alternatively, ISSA 200 may indicate to the user if there is additional inventory of the type of article in environment 110-1. Accordingly, the user or ISSA 200 can reorder the merchandise if additional items are necessary. In addition, step 530 may include providing a customer message in a shelf display indicated at or near the location where the depleted inventory of items is determined. In one aspect, a warehouse manager or ISSA 200 can formulate tailored messages in the exhausted inventory notification that provides varied information to a customer that comes to be in the shelf deployment. Adapted messages may include discounts offered, rain effect verification, location information of alternate environments that have lost items on the shelf, etc. Environment 110-1 can also determine if there are some items misplaced in inventory 170 (Stage 540). Environment 110-1 can perform the appropriate process described above (for example, through page 422 of misplaced SKUs, and outside merchandise control task 231) to determine and identify any items misplaced in inventory 170. If there is a misplaced item or items (Stage 540, SI), environment 110-1 can perform an improperly placed item process (Stage 550). This process can provide a user with information that includes a location of a lost item and / or its intended location (that is, when the item belongs to the store). A user (for example, warehouse person) can verify the current location of the misplaced item (s), so that he or she can return this or these items to their designated location within the 110-1 environment. Also, environment 110-1 can determine the information associated with any lost sales based on loss or misplacement of items in inventory 170 (Stage 550). This stage may include generating and providing a loss of sales report (by, for example, out of merchandise task 231) expressing the revenue that was lost based on the type of item that is out of stock or that has an out-of-stock number Of articles. In addition, an influential sales report can be generated by ISSA 200 and provide a user that includes information that correlates to several factors (for example, the price of items, season factors, sales of other items, etc.) in Previous and current sales of items of the type that have an exhausted inventory. A user can use the influenced sales report to determine if some adjustments are necessary, such as moving articles from the exhausted item type to other locations, merchandise order programs, etc. Figure 6 shows a flow chart of a reduction process that can be performed by environment 110-1 consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention. Environment 110-1 can initially determine if a reduction event occurs (Stage 610). As discussed in the above, a reduction event may be associated with a condition where a predetermined number of items has been removed from its current location within a predetermined period of time. Accordingly, if a large number of items of the same type are taken from a shelf in a minute fashion, a reduction event may have occurred depending on the values set by a user for the number of items determined in the time period for such reduction events and the type of items that are produced. If such an event has occurred, (Stage 610; SI) then environment 110-1 can perform a production event process (Step 620). If a reduction event has not occurred, the process ends. Step 620 may include several processes performed by a user and / or ISSA 200 as previously explained with respect to pages 430-434 and reduction and / or reduction processes 232. For example, environment 110-1 may provide a warning message to a user including information specific to the given reduction event (eg, the location of the event, the type of items that have been removed, and the time period). In this way, a warehouse employee can receive the alert message and is directed to the location to perform various tasks, such as security services, and / or customer service functions. Also, step 620 may activate one or more security devices, systems, to monitor adjacent to the reduction event. For example, environment 110-1 can activate a camera to record any physical actions performed by users at or near the location where the reduction event takes place. Figure 7 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary recovery process consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention. The environment 110-1 can execute the proper process described in the foregoing (for example, through pages 436-442 of rapid recovery and outside of the quick recovery task 233) to handle any recovery events associated with the items included in the inventory 170. In one aspect, environment 110-1 can determine if a life event on the shelf or expiration is detected (Step 710). This step may be associated with the determination of whether inventory 170 includes any items that have a shelf life and / or expiration date that has been exceeded and / or is close to exceeding (eg, within a day, few days, a week, etc.). If such an event is detected (Stage 710; SI) an appropriate shelf life / expiration process is performed (Stage 720). This stage may include notifying a user (eg, store clerk, clerk at a POS location, manager in a local office, etc.) and / or another software process in ISSA 200 and inventory 170 with one or more items any exceeded or is about to exceed, their shelf life dates and / or expiration. The notification may include information that identifies each item (for example, SKU information), its corresponding locations in environment 110-1, if there is replaceable merchandise in environment 110-1 with valid shelf stocks and / or expiration dates, and / or instructions on how to negotiate with the event (eg, remove from the shelves, move items from the shelf to a shelf or warehouse location, etc.). The ISSA 200 user receiving the event can use the information received to execute one or more of the suggested instructions, as well as perform other processes to remedy the shelf / expiration life event. These other duties may include changing the price of one or more of the items that are associated with this event. In addition, environment 110-1 may display a message in a POS terminal and / or a deployment device mounted on or near the items related to this event to warn customers and / or employees that certain items may have exceeded their life on the shelf or expiration date. In addition, environment 110-1 can determine if a temperature event has occurred (Step 730). A temperature event may be associated with a condition where the temperature of an area on, in, or near a particular group of items has changed in such a manner as to possible damage to the items in the group. For example, if a cooling unit in environment 110-1 has malfunctioned and the temperature falls below a certain value, any products stored in the unit may be damaged and considered to be detrimental to the sale. If a temperature event has occurred (Stage 730; SI), a temperature process is performed (Step 740) in one aspect of the invention, the temperature process may include notifying a user of the temperature event, the location in environment 110-1 associated with the event, instructions how to deal with the event, article information associated with any items included in the area affected by the event (eg SKÜ training), a period of time the event has occurred and / or is occurring, etc. The user can take appropriate actions to ensure that any items affected by the event are safe to purchase (for example, in the event that an event simply occurs). The user can relocate these items to a controlled location of suitable operating temperature in environment 110-1 for additional purchases. In addition, the user, and / or ISSA 200 can provide a repair message for a designated user or use location to request repair of the unit that may have malfunctioned causing the temperature event. Environment 110-1 can also determine if any items in inventory 170 are associated with one or more types of items that have had a defect reported by a manufacturer (Step 750). This step may include comparing the information of the item collected from the current inventory stage 510 shown in Figure 5 with a received list of defective items provided by the manufacturer. If there are any items of a certain type that respond to those found in the defect information provided by the manufacturer, environment 110-1, a defect process can be performed (Stage 760). This process may include notifying a user (for example, customer and / or employee) of the defective items in inventory 170, their location and information regarding the defect (for example, the type of defect, if the item is still secure). / operational with the defect, if the item, a POS should be recovered and not sold, etc.). In one aspect, the notified user may be a dependent at a location that can facilitate the handling of the sale of the defective item about its purchase by a customer. For example, depending on the security of the defect described in the defect information provided in the notification, the clerk can provide the customer with the purchase of the item. Alternatively, if the item can still be raised in the specification by the additional parties or because data is provided by the manufacturer, the dependent can send this information to the customer and provide information on how to obtain the correct parts / software to purchase the item. In addition, ISSA 200 can automatically provide a discount for the sale price of the defective item. The reduced sales price can be displayed at the POS location or on a screen mounted near a location associated with one or more defective items. Additionally, environment 110-1 can provide services and / or devices that allow the customer who purchased a defective item to correct the item. For example, a workstation may be provided from which the user may download the software code necessary to correct a defect in a program stored on the computer-readable medium. In addition, environment 110-1 can provide these services to the customer in a way where the customer can leave the purchase item with an employee who performs the necessary procedures to correct the item, such as ordering a part loss from a manufacturer, downloading a corrective software patch, installing a loss part on a defective item, etc. Additionally, environment 110-1 can also determine if there are any items in inventory 170 that have undergone a design change by their corresponding manufacturer (Stage 770). Similarly, with step 750, environment 110-1 can determine whether a design change has occurred by comparing the design change information received by a manufacturer with a current list of inventory information, perhaps provided by the process performed at the stage 510 of this Figure 5. If a type of item has undergone a design change, (Stage 770; SI), a design change process can be performed (Stage 780). The design change process may include notifying a user (eg, employee) of the type of item that has changed, the location of any exchange rate items, instructions on how to deal with this design change event, etc. In one aspect of the invention, the design change process can include moving old items to an alternate location in environment 110-1, such as from a rear location on a shelf in a front location to provide their sales before the items change design. In addition, the design change process may include removing old items from inventory 170 that may be at the manufacturer's addresses. Although the steps shown in the flowchart of Figures 5-7 illustrate in the particular sequences, the methods, systems and articles of the manufacturer consistent with the aspects of the present invention that each stage can perform in different sequences such as a single stage, in various combinations of stages, and with additional or minor stages, without departing from the scope of the invention. Conclusion As described, systems, methods and articles of manufacture consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention allow an environment to perform article inventory management processes in real time, or close to the real time bases, and in a level of detail that provides many options for the environment to achieve its business objectives, (for example, increase sales). The above description of the implementations of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. This is not exhaustive and does not limit the invention in the precise manner described. The modifications and variations are possible to the clarity of the above teachings or can be acquired in the practice of the invention. Additional modifications and variations of the invention may be, for example, the described implementation that includes software although the present invention may be implemented as a combination of hardware and software or in hardware only. The invention can be implemented with object oriented and non-object oriented programming systems. For example, one skilled in the art will appreciate the ability to implement the present invention using many different types of environment 110-1 for example, in addition to retail environments, aspects of the present invention can be applied to any environment that includes objects, (e.g. , tangible physical objects, such as inventory) that can be RFID tagged and includes the antenna for information retrieved from these tags. For example, the present invention can be applied in an environment where it is desired for a business to track individuals through its business environment. In such a scenario, the business environment (eg, construction) may have antennas mounted in several strategic locations (eg, entrances, elevators, etc.). Each employee of the business can issue an RFID card, as well as those previously described (for example, customer RFID card). In this way, ISSA 200 can be able to monitor the movements of a user within the business environment based on information received / collected from the antenna when the employee moves them past them. Additionally, the interface 210 may include other interface types that interact with various processes performed with ISSA 200. For example, several user interfaces may operate in a way that interacts with the EPC writer process to allow a user to not only read and write EPC data from the 280 RFID tags in inventory 170, but also monitor the status of such operations. For example, interface 210 may include interface results that present a user with a result window that includes a list of all articles that were entered through an EPC writer window. The results window may include information that indicates whether an EPC writer operation has been successful. Several interactive deployment messages can be provided to a user based on the results of any EPC writers. For example, the result window may be presented in one or more error messages that indicate a reason why an EPC writer was not successful and instructions on how to possibly correct the problem. Also, the interface 210 may include a bad tag viewer interface that allows a user to request information on any RFID tags 280 malfunctioning. The damaged label interface may present information to the user that identifies the ID of any damaged labels, their location, the associated article, associated with the label. Although aspects of the present invention are described as being stored in the memory, one skilled in the art will appreciate that these aspects can also be stored in other types of computer readable media, such as secondary storage devices, such as hard disk, disk soft, or CD-ROM; a wave bearer from the Internet or other means of preparation; or other forms of RAM or ROM. The scope of the invention is described by the claims and their equivalents.

ANNEX A INTELLIGENT STATION USING MULTIPLE RF ANTENNA AND INVENTORY CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD TO INCORPORATE THE SAME DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to the field of the use of multiple RF (radiofrequency) antennas in an intelligent station to track articles labeled with RFID (radio frequency identification) tags. More generally, the present invention is directed to an inventory control method and system that uses the intelligent station to track and inventory items that are tagged with RFID tags. Radio frequency identification (RFID) systems typically use one or more reading antennas to send radio frequency (RF) signals to items tagged with RFID tags. The use of such RFID tags that identify an item or person is well known in the art. In response to RF signals from a reading antenna, RFID tags, when stimulated, produce an alteration in the magnetic field (or electric field) that is detected by the reading antenna. Typically, such labels are passive tags that are stimulated or resonated in response to the RF signal from a reading antenna when the tags are within the detection range of the reading antenna. An example of such an RFID system that includes details of suitable RF antennas is described in US Patent no. 6,094,173. To improve the detection range and expand the "coverage" it is known to use co-planar antennas that are out of phase. An example of such an antenna is provided in U.S. Patent No. 6,166,706. The detection range of RFID systems is normally limited by signal strength at short ranges, for example, frequently less than about one foot for 13.56 MHz systems. Therefore portable reading units move beyond a group of items tagged to detect all tagged items as tagged items are normally stored in a space significantly greater than the detection range of a single stationary and fixed reader antenna. Alternatively, a large reading antenna with sufficient power and range can be used to detect a large number of tagged items. However, such an antenna can be unwieldy and can increase the range of the radiated energy beyond the allowed limits. In addition, these reading antennas are often located in warehouses or other locations where space is at a profit and it is expensive and inconvenient to use such large reading antennas. In another possible solution, multiple small antennas can be used, but this configuration can be complicated to establish to keep in mind that space is often a benefit. However, the use of multiple antennas (or components) has the disadvantage that multiple transmission cables are used to connect a reading unit to multiple antennas and / or that multiple antennas can not be controlled individually when they are all connected by a only transmission cable to the reading unit. By way of background, Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating the fundamental issues of the RFID system of the prior art. A reader unit 100 can usually be connected through RS-232 or digital communication similar to a terminal 102 such as a computer terminal. The reader unit 100 is connected by a cable 203 to a reader antenna 200. The reader antenna 200 normally consists of at least one loop 201 and a tuning circuit 202. Although the tuning circuit 202 is shown as a part located in Figure 1, one skilled in the art will recognize that it could be distributed around the loop 201. The read antenna 200 in turn communicates by low-energy radio waves 105 with a more RFID tags 106 that are normally associated with items, objects (animated or inanimate) or people who are to be tracked by the RFID system.

The transmission cable 203 is typically characterized by its impedance, which in a simplified form, is approximately the square root of inductance L divided by capacitance C of the transmission cable. For coaxial cables, the impedance is commonly 50 or 75 ohms. Generally, the transmission cable 203, the antenna loop 201 and the tuning circuit 202 are connected together in a manner that more efficiently uses the RF energy at a desired frequency, than for a given RFID system that uses a loop antenna , such antenna 200, is normally a "high" frequency such as 13.56 MHz. Another common "low" frequency that is frequently used for RFID systems is 125 kHz. "Ultra-high" (UHF) frequencies such as 900 MHz or 2.45 GHz within the RF range are also used with different anten designs. A system that uses multiple antennas driven with a single reading unit and that uses a multiplexer switch to alternate between the antennas has also been known. Such a system is represented conceptually in Figure 2 where two separate antennas 200a and 200b are connected to a multiplexer unit 101 through respective transmission cables 203a and 203b. The use of multiple antennas usually improves spatial coverage when the labels are read, without requiring more than one reading unit.

