WO2010137883A2 - Terminal, system and method for electronic shelf label using radio-frequency identification - Google Patents

Terminal, system and method for electronic shelf label using radio-frequency identification Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2010137883A2
WO2010137883A2 PCT/KR2010/003351 KR2010003351W WO2010137883A2 WO 2010137883 A2 WO2010137883 A2 WO 2010137883A2 KR 2010003351 W KR2010003351 W KR 2010003351W WO 2010137883 A2 WO2010137883 A2 WO 2010137883A2
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
esl
information
terminal
price
rfid
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/KR2010/003351
Other languages
French (fr)
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WO2010137883A3 (en
Inventor
Youngbin Cho
Original Assignee
Lg Innotek Co., Ltd.
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Publication date
Application filed by Lg Innotek Co., Ltd. filed Critical Lg Innotek Co., Ltd.
Publication of WO2010137883A2 publication Critical patent/WO2010137883A2/en
Publication of WO2010137883A3 publication Critical patent/WO2010137883A3/en

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
    • G06K7/00—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns
    • G06K7/10—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation
    • G06K7/10009—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation sensing by radiation using wavelengths larger than 0.1 mm, e.g. radio-waves or microwaves
    • G06K7/10158—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation sensing by radiation using wavelengths larger than 0.1 mm, e.g. radio-waves or microwaves methods and means used by the interrogation device for reliably powering the wireless record carriers using an electromagnetic interrogation field
    • G06K7/10178—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation sensing by radiation using wavelengths larger than 0.1 mm, e.g. radio-waves or microwaves methods and means used by the interrogation device for reliably powering the wireless record carriers using an electromagnetic interrogation field including auxiliary means for focusing, repeating or boosting the electromagnetic interrogation field
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
    • G06K19/00—Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings
    • G06K19/06—Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings characterised by the kind of the digital marking, e.g. shape, nature, code
    • G06K19/067—Record carriers with conductive marks, printed circuits or semiconductor circuit elements, e.g. credit or identity cards also with resonating or responding marks without active components
    • G06K19/07—Record carriers with conductive marks, printed circuits or semiconductor circuit elements, e.g. credit or identity cards also with resonating or responding marks without active components with integrated circuit chips
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
    • G06K17/00—Methods or arrangements for effecting co-operative working between equipments covered by two or more of main groups G06K1/00 - G06K15/00, e.g. automatic card files incorporating conveying and reading operations
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
    • G06K7/00—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns
    • G06K7/0008—General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/06—Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a terminal, a system and a method for ESL using an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) capable of updating price information in real time of an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) disposed at a shelf of a sales area.
  • RFID Radio Frequency Identification
  • the future store may include item information search using a customer's mobile terminal, a real-time lump price updating through an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) attached to each position of products on a shelf, and a service of replenishing products by monitoring a real-time stock shortage using the shelf.
  • ESL Electronic Shelf Label
  • the present invention is disclosed to provide a terminal, a system and a method for ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) using an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) capable of updating price information in real time by selecting a plurality of an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) terminals and minimizing power consumption.
  • ESL Electronic Shelf Label
  • RFID Radio Frequency Identification
  • An object of the invention is to solve at least one or more of the above problems and/or disadvantages in a whole or in part and to provide at least the advantages described hereinafter.
  • a system for an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) using an RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) comprising: an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) terminal configured to update information including a price transmitted from an outside and store the information in a memory, and to display the stored price information; a main server configured to generate and transmit a message including price update information and position-related information of the ESL terminal; and an ESL pager configured to receive the message transmitted from the main server side through a wireless communication network, select a particular ESL terminal based on the position-related information included in the message using an RFID communication method, and transmit/relay the price update information to the selected ESL terminal.
  • a system for an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) using an RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) comprising: a memory configured to be divided into a plurality of storage regions and stored with display information including price information at a predetermined storage region; a display unit configured to display the price information; an antenna configured to receive a radio signal of an RFID frequency band including price update information from an outside upper level node; an analog processor configured to convert the radio frequency signal received from the antenna or convert an inputted digital signal to a predetermined radio frequency signal; a controller configured to store the price update information received from the analog processor in a designated storage region of the memory, extract the information stored in the memory responsive to request of the upper level node and controllably transmit the information to the upper level node through the analog process; and a power supply unit configured to use radio frequency energy of the radio signal inputted through the analog processor to generate and supply a driving power source of various circuits.
  • an ESL Electronic Shelf Label
  • RFID Radio-Frequency Identification
  • receiving, by an ESL pager, a message including price update information and position-related information of an ESL terminal from an upper level node using a wireless communication network selecting, by the ESL pager, a relevant ESL terminal group using an RFID method responsive to the position-related information included in a memory; waking up the selected ESL terminal group to recognize an ESL terminal to be updated, and transmitting the price update information to the recognized ESL terminal through an RFID communication; and storing and updating, by the ESL terminal, the price information, and displaying the stored price information.
  • an electronic price display system configured by using an RFID technology facilitates installation of an ESL system, a large amount of ESL terminals can be selected from an upper level node within a short period of time, and a particular ESL terminal can be connected and communicated in real time.
  • the present invention has other advantageous effects in that a current consumption in a manual RFID system is very small at a sleep mode, only in the range of several ⁇ A, and the manual RFID system is operable by a low power during wake-up to the advantage of maintenance and management.
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating an electronic price display system related to the present invention.
  • FIG.2 is a schematic view illustrating an electronic price display system according to the present invention.
  • FIG.3 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless network of an electronic price display system according to the present invention.
  • FIG.4 is a block diagram illustrating configuration of Zigbee connector according to the present invention.