The main disadvantage of the arrangement described in Figure 2 is that necessary for a separate transmission cable to each of the antennas. Since space is often at a benefit, the use of these separate cables is a disadvantage because additional space is necessary to install or place each of these separate cables. This disadvantage is accentuated when more than two antennas are used with a reading unit, since all these antennas require separate transmission cables. In one aspect, the present invention provides an intelligent station that tracks RFID tags, the intelligent station includes: a reading unit that transmits and receives RF signals; a first RF antenna connected to the reading unit by a first transmission cable through a first switch; and one or more additional RF antennas connected to the reader unit by the same first transmission cable through one or more additional switches. The term "intelligent" as used herein means that the system can, through the transmission of radio frequency signals, capture, store and search data, and the unique monitor identifiers associated with trackable items. In a further aspect, each of the first and one or more additional RF antennas include a loop and a tuning circuit. In another aspect of the present invention, the lecrora unit includes a tuning circuit for the first and one or more additional RF antennas, with the tuning circuit connected to the first and one or more additional RF antennas through the first wire. of transmission. In another aspect, the present invention includes: a reading unit that generates and receives RF signals; and a control unit operatively connected to the reader unit and to the first and one or more additional switches, wherein the control unit is configured to selectively operate the first and one or more additional switches to connect the reader to the first and one or more additional RF antennas, respectively. The reader unit and the control unit can be separate or combined devices in a single unit. In yet another aspect of the present invention, the intelligent station further includes a second transmission cable that connects the reading unit to the auxiliary RF antenna loops, each of the auxiliary RF antenna loops arranged close to a respective one of the first and one or more additional RF antennas. Auxiliary antennas receive an unmodulated RF signal that triggers the tags, which are not normally operated in the absence of an RF signal. As used herein, "unmodulated RF signal" is an RF signal without superimposed data. Qna "modulated RF signal" is an RF signal that transmit superimposed data. In a further aspect, the reader unit includes a second tuning circuit, close to the reading unit, which is connected to the auxiliary RF antenna loops through the second transmission cable. The second tuning circuit is configured to tune the auxiliary RF antenna loops. In still another aspect, the present invention provides a second transmission cable connecting the reader unit to the first and one or more additional RF antennas through the first and one or more additional switches, respectively. The reader unit transmits an unmodulated RF signal to the first and one or more additional RF antennas through the second transmission cable, and transmits a modulated RF signal to the first and one or more additional antennas through the first cable of transmission. In a further aspect of the present invention, the first switch is configured to operate in only three states: a first state such as the first switch only transmits the modulated RF signal to the first RF antenna; a second state such as the first switch only transmits the unmodulated RF signal to the first RF antenna; and a third state such as the modulated RF signal and the unmodulated RF signal border the first RF antenna. The second switch includes a multiple pole switch configured to operate in only three states; a first state such as the second switch only transmits the modulated RF signal to the second associated RF antenna; a second state such as the second switch only transmits the unmodulated RF signal to the second associated RF antenna; and a third state such as both of the modulated RF signal and the unmodulated RF signal borders the second associated RF antenna. Each of the switches can be controlled independently of each other, in this way, for example, the first and second switches can be placed to transmit modulated and unmodulated signals, respectively at the same time. In addition, a two-pole switch can be used which is configured to operate in one of two states (a state that passes the RF signals modulated to the associated antenna, and the other state that does not pass signals to the associated antenna). In a further aspect, the present invention provides: additional RF antennas connected to the reader unit through the same first transmission cable; and additional switches disposed between the first transmission cable and the additional RF antennas, respectively. In one aspect, the RF transmission cable has a branch that serves all antennas, which are antennas that are connected to a reading unit through an RF transmission cable in a series arrangement. In another aspect, an RF transmission cable has two or more branches, each serving one or more antennas. That is, the antennas are connected to the reader unit through the RF transmission cable in a parallel series arrangement, with each lead in the RF transmission cable selectable by use of a switch. In another aspect, the smart stations contain RF signal processing electronics to perform a bit of the signal processing otherwise done by the reader. In yet another aspect, each of one or more additional switches includes a PIN-type diode. In another aspect, the present invention provides an intelligent inventory control system that uses RFID tags to determine item information of articles to be inventoried, the intelligent inventory control system includes one or more intelligent stations. Each intelligent station comprises a first RF antenna connected to the reading unit by a first transmission cable through a first switch; and one or more additional RF antennas connected to the reading unit by the same first transmission cable through one or more respective additional switches. The reader unit can be located apart from or within one of the smart stations. The inventory control system also includes an inventory control processing unit, connected to a data warehouse, which receives information from the article from the intelligent station to update inventory information with respect to the items to be inventoried. In still another aspect, the present invention provides an inventory control method for articles labeled with RFID tags, the method includes: providing a plurality of intelligent stations, each intelligent station includes a reading unit that transmits and receives RF signals, a first RF antenna connected to the reader unit by a first transmission cable through a first switch; and one or more additional RF antennas connected to the reader unit by the same first transmission cable through one or more respective additional switches; determining the article information of the items to be inventoried by selectively energizing the first and one or more additional RF antennas of each of the smart stations to determine the article information of the items that are located in the respective smart stations; and process the item information determined for 13b update the inventory information of the items that will be inventoried. In one aspect, each station has its own reader unit. However, a reading unit can also serve many stations. In a further aspect of the present invention, the inventory control method selectively includes controlling the first and one or more additional switches to energize the first and one or more additional RF antennas and detect articulation information from items with RFID tags. which are within the range of one or more additional energized RF antennas. In a further aspect of the present invention, the inventory control method includes software control of the RF energy level generated by the reading unit. In a preferred embodiment, the test would determine how much RF energy the reader unit must provide to achieve optimal results for each connected antenna, which is placed at a different distance along the RF cable. This information would be stored, for example, a query board or other equivalent cataloged data storing media. Later, during the operation, the energy level for each antenna would be set based on this predetermined level stored in the reference board, so that the antennas at different distances along the RF transmission cable can all be operated in energy essentially the same In an alternative mode, the energy provided to each antenna could also depend on additional factors, for example, on the type of antenna. Therefore, in the alternative mode, both the distance and the type of antenna could be used to determine and store the optimal energy level for a particular antenna. In a further aspect of the present invention, the inventory control method includes RF amplifying devices, such as RF filter amplifiers, periodically located along the RF transmission cable such as in each Nmo rack to drive the resistance of RF signal. In a further aspect of the present invention, the inventory control method includes updating the particular item information of the items in a data warehouse. In a further aspect, the present invention provides that the inventory control method includes, for each intelligent station, providing a second transmission cable for connecting the reading unit to one or more auxiliary antenna loops disposed near the respective ones of the first and one or more additional RF antennas, wherein the reader unit transmits a modulated RF signal through the first transmission cable and transmits an unmodulated RF signal through the second transmission cable. In yet another aspect, the inventory control method according to the present invention includes providing, for each intelligent station, a second transmission cable connecting the reader unit to the first and one or more additional RF antennas through the first and one or more additional switches, respectively, wherein the reader unit transmits an unmodulated RF signal to the first and one or more additional RF antennas through the second transmission cable, and transmits a modulated RF signal to the first and one or more additional RF antennas through the first transmission cable. In another aspect, the inventory control method of the present invention provides for each intelligent station, by configuring the first and one or more additional switches, to operate in one of only three states; a first state that only transmits a modulated RF signal to a respective one of the first and one or more additional RF antennas; a second state that only transmits an unmodulated RF signal to the respective one of the first and one or more additional RF antennas; and a third state so that both the modulated RF signal and the unmodulated RF signal border the respective one of the first and one or more additional RF antennas. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The attached drawings, which are incorporated in, and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate without limitation currently preferred embodiments of the invention and, together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention. invention FIGURE 1 is a block diagram illustrating fundamental issues of an RFID system of the prior art. FIGURE 2 is a block diagram illustrating a prior art RFID system with multiple antennas connected to a reading unit. FIGURE 3A is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an inventory control system utilizing smart stations in accordance with the present invention. FIGURE 3B is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of an inventory control system using intelligent shelves in accordance with the present invention. FIGURES 3C and 3D are flow charts illustrating the procedure performed by the control unit of the inventory control system according to the present invention. FIGURE 3E is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of an inventory control system that uses intelligent stations in a series configuration in parallel. FIGURE 3F is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of an inventory control system that uses intelligent stations in another serial configuration in parallel. FIGURE 3G is a block diagram illustrating a T switch for use in a parallel series configuration. FIGURE 3H is a block diagram illustrating a series switch for use in a parallel series configuration. FIGURE 31 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary method of transmitting RF and digital communications on a cable. FIGURE 3J is a block diagram illustrating a method for using switches to minimize undesirable effects of an RF cable extending beyond a selected antenna. FIGURE 4A is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of the present invention showing an RFID system with multiple antennas connected to a reading unit. FIGURE 4B is a schematic diagram showing a logic switch. FIGURES 5 and 6 are block diagrams showing alternative embodiments of the present invention having multiple antennas. FIGURE 7 is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of the present invention wherein two separate transmission cables transmit modulated and unmodulated RF signals to multiple antennas each having several loops. FIGURE 8 is a block diagram illustrating an alternative embodiment, wherein the modulated and unmodulated RF systems use the same antenna loops. FIGURE 9A is a schematic diagram of an exemplary switch that can be used with the embodiment described in FIGURE 8. FIGURE 9B is a schematic diagram of another exemplary switch that can be used with the embodiment described in FIGURE 8.

FIGURE 10A is a circuit diagram of a switch using a PIN diode that can be used with various embodiments of the present invention. FIGURE 10B is a circuit diagram showing how an antenna can "de-tune". Figure 10C is a circuit diagram showing another way in which an antenna can be "de-tuned". FIGURE 10D is a circuit diagram showing yet another way in which the antenna can be "de-tuned". FIGURE 11A is a diagram illustrating various distributions of the reading antennas in the grids. FIGURE 11B is a diagram illustrating the use of labels within the shelf. FIGURE 12 is a diagram illustrating a method for making a wire antenna. FIGURES 12A-C are diagrams illustrating alternative ways to secure the ends of the cables in a substrate. FIGURE 13 is a diagram illustrating an alternative method for making a wire antenna. FIGURE 13A is a diagram illustrating several alternative wire antenna shapes. FIGURE 14 illustrates another method for making a wire antenna. FIGURE 15 is a diagram illustrating a device and method for applying metal ribbon cords to a network or flat substrate to form a metal antenna. FIGURE 16 is a diagram illustrating another method for depositing conductive paths in a substrate to form a metal antenna. FIGURE 17 is a diagram illustrating a cross section of an applicator 2200 for depositing conductive paths. FIGURE 18 is a diagram illustrating a method for determining a simple rectangular conductive path using the apparatus shown in FIGURE 15. FIGS. 18A-B illustrate metal strips bent over. FIGURE 19 is a modality in which a 2300 trace behavior that is determined overlaps a previous driver trace. FIGURE 20 is a laminated structure containing a metal strip antenna. FIGURE 21 is a diagram illustrating the use of a grinding machine to form openings in a substrate. Unless otherwise specified "a" or "an" means one or more. The present invention provides an intelligent inventory control system that includes one or more intelligent stations that can detect RFID tags that use multiple antennas. RFID tags are attached to the items that are to be detected or tracked. In certain preferred embodiments discussed herein, the smart station system is designated as an intelligent "rack" system since the smart station system provided by the present invention is suitable for tracking items or shelves of stores and warehouses for control of inventory or other tracking purposes. However, it will be understood that the present invention is not led to intelligent grill systems as one skilled in the art would recognize its applicability to other uses such as, for example, tracking items in closed receptacles, other storage volumes, and spaces particular. Examples of such closed receptacles or stored volumes include, without lation, rooms, cabinets, cabinets, cabinets, refrigerators, freezers, countertops, racks, trailers, warehouses, spatulas, counters and other sar fencing spaces, or shelves. It can be used on doors, entrances and other portals, on floors or floor mats, or on ceilings. It will also be understood that smart stations can be used in orientations different from the horizontal orientation normally associated with a grill. For example, smart shelves can be used in a vertical orientation such as, for example, in the wall of a container, or the rear or side area or surface of a storage volume. For use on hangers, several modalities are displayed including linear or circular shelves. For circular shelves in particular, it is visualized that two antennas can be used that are arranged orthogonally in two vertical planes within the center of the circular shelf. The antenna can be operated by a single reader, but the length of its input cables, preferably by ¼ of the RF wavelength, or alternatively, a 90-degree dual-direction power splitter (for example, MiniCircuits PSCQ-2 -13) to place the two antennas 90 degrees outside the phase. As a consequence of the magnetic field orientation established by the two antennas "rotates" once each cycle of the RF wave, so that all the RFID tags around the circular shelf can be read. For use with racks, another mode provides, on the rack, one or more antenna loops, for example, placed or hung on one or both ends of the rack, or distributed as hooks between the clothes. If the antenna loops are provided in the form of hooks, they can be manufactured by operating conductive wire through the narrow thermoplastic tube (eg, 1/4"-3/8" in diameter), the heat that forms the tube to create antennas in the form of hooks. The same method could be used to create shelf support antennas in any form. A flat antenna can be limited in its ability to read labels that are oriented parallel to the magnetic field lines created by the antenna. The reading range can be extended and the orientation limitations of the label can be overcome by providing an RF energy antenna (antenna connected to a reader) and one or more passively coupled antennas that do not connect directly to the reader. These passively connected antennas are stimulated or driven through inductive coupling with the powered antenna. The passively coupled antenna will have a magnetic field, preferably 180 degrees out of phase with the antenna actively coupled. In this way, the orientation of the resulting magnetic field will oscillate, so that the otherwise unfavorable RFID tags can still be read. In one embodiment, the passively coupled antennas could be provided on the shelf itself, for example, with actively operated antennas on the front of the shelf and passively coupled antennas on the rear of the shelf, with all the antennas in the plane of the shelf. Other embodiments include having antennas passively coupled in the vertical plane at the ends of the shelves or backs of the shelves. Other embodiments include using at least one actively driven antenna within a fence such as a box, cabinet, or catwalk, with one or more antennas passively coupled to provide a better reading range or better flexibility in the read tags that are available in any orientation. Other embodiments include having antennas passively coupled in the vertical plane at the ends of the shelves or backs of the shelves. Other embodiments include for a given shelf having passively coupled antennas in the horizontal plane some distance on the shelf, preferably just below the next shelf above. In a preferred embodiment, multiple antennas can be placed on self-supporting shelves or can be embedded in a thin mat that can be placed on existing storage shelves. For example, as shown in the block diagram of Figure 3A, the stand-alone rack systems 501a, 501b ... 501a and 502a, 502b ... 502n are provided with multiple antennas 200 each connected to a reader unit 120 by a transmission cable 222. Each reader unit 120 has a controller or control unit 124 that uses a control cable 221 in the selection whose antenna is activated at any time. Between the shelves, the cables 221 and 222 can be interconnected using connectors 526. While the embodiment described in Figure 3A shows that each group of shelves has an RFID system with a reader unit 120 connected to the multiple antennas 200., one skilled in the art will recognize that a single reader unit can be configured to connect to multiple antennas in more than one shelf that is located close to each other, or each shelf can be configured to have its own reader unit. The block diagram of Figure 3B shows an alternative embodiment wherein each shelf 503a, 503b ... 503n is provided with multiple antennas 200. The multiple antennas 200 are each connected to a reading unit 120 by a transmission cable 222. Each reader unit 120 has a controller 124 for selection whose antenna is activated at any time. This controller 124 may be a microprocessor. In addition, the shelves may have secondary controllers 125 cooperating with the controller 124 to select the antennas. The secondary controllers 125 may be microprocessors with sufficient outputs to control all the antennas within the associated rack, as well as controlling the output devices 510, such as screens at the edge of the rack, to display information such as pricing system. The output devices 510 could display information using visible and audible signals as would be recognized by those skilled in the art. Use secondary controllers 125 that can reduce the number of wires required in the 526 connectors between the shelves. The control unit 124 can selectively operate any or all of the switches by sending commands through a digital data communication cable 221, for example, by sending a unique address associated with each switch, as would be possible, for example, by using a switch dirigible Dallas Semiconductor DS2405"l-Wire®". Each steerable switch provides a single output that can be used to switch an antenna. Preferably, the control unit 124 can selectively operate any or all of the switches using one or more secondary control units 125. For example, the secondary control unit 125 may be a microprocessor such as icrochip Technology Incorporated Pimicro © microcontroller, which may provide multiple outputs for switching over one antenna, such as all antennas in close proximity to the secondary control unit 125. The control unit 124 may also be a microprocessor such as a Microchip Technology Incorporated PICmicro © Microcontroller. Communications between the control unit 124 and the secondary control unit 125 can be implemented using digital communication signals in accordance with well-known communication protocols such as RS-232, RS-485 serial protocols, or Ethernet protocols or protocols. Token Ring network system. Such communications through the secondary control unit 125 may, in addition to selecting the desired antennas, also include commands to operate additional features. Examples of such features include providing screens (eg, light LEDs) near the antennas, displaying alphanumeric text through appropriate visual screens, or audible output information in the vicinity of the antennas. In a preferred embodiment, the smart shelf system is controlled through the electronic network. A control system that controls the intelligent rack system will send command data to the control unit 124 through RS-232 or similar protocol. These commands include but are not limited to the instructions for operating the reader unit 120, instructions for operating the antenna switches, and auxiliary information to be displayed on the shelves for example with lights, visual displays or sound. The control unit 124 is programmed to interpret these commands. If a command is intended for the reader unit 120, the control unit 124 passes that command to the reader unit 120. Other commands could select antennas or display information and these commands could be processed if necessary by the control unit 124 to determine what data should pass through the digital data communication cable 221 to the secondary control units 125. Likewise, the secondary control units 125 can pass data back to the controller 124, as the reader unit 120 can. The controller 124 then transmits data results back to the control system through the electronic network. The inventory control processing unit 550, shown in Figures 3A and 3B, is an example of such a control system. As discussed further herein with respect to the smart shelf system, the electronic network and the control system can be used interchangeably to describe that the intelligent shelf system can be controlled by the control system connected to the smart shelf system through an electronic network. At a minimum, the control unit 124 must decide whether a command from the electronic network must be sent to the reader 120, or it must be sent to the digital communication cable 221. Also, the control unit 124 must transmit data received from the digital communication cable 221, and the reader unit 120, behind the electronic network. In the minimum configuration, for example, the electronic network would, for example, issue a command to read a single antenna. The control unit 124 would establish a) the switch itself for that antenna, b) activate the reader, c) receive data back to the reader, d) deactivate the reader and e) send the data back to the electronic network. Figure 3C is a flow chart illustrating exemplary procedure of a command signal from a host by the control unit 124. In step 330, the control unit 124 determines if there is a command for the control unit 124 (this can be done by interrogating a memory location periodically). The control unit 124 then determines in step 332 whether the command was for the reader 120 and, if so, sends the command to the reader unit 120 in step 334. If not, in step 336, the control unit 124 decodes the command and sends appropriate instructions to the secondary controller 125. After this, in step 338, the control unit 124 determines whether a response has been received from the reader unit 120 if a command had been sent to the reader in step 334. If a response has been received, then in In step 340, the control unit 124 passes the response back to the host. Further, in step 342, the control unit 124 determines whether a response has been received from the secondary control unit 125 in response to the instructions sent in step 336. If a response has been received from the secondary control unit 125 in step 342, the response is interpreted by the control unit 124 and sent to the host in step 344. Further, the processing control returns to step 330 where the control unit 124 determines if there is another command from the guest that needs to be processed. The control unit 124 may also perform some handling functions otherwise conducted by the electronic network. For example, the electronic network could issue a command to find a certain item in the complete shelf system associated with the control unit 124. In such a case, the control unit would handle a series of tasks such as a) determining how many antennas were in this system, b) setting the appropriate switch for the first antenna, c) activating the reader, d) receiving data back to the reader and save them, e) deactivate the reader, f) set the appropriate switch for the next antenna until all the antennas have been activated, g) activate the reader until the entire antenna has been read. In the preferred embodiment, when all the antennas have been read, the control unit 124 or the electronic network ("host" or "control system") analyzes its accumulated data and reports back only the locations of the desired article. Figure 3D is a flow chart illustrating exemplary handling function processing performed by the control unit according to the present invention. In the top 350, the control unit 124 receives a command from a host application that needs a count of the total number of antennas controlled by the control unit 124. Therefore, in step 352, the control unit 124 determines the number of antennas directly controlled by the control unit 124. Further on, in step 354, the control unit 124 issues a command to the control units 125 to select the next antenna in its list and waits for a confirmation from the control units 125 in step 356. In the stages 358 and 360, a "read" command is sent to the reader 120 which waits and reads the data from the selected antenna and sends the data to the host application in step 362. Later, the control unit sends a "substitute" command to reader 120 in step 364 and determine in step 366 whether all the antennas have been read. If it is determined that all the antennas have been read in step 366, the processing is terminated. Otherwise, the process control returns to step 354 so that the control unit 124 can issue a command to the secondary control units to select the next antenna in the list that has not yet been selected. An additional advantage of placing the control unit 124 between the electronic network and the reading units is that different types of readers 120 can be used as desired. The commands from the electronic network to the control unit can be generic and not specific to the reader. For example, the electronic network can send a command of "reading antennas" to the control unit. The control unit in turn can translate this command into appropriate command syntax required by each reader unit. Likewise, the control unit can receive the response syntax from the reading unit (which can differ based on the type of the reading unit), and analyzed in a generic response back to the electronic network. The response command and syntax may differ for each type of reader unit 120, but the control unit 124 makes this transparent to the electronic network. The block diagram of Figure 3E shows an alternative embodiment wherein the controller 124 and the reader 120 are contained in the shelf 504a. As would be recognized by those skilled in the art, it is also possible for the controller and reader to be separated from any shelf. A digital communication cable 221 connects the controller 124 to the secondary controllers 125 and the RF transmission cable 222 connects the reader 120 to the antennas 200. The controller 124 can operate a bypass switch 527 that selects which of the rack groups (for example 504b-504n, or 505b-505n) will be selected. In Figure 3E, the branch switch 527 is used with a "parallel series" connection method for the secondary controllers 125 and the antennas connected to the secondary controller 125. That is, instead of a controller 124 and reader 120 operating all the shelves in a single-series arrangement, the RF and digital communication lines are derived (i.e., each of the leads that are parallel to each other) before to continue on shelves 504b-504n completely in series, and 505b-505n in series. The series configuration in parallel in Figure 3E can be advantageous for a shelf aisle where there are usually approximately four levels of shelves (each of which can be connected in parallel), with each level having perhaps 10-20 units of shelf connected in series. In certain situations, a serial configuration in parallel may also be desired from an RF transmission point of view. For example, if a hallway has 4 levels of shelves each with 12 shelf units, each having four antennas, the serial configuration in parallel connects four groups of 48 antennas in parallel, while the configuration only in series would have to connect in series a group of 192 antennas. The RF transmission cable for the series-only configuration could become too long for efficient operation. The block diagram of Figure 3F shows an alternative embodiment wherein the controller 124 and the reader 120 are arranged separately from any shelf. The digital communication cable 221 connects the controller 124 to the secondary controllers 125, and the RF transmission cable 222 connects the reader 120 to the antennas 200. The secondary controller 124 or controller 125 can operate a T-shaped switch 528 that selects which of the shelves or groups of shelves (for example 506a, or 507a-507b) will be selected. The T-shaped switch 528 can be separated from part of a shelf as would be recognized by one skilled in the art. In Figure 3F, the T-shaped switch 528 is used with another "parallel series" connection arrangement. That is, instead of a controller 124 and a reader 120 operating all the shelves in series, the digital and RF communication lines are derived (i.e., connected with a multiple drop device or "T-shape" with each of the shunts arranged in parallel) on shelves or groups of shelves that are arranged in series. This configuration allows the RF signal to be switched by the T-shaped switch 528 on a shelf or group of shelves, or to skirt the shelf or group of shelves. The multi-drop or T-shaped configuration shown in Figure 3F can be used to reduce the number of switching elements through which the RF transmission cable passes. In Figure 3F the portion 221a of the control cable extending beyond the shelf 506a, and the portion 222a of the RF cable extending beyond the shelf 506a, are outside the shelf. However, as would be recognized by those skilled in the art, these extended portions of the cables may also be contained within the shelf. The portions 221b of additional extended control cables and the additional extended RF cable portions 222b can be used to connect to more shelves or groups of shelves. Also, additional shelves (not shown) can be added to groups of shelves, for example to shelves 506a-506b as would be apparent to those skilled in the art. Figure 3G shows an example of the T-shaped switch 528 in an example of shelf 507a. The T-shaped switch contains a switch, for example, diode 207c PIN. A second controller 125 associated with the shelf 507a can activate the diode 207c PIN to allow the RF signal from the RF cable 222a on the shelf 507a, where it can be rotated through the switches 214 on the antennas 200. The energy RF can also continue along the RF cable 222b to optional additional T-shaped switches, and finally to a terminator 215. In this way, there can usually be two parallel charges on the RF cable 222a - the antenna turned on and the terminator 215. A circuit 217, for example, an isolator circuit that is well known to those skilled in the art, can be used to match the impedance to the reader 120. Figure 3H shows an example of the series 529 switch that can be used in an exemplary 507a shelf. The series switch contains a switch, for example, a 207d PIN diode. A secondary controller 125 associated with the shelf 507a, can activate the diode 207d pin to allow the RF signal from the RF cable 222a to continue along the RF cable 222b, or deactivate the diode 207d PIN to prevent the signal from RF continue along RF cable 222b. Preferably, the T-shaped switch 528 and the series switch 229 can be used together to route the RF signal to the rack 507a or the RF cable 222b. With the use of one or more switches in series such as the 529 switch in series, the isolator circuit 217 may not be necessary. However, the series 529 switch may result in some loss of RF energy. Figure 31 shows an exemplary method to combine RF and digital communication in a single cable. The primary controller 124 sends a digital command 250 intended by the intelligence stations. A converter 251 converts the digital data to a superimposed digital signal 252 that can be superimposed on the RF cable. For example, this superimposed digical signal may be at a different frequency than that used by the RFID reader 120. This superimposed digital signal can pass through a filter 253, such as the exemplary inductor 253 shown in Figure 31. It is then superimposed on the RF cable. Another filter 254 may be used to block the superimposed signal from reaching the RFID reader 120. The combined RF and digital signals pass under the cable 222a to one or more stations 261, 262, 263, etc. smart (only 261 and 262 shown in Figure 31). Up to the range of the exemplary intelligent station 261, the combined signal can pass through another filter 255, such as an inductor rated to block the RF signals from the RFID reader. The superimposed digital communication passes through the filter 255 and into a receiver circuit 256 that retrieves the digital information and passes it to the secondary controller 125, and optionally to the additional secondary controllers 260. The secondary controller 125 can send information back to the primary controller 124 through the transmitter circuit 257, for example, operating at a frequency different from the RF frequency of the reader 120 and optionally at a different frequency than that used to communicate from the primary controller 124 (or control unit) to secondary controller 125 (or control unit). Such information can be received by the receiver circuit 258, converted to appropriate digital signals 259 and returned to the primary controller 124. A variation in the method for digital communication between the primary controller 124 and the secondary controller 125 is to send digital communications from the primary controller 124 as a series of pulses to two or more DC voltages. Preferably, both voltages are sufficiently high to drive any circuit associated with the secondary controller 125, peripheral components 510, etc., which require DC power. These voltages can be sent from the digital transmitter circuit 251 and received by the receiver circuitry 256, which could be a simple voltage comparator circuit. Communication from the secondary controller 125 back to the primary controller can be provided by having the digital transmission circuit 257 that provides two different levels of suctions or current loads in the communication cable, for example, by switching a transistor on and off a resistor. Such variations in current suction will then be perceived by the receiver circuit 258 and converted to digital data for the primary controller 124. Figure 3J illustrates an exemplary method that uses switches to minimize the unwanted effects of an RF cable extending beyond a selected antenna. It will be understood from the above descriptions that the switches can be controlled by the intelligent station system through the use of secondary controllers (or control unit). Figure 3J shows a reader unit 370 connected to a series of antennas 371-377. The series of antennas are also indicated as 1-, 2-, N-, etc. Each antenna has the circuitry 380 associated with it. The circuitry can include a coaxial cable 381 that transmits the RF signal. A center conductor that transmits RF can be shortened to the coaxial shield by the bypass switch 382, or connected to tune the circuitry and later the antenna 371 through the selected switch 383. The coaxial shielding is electrically continuous as observed by line 384. The coaxial shielding will be connected to ground normally. The coaxial central duct is likewise continuous. The distance between the successive antennas is, preferably, a submultiple integer of a quarter wavelength length of the RF signal. For example, an RF signal at 13.56 MHz that travels through the standard coaxial cable with dielectric polyethylene has a quarter wavelength of approximately 3.65 rnts (12 feet). Thus, as shown in Figure 3J, a coaxial length of one meter (foot) between the antennas could be used to provide a submultiple of one-twelve of a quarter-wavelength space. Other integer submultiples are possible, for example, a coaxial length of 457 m (1.5 ft) between the antennas could be used to provide a one-eight submultiple. To illustrate the method, the 373 Nmo antenna could be selected by closing the selected switch 385 to direct the RF signal to the antenna 373. Also, the bypass switch 386 closes to shorten the RF signal to the coaxial shield on the antenna 375, which is located in a quarter of an additional wavelength along the RF cable. A short circuit at a distance of one quarter of wavelength along the RF cable is seen at an infinite impedance, and minimizes the adverse effects of the RF cable extension beyond the selected antenna. At the end of the array of antennas, there may optionally be additional bypass switches as seen by 378 and 379. In the preferred modes, the smart station system is modular, using cheap components to handle data from multiple antennas . Multiple antennas within a shelf may be activated in sequence, or optionally, with phase delays to improve their effectiveness as it is within the capabilities of those skilled in the art. With reference to the figures, Figure 4A is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of the present invention showing an RFID system with multiple antennas 200, 210 (only two shown for convenience) connected to a reader unit 120. Therefore, the RFID system described herein could be used to implement the smart stations 501a-n or 502a-n shown in Figure 3A. Figure 4A is not intended to limit the present invention since those skilled in the art would recognize various modifications, alternatives and variations thereof. In addition, one skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention and its construction and method of operation would apply to transmissions and detection at other frequencies as long as the regulatory requirements are met. The RFID system may comprise a single shelf connected to a single reader unit using connectors, for example, connecting or co-axial means. As shown in Figure 4A, a single RF transmission cable 222 is used to connect the antennas 200 and 210. The transmission cable 222 terminates in a conventional terminator 215. The reader unit 120 is associated with a control unit 124 but does not have a multiplexer. Instead, controller 124 is designed to control switches 204 and 214 located on antennas 200 and 210, respectively. The control unit 124 may also communicate with the secondary units 125, for example, located near the antennas. The secondary control unit 125 may include microprocessors or steerable devices that can cooperate with the control unit 124 to select the antennas. In one embodiment, switches 204 and 214 are connected to control unit 124 by a separate cable 221. Those skilled in the art would recognize that other means, including wireless means, or different frequency signals superimposed on the RF signal transmitted on the cable 222, can be used to connect the control unit 124 to the switches 204 and 214. switches 204, 214 are controlled so that any time, only one the antennas 200, 210 is connected to the reader unit 120 via cable 222. Figure 4B is a schematic diagram showing a logic switch 204 that switches between an open (dotted line) and a closed position, which drives the antenna. Such a logic switch can be used with the modality discussed with respect to Figure 4A. Figure 5 is another embodiment of the present invention that is similar to the embodiment discussed above with respect to Figure 4A, except that antennas 200 are all identical, as shown in Figure 5. Therefore, circuits 202 of tuning can all be identical, which simplifies the manufacture of the antenna. Therefore, the reader unit 120 is connected by the transmission cable 222 and the switches 204 and 214 to the respective multiple identical antennas 200. Figure 6 is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment that shows a benefit when the multiple antennas 200 are identical. The portions of the tuning circuitry 202 can be moved back from a tuning circuit 213 at or near the unit 120 itself. Therefore, the reader unit 120 is connected to the multiple antennas 200 through a common tuning circuit 213 that is provided in the reader unit 120. As will be recognized by those skilled in the art, a main tuning circuit 202 or 212 can still be provided for each antenna 200. Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of the present invention wherein two cables 222 and 230 of Separate transmission transmits modulated and unmodulated RF signals, respectively, to configurations of the multiple antennas each of which includes antenna loops 201 and 231. Associated with the reader unit 130 is a control unit 134. The reader unit 130 is designed so that an RF signal can be divided to allow an unmodulated RF signal to be transmitted through a separate 230 cable and through a tuning circuit 232 in the antenna loops 231 that are associated with the RF antennas 201. Each of the RF antennas 201 is associated with the respective antenna loops 231. As before, the reader unit 130 also generates a modulated RF signal that is transmitted through a tuning circuit 212 and the transmission cable 222 to the multiple antennas 201. The respective switches 204 and 214 connect the respective antennas 201 to the transmission cable 222 and also connect the respective antenna loops 231 to the transmission cable 230. In one embodiment, the unmodulated RF system includes the tuning circuit 232, the cable 230, and the antenna loops 231 which can all be driven continuously. In contrast, the reader antenna data loops 201 can only be turned on one at a time by conveniently controlling the switches 204 and 214. Because the loops 231 can be operated continuously, there is no required boot time for the RFID tags to be loaded during the data transfer. Such a system could advantageously be used in situations where RFID tags need to be read frequently. In addition, this mode also allows portable reading units to read the labels at any time because the labels are always actuated in view of the continuous operation of the unmodulated RF system. Unmodulated cable 230 has a terminator 216 at the end of cable 230. In this context, it should be understood that the term "continuous" power may include a service cycle percentage if required by legal or other limits. Alternatively, the unmodulated RF system can be activated just before activating the modulated RF system for each antenna. Figure 8 is another embodiment that is similar to the modality discussed above with respect to Figure 7. In this embodiment, the RF signal modulated through a cable 222 and the unmodulated RF signal through a cable 230 is rotate through the same antennas 201. The switches 204 and 214 are preferably configured such that the RF signal 222, or unmodulated RF signal 230 or no signal, is routed on a given antenna 201. That is, switches 204 and 214 are designed so that they can operate only in three states: (I) a first state wherein only the modulated RF signal is transmitted to an antenna 201; (II) a second stake where only the unmodulated RF signal is transmitted to the antenna 201; and (III) a third state wherein both the modulated RF signal and the unmodulated RF signal deviate the antenna 201. Such a switching operation can be implemented with single or multiple pole RF switch groups. In operation, this mode allows an antenna 201 to be inactivated until just before being chosen. At that point, the unmodulated RF signal can be switched on the antenna 201 through the tuning circuit 232, the transmission cable 230 and the appropriate switch 204, 214, to "warm up" the adjacent RFID tags. Further on, the modulated RF signal is switched on that antenna 201 through the tuning circuit 212, the cable 222, and the switch 204, 214 to efficiently acquire data from the RFID tags that have already been heated. Figure 9A is a simplified schematic diagram of a switch 205 that can be used, for example, with the embodiment discussed with respect to Figure 8. Figure 9A is not intended to limit the present invention since those skilled in the art would recognize several modifications, variations and alternatives in it. When the switch 205A is thrown to the left to connect one pole of the antenna loop 201 in the center conductor of the coaxial modulated RF signal cable 222, with the other pole connected to the shield of the same cable, the modulated RF signal is transmitted to antenna 201. If switch 205A is thrown to the right, the signal on modulated cable 222 continues on the other antenna. The switch 205B is shown thrown to the right, so that the unmodulated RF signal continues in the direction of another antenna. If the switch 205B is thrown to the left, the unmodulated RF signal will be passed through the antenna 201. If both switches A and B are thrown to the right, both signals will bypass the antenna which will be completely inactivated. The switch 205 is designated so that the switches 205A and 205B can not be thrown to the left. Figure 9B is a simplified schematic diagram of an alternative switch 205C that can be used, with the mode discussed with respect to Figure 8. This diagram shows that the common (or grounded) wire may not need to be switched, and that A switch can be derived from the RF cable instead of in series directly with the cable. When the switch 205C is thrown to the right, it connects one pole of the antenna loop 201 in the center conductor of the coaxial RF signal cable 222 modulated, with the other pole connected to the shield of the same cable, then the RF modulated signal is transmitted to the antenna 201. If the switch 205C is thrown to the center, the unmodulated RF signal 230 will be passed through the antenna 201. If the switch 205C is thrown to the right, no RF signal will penetrate the antenna that will be completed inactive. It is observed in the case that the switch 205C that the RF signals also continue under their respective wires, beyond the antenna 201 regardless of the positioning of the switch 205C. Figure 10A shows a circuit diagram for an RF switch that can be used, for example, as switch 204 or 214 discussed hereinabove with respect to various embodiments of the present invention. Figure 10A is not intended to limit the present invention, as those skilled in the art would recognize various modifications, variations and alternatives thereto. As shown, the RF switch uses a PIN diode 207 (type P, type I, type N) (e.g., Microsemi part number 900-6228) which acts in a manner similar to a regular PN diode except that it is able to block an RF signal when the switch contact opens. When the switch contact closes, the 207 PIN diode comes forward and drives the RF signal. The control signal used to select the antenna may also be superimposed (not shown) on the RF signal that is used to read the RFID tags. Such a control signal could be separated from the RF signal by a bandpass filter and then proceed to a steerable switch, which selectively activates the RF switch that uses a PIN diode. In Figure 10A, the control signal is provided in a separate electrical installation instead of using the RF signal cable. While superimposing the control signal on the RF signal cable may require few conductors and / or connectors between the antennas or between the intelligent stations, this requires additional electronic components to separate the signals on each antenna. In this way, it may be more efficient to have separate wiring for the control signal. Figure 10B illustrates a circuit diagram for de-tuning an antenna so that, if the antenna is not selected by activation, it will not resonate when an adjacent antenna is selected. If the antenna is not selected, then the diode 207a PIN shortens the tuning capacitor 211a, and therefore changes the frequency of the antenna so that it will not be activated at the frequency used to operate the antenna to read the RFID tags. Use a PIN diode such as 207a to shorten the tuning capacitors and detune an antenna means that diode 207a PIN can operate under power for significant lengths of time. This can generate heat and spent energy. Therefore, the system can be designated as only detuning antennas that are immediately adjacent to the antenna currently being read. It can be determined by several methods whose antennas are adjacent. For example, this may be specified during the design, or found by observation after assembly, or may be determined with the RFID reader during the operation as further described herein. Figure 10C shows another circuit diagram where a 207b PIN diode is used to tune the loop.

The loop is tuned when the 207b PIN diode is energized. Therefore, diode 207b PIN is not required to remain while the loop is not being read. This can save energy and reduce heat generation. While examples include the use of PIN diodes for the switching and detuning functions, other electronic components such as, for example, FET (field effect transistor) or MESFET devices (metal semiconductor FET) can also be used as would be recognized by those experts in the art. Figure 10D shows another circuit diagram where a switch, for example field effect transistor 208 (FET), within the resonant part of the circuit is used to de-tune the loop. The loop is in tone when the FET 208 is deenergized, and detuned when the FET 208 is energized. In the energized state, the FET 208 sucks in little energy. Further, in this p & amp; sition within the circuit, when the FET 208 is energized, it sufficiently detuned the loop antenna so that RF tends not to penetrate the tuning circuit. Therefore it may not be necessary to provide a separate FET or PIN diode to select the loop. Figure 10B illustrates an aspect of the present invention wherein variable capacitors (eg, variable capacitors 211a-c shown in Figure 10B) can be used to tune the antenna, that is, to cause resonance at the same frequency as the RF signal from a reading unit. Since the environment of the antenna can influence the tuning, any structure that includes the tuning circuit is preferably designated to keep the adjustable components accessible from the outside, for example, by locating them at one end of the structure (such as an edge). of rack) or by providing access holes for tuning devices (such as servo-controlled screwdrivers). Also, since tuning an antenna can be a process of trial and error and time consumed, it is desirable to allow the tuning to be done automatically. According to one aspect of the present invention, this is achieved by providing an automatic tuning unit (not shown) that would temporarily attach the servo-driven screwdrivers to adjust screws associated with the adjustable capacitors. To achieve optimal tuning, the automatic tuning unit (which may include a computer or other conveniently programmed microprocessor) would receive feedback from a conductive connection to the antenna to be tuned, or from an RFID reader that would detect which tags were identified to starting from a label arrangement in a known predetermined or spatial arrangement (preferably bi or three-dimensional). The tuning unit, based on a set of rules, developed experimentally or developed from experience, would manipulate the adjustment screws to achieve optimal tuning. Alternatively, the secondary controller or controller can adjust the tuning of each antenna by electronic adjustment, for example, by remotely setting adjustable voltage controlled capacitors within the tuning circuit. This method would minimize the need to use servo controlled or mechanical settings for tuning. Voltage-controlled capacitors in the tuning circuit could also be used to de-tune antennas that would not then resonate when they were not selected for reading. In one embodiment, the RFID tags may be placed within the same rack, preferably one or more located within the read range of each individual antenna. These RFID tags provide each antenna with a known response when that antenna is read during a self-test mode. In this way, whether or not the shelf that supports any items labeled with RFID, it would always be at least a self-test RFID tag that must be in the range of the antenna. If such RFID tags are not found, the control unit 124 or secondary control unit 125 can institute a self-tuning process. If after self-tuning the self-test RFID tags could not yet be read, then a message could be sent to the electronic network indicating the need for shelf maintenance. Instead of placing the self-test RFID tags inside the shelf, they could also be placed somewhere else in the range of antennas, for example on the back or side wall of a shelf. Figure 11A is a diagram illustrating alternative antenna loop configurations within a single shelf unit. The shelf 300 contains a single antenna loop 301. The shelf 310 contains antenna loops 311 and 312. With more than one loop inside a shelf, multiple modes of operation arise. For example, loop 311 could be activated, or loop 312 could be activated, or both loops could be activated or inactivated at the same time. The present invention contemplates that both loops could be activated simultaneously with a phase difference in their input RF signal. Such a phase difference can be introduced by various electronic means well known to those skilled in the art. For example, a phase difference can be introduced using a coaxial cable of different length to feed an antenna loop as compared to the other.

As seen in Figure 11A, the shelf 320 contains four antenna loops 321-324. This is shown as an example, since there may be more or less four antenna loops, and other configurations may be used as would be recognized by those skilled in the art based on the description herein. The four loops 321 and 324 can be activated in different combinations, for example loops 321 and 322, 321 and 323, or 321 and 324 can be activated simultaneously. In particular, if a pair of loops is activated, with a phase difference between the active loops, the RF field vector can be alternated to better read the antenna-tags that are in different physical orientations. Therefore, the use of phased antenna loops can provide better "coverage" for reading labels, when compared to non-staggered loops. Figure 11B illustrates a top view of several shelves 400, 410, 420, 430, 440 and 450 supported to an accessory 460. Each shelf has four antennas by way of example. For example, shelf 410 contains antennas 411-414. In addition, within each shelf and next to each of the antennas are one or more RFID tags. In Figure 11B there are four labels per antenna, the labels that are designated a-d. The labels inside the shelf are useful for a variety of functions. A larger or smaller number of labels can be used as would be recognized by those skilled in the art. For example, if the antenna 411 is turned on at a low power, the tag 411c should be read, which is located, for example, approximately in the center of the antenna 411. Of course, someone of skill in the art will recognize that depending on The antenna and label design, or low power, labels in locations closer to the antenna conductor can be used since they would be read more easily. In this way the tag 411c can be used to test whether the antenna 411 is functioning properly. If the power is increased, the antenna 411 must also be able to read the labels 411a, b and d, which are located near the periphery of the antenna 411. When varying the power during a diagnosis or self-verified mode, the system must be able to determine how much power is required for the 411 antenna to work effectively. The shelf labels can be arranged at various distances from the center of each antenna to provide this information. As the power in the antenna 411 increases, this may eventually be able to read the shelf tag 412b associated with the adjacent antenna 412. The system can thus determine that the antenna 411 and 412 are adjacent. This information can then be used by the system to determine which adjacent antenna may need to be detuned when a given antenna is operated. The fact that antenna 411 and 412 are adjacent could already have established when shelf 410 was manufactured. However, when several shelves are placed adjacently in a wholesale warehouse, it may not be possible or convenient to determine in advance which shelves are going to be adjacent. Shelf labels can be used to establish which shelves or antennas are adjacent after it is assembled to the system. For example, antenna 411 operated at normal power can also detect shelf tag 404d associated with adjacent antenna 404 on adjacent shelf 400, whose position may not have been established prior to shelf placement, and associated shelf label 441a with the adjacent antenna 441 on the adjacent shelf 440 on the opposite side of the nacelle (or a common shelf support structure), whose adjacent position may not have been established prior to the placement of the shelf. It may be designated that the antenna 411 operated at normal power or slightly higher power may be able to be read further in adjacent antenna areas, for example, reading rack labels 404c, 412c and 441c. In this way, the functionality described herein can be achieved using only a single shelf label at the center of each antenna.

Although shelf labels can be useful for the purposes described above, you can decrease the response of the system by increasing the number of labels to be read. It can therefore be a desirable option to use for the serial numbers unique shelf label IDs a specific range of serial numbers that can be addressed by the system to a "quito" mode ie it does not respond during normal operation, but only responds during diagnostics or configuration operations. One or more antennas can be contained or hidden inside each shelf. Antenna loops can be made using conductive materials. These conductive materials include metallic conductors such as metallic wire or aluminum foil. The conductive material can also be mesh strips or wire mesh. In one embodiment, the antenna loops can be made of copper sheet approximately 0.002"thick and 0.5" wide. These loops may be contained within a thin laminate material such as a decorative laminate that is applied to the surface of a support shelf material. The loops can also be laminated inside glass. The loops can also adhere to the outside of a laminated material, glass or other support structure. If the support supporting the additional load or stiffness is desired, such a support shelf material can be any material capable of supporting the contents of the shelf, or provide structural rigidity, to be recognized by those skilled in the art. Examples of such materials include wood, plastic, rigid plastic foam, glass, fiberglass or cardboard that is corrugated or otherwise designed to provide stability. An RF blocking material can be applied to, or incorporated into, the bottom of the shelf surface, if desired, to avoid detecting RFID tags that may be down instead of the target labels on the shelf. It will be understood that the intelligent station herein, described as a shelf could also be used in a vertical or other angular orientation and the RF blocking material would then be applied in an appropriate orientation to better isolate the intended target labels to be read in pairs. of other adjacent labels. An RF blocking material applied to, or incorporated into, the bottom surface of the shelf, or present in any underlying metal support, such as an existing metal shelf, will substantially prevent RF energy from going "under" the shelf. Alternatively, an RF blocking material may also be incorporated within the interior of a shelf. This is an advantage if you want the shelf to only perceive the items labeled (above) on the shelf. However, a consequence of such RF blocking material (either deliberately provided in the shelf construction, or coincidentally present as a pre-existing shelf structure) is that while the RF energy is almost completely restricted under the shelf. To compensate for this another way of the reduced reading range, a layer of compensated material can be provided just below the loops of the antenna (which is almost the top of the shelf structure). Such material would be non-conductive and have a high magnetic permeability. Examples are Magnum Magnetics RubberSteel ™ or a magnetic flexible ferrite sheet that has a high-plane magnetic permeability. Such flat magnetic permeability is achieved by using an isotropic ferrite sheet, in an unconventional anisotropic ferrite sheet whose design permeability is normal to the sheet. The presence of a layer of this compensation material between the antenna and the RF blocking material allows higher flux density between the antenna and the RF blocking material. Consequently, the flow density may be higher on the shelf, thus giving a better range of sensation ("reading range") for a given shelf thickness. Antenna loops, laminated inside or externally bound to thin support materials, can be arranged in a non-planar form, for example, as curved panels that can be used in certain deployed cases, in addition to some coat racks, or for tunnel readers that can be used on a platform of loan, etc. The examples herein address loop antennas, which are commonly used for readers operating at RF frequencies such as 13.56 MHz. It is possible that the items within the smart station may contain labels that operate on other widely different frequencies, such as 915 MHz, 2.45 GHz, or 125 kHz. The intelligent station can be configured to read these or other frequencies, providing suitable antennas, for example, multi-frame antennas for 125 kHz, and dipolar antennas for 915 MHz or 2.45 GHz. The antennas within the intelligent station can be provided for one or several of these frequencies. Each antenna would preferably have its own separate switch and tuning circuit. All smart stations would share a single common RF cable, and a single common control cable. Smart stations can be constructed so that all areas in each smart station can read all the desired frequencies (that is, each area is served by multiple antennas), or different areas in a given intelligent station can be provided with specific antennas for a frequency specific. Smart stations that operate at different frequencies could all interconnect. An intelligent station that operates at more than one frequency will require a unit so called "agile reader" that can be configured operated on more than one frequency. In the preferred embodiments, the antenna loops discussed in the present application can be placed, for example, on the shelves, to the extent that they could be placed below the products that are incorporated into the mats that are placed on the shelves. The loops are then encapsulated in an appropriate rigid or flexible substrate well known to those skilled in the art. Examples of the suitable substrate material include a laminated structural material, silicone rubber, urethane rubber, fiberglass, plastic or other similar material that protects the antenna loops and provides some physical imbalance to avoid electromagnetic interference in case the antennas They are placed on metal shelves, walls or surfaces. The encapsulation material or the shelves can be provided with holes or eyelets for hanging on vertical surfaces such as backs or shelves. In an alternative embodiment, the encapsulation material can also be provided with a pressure sensitive adhesive to help bind to a desired surface. The "front" or "shelf" end of the encapsulation can also be provided with low power light devices or other deployment devices that can be turned on by the reading unit or a sequencing unit, such as a secondary controller unit within the rack of so that the activity of the particular deployment devices can be visually coordinated with the activities of the corresponding reading antennas. Alternatively or in addition, the deployment devices can also be used to display additional information such as pricing or discounts. In addition to the ability to read RFID tags, the smart station can have additional "peripheral" devices that can communicate information through the digital data cable. For example, the smart station system would provide a digital data communication highway for extension devices or peripheral junction devices including, but not limited to, computer terminals, deployment devices, modems, bar code readers, temperature sensors, bolt devices for enclosing or grouping merchandise, etc. The digital data communication highway can be incorporated into the cabling system that sends digital control and data information between the controller 124 and the secondary controllers 125, or it can be one or more digital data communication highways that are made of cabling that It runs completely and connects between the stations, with the stations provided with the ports completely to connect the expansion devices in peripheral devices. The digital data communication highway facilitates the transmission of data in both directions between the system of intelligent stations (including controller 124 and secondary controller 125) and the electronic network. Electric power can also be provided by the expansion devices in the peripheral devices through the wires that run through the stations. It should be understood that, whether or not the expansion devices or peripheral devices are used, the electrical energy different from the RF energy can be used by the stations, for example, direct current (DC) used by the secondary controller 125 and by the Switches and electronic tuning materials. Such electrical power can be provided by one or more dedicated wires, or they can be incorporated into the highway of digital communication or with an RF cable. As an example, an RF cable may comprise two conductors, for example in a coaxial cable, the central conductor and the coating conductor. The RF cable carries an RF signal. A DC voltage can be superimposed on the RF signal, on the same RF cable, to provide DC power to the smart stations. If the DC voltage, for example 18 volts DC, is higher than that needed for some devices in the smart station (for example 5 volts DC), a voltage regulator can be used to decrease the voltage within the usable limits . As a further example, digital communications can be transported on the same RF cable. For example, the DC voltage superimposed on the RF cable can be switched between two DC levels (eg 18 volts DC and 12 volts DC) to achieve digital communications without RF on the RF cable. Therefore, a primary controller can send information to secondary controllers using such digital communications. As a further example, a secondary controller can send information to a primary controller in digital form on an RF cable by switching an electrical load on and off so that the current is drained from the RF cable. This in turn can be perceived in the primary controller. The use of the voltage level and the use of the charge level can be done simultaneously to achieve non-RF digital communication through the RF cable. As another example, in the rack mode, another device that can advantageously be incorporated in the rack is a connecting bar code reader that could interact in the secondary control unit 125. When the shelf is being supplied, the bar code reader could be used to scan the packages that are placed on the shelf. The barcode data would then be sent back to the electronic network along with the unique RFID tag serial number. If the product identity defined by the barcode is not previously associated with the unique RFID tag serial number, the association would now be completed within the data warehouse. Otherwise the bar code scan could serve as a verification of the data warehouse information. The use of the bar code device would also allow the shelf to provide benefits even during the displayed introduction of merchandise labeled with RFID. When comparing the number of items supplied on the shelf (as identified by the barcode scanner along with a simple numeric keypad), against the number of the same items sold (as determined by the existing scanners in the check line), it could be determined approximately how much merchandise remains on the shelf, and if replenishment was necessary. Likewise, scanning the barcode on the shelf itself could be used to provide current pricing information retrieved from the electronic network and displayed through the alphanumeric displays on the shelf. In another embodiment, the shelf or smart station can be provided with environmental sensors, to verify or measure, for example, temperature, humidity, light or other parameters or environmental factors. Since the system is able to determine which items are on the shelf, the system could keep track of the environment for each item and provide a warning if the environmental conditions were out of bounds for specific types of items. Separate limits could be defined for each group of items. One or more proximity sensors, for example, infrared sensors or capacitive sensors, can be located on the shelf to detect the presence of a buyer and determine if the reading frequency on that shelf is increased to give the buyer quick feedback when an item It moves from the shelf. The means to detect a buyer would be located at the front end of the shelf, where they would not be obstructed by the merchandise. Infrared and capacitive sensors may sense the presence of a buyer sensing the buyer's body heat, or a change in local capacitance due to the buyer being in front of the shelf, or the buyer's hand or arm, or merchandise, moving near the buyer. front of the shelf. Other means of detecting the presence of a buyer could include visible or infrared light sensors along the front end of the shelf to detect the shadow of a hand or arm reaching the merchandise on the shelf. The light source in this case could be visible environmental light, or from sources on the head or on the roof of the warehouse. The warehouse security cameras could also be used to detect the presence of buyers and to direct the smart station to increase the reading frequency. Likewise, audible / visual signals display or can be activated when a buyer is perceived and for some time later instead of being activated at all times to conserve the energy and life of the component. Likewise, information regarding the proximity of a buyer to the shelf could be transmitted back to the electronic network to help analyze the buyer's traffic patterns, or length of time spent on a particular shelf. The location data of the buyer could also be fed to store security systems for use in conjunction with the scanning patterns of warehouse monitoring cameras. Likewise shelf data transmitted back to the electronic network could be used to determine if an unusually large number of items are suddenly removed from the shelf. If this happens, the security camera can be directed on the shelf to take a description of the buyer who removes the items. If the items are not paid for when the buyer leaves the store, appropriate action can be taken to stop the thief. Another device that can be incorporated into the shelf is a lobby effect or other similar proximity type sensor to detect movement of labels or the presence of a buyer. This information can be used similarly to that described in the above description with respect to an infrared sensor. Another use of the shelf would be to detect the presence of the "Customer Tags" associated with the buyers, which could be used to help the buyers to find goods of predetermined goods., such as the correct size of clothing, so that the visual or audible indicators on the shelf could be activated to direct the buyer towards the desired items. Also, the "customer tag" when placed on a shelf where a desired item was in depleted stock, could be used to give the customer a "rain effect check" and / or discount while in the stock room, or another warehouse, or in order. This could be useful for tracking when a buyer does not buy an item because they were out of stock. Another use of the shelf would be to provide "supercharged" information to predict when more cashiers would be required at the exit passages, or when more warehouses would be required. This could, for example, be done by verifying the quantity of the merchandise that is removed from the shelves, and therefore deducting the volume of merchandise that is arriving in the exit passages. The warehouse manager or store manager could therefore schedule the loan or re-supply staff to optimize how they spend their time, help the scheduled time lost, etc. Another use of the shelf could be to detect the presence of a "store label" or "employee label" or a key or button entry sequence, to alert the system that the shelf is fully stocked and the database becomes aware that the level of existing merchandise is the complete or objective level. This method could be used when the article storage patterns were changed, to update the target level. The shelf system could be used to suggest, for all shelves covered by the system, based on price, traffic, and shelf space, the most optimal storage pattern, which may involve changing the target inventory for all items. Calculating such a storage pattern would require knowledge of how many of each SKU item could be adapted in a given shelf area, and how much shelf area is covered by each shelf antenna. In one aspect of the present invention, it would be advantageous for the rack system to know the physical location of each shelf, which would not necessarily be obvious even from the single Ethernet or RD-485 addresses or other addresses of the network system. Therefore, the present invention contemplates incorporating a GPS transducer in each shelf. A more practical solution may be to provide a portable GPS unit that could be locked in a USB port (or similar compatible port) on each shelf, when the shelf is assembled, to identify its location. For example, a GPS unit could be combined with the servomechanical tuning unit used to form the shelf after installation. Alternatively, a GPS unit with a programmable RFID tag can be placed on a shelf and communicate back to the main controller, through the RFID system, which are the rack coordinates. One way to achieve this would be to use a GPS system connected to a specialized RFID tag that has additional storage blocks for information in addition to its unique serial number. Such a tag would use an integrated circuit with connections to its tag antenna also for communication to receive data from an external source, such as the GPS system. The GPS system could be configured to write the spatial coordinates in the additional storage blocks. A known serial number or numbers could be used in the specialized RFID tag, and the RFID system, until the detection of such specialized RFID tag could interrogate the tag to determine the spatial coordinates stored and then associated with the shelf and the antenna which is going to be read. The shape of the antenna does not need to be limited to a single-loop antenna. A single loop antenna is a form factor that can normally be used with RFID frequencies such as 13.56 MHz. A multiple loop antenna 1215 can be used at a lower frequency such as 125 kHz, or to allow low current operation at high frequencies such as 13.56 MHz. The use of lower current antennas may allow using low power switching components. Forming the multiple loop antenna may require antenna components such as the wire in the loops to be in close proximity to each other, and therefore the wire may be preferably isolated.

The tuning components associated with RFID antennas, for example, rotating fitted capacitors or capacitor banks, may require access during use. Suitable accesses can be provided, for example in a rack mode, by providing removable cover devices, or holes in the rack. To join conductive antenna materials in support laminate or other structures, a variety of methods can be used. For example, a sheet of metal can be left in a network-like substrate (such as a paperboard net) or flat form (such as a sheet of cardboard, sheet or laminate, wood or plastic board, etc.), by an automatic machine using two or three dimension placement mechanisms to feed the sheet from a reel into the substrate in the desired antenna pattern. If the support material is wood, a grinding machine can be used to form notches where the conductive wire can be secured to form antenna loops. The same method can be used if the support material is plastic or a heated pattern can be pressed into the plastic to form notches where the conductive wire can be secured. A plastic substrate can be formed with notches to maintain wire conductors, or the plastic substrate can be molded with a rectilinear pattern of repetition of perpendicular notches that allow to form antenna loops in a large number of patterns. In any of these methods, holes may be drilled, punched, or molded to secure the ends of the antenna wires. These holes may extend through the substrate to become accessible for connection or insertion in tuning circuits used to tune the antenna loops. Another method for forming antenna loops is to wrap the conductor wire around a series of pins similar to a pre-wiring, then invert the pre-wiring and press the conductors into a substrate. The substrate can be pre-coated with adhesive to maintain the conductors when the pre-wiring is removed. Alternatively, the substrate may be soft enough to allow the conductors to be pressed on the surface of the substrate. Alternatively, the substrate may be a thermoplastic and the conductors may be preheated so that they partially melt the substrate in contact and become embedded in the surface of the substrate. The bolts used in the pre-wiring to form the antenna loops can optionally be loaded with springs so that when the pre-wiring presses the conductors into the substrate, the bolts can optionally retract in the pre-wiring. In greater detail, Figure 12 shows a method for making a wire antenna. Figure 12 is not intended to limit the present invention since one skilled in the art would recognize various modifications, alternatives and variations. A substrate 1100 is provided, such as a wood, plastic, rubber, high density foam, or similar material. The notches 1110 are provided in the substrate, usually in a grid pattern. These notches can be made by machining, molding such as by pressure, heat or cold or injection molding, casting, heat sealing (for example with wood), etc. The pressing methods can use platen (stamping) or rotary devices. Preferably, the holes 1130 are provided at intersecting points in the notches, by the same methods or by drilling or drilling. A large part of the area on the substrate 1100 is still occupied by the areas 1120 between the notches. In this way the substrate 1100 has an essentially flat top surface, so that the fillers can be supported by the surface and a cover, film, laminate, or veneer can be applied to provide a flat finished surface. Areas 1120 are also known to not be occupied by antenna wires, and these areas can be provided by casting, drilling, drilling, etc., with holes to accommodate screws or bolts to join other structures. The holes can also be used to join such a panel of pins or deployment hooks, or through hole for wiring, ventilation, sound from loudspeakers, placement of small lights, etc. It is shown that the antenna loop 1200 has been formed by placing or pressing the wire of a suitable diameter in some of the notches 1110. The ends 1201 of the antenna loop are held in place by securing them in the holes 1130. The holes can be entirely through the substrate 1100, so that they can be connected to the circuitry on the other side of the substrate. Likewise, the antenna loop 1210 is shown being formed, with the wire end 1211 already secured in a hole and end 1212 of wire already shown to be secured in another hole. In addition to simply pressing the stripped wire through the holes to secure the ends, the wire can be pre-cut to the required length, and the ends adapted with eyelets 1140, buttons, or other mechanical devices that fit into the holes 1130. These eyelets can be welded on the wire for better conductivity. As an alternative to inserting them into the holes 1130, the eyelets may be slightly larger in diameter than the width of the notches 1110, so that the eyelets will only be adapted at the points where two notches intersect, as shown in FIG. Figure 12A. Alternatively, during the formation of the notch pattern, the intersection points can be made larger than the widths of the notch as shown in Figure 12B, to maintain a larger 1141 grommet. The buttonholes may be bars formed (1142) or T-shaped (1143) to adapt at the points of intersection as shown in Figure 12C. They can also be transverse. They can be adapted with bolts to project down into, or through the substrate 1100, or to extend upwardly out of the substrate 1100. The bolts can be adapted in plugs, or in holes in the circuit boards. The eyelets (for example 1140 or 1141) can be recessed to accept other cables or bolts. They can externally incorporate internally screwed bolts. Buttonholes can also incorporate internal or external hooks or parts loaded with springs to hold them in place or to help connect to external circuitry. The antenna wires attached to the eyelets can also be secured by hooks. The substrate 1100 can be provided with recesses (not shown) in which the circuitry (not shown) and such circuitry installed before or after the wires and wires attached to the circuitry are placed by welding or using eyelets, hooks, etc. Instead of these notches 1110 forming a regular grid or lattice or transverse pattern which allows the multiple antenna patterns to be created, the notches may be provided in a "customary" manner to comprise only the notches desired for the current antennas that are going to occur. Figure 13 shows such modality. The notches, for example 1220 and 1230, can be formed by the same methods described above, as can the holes 1221 and 1231. Since the notches and holes keep the wire fixed, the wire can be easily inserted by hand into the substrate, or the process can be mechanized. After all the desired antennas have been formed in the substrate, any open notches can be filled with plastic or any other suitable material. A cover laminate, film or other layer can then be applied to the upper layer of the substrate. This cover can be a layer of injection molded material, or cast iron layer, or liquid casting layer that is cured by chemical reaction or heat (such as in an epoxy material or silicone compound), or evaporation (such as a latex material). The combined substrate and cover then comprise an antenna mat. Depending on the materials, the antenna can be flexible or rigid. The antenna mat can also be attached to a flat and non-planar support material such as wood, plastic, fiberglass, etc. Board . The antenna shape does not need to be confined to single-loop antennas. Figure 13A shows antennas 1200 and 1210 of a single loop, a shape factor that could normally be used with medium-rank RFID frequencies such as 13.56 MHz. Also known is a multi-loop antenna 1215 which could normally be used at a lower frequency such as 125 kHz. Forming the multiple loop antenna 1215 may require that the wire loops be in close proximity to each other, and therefore the wire may preferably be isolated. It may be desired to have a catwalk 1216 of wire as shown, or without a catwalk as seen by dotted line 1217. The distance between the notches may have to be narrower for multiple loop antennas. Also known is the shape of a dipole 1218 antenna which could normally be used with higher frequencies such as 915 MHz or 2.45 MHz. The ends 1219 shown by the dipole antenna are flexed to denote a method for holding these otherwise loose ends by inserting the ends in the holes in the substrate during manufacture. In the embodiment of Figures 12 and 13, the notches are created before the antenna wires are established in place. A different embodiment is shown in Figure 14. An upper plate 1300 is provided which has a pattern of holes 1301 for securing bolts 1302. The bolts can be screwed into the tapered holes so that the bolts can be secured by screwing them into the holes. In this way, the number and placement of the bolts can be varied. A lower plate 1310 is provided with matching holes 1311. When the plates 1300 and 1310 are brought together as shown in the arrow "A", the bolts 1302 project through the holes 1311. The bolts 1302 can then be used to define the corners of the wire antennas that are wound around of the bolts under the lower plate 1310. For example, antenna 1240 is formed using bolts to hold the wire at all three corners. In the fourth equine, the two wire ends 1241 are inserted through open holes 1311 in the lower plate 1310. Another exemplary 1250 antenna is formed using bolts in all four corners. Buttonholes 1251 attached to the ends of the wire loop are held on two additional bolts. Instead of securing the wire ends within the plate area, they can also extend beyond the plate as shown by the dotted lines at 1252. In this case, the wire ends would be secured by other means (not shown). The combined 1330 assembly of upper plate 1300 and lower plate 1310 with bolts attached, wires, eyelets, etc., are then inverted on the substrate 1320 as shown by the arrow "B". The antennas 1240 and 1250 are transferred on the substrate 1320 by one or more of the following or similar methods. a) An adhesive coating or film is applied to the substrate 1320. The combined assembly 1330 is decreased on the substrate 1320, and the lower plate 1310 is pressed against the substrate. The antennas 1240 and 1250 adhere to the adhesive. If the upper plate 1300 rises slightly during the pressing step, the pins 1302 will not penetrate the substrate 1320. If the upper plate 1300 is also maintained under downward pressure, the pins 1302 will make the holes in the substrate 1320. Any eyelets 1251 will will press on the substrate. After the adhesive is fixed, the combined assembly 1330 rises, leaving the antenna pattern attached to the substrate 1320. b) Method (a) can be used, with sufficient pressure to force the antenna wires partially or completely below the surface of the substrate 1320. This method could be used, for example, with a 1320 substrate of high density foam that requires minimal force to press the wires below the surface . c) Method (b) can be used, with wires 1240 and 1250 and eyelets 1251 heated to temperature above the softening point of substrate 1320, so that in contact and pressure, the substrate softens or melts slightly to accept the wires and eyelets. One method for heating the wires is to pass an electric current through them before or during the pressure against the substrate. The upper plate 1300 can be released during the pressing step so that the pins 1302 retract and do not penetrate the substrate 1320. d) The substrate which is rather a solid material 1320 can at this point melt in the wires by liquid casting of chemical, thermal, evaporative or otherwise set material, or by injection molding, of a material to the lower surface of the lower plate 1310. Lower plate 1310 and pins 1302 can be pre-coated with a release agent to avoid adhesiveness. Such release agent would be applied before they are attached to the wires, so that the release agent is not applied to the wires. Also, the lower plate 1310 may be a non-tacky material, for example, Teflon or coated with Teflon or a similar non-tacky material. If injection molding is used, the lower plate 1310 can be cooled by internal passages to accelerate the cooling of the injection molded material. After these steps, the antennas 1240 and 1250 can be attached to the circuitry using wire ends 1241 and 1252, or eyelets 1251. In all embodiments, it will be understood that the wires can be stripped (except in the passages) or isolated. The cross section of the wires may be a solid cylinder as is usually the case with the wire, but may also be square, rectangular, oval U-shaped or channel-shaped, V-shaped, etc. The main requirement of the wire is that regardless of the shape it must be conductive and it must have a reticular shape and stiffness that promotes keeping it in the eyelets. The wire can be a single conductor (usually known as a "solid" conductor), or multi-braided. It can be curled or woven. It can be a coaxial cable, in which case the external bead would be used as the active conductor for the RF signal. Figure 15 is a diagram illustrating a device and method for applying metal ribbon strips to a cloth or flat substrate to form metal antennas according to the present invention. Such metal antennas have various uses, for example, they can be used as a receiver-transmitter or readers to communicate with the RFID tags in RFID systems that can be used for inventory control. Figure 15 is not intended to limit the present invention since one skilled in the art would recognize various modifications, alternatives and variations. A substrate 2100 is provided. This may be in the fabric form, as shown, in which case the pull rolls 2110 or other means may be provided to move the fabric. In the example shown in Figure 15, such movement would be discontinuous. The web 2100 would be indexed to a distance, then stop while one or more conductive paths are deposited on the substrate 2100. Once the conductive paths had been deposited on the substrate 2100, the web would be indexed forward again and the cycle would be I would repeat. A support plate 2120 is provided under the substrate. This support plate 2120 may incorporate a retention system (not shown) to temporarily secure the substrate 2100 to the support plate 2120. The support plate 2120 itself can also move in the X and Y directions to assist in the process of depositing conductive paths. An applicator means 2200 is provided to deposit the conductive paths 2300. This applicator 2200 will be described in greater detail later. A step 2400 x-y is provided to move the applicator 2200. The x-y stage may include a 2401 frame, a positioning means 2402 moving on the main substrate axis ("x" or "machine" direction) and a second positioning means 2403 moving on a perpendicular axis ("y" or "transverse" direction) . A rotational positioning means 2404 may be provided to rotate the applicator 2200 at any angle relative to the substrate 2100, to facilitate the operation of the applicator 2200. It is anticipated that the movement of the substrate 2100 and the movement of the applicator 2200 will be automated by means of the computer controlling motors driving the traction rollers 2110, and positioning means 2402, 2403, and 2404, in addition to more controls within the applicator 2200. In Figure 15, the x and y positioning means 2402 and 2403 are shown as the rack and the gear of pinion, but could include other means such as cables, linear motors, tracking motors, or other means that can achieve moderately repeatable positioning. Figure 16 shows another method for depositing conductive paths in a substrate to a shaped metal antenna. The support member 2500 extends through the substrate and maintains two or more stationary positioning means 2501 which in turn supports support applicators 2200. The stationary positioning means 2501 can be manually moved through the support member 2500, then fixed in place for example with a screwdriver. Sufficient stationary positioning means 2501 with applicators 2200 are provided to be determined along the machine direction (x) as many longitudinally conductive paths 2301, 2302 as necessary. In the example shown, the longitudinally conducting path 2302 is provided with a sautted area 2303 that would be used for connection to the external circuitry. The support member 2510 extends through the substrate and maintains a traversed medium 2511 which in turn supports another applicator 2200. The traversed medium 2511 can move in demand across the substrate in the transverse direction (y) to deposit trajectories 2304 and 2305 cross conductors that connect the longitudinally conductive trajectories 2301, 2302. The operation according to Figure 16 is therefore as follows: The substrate 2100 is moved forward by pull rolls 2110 (or by movement of support plate 2120). Meanwhile, the applicators 2200 attached to the stationary positioning means 2501 are deposited on demand from the longitudinally conducting paths 2301, 2302 which may contain sautted areas 2303. At appropriate times, the movement of the substrate 2100 is stopped so that the applicator 2200 attached to the traversed means 2511 can deposit crossed conductive paths 2304, 2305. The pause in the X direction movement of the substrate 2100 can occur in the middle of the process of depositing one or more longitudinally conducting trajectories 2301, 2302. Alternatively, to deposit the crossed conductive paths 2304, 2305, the applicator 2200 can be fixed in position and in the Y direction movement provided by the movement of the support plate 2120. The decision to move the substrate 2100 in fabric or sheet form will depend on several factors. The substrate may be available in the form of an advantageous roll for handling the net, or in the form of an advantageous cut to handle the sheet. Some substrates may not be flexible enough to be handled in the form of fabric, for example, thick-sheet substrates or substrates that have been partially or completely laminated and are not quite flexible. The decision of which applicator system is used will also be based on several factors. The single head applicator design of Figure 15 minimizes the number of applicators, but slightly complicates the placement of the applicator. It may be slightly slower than a multiple applicator design. However, it is quite flexible in terms of making tailor-made products, and that each conductive path can be made to measure. The multiple applicator system of Figure 16 simplifies the placement of the applicators and can improve the speed for long production runs of unique designs. Instead of moving the applicators as in the Figure 15 and 16, the substrate itself could move in the x-y plane to help create the conductor paths. This would normally require more floor space than when the applicators move, and it would be complex if the substrate was in the form of a roll.

Figure 17 shows a cross section of an applicator 2200 for depositing conductive paths. Figure 17 is not intended to limit the invention since one skilled in the art would recognize various modifications, alternatives and variations. As shown in the embodiment of Figure 17, the applicator 2200 would move to the right in relation to the substrate 2100. A supply roller 2210 provides a continuous conductive strip 2211 through a pair of rollers 2212 which are computer controlled for provide strip 2211 continuous only when required. The strip 2211 is directed to a channel 2213 and passes a cutter 2214 that is computer controlled and can turn at any angle to provide angled cuts if desired. Strip 2211 continues forward and away from applicator 2200, at which point an optional release liner 2215 can be removed and wound around roller 2216 to engage in tension winding roller 2217. A second optional supply roller 2220 provides a strip 2221 of continuous insulation through a pair of feed rollers 2222 which are controlled by computer to provide the insulating strip 2221 only when required. The strip 2221 is directed in a channel 2223 and passes to a cutter 2224 which is controlled by computer. Strip 2221 continues forward and away from applicator 2200, at which point an optional release liner 2225 can be removed and wound around roller 2226 to be engaged in a tension winding roller 2227. A pressure device 2230 is provided to push the strips 2211 and / or 2221 on the substrate 2100. The pressure device may be a wheel or roller as shown, or a sliding member, or a reciprocal clamping means. The pressure device 2230 can be heated to help secure an integral adhesive to the strips 2211 or 2221 or provided externally as described below. The pressure device 2230 can be stamped or filled with knots, for example to help press the strips 2211 or 2221 on the substrate 2100, or even to slightly crease the strips 2211 or 2221 on the material of the substrate 2100. This could eliminate the need for the adhesive, at least for sheet feeding operations. It is also seen that the strip 2211 can be perforated with holes to improve resin adhesion between the layers of the substrate in the final laminate, even in the areas where the strip 2211 exists. A hole punch 2240 is provided to pierce the substrate 2100 upon request to create openings through which electrical connections can be made to the conductive strip 2211. Preferably, the hole punch 2240 is provided with an internal vacuum connection to remove the residual substrate material created during a hole drilling operation. An adhesive manifold 2250 is provided to distribute glue 2252 through needle 2251, to hold strip 2211 or 2221 to the substrate. Preferably the adhesive is a fast setting material such as a hot melt glue, heat setting glue, or epoxy. This adhesive is deposited on demand under computer control to be present under strip 2211 or 2221, but no strip is deposited in a given area. Any adhesive that can be used should not be degassed when pressed at elevated temperature, or otherwise the integrity of the laminate may be compromised. The conductive strip 2211 or insulation strip 2221 can also be provided with its own adhesive layers for bonding to the substrate 2100. The adhesive used to bond the strips 2211 and 2221 to the substrate 2100 would normally not be conductive, since the conductive adhesives are more expensive. However, it will be necessary in some places to electrically connect portions of the conductive path 2300, and for this a conductive adhesive or material would be required. For simplicity it could be decided to use the conductive strip 2211 with an integral conductive adhesive, but this would be expensive. Another solution is to provide within the applicator 2200 a reservoir 2260 of conductive adhesive to be applied through the droplet 2261 in the shape of drop 2262. A drop 2262 of the conductive adhesive could be applied at the top of a previous segment of the conductive trace 2300 , just before starting the next segment in the upper part of the previous segment. The action of pressing means 2230, with heat and pressure, would then electrically join the two segments. Drop 2262 of conductive adhesive could be a drop of metal weld in any form of low melting, or in suspension (the shape would be remelted by pressure means 2230). Figure 18 illustrates a method for using the apparatus shown in Figure 15 to determine a simple rectangular conductive path. The steps are as follows The substrate 2100 is indexed forward in the x-direction by rollers 2110. By using the positioning means 2402 and positioning means 2403, the applicator 2200 moves to the "a" and "h" points in where the hole punch 2240 makes two holes in the substrate 2100. By using the positioning means 2402 X, the applicator 2200 is placed in the point "b". The applicator 2200 moved by the positioning means 2402 X uses internal devices 2210-2217 to determine a conductive path 2300 from points "b" to "c". During this operation, the cutter 2214 cuts the strip 2211 at a precisely determined moment so that the conductive path 2300 ends at point "c". It is noted that at the beginning of conductive strip 2300, at point "b", slightly overlap the hole drilled at "a". The positioning means 2402 X is used to move the applicator applicator 2261 of conductive adhesive at point "c" where a drop of conductive adhesive 2262 is placed at the end of the conductive path 2300. The rotational positioning means 2404 rotates the applicator 2200 by 90 degrees so that it can be operated in the transverse Y direction. The positioning means 2402 and 2402 X and Y are used to place the applicator 2200 at point "c". The applicator 2200 moved by the positioning means 2403 and uses internal devices 2210-2217 to determine a conductive path 2300 from points "c" to "d". During this operation, the cutter 2214 cuts the strip 2211 at a precisely determined moment so that the conductive path 2300 ends at point "d". The positioning means 2403 is used to move the conductive adhesive applicator 2261 to point "d" where a drop of the conductive adhesive 2262 is placed on the new end of the conductive path 2300. The rotational positioning means 2404 rotates the applicator 2200 by 90 degrees so that it can be operated in the X direction of the machine. The positioning means 2402 and 2403 X and Y are used to place the applicator 2200 at point "d". The applicator 2200 moved by the positioning means 2402 uses internal devices 2210-2217 to determine a conductive path 2300 from points "d" to "e". During the operation, the cutter 2214 cuts the strip 2211 at a precisely determined moment so that the conductive path 2300 ends at the point "e". The positioning means 2403 X is used to move the conductive adhesive applicator 2261 to point "e", where a drop of conductive adhesive 2262 is placed at the new end of the conductive path 2300. The rotational positioning means 2404 rotates the applicator 2200 by 90 degrees so that it can be operated in the transverse Y direction. The positioning means 2402 and 2403 X and Y are used to position the applicator 2200 to point "e". The applicator 2200 moved by the positioning means 2403 and uses internal devices 2210-2217 to determine a conductive path 2300 from points "e" to "f". During this operation, the cutter 2214 cuts the strip 2211 at a precisely determined moment so that the conductive path 2300 ends at the point "f". The positioning means 2403 Y is used to move the conductive adhesive applicator 2261 to point "f", where a drop of the conductive adhesive 2262 is placed at the new end of the conductive path 2300. The rotational positioning means 2404 rotates the applicator 2200 by 90 degrees so that it can be operated in the machine X direction. The positioning means 2402 and 2403 X and Y are used to place the applicator 2200 at point "f". The applicator 2200 moved by the positioning means 2402 uses internal devices 2210-2217 to determine a conductive path 2300 from points "f" to "g". This last portion of the path 2300 is not yet complete in Figure 18. During this operation, the cutter 2214 cuts the strip 2211 at a precisely determined time so that the conductive path 2300 will end at the "g" point. It is noted that the end of the conductive path 2300, at point "g", will slightly overlap the second hole drilled at point "h".

Steps 2-20 are repeated for each conductive trace 2300 to be applied to the substrate 2100 in the exposed area of the substrate. The substrate is then indexed forward again at the start of step 1. Instead of forming the conductive trace 2300 by connecting separate pieces of the metal strip 2211, the conductive trace 2300 can be formed from the continuous strip 2211. Instead of using the cutter 2214 to cut the sheet 2211 between the segments of each corner, the strip 2211 can be automatically folded over. For example, this can be done by rotating the rotary positioning means 2404 through a 90 degree turn and compressing it in the bent corner so that the trace 2300 is placed flat in the corner. Figure 18A shows the result. The bent corner will have a maximum of three overlapping sheet thicknesses. Figure 18B shows that the result of the sheet is at the same time twisted 180 degrees to reverse the ribbon. (This would require another means of placement, not shown.Inverting the tape may be undesirable if the tape has an adhesive coating, since the adhesive will not face the substrate now). The bent corner will have a maximum of two translative thicknesses of the sheet. Figure 19 shows a mode in which a conductive trace 2300 that is determined overlaps a previous conductive trace. Before the overlapping segments of the second conductive trace 2300 are determined, the strips "I" and "J" of non-conductive film are determined on the first trace, using the applicator 2200. These strips "I" and "J" of insulation they avoid electrical contact between the separate conductor loops that are formed by the conductive trace 2300. In a similar way, the "catwalk" circuitry can be determined. It is anticipated that the substrate 2100 with the traces 2300 conductive, either sheet or networked, can be incorporated into the laminated structure that can be used on a shelf, panel, fence, spaces, or other form. An example of such a laminated structure is shown in Figure 20. The substrate 2100, which may be a paper or cardboard material, is bonded with additional layers 2600 and 2601 of similar or dissimilar materials, for example by saturating the resin-soaked kraft paperboard. , and formed under heat and pressure in a laminate 2610. Usually, the layer or layers 2601 on the first opposing surface from the substrate 2100 would be a decorative material that would be for the "exterior" of the resulting product. Depending on the orientation of the outer substrate layer 2100, this laminate 2610 contains on its second surface, or just inside that surface, the conductive traces 2300 already described. The laminate 2610 can then be bonded to a heavy support member 2620, such as a board made of wood, plastic, particle board, corrugated board, Westvaco core board, or the like. The surface of the laminate 2610 that is close to the conductive traces 2300 is preferably glued to the support member 2620. In this way, the total thickness of the laminate 2610 protects the conductive traces 2300 from abrasion during the use of the resulting combined structure 2630 formed from the laminate 2610 and support member 2620. A conductive or metallic 2625 motherboard can optionally be applied to the bottom of the shelf to block RF energy going below the shelf, thus causing the shelf to function with approximately the same RF behavior despite whether or not it was supported by the metal brackets or placed on an existing metal shelf. Figure 21 shows how, before the support member 2620 sticks to the laminate 2610, it is preferable to place the support member 2620 inside one or more electronic circuits that communicate with the conductive traces 2300, either by the last it is exposed directly, or through the perforations already described. To accommodate the recesses of electronic circuits, they can be ground on the surface of the support member 2620. A numerically controlled milling head 2700 could be used in a positioning system similar in design to the system shown in Figure 15 to determine the conductive 2300 traces and could be operated by the same or similar computer control system that would control the location and depth of recess. For example, at the end of support member 2620, recess 2631 is shown to accommodate an external connector 2632. Within the support member 2620 recess 2633 is shown to contain electronic circuitry 2634 such as by switching and tuning circuitry. The crossover support member 2620 recess 2635 is shown to contain wires or cables for connecting the circuitry components. The electronic circuitry 2634 may incorporate spring loaded coils 2637 or fingers 2638 to contact the conductive traces 2300 on the substrate 2100 that is part of the laminate 2610 to be attached to the support member 2620. The electrical contact could be by pressure, by conductive adhesive or paste, or by melted solder during the rolling process. The grinding head 2700 can be used to make notches 2639 for accessing tuning tools such as small screwdrivers to fit adjusted capacitors within the circuitry 2634. The tuning components within the circuitry 2634, for example, rotatable fitted capacitors (not shown) may require access after assembly, which may be provided through the openings such as holes 2611 drilled through the laminate 2610 in Figure 20, or holes 2612 drilled through the support member 2620 in Figures 20 and 21. Figures 3A and 3B are block diagrams illustrating a preferred embodiment of an inventory control system using intelligent shelves in accordance with the present invention. As shown in Figure 3A, each of the various smart shelves 501a-50n and 502a-502n provided in accordance with the present invention have multiple antennas 200 connected to a reader unit 120 through a single transmission cable 222. The reader unit 120 controls the activation of the antenna 200 connected either sequentially or simultaneously with a phase difference, to determine the item information from the RFID tags associated with the respective articles that would be inventoried. Therefore, the 120 reading units are capable of extracting the information in relation to the inventory, for each of the items labeled RFID stored in the respective shelves. For simplicity, Figure 3A shows only two groups of shelves, each group having its own reading unit, the groups being 501a-501n and 502a-502n respectively. However, one skilled in the art would recognize that many such shelving groups could be a part of an inventory control system provided by the present invention. For example, all shelves in one or more warehouses could be grouped to provide hundreds or even thousands of shelf groups that could be connected together to form an inventory control system as provided by the present invention. It should be understood that while the preferred embodiment of the inventory control system and method uses a multiple antenna RFID detection system with a single transmission cable 222 corresponding to the embodiment of Figure 6, all other modes of the Multiple antenna RFIDs described herein may also be used with the inventory control system and method according to the present invention. Therefore, for example, the RFID detection systems described in Figures 7 and 8 can also be used with the inventory control system and method of the present invention. In such embodiments, for example, the unmodulated RF system can be used first to heat labels before the modulated RF system is used to extract the inventory-related data from the RFID tags. As shown in Figure '3A, the item information data collected by the 120 reading units from each of the shelves 501a-501n and 502a-502n Smart devices are transmitted to a 550 unit of inventory control processing. The inventory control processing unit 550 is normally configured to receive the article information from the smart shelves 501a-501n and 502a-502n. This inventory control processing unit 550 is normally connected to the smart shelves on an electronic network 525 and is also associated with an appropriate data store 555 that stores data related to the inventory including reference tables and also program codes. configuration information relevant to inventory control or storage. The inventory control processing unit 550 is also programmed and configured to perform inventory control functions that are well known to those skilled in the art. For example, some of the functions performed by an inventory control unit include: storing and tracking quantities of items inventoried by hand, daily movements and sales of various items, tracking positions or locations of various items, etc. In the operation, the inventory control system would determine the item information from the smart shelves 501a-501n and 502a-502n that are connected to the inventory control processing unit 550 through an electronic 525 network. In one embodiment, the various smart shelves 501a-501n and 502a-502n would be under the control of the inventory control processing unit 550 which would determine when the reader units 120 will poll the antenna 200 to determine the article information of articles that are going to be inventoried In an alternative embodiment, the reader units 120 may be programmed to periodically poll the connected multiple antennas for article information and then transmit the information of the given article to the inventory control processing unit using an "impulse" reverse transmission model. data In an additional modality, the survey and data transmission of the article information by the 120 reading units can still be conducted, for example, being operated by a periodic replenishment of items inventoried in the intelligent shelves. In each case, the reader unit 120 would selectively energize the multiple antennas connected to it to determine the item information from the RFID tags associated with the items to be inventoried. Once the item information is received from the reader units 120 of the smart shelves 501a-501n and 502a-502n of the present invention, the inventory control processing unit 550 processes the information of the item received using logic, codes and data programmed in the inventory control processing unit 550 and in the associated data store 555. The information of the processed article is then stored normally in the data store 555 for future use in the inventory control system and method of the present invention. One skilled in the art would recognize that the inventory control processing unit 550 could be implemented in a general-purpose computer system connected to an electronic network 525, such as a computer network. The computer network may also be a public network, such as the Internet or Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), or another private network, such as a Business Local Area Network (LAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN), or still a virtual private network. A computer system includes a central processing unit (CPU) connected to a system memory. The system memory usually contains an operating system, a BIOS driver and application programs. In addition, the computer system contains input devices such as a mouse and a board, and output devices such as a printer and a screen monitor. The computer system generally includes a communications interface, such as the Ethernet card, to communicate to the electronic 525 network. Other computer systems can also connect to the electronic 525 network. One skilled in the art will recognize that the above system describes the normal components of a computer system connected to an electronic network. It should be appreciated that many other similar configurations are within the capabilities of a person skilled in the art and all of these configurations could be used with the methods and systems of the present invention. Furthermore, it should be recognized that the computer and network system described herein can be programmed and configured as an inventory control processing unit to perform functions related to inventory control that are well known to those skilled in the art. further, one skilled in the art will recognize that the "computer" implemented in the invention described herein may include components that are not computers per se, but also include devices such as Internet accessories and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) that can be used for provide one or more of the functionalities discussed herein. In addition, while "electronic" networks are used generically to refer to the communications network connecting the processing sites of the present invention, one skilled in the art will recognize that such networks could be implemented using optical or other equivalent technologies. Likewise, it will also be understood that the present invention uses known security measures for transmission of electronic data through networks. Therefore, coding, authentication, verification, and other security means for the transmission of electronic data through public and private networks are provided, where necessary, using techniques that are well known to those skilled in the art. Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the specification and practice of the invention described herein. It is intended that the specification be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spirit of the invention which is indicated by the following claims.

ANNEX A SUMMARY Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention that collect information from the article from the RFID tags attached to the articles in an inventory, and use the information of the collected article to perform various management processes of inventory. In one aspect, inventory management processes may include determining, reporting and / or providing corrective actions for one or more events associated with at least one of the reductions of the items in the inventory, changes in the design of the items in the inventory. inventory, defects with one or more items, misplaced items, the movement of an unusual threshold of items within a short period of time (ie reduction), and malfunctions of one or more components included in the environment. (_p O <J1 Terminal H1 or OI FIGURE 2 PREVIOUS TECHNIQUE (Jl s a ANNEX A ANNEX A FIGURE 3C FIGURE 3D Summary of the General Process Process to read several antennas ANNEX A ??? ANNEX A ??? or FIGURE 31 FIGURE 3J OI or exterminator FIGURE 4A OR < J1 or o n or U1 M I-1 O O Reader Tenninal FIGURE 8 44 ANNEX A (Jl o RF inside the cable FIGURE 10A FIGURE 10B ANNEX A - 1 ¾ 0) 0) 3 - = 2 D "O ¡= LL C O o FIGURE 10D or 320 330 321 322 323 324 FIGURE 11A Ln or Ln FIGURE 11B ? 1219 FIGURE 13 ANNEX A ??? ANNEX A ANNEX A ANNEX A 25 ANNEX A ANNEX A

Claims (1)

1. CLAIMS 1. A method for managing an inventory of articles, each article is placed in a respective location within an environment and is associated with a corresponding wireless identification device, the method is characterized in that it comprises: providing information of the article associated with each article in each device corresponding wireless identification; and perform an inventory management process based on the information in the article to provide real-time information associated with the inventory of the items, the inventory management process includes at least one of: a process of controlling depleted stocks; a reduction recognition process, a rapid product recovery process, an alert monitoring process, and a sales optimization process. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the inventory of articles includes articles of one or more types and the process of control of depleted inventories includes at least one of: (i) determining a current inventory account of the articles of any type located in the environment based on information retrieved from one or more wireless identification devices; (ii) determine if any items of any kind are misplaced within the environment based on information retrieved from one or more of the wireless identification devices, (iii) determine when a number of items of any type in the inventory falls below a first threshold value based on the information retrieved from one or more of the wireless information devices, (iii) determining a loss value that reflects a loss income amount based on a condition where the items of a certain type are no longer include in the inventory of items, (iv) determine one or more factors that influence previous sales of each type of items included in the inventory of the items, (v) determine an alternate location within the environment to place items of a certain type that they have a sales history below a second threshold value, (vi) determine an alternate location outside the inventory to place items of a certain type that have been placed in their respective locations within the environment for more than a predetermined amount of time, (vii) provide a message of depleted stock in a device screen when items of a certain type are no longer located in their respective locations, and (viii) determine an inventory characteristic associated with each type of item. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that it determines a current inventory account that includes: retrieving the item information from one or more wireless identification devices corresponding to one or more items; and determine an account of each article of one or more types based on the information of the recovered item. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that it determines a current inventory account that includes: retrieving the article information associated with each article from a database; and determining an account of each article of each type based on the information of the recovered item, wherein the database periodically receives the item information from a process that collects the item information from each wireless information device. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that it determines if any items are misplaced which includes: accessing one or more wireless identification devices corresponding to one or more items to determine a location of one or more items within the environment; and determining that a first type article is misplaced based on a determination that the first type of item is located in a location other than its designated location. 6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that it further comprises: providing an indication of the misplaced article to a user interface. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the first threshold value is provided by one of a user and a threshold determination process. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that the threshold determination process is characterized in that it includes: for each type of article, determining the first threshold value based on a number of articles of a respective type that has been eliminated from their respective locations within the environment. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that the threshold determination process includes: for each type of article, adjusting the first threshold value based on at least one of the season factor that is associated with a time of years of items of the respective type that are in their respective locations and an event factor that is associated with an event that is occurring, will occur or has occurred. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that it determines when an account of any type of article falls below a first threshold value that includes: identifying any type of articles that has a number of items located within the environment under the first threshold value based on the given inventory account; and giving priority to article types based on one of: a given loss profile value based on the respective article type having a number of items below the first threshold value, if the additional items of the respective article type are available at another location within the environment, and if a reason for the type of item has fallen below the first threshold value is based on a short-term demand for the type of item. 11. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that it determines a loss value that includes: for each type of article that is no longer located in the environment, determine an amount of income that was generated by previous sales of articles of the type respective over a previous period of time; and determine the loss value for the type of item that is no longer located in the environment based on the determined generated income. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that it determines one or more factors that influence previous sales of each type of article that includes: identifying one or more external factors that occur during the period of time that the previous sales of each type of article occur; and compare one or more external factors identified with previous sales to determine how each of the external factors influences previous sales. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that one or more of the external factors include at least one of the prices of the articles of each type, seasonal factors, and current sales of other types of articles. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that it determines when a number of any type of articles falls below the first threshold value that includes: adjusting at least one of a cycle time to order articles and a quantity of items ordered from a supplier that provides articles of the type that have fallen below the first threshold value. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that it determines an alternate location within the environment that includes: determining whether a specific type of article has a sales history below the second threshold value in the environment; and determine an alternate location within the environment to reposition items of the specific item type, included in the inventory based on a sales history of the items associated with the alternate location. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that the sales history associated with the alternate location includes a sales history of a different type of items located in the alternate location. 17. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that it determines an alternate location outside the environment that includes: determining if a type of article has a sales history below the second threshold value; and determining an alternate location outside the environment to reposition items of the item type based on a sales history associated with other items of the same type of item that is placed in the alternate location. 18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that it provides a message of depleted stock that includes: determining if the articles of a certain type are no longer located in their respective locations based on the inventory account; and generate the exhausted stock message that includes at least one of an indication that the item type is out of stock, an offer for a discount sale price on an item of a certain type of item, a rain effect check for an article of a certain type, and an indication of an alternate location outside the environment where an article of a certain type may be located. 19. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the screen device is located in a structure that previously supports articles of a certain type. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the inventory characteristic is a mathematical relationship between the previous sales of a type of article over a predetermined period of time. 21. The method according to the claim 20, characterized in that the relation represents whether the previous sales of a type of article have been sporadic or uniform over the predetermined period of time. 22. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the reduction recognition process includes: determining when a number of articles of a certain type placed in the first location is reduced by a determined value within a set period of time; and perform a reduction response process based on the determination of the reduction. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that the reduction response process includes: providing an indication of the first location in at least one of a user and a security monitoring process. 24. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that the indication also includes an indication of certain type of articles and the determined value. 25. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that the reduction response process includes at least one of: storing a record file that reflects when the number of items was reduced by the determined value, certain type of items, and the determined value; provide an interruption signal to a security device; and providing an interface device for a message identifying the first location. 26. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that the security device is at least one of: an alarm system; a light emitting device placed near the first location; a video surveillance system that is activated by the switch signal to the registered video of an area associated with the first location; and a camera surveillance system that is activated by the switch signal to record photographs of an area associated with the first location. 27. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that the message includes information that is addressed to a user from the first location. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the rapid recovery process includes: determining whether an article in the environment needs to move from its current location based on at least one of a shelf life associated with the item, a ambient temperature surrounding the article, and an identification number associated with the article. 2 . The method according to claim 28, characterized in that the rapid recovery process includes: associating a start date with the article corresponding to an article when the article is placed in its current location in the environment; determine the life on the shelf for the article; Provide an indication that life on the shelf for the item has expired or will soon expire based on a comparison between the start date and the life on the shelf. 30. The method according to claim 29, characterized in that it determines the shelf life that includes: determining shelf life based on a due date associated with the item. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that it determines when an article in the environment needs to move including: reading a temperature value from a temperature measuring device located in proximity to the current location of the article; and determine that the item should move from the current location based on the temperature value. 32. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that it determines whether an article in the environment needs to be moved including: determining whether the identification number is associated with a recovery order that reflects that the article must move from its current location . 33. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that it also includes: providing an indication that reflects that the article must move from the inventory of items when the item is being purchased at a point of sale terminal. 34. The method according to claim 33, characterized in that the indication includes a message displayed at the point of the sales terminal that the article has exceeded its life on the shelf. 35. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that the article has a first characteristic and the method further includes: determining that the article must move from its current location based on a determination that new articles similar to the article and provided by the same supplier have a second characteristics different from the first feature. 36. The method according to claim 35, characterized in that the first and second features are at least one of a new package style, a size of the respective article, a color of the respective article, a flavor associated with the respective article, and a price of the respective article. 37. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that it determines whether an article in the environment needs to be moved including: providing an indication that the article is defective based on a determination that the identification number is included in a list of identification numbers associated with defective items provided by a supplier. 38. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the alert monitor process includes: providing an indication to a user based on at least one of: (i) information that reflects that one or more of the items of a type which is the same as a type of article that is no longer placed in its respective location, is located in an alternate location within the environment; (ii) information that reflects that an article that is no longer placed in its respective location is not available in the environment; (iii) information that reflects that a number of articles of a certain type is within a predetermined range of values of a store threshold value; Y (iv) a malfunction of a component that receives data from one or more wireless identification devices. 39. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the inventory of the articles includes articles of one or more types and the sales optimization process includes at least one of: determining a number of times of one or more articles of a particular type that moves from, and is placed back, in its respective location; determine a number of times of an article of any type that is purchased with an article of another type; determine a number of times of a time of any type that is purchased with one or more items of the same type; determining any items of the type that have not been moved from their respective location for a predetermined period of time; and determine any type of item that includes items that have a change in the sale price with a predetermined period of time. 40. The method of compliance with the claim 39, characterized in that it determines a number of times of one or more items of one or more types that are moved from and placed back into their respective locations which includes: for each type of article: periodically making an inventory account of each item for determine if any items have been moved from their respective locations. 41. The method according to the claim 40, characterized in that it also includes: determining a relation between the number of times of an article that has been moved and placed back in its respective location and the location of the article. 42. The method according to claim 40, characterized in that the location of the article can be one of a location that is at eye level in a support unit, a location close to an environment entrance, a location in an area of high user traffic within the environment, and a location in a lower user traffic area within the environment. 43. A system for providing intelligent inventory management information associated with an article included in an inventory of items that each article includes an RFID tag that includes article information associated with the corresponding item, the system is characterized in that it comprises: memory including a data structure comprising: a universal price code associated with the article, an electronic price code associated with the item, price information associated with the item, season information reflecting a seasonal characteristic associated with the item the item, a shelf life indicator associated with the item, historical sales information that reflects prior sales associated with one or more other items similar to the item, out-of-stock information that reflects conditions when the location includes a number of items if milar to the article located below a predetermined threshold value, the historical information that reflects a number of article times that are removed and returned to the location, the volume size information on the shelf that reflects a physical size of the article in the location relationship, the first location information that reflects a physical location of the article, the second location information that reflects a preferable physical location of the article, the reduction information associated with the article and other similar items, the associated cost information with the article, the date information that reflects a time when the item was placed in the location, the expiration date information that reflects a date when the item must be moved from the location, the sales information that reflects a date and time of an item similar to the item that was sold and a sale price of The item sold, and a customer number associated with an individual who purchases the item sold; and a processor for accessing the memory device to perform an inventory management process associated with the article. 44. A method for providing inventory information in an environment that includes an inventory of items, each placed within a respective location within an environment and associated with a corresponding wireless identification device, and an inventory monitoring process that periodically performs an inventory count of the items in the environment by retrieving the item information from each wireless identification device associated with each item and storing the information retrieved in a database, the method is characterized in that it comprises: receiving from a user , a request for availability within an article within the environment, search the information of the article within the database to determine if the requested article is available in the environment; and provide an indication that reflects a search result. 45. The method according to claim 44, characterized in that it receives the request that includes: receiving the request in a first processing device associated with the environment, wherein the user interface with a second processing device creates the request. 46. The method of compliance with the claim 45, characterized in that the second processing device is a computer system operated by the user. 47. The method according to the claim 46, characterized in that the request is received from a network connected to the first and second processing devices. 48. The method according to claim 46, characterized in that the request is sent to the first processing device on the Internet. 49. The method according to claim 46, characterized in that the second processing device is a kiosk computer device located within the environment. 50. The method according to claim 46, characterized in that the first processing device is located within the environment. 51. The method according to claim 46, characterized in that the first processing device is located outside the environment. 52. The method according to claim 51, characterized in that the first processing device sends the request to a third processing device located in the environment that performs the search stage. 53. The method according to claim 44, characterized in that the indication includes at least one of an indication that the article is available in the environment, an indication that the article is not available in the environment, an offer for a discount on the a sale price of the item, an offer for a discount on the sale price of an alternative item, and an indication that reflects one or more alternate environments that the item is available. 54. The method according to claim 53, characterized in that the indication reflects one or more alternative environments that include addresses in one or more alternative environments. 55. The method according to claim 44, characterized in that it provides the indication that includes providing a message displayed on the screen device mounted in proximity to the respective location of the article in the environment. 56. The method according to claim 55, characterized in that the message includes at least one of an indication that the article is not available in the environment, an offer for a discount on a sale price of the item, an indication that reflects one or more alternate environments that the article is available, and directions in one or more alternative environments. 57. A method for providing inventory management for an inventory of items that each is labeled with an RFID tag that includes article information that identifies each respective article and at least one item characteristics, the method is characterized in that it comprises: electronic document received from a client that includes a list of one or more desired items, the customer is interested in buying in the environment, determine the presence of the customer within the environment, - determine if the customer is located in proximity to a location in the environment that includes a first article that is included in the list of one or more desired articles based on the stored electronic document; and presenting a screen device placed at or near the location, the article information associated with the first article based on the determination. 58. The method according to claim 57, characterized in that the storage includes: providing from the customer in the environment, the electronic document through the Internet. 59. The method according to claim 57, characterized in that the storage includes: providing, for the customer, an electronic document in the environment through a computer device located within the environment. 60. A system for managing an inventory of items, each article being placed in a respective location within an environment and associated with a corresponding wireless identification device, the system is characterized in that it comprises: means for providing article information associated with each one of the items in each corresponding wireless identification device; and means for performing an inventory management process based on the information of the article to provide the real-time information associated with the inventory of the items, the means to perform the inventory management process includes at least one of: means for performing a process of control of depleted stocks; means to carry out a reduction recognition process, means to perform a rapid product recovery process, means to perform an alert monitoring process and means to perform a sales optimization process. 61. The system according to claim 60, characterized in that the inventory of articles includes articles of one or more types, and the means to perform the process of control of depleted stocks that includes at least one of: (i) means for determine a current inventory count of items of any type located in the environment based on information retrieved from one or more of the wireless identification devices, (ii) means to determine if any items of any type are misplaced within the environment based on information retrieved from one or more of the wireless identification devices, (iii) means to determine when a number of items of any type in the inventory fall below a first threshold value based on information retrieved from one or more of wireless identification devices, (iii) means to determine a loss value that reflects u A quantity of loss income based on a condition where items of a certain type are no longer included in the inventory of items. (iv) means to determine one or more factors that influence the prior sales of each type of article included in the item inventory, (v) means to determine an alternate location within the environment to place items of a certain type that have a history of sales below a second threshold value. (vi) means for determining an alternate location outside the environment to place items of a certain type that have been placed in their respective locations within the environment for more than a predetermined amount of time. (vii) means for providing a depleted stock message to a display device when articles of a certain type are no longer located in their respective locations and (viii) means for determining an inventory characteristic associated with each type of article. 62. The system according to claim 61, characterized in that the means for determining a current inventory account include: means for retrieving the item information from one or more wireless identification devices corresponding to one or more items; and means for determining an account of each article of one or more types based on the information of the recovered item. 63. The system according to claim 61, characterized in that the means for determining a current inventory account include: means for retrieving the article information associated with each article from a database; and means for determining an account of each article of each type based on the information of the recovered item, wherein the database periodically receives the item information from a process that collects the article information from each wireless information device. 64. The system according to claim 61, characterized in that the means for determining if any items are misplaced include: means for accessing one or more wireless identification devices corresponding to one or more items to determine a location of one or more items within the environment; and means for determining that an article of a first type is misplaced based on a determination that the first type article is located in a location other than its designated location. 65. The system according to claim 64, characterized in that it further comprises: means for providing an indication of the misplaced article in a user interface. 66. The system according to claim 61, characterized in that the first threshold value is provided by one of a user and a means for performing a threshold determination process. 67. The system according to claim 66, characterized in that the means for performing the threshold determination process include: means for determining, for each type of article, the first threshold value based on a number of articles of a respective type that have moved from their respective locations within the environment. 68. The system according to claim 66, characterized in that the means for performing the threshold determination process includes: means for adjusting, for each type of article, the first threshold value based on at least one of the season factor that it is associated with a year time of articles of the respective type that are in their respective locations and an event factor that is associated with an event that is occurring, will occur or has occurred. 69. The system according to claim 63, characterized in that the means for determining when an account of any type of article falls below a first threshold value includes: means for identifying any type of articles that have a number of items located within the environment below a first threshold value based on the given inventory account; and means for prioritizing article types based on one of: a loss loss value determined based on the respective item type that has a number of items below the first threshold value, if the additional items of the item type respective are available in another location within the environment, and if a reason for the type of article has fallen below the first threshold value is based on a short term demand for the type of article. 70. The system according to claim 61, characterized in that the means to determine a loss value include: means to determine, for each type of article that is no longer located in the environment, an amount of revenue that is generated by sales previous articles of the respective type over a previous period of time and means to determine, for each type of article that is no longer located in the environment, the loss value for the type of article that is no longer located in the environment based on the income generated, determined. 71. The system according to claim 61, characterized in that the means to determine one or more factors that influence the prior sales of each type of article include: means to identify one or more external factors that occur during a period of time that Previous sales of each type of item occurs; and means to compare the identity of one or more external factors with previous sales to determine how each of the external factors influences previous sales. 72. The system according to claim 71, characterized in that one or more of the external factors includes at least one to fix the prices of the articles of each type, season factors, and current sales of other types of items. 73. The system according to claim 61, characterized in that the means for determining when a number of any type of article falls below the first threshold value includes: means for adjusting at least one of a cycle time to order items and a number of items ordered from a supplier that provides items of the type that have fallen below the first threshold value. 74. The system according to claim 61, characterized in that the means for determining an alternate location within the environment include: means for determining whether a specific type of article has a sales history below the second threshold value in the environment; and means for determining an alternate location within the environment for the repositioning of articles of the specified article type included in the inventory based on a sales history of items associated with the alternate location. 75. The system according to claim 74, characterized in that the history of sales associated with the alternate location includes a sales history of a different type of items located in the alternate location. The system according to claim 61, characterized in that the means for determining an alternate location outside the environment include: means for determining whether a type of article has a sales history below a second threshold value, and means for determining a alternate location outside of the environment to reposition article type items based on a sales history associated with other items of the same type of item that are placed in an alternate location. 77. The system according to claim 76, characterized in that the means for providing an output of the merchandise message includes: means for determining if the articles of a certain type are no longer located in their respective locations based on the inventory account; and means for generating the message of depleted stock that includes at least one of an indication that the type of article is out of stock, an offer for a discount sale price on an article of a certain type of article, a verification of the effect of rain for an article of a certain type, and an indication of an alternate location outside the environment where an article of a certain type can be located. 78. The system according to claim 61, characterized in that the screen device is located in a structure that previously supports the articles of a certain type. 79. The system according to claim 61, characterized in that the inventory characteristic is a mathematical relationship between the previous sales of the article type over a predetermined period of time. 80. The system according to claim 79, characterized in that the relationship represents whether the previous sales of the item type have been sporadic or uniform over the predetermined period of time. 81. The system according to claim 60, characterized in that the means for carrying out the reduction recognition process include: means for determining when a number of articles of a certain type are placed in a first location that is reduced by a certain value within of an establishment of time period and means to carry out a reduction response process based on the determination of the reduction. 82. The system in accordance with the claim 81, characterized in that the means for performing the reduction response process include: means for providing an indication of the first location in at least one of a user and a security monitoring process. 83. The system in accordance with the claim 82, characterized in that the indication also includes an indication of certain type of articles, and the determined value. 84. The system according to claim 81, characterized in that the means for performing the reduction response process includes at least one of: means for storing a record file that reflects when the number of items is reduced by the determined value, of certain type of articles, and the determined value, means for providing an interruption signal to a security device; and means for providing an interface device, an identification message of the first location. 85. The system according to claim 84, characterized in that the security device is at least one of: an alarm system, a light emitting device located near the first location, a video surveillance system that is activated by the interruption signal to record video of an area associated with the first location and a camera surveillance system that is activated by the interruption signal to record photographs of the area associated with the first location. 86. The system according to claim 84, characterized in that the message includes the information that directs a user to the first location. 87. The system according to claim 60, characterized in that the means for performing the rapid product recovery process includes: means for determining if an article in the environment needs to move from its current location based on at least one of a lifetime in the shelf associated with the article, an ambient temperature surrounding the article, and an identification number associated with the item. 88. The system in accordance with the claim 87, characterized in that the means for carrying out the rapid recovery process include: means for associating a start date with the article corresponding to the time when the article is placed in its current location in the environment, means for determining shelf life for the article, means to provide an indication that the life on the shelf for the item has expired or will soon expire based on a comparison between the start date and the life on the shelf. 8 The system in accordance with the claim 88, characterized in that the means for determining life on the shelf include: means for determining shelf life based on a due date associated with the item. 90. The system according to claim 87, characterized in that the means for determining whether an article in the environment needs to be moved includes: means for reading a temperature value from a temperature measuring device located in proximity to the current location of the article; and means to determine that the article should move from the current location based on the temperature value. 91. The system according to claim 87, characterized in that the means for determining whether an article in the environment needs to be moved includes: means for determining whether the identification number is associated with the recovery order that reflects that the article must move from your current location 92. The system according to claim 87, characterized in that it further includes: means for providing an indication that reflects that the item must be moved from the inventory of items when the item is being purchased at a point of sale terminal. 93. The system according to claim 92, characterized in that the indication includes a message displayed at the point of sale terminal that the article has exceeded its life on the shelf. 94. The system according to claim 87, characterized in that the article has a first characteristic and the system further includes: means for determining that the article must move from its current location based on a determination that new articles similar to the article and provided by a same provider have a second different characteristics from the first feature. 95. The system according to claim 87, characterized in that the first and second features are at least one of a new package style, a size of the respective article, a color of the respective article, a flavor associated with the respective article and a price of the respective article. 96. The system according to claim 87, characterized in that the means for determining whether an article in the environment needs to be moved includes: means for providing an indication that the article is defective based on a determination that the identification number is included in a list of identification numbers associated with defective items provided by a supplier. 97. The system according to claim 60, characterized in that the means for performing the alert monitoring process includes: means for providing an indication to a user based on at least one of: (i) information that reflects that one or more of articles of the type that is the same as a type of article that is no longer placed in its respective location, is located in an alternate location within the environment. (ii) information that reflects that an article that is no longer placed in its respective location is not available in the environment. (iii) information that reflects that a number of items of a certain type are within a predetermined range of values of a merchandise threshold value AND (iv) a mishandling of a component that receives data from one or more identification devices Wireless 98. The system according to claim 60, characterized in that the inventory of the articles includes articles of one or more types and the means to perform the sales optimization process includes at least one of: means for determining a number of times of one or more items of a particular type are moved from, and placed back, at their respective location, means to determine a number of times an item of any type is purchased with an article of another type; means for determining a number of times of an article of any type is purchased with one or more articles of the same type, means for determining the articles of any type of articles that were not moved from their respective location for a predetermined period of time; and means for determining any type of item that includes items that have a change in sale price with a predetermined period of time. 99. The system according to claim 98, characterized in that the means for determining a number of times of one or more items of one or more types is moved from and located back to their respective locations including: means to perform periodically, For each type of item, an inventory account of each item to determine if any items have been moved from their respective locations. 100. The system according to claim 99, further comprising: means for determining a relationship between the number of times an article has been moved and placed back in its respective location and the location of the article. 101. The system according to claim 99, characterized in that the location of the article can be one of a location that is at eye level in a support unit, a location close to an environment entry, a location in an area of high user traffic within the environment, and a location in a low user traffic area within the environment. 102. A system for providing inventory information in an environment that includes an inventory of items each placed within a respective location within an environment and is associated with a corresponding wireless identification device, and an inventory monitoring process that periodically performs an inventory count of the items in the environment by retrieving the item information from each wireless identification device associated with each item and storing the retrieved information in a database, the system is characterized in that it comprises: means to receive from a user a request for an availability of an article within the environment, means for searching the information of the article within the database to determine if the requested article is available in the environment; and means for providing an indication that reflects a search result. 103. The system according to claim 102, characterized in that the means for receiving the request includes: means for receiving the request in a first processing device associated with the environment, wherein the user interface with a second processing device creates application. 104. The system according to claim 103, characterized in that the second processing device is a computer system operated by the user. 105. The system according to claim 104, characterized in that the request is received from a network connected to the first and second processing devices. 106. The system according to claim 104, characterized in that the request is sent to the first processing device on the Internet. 107. The system according to claim 104, characterized in that the second processing device is a kiosk computer device located within the environment. 108. The system according to claim 104, characterized in that the first processing device is located within the environment. 109. The system according to claim 104, characterized in that the first processing device is located outside the environment. 110. The system according to claim 109, characterized in that the first processing device sends the request to a third processing device located in the environment that performs the search stage. 111. The system according to claim 104, characterized in that the indication includes at least one of an indication that the article is available in the environment, an indication that the item is not available in the environment, an offer for a discount on a sale price of the item, an offer for a discount on a sale price of an alternative item, and an indication that reflects one or more alternate environments that the item is available. 112. The system according to claim 111, characterized in that the indication that reflects one or more alternative environments includes addresses of one or more alternative environments. 113. The system according to claim 104, characterized in that the means for providing the indication includes providing a message displayed on a screen device mounted in proximity to the respective location of the article in the environment. 114. The system according to claim 113, characterized in that the message includes at least one of an indication that the article is not available in the environment, an offer for a discount on a sale price of the item, an indication that reflects one or more alternate environments that the article is available, and directions in one or more alternative environments. 115. A system for providing inventory management for an inventory of articles that each is labeled with an RFID tag that includes information of the article identifying each respective article and at least one characteristics of the article, the system is characterized in that it comprises: means for store an electronic document received from a client that includes a list of one or more desired items, the customer is interested in buying in the environment, means to determine the presence of the customer within the environment; means for determining whether the customer is located in proximity to a location in the environment that includes a first item that is included in the list of one or more desired items based on the stored electronic document; and means for presenting on a display device placed at or near the location, the article information associated with the first article based on the determination. 116. The system according to claim 115, characterized in that the means for storing are characterized in that they include: means to provide the customer in the electronic document environment through the Internet. 117. The system according to claim 115, characterized in that the means for storage is characterized in that it includes: means for providing, by the customer, the electronic document to the environment through a computer device located within the environment. 118. A computer-readable medium that includes instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, to manage an inventory of items, each article is placed in a respective location within an environment and is associated with a wireless identification device corresponding, the method is characterized in that it comprises: providing the article information associated with each article in each corresponding wireless identification device; and perform an inventory management process based on the information in the article to provide the real-time information associated with the inventory of the items, the inventory management process includes at least one of: a process of controlling depleted stocks; a reduction recognition process, a rapid product recovery process, an alert monitoring process and a sales optimization process. 119. The computer readable medium according to claim 118, characterized in that the inventory of the articles includes articles of one or more types, and the process of control of depleted inventories includes at least one of: (i) determining an account of current inventory of items of any type located in the environment based on information retrieved from one or more wireless identification devices, (ii) determine if any items of any type are misplaced within the environment based on information retrieved from one or more more than wireless identification devices, (iii) determining when a number of items of any type in the environment fall below a first threshold value based on information retrieved from one or more of the wireless identification devices, (iii) determine a loss value that reflects an amount of loss income based on a condition where items of a certain type are no longer included in the inventory of items. (iv) determine one or more factors that influence previous sales of each type of item included in the item inventory, (v) determine an alternate location within the environment to place items of a certain type that have a sales history below a second threshold value, (vi) determining an alternate location outside the environment in the placement of items of a certain type that have been placed in their respective locations within the environment for more than a predetermined amount of time. (vii) provide an out-of-stock message to a display device when articles of a certain type are no longer located in their respective locations and (viii) determine an inventory characteristic associated with each type of article. 120. The computer readable medium according to claim 119, characterized in that it determines a current inventory account that includes: retrieving information of the item from one or more wireless identification devices corresponding to one or more items; and determine an account of each article of one or more types based on the information of the recovered item. 121. The computer readable medium according to claim 119, characterized in that it determines a current inventory account that includes: retrieving the article information associated with each article from a database; and determining an account of each article of each type based on the retrieved item information, wherein the database periodically receives the item information from a process that collects the item information from each wireless information device. 122. The computer readable medium according to claim 119, characterized in that it determines whether any items are misplaced includes: accessing one or more wireless identification devices corresponding to one or more items to determine a location of one or more items within of the environment; and determining that an article of a first type is misplaced based on a determination that the first type of article is associated in a position other than its designed location. 123. The computer readable medium according to claim 121, characterized in that the method further comprises: providing an indication of the misplaced article in a user interface. 124. The computer readable medium according to claim 119, characterized in that the first threshold value is provided by one of a user and a threshold determination process. 125. The computer readable medium according to claim 124, characterized in that the threshold determination process includes: for each type of article, determining the first threshold value based on a number of items of a respective type that has been moved from their respective locations within the environment. 126. The computer readable medium according to claim 125, characterized in that the threshold determination process includes: for each type of article, adjusting the first threshold value based on at least one of a season factor that is associated with a time of year of the articles of the respective type that are in their respective locations and an event factor that is associated with an event that is occurring, will occur or has occurred. 127. The computer readable medium according to claim 120, characterized in that it determines when an account of any type of article falls below a first threshold value includes: identifying any type of articles that have a number of items located within the environment below the first threshold value based on the determined inventory account; and giving priority to the types of items based on one of: a given loss profile value based on the respective article type having a number of items below the first threshold value, if the additional items of the respective article type are available at another location within the environment, and if a reason that the type of item has fallen below the first threshold value is based on a short-term demand for the type of item. 128. The computer readable medium according to claim 119, characterized in that it determines a loss value that includes: for each type of article that is no longer located in the environment, determine an amount of income that was generated by previous sales of the items of the article. respective type over a previous period of time and determine the value of loss for the type of articles that is no longer located in the environment based on the determined generated income. 129. The computer readable medium according to claim 119, characterized in that it determines one or more factors that influence the previous sales of each type of article that includes: identifying one or more external factors that occur during a period of time that the Previous sales of each type of item occur; and comparing the identity of one or more external factors with previous sales to determine how each of the external factors influences previous sales. 130. The computer readable medium according to claim 129, characterized in that one or more of the external factors includes at least one of the prices of the articles of each type, seasonal factors, and current sales of other types of articles. 131. The computer readable medium according to claim 119, characterized in that it determines when a number of any type of article falls below the first threshold value that includes: adjusting at least one of a cycle time to order items and an amount of items ordered from a provider that provides articles of the type that have fallen below the first threshold value. 132. The computer readable medium according to claim 119, characterized in that it determines an alternate location within the environment includes: determining whether a specific type of article has a sales history below a second threshold value in the environment; and determining an alternate location within the environment to reposition items of the specific item type included in the inventory based on a sales history of items associated with the alternate location. 133. The computer readable medium according to claim 132, characterized in that the sales history associated with the alternate location includes a sales history of a different type of items located in the alternate location. 134. The computer readable medium according to claim 119, characterized in that it determines an alternate location outside the environment that includes: determining whether a type of article has a sales history below the second threshold value, and determining an alternate location outside of the environment for the replacement of articles of a type of article based on a sales history associated with other articles of the same type that are placed in the alternate location. 135. The computer readable medium according to claim 134, characterized in that it provides an out-of-stock message that includes: determining whether the articles of a certain type are no longer located in their respective locations based on the inventory account; and generate the exhausted stock message that includes at least one of an indication that the item type is out of stock, an offer for a discount sale price on an item of a certain type of item, a rain effect check for an article of a certain type, and an indication of an alternate location outside the environment where an article of a certain type may be located. 136. The computer-readable medium according to claim 119, characterized in that the screen device is located in a structure that is previously supported by articles of a certain type. 137. The computer readable medium according to claim 119, characterized in that the inventory characteristic is a mathematical relationship between the previous sales of a type of article over a predetermined period of time. 138. The computer readable medium according to claim 137, characterized in that the relation represents whether the previous sales of the item type have been sporadic or uniform over the predetermined period of time. 139. The computer readable medium according to claim 118, characterized in that the reduction recognition process includes: determining when a number of articles of a certain type placed in a first location, is reduced by a determined value within a period of set time; And perform a reduction response process based on the determination of the reduction. 140. The computer readable medium according to claim 139, characterized in that the reduction response process includes: providing an indication of the first location in at least one of a user and a security monitoring process. 141. The computer readable medium according to claim 140, characterized in that the indication also includes an indication of certain type of articles, and the determined value. 142. The computer readable medium according to claim 139, characterized in that the reduction response process includes at least one of: storing a record file that reflects when the number of items was reduced by the determined value, certain type of Articles, and the determined value, provide an interruption signal to a security device; and providing an interface device in a message identifying the first location. 143. The computer-readable medium according to claim 142, characterized in that the security device is at least one of: an alarm system, a light emitting device placed near the first location, a video surveillance system which is activated by the interruption signal to record the video in an area associated with the first location and a camera surveillance system that is activated by the interruption signal to record photographs of the area associated with the first location. 144. The computer readable medium according to claim 142, characterized in that the message includes information directed by a user to the first location. 145. The computer readable medium according to claim 118, characterized in that the rapid product recovery process includes: determining whether an article in the environment needs to move from its current location based on at least one of a shelf life associated with the article, an ambient temperature surrounding the article, and an identification number associated with the item. 146. The computer readable medium according to claim 145, characterized in that the rapid recovery process includes: associating a start date with the article corresponding to a time when the article is placed in its current location in the environment, determining Life on the shelf for the article, provide an indication that life on the shelf for the item has expired or will soon expire based on the comparison between the start date and the life on the shelf. 147. The computer readable medium according to claim 146, characterized in that it determines the shelf life that includes: determining shelf life based on the expiration date associated with the article. 148. The computer-readable medium according to claim 145, characterized in that it determines whether an article in the environment needs to move including: reading a temperature value from a temperature measuring device located in proximity to the current location of the article; and determine that the item should move from the current location based on the temperature value. 149. The computer-readable medium according to claim 145, characterized in that it determines whether an article in the environment needs to be moved which includes: determining whether the identification number is associated with a recovery order that reflects that the article must move from its Current location . 150. The computer readable medium according to claim 145, characterized in that the method further includes: providing an indication that reflects that the item must be moved from the inventory of the items when the item is being purchased at a point of sale terminal . 151. The computer readable medium according to claim 150, characterized in that the indication includes a message displayed at the point of sale terminal that the article has exceeded its shelf life. 152. The computer readable medium according to claim 145, characterized in that the article has a first characteristic and the method further includes: determining that the article must move from its current location based on a determination of which new items similar to the article and provided by the same provider have a second characteristic different from the first characteristic. 153. The computer readable medium according to claim 152, characterized in that the first and second features are at least one of a new package style, a respective article size, a color of the respective article, a flavor associated with the article respective, and a price of the respective article. 154. The computer readable medium according to claim 145, characterized in that it determines whether an article in the environment needs to be moved including: providing an indication that the item is defective based on a determination that the identification number is included in a list of identification numbers associated with defective items provided by a provider. 155. The computer readable medium according to claim 118, characterized in that the alert monitoring process includes: providing an indication to a user based on at least one of: (i) information that reflects that one or more items of a type that is the same as the type of the item that is no longer placed in its respective location, is located in an alternate location within the environment, (ii) information that reflects that an item that is no longer placed in its respective location is not available in the environment, (iii) information that reflects that a number of items of a certain type are within a predetermined range of values of a merchandise threshold value AND (iv) a malfunction of a component that receives data from one or more wireless identification devices. 156. The computer readable medium according to claim 118, characterized in that the article inventory includes articles of one or more types and the sales optimization process includes at least one of: determining a number of articles of one or more articles of a particular type that move from, and are placed back, at their respective location, determine a number of times that an item of any kind is purchased with an item of another type; determining a number of times that an article of any type is purchased with one or more items of the same type, determining items of any type that did not move from their respective location for a predetermined period of time; and determine any type of items that includes items that have a change in the sale price with a predetermined period of time. 157. The computer readable medium according to claim 156, characterized in that it determines a number of times that one or more items of one or more types that move from and place back in their respective locations include: for each type of Article: Periodically perform an inventory count of each item to determine if any items have been moved from their respective locations. 158. The computer readable medium according to claim 157, characterized in that it further includes: determining a relation between the number of times of an article that has been moved and placed back from its respective location and the location of the article. 159. The computer readable medium according to claim 157, characterized in that the location of the article can be one of a location that is at eye level in a support unit, a location near an environment entrance, a location in an area of high user traffic within the environment, and a location in a low user traffic area within the environment. 160. A computer readable medium is characterized in that it includes instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, to provide inventory information in an environment that includes an inventory of items each placed within a respective location within an environment and is associated with a corresponding wireless identification device, and an inventory monitoring process that periodically counting the inventory of items in the environment by retrieving item information from each wireless identification device associated with each item and storing recovered information In a database, the method is characterized in that it comprises: receiving from a user a request for an availability of an article within the environment; search the information of the article within the database to determine if the requested article is available in the environment; and provide an indication that reflects a search result. 161. The computer readable medium according to claim 160, characterized in that it receives the request that includes: receiving the request in a first processing device associated with the environment, wherein a user interface with a second processing device creates the request. 162. The computer readable medium according to claim 161, characterized in that the second processing device is a computer system operated by the user. 163. The computer readable medium according to claim 162, characterized in that the request is received from a network connected to the first and second processing devices. 164. The computer-readable medium according to claim 162, characterized in that the request is sent to the first processing device on the Internet. 165. The computer readable medium according to claim 162, characterized in that the second processing device is a kiosk computer device located within the environment. 166. The computer readable medium according to claim 162, characterized in that the first processing device is located within the environment. 167. The computer readable medium according to claim 162, characterized in that the first processing device is located outside the environment. 168. The computer readable medium according to claim 167, characterized in that the first processing device sends the request to a third processing device located in the environment performing the search stage. 169. The computer readable medium according to claim 160, characterized in that the indication includes at least one of an indication that the article is available in the environment, an indication that the article is not available in the environment, an offer for a discount on an item's sale price, an offer for a discount on a sale price of an alternative item, and an indication that reflects one or more alternative environments that the item is available. 170. The computer readable medium according to claim 169, characterized in that the indication that reflects one or more alternative environments includes addresses of one or more alternate environments. 171. The computer-readable medium according to claim 160, characterized in that it provides the indication that includes providing a message displayed on a screen device mounted in proximity to the respective location of the article in the environment. 172. The computer readable medium according to claim 171, characterized in that the message includes at least one of an indication that the article is not available in the environment, an offer for a discount on a sale price of the item, a indication that reflects one or more alternate environments that the article is available, and directions in one or more alternate environments. 173. A computer-readable medium that includes instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, to provide inventory management for an inventory of items that are each labeled with an RFID tag that includes the item information that identifies each respective article in at least one of the characteristic of the article, the method is characterized in that it comprises: storing an electronic document received from a client that includes a list of one or more desired articles of the client that is interested in buying in the environment, determining the presence of the client within the environment, determine if the client is located in proximity to a location in the environment that includes a first article that is included in the list of one or more desired articles based on the stored electronic document; and presenting on a display device placed at or near the location, the article information associated with the first article based on the determination. 174. The method according to claim 173, characterized in that the storage includes: providing the customer with the electronic document through the Internet. 175. The computer-readable medium according to claim 173, characterized in that the storage includes: providing, by the customer, the electronic document in the environment through a computer device located within the environment. 176. A system for managing an inventory of articles of one or more types of articles, each article being placed in a respective location within an environment and associated with a corresponding wireless identification device that includes information of the article related to the respective article, the system is characterized in that it comprises: a data collection system configured to retrieve the item information from one or more of the wireless identification devices in response to one or more read commands; and an intelligent inventory management system configured to generate one or more read commands and receive information from the recovered item from the data collection system, the intelligent inventory management system comprises: a database that stores the information of the received item and feature information associated with each of the items and at least one of: merchandise control means for determining at least one of a current inventory account of the items of each type based on the item received information, any items that are misplaced in the environment, items of any kind that approach or have reached an exhausted existence condition, an alternate location within the environment to place the items in any type that has a sales history below the threshold value , reduction recognition means to determine when a number of items of ci The type placed in a first location is reduced by a certain value within a set period of time, rapid recovery means for determining whether an article needs to move from its current location based on at least one of the temporary characteristics, a defect, and a temperature characteristic associated with the article, and means of alert monitoring to generate and provide a or more indications based on at least one of a merchandise condition output for a type of article, a misplaced article condition for an article, and a malfunction condition. 177. The system according to claim 176, characterized in that the data collection system includes: a primary controller for generating one or more controller commands based on one or more of the read commands received, and a second controller for activating an antenna based on one or more controller commands, wherein the antenna is configured to retrieve the item information from one or more items. 178. The system according to claim 176, characterized in that the merchandise control means also generates a depleted stock display message that reflects when a condition of depleted stock occurs or approaches. 179. The system according to claim 176, characterized in that the system includes a security device located near the first location and the reduction recognition means also activates the security device when the number of items of a certain type placed in the First location is reduced by the value determined within the established time period. 180. The system according to claim 176, characterized in that the temporary characteristic is of at least one life on the shelf and a due date associated with the article. 181. The system according to claim 176, characterized in that the temperature characteristic is a temperature value of an area close to the current location of the article. 182. The system according to claim 176, characterized in that the defect characteristic is associated with at least one of the article losing a part and the article that includes a defect part. 183. The system according to claim 176, characterized in that the system includes a Point of Sale (POS) terminal and the fast recovery means also generates an alarm message in the POS terminal when the customer intends to purchase an item that ( i) has exceeded at least one of an expiration date and a life on the shelf or (ii) is defective. 184. An environment that includes articles each labeled with a wireless identification device and placed in a designated location, the environment is characterized in that it comprises: a database that includes information associated with each of the items, storage units each includes at least one antenna and has a support means that supports one or more of the items, a computer system for providing commands to retrieve item information from the wireless identification devices and stores the item information in the database, a data collection system for activating a corresponding antenna within a particular storage unit, retrieving the article information from an article supported by a support means in the particular storage unit, and providing the item information to the computer system , where the computer system includes a user interface that allows a user to request and receive real-time inventory information associated with one or more of the items in the environment based on the item information stored in the database. 185. The environment according to claim 184, characterized in that the computer system provides the user, based on a corresponding user request., at least one of a current inventory account of one or more types of items in the environment, a location of an item that is misplaced in the environment, an alternate location in the environment to move an item that has a sales history below a predetermined threshold value, an alternate location in the environment to move an article of a certain type that has been redesigned by a manufacturer, and a location of any article of interest. 186. The environment according to claim 184, characterized in that the computer system provides the user with an alert message when an item is determined to have exceeded at least one of its shelf life and expiration date. 187. The environment according to claim 184, characterized in that the computer system provides the user with an alert message when an item is determined to be defective. 188. The environment according to claim 184, characterized in that the computer system provides the user with an alert message when a number of items of a certain type is below a threshold value. 189. The environment according to claim 184, characterized in that the computer system provides the user with an alert message when a certain item number is removed from a certain location within a predetermined period of time. 190. The environment according to claim 184, characterized in that the computer system collects information that reflects a condition when one or more of the items has been moved from and placed back from their designated locations. 191. The environment according to claim 190, characterized in that the computer system provides the user, based on a request, with the information that reflects the condition. 192. The system according to claim 184, characterized in that the computer system determines a number of times of an article of any type that is purchased with an article of another type. 193. A system for providing intelligent inventory management information associated with an item included in an inventory of items that each includes an RFID tag that includes the item information associated with the corresponding item, the system is characterized in that it comprises: a memory device which includes a data structure comprising: an electronic price setting code associated with the article, price information associated with the article, a shelf life indicator associated with the article, historical sales information reflecting prior associated sales with one or more other articles similar to the article, information of depleted existences that reflect the conditions when the location includes a number of articles similar to the article located below a predetermined threshold value, a first location information that reflects a physical location of the Article, a second location information that reflects a preferable physical location of the item, date information that reflects a time when the item was placed in the location, expiration date information that reflects a date when the item must be removed from the location, and a processor for accessing the memory device to perform an inventory management process associated with the article.