  • FIG.5 is a block diagram illustrating configuration of an ESL terminal according to an exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
  • FIG 6 is a flowchart illustrating an electronic price display process according to an exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating an electronic price display system related to the present invention, where the system may include a POS (Point-of-Sale) system (10), a gateway (20), a coordinator (30), a router (40) and an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) terminal (50).
  • POS Point-of-Sale
  • gateway (20 a gateway
  • coordinator (30)
  • router 40
  • ESL Electronic Shelf Label
  • the electronic price display system is configured to update price information displayed on the ESL terminal according to the need, and the coordinator (30), the router (40) and the ESL terminal (50) may be implemented in one of an RF (Radio Frequency) communication, an IR (Infrared) communication and a Zigbee communication.
  • RF Radio Frequency
  • IR Infrared
  • the coordinator (30), the router (40) and the ESL terminal (50) use the RF communication method, all the ESL terminals (50) are operated in a reception mode for receiving a signal from the POS system (10) to the disadvantage of great consumption of current.
  • the use of RF communication method in the case of the coordinator (30), the router (40) and the ESL terminal (50) also suffers from disadvantage in that a roof cable for antenna must be installed on a ceiling of the entire stores, where it is very inconvenient to install the antennas.
  • the Zigbee method also suffers from disadvantages in that although the current consumption is low due to wake-up of the ESL terminals at a time interval, the price information cannot be updated in real time.
  • FIG.2 is a schematic view illustrating an electronic price display system according to the present invention, where the system may include a POS system (100), an ESL server (200), a gateway (300), a coordinator (400), an ESL pager (500) and an ESL terminal (600).
  • POS system 100
  • ESL server 200
  • gateway 300
  • coordinator 400
  • ESL pager 500
  • ESL terminal 600
  • the POS system (100) is a system which collects and analyzes information regarding sale of each of products (articles). That is, the POS system (100) may input all the sales information including products, prices and quantity in the stores at the time of sales to a computer where the information is analyzed and utilized.
  • the POS system (100) may include a store terminal installed at a cash register of each store, a main server connected to the store terminal via network to collect, analyze and utilize information regarding sale and distribution of each of products, and to update a position code of a shelf on which products are displayed and price information of each product by storing codes of the ESL terminal.
  • the store terminal may include a key board comprised of a portion key for inputting input data of each product, and a numerical key displaying an amount of the product, POS input means comprised of a card reader reading out information of a credit card for settling accounts of a purchased product with a customer, and a scanner for reading a bar code to input the product and the price, and a controller installed at a body, a monitor, a memory and a HDD (Hard Disk Drive).
  • the controller controls each constituent element for processing sales data inputted through the POS input means.
  • the HDD is stored with the sales data inputted through the POS input means and transmits the data to the main server via network such as LAN (Local Area Network).
  • LAN Local Area Network
  • the POS system (100) may be operated in association with SCM (Supply Chain Management) and CRM (Customer Relationship Management).
  • the ESL server (200) may be stored in tree structure with product-related data including product information and price information per identification information of the ESL terminal installed at each shelf, a shelf position code and identification information of a relevant ESL pager.
  • the ESL server (200) may also generate a command for updating price information of a particular ESL terminal (600) using the POS system.
  • the product-related data may be shared by the ESL server (200) and the POS system (100), where the ESL server (200) may store the product-related data by receiving the data from the POS system (100).
  • the product information may be information related to a product (article) such as, for example, a product name, a product type or kind, a manufacturing date, a shelf life, a country of origin, a manufacturer name and quantity.
  • the product information and information of the tree-structured ESL terminal may be shared with the POS system (100).
  • the ESL server (200) may be installed at each store in case of a large site such as a hypermarket, supermarketor any other sales areas where the stores are installed at each region, where the main server of the POS system (100) may function as a host computer, and each ESL server (200) may generate a command for firsthand updating the price information of each ESL terminal (600) installed at a relevant store.
  • the gateway (300) may connect computers each located at a different type of network, and enable a communication by making the networks each having a different attribute (speed, system and language) compatible.
  • the gateway (300) according to the present invention performs a TCP/IP communication with the ESL server (200) and performs a wireless communication with the coordinator (400) of a lower level node.
  • the coordinator (400) may perform functions such as set-up, maintenance and management of network and allotment of network address, and wirelessly transmit to the ESL pager (500) a command transmitted from the ESL server (200) through the gateway (300).
  • the coordinator (400) may communicate with a plurality of ESL pagers.
  • the ESL pager (500) may use the wireless communication method to communicate with the coordinator (400), and communicate with the ESL terminal of a lower level node, using the RFID communication method. That is, the ESL pager (500) may relay heterogenous networks between the coordinator (400) connected via the wireless communication network and the ESL terminal (600) connected via the RFID network.
  • the wireless communication network may be one of communication methods from a group consisting of Zigbee, Bluetooth, UWB (Ultra Wide Band) and WLAN (Wireless LAN). Although the following description exemplifies the Zigbee for the sake of explanation, it should be apparent that the network may use other communication methods.
  • the ESL terminal (600) may display price information by receiving the price information from the ESL pager (500), and transmit to the ESL pager (500) movement detection and temperature-related tag information stored in the memory (630) by reading the same responsive to the request of the ESL pager (500).
  • the uppermost level node of the wireless network is the coordinator (400), the lower level node is ESL pager (500), and the lowermost level node is the ESL terminal (600).
  • Communication between the coordinator (400) and the ESL pager (500) is implemented using one channel set up by the coordinator (400), and communication between the ESL pager (500) and the ESL terminal (600) is realized within aN available set-up channel using one channel set up by the ESL pager (500).
  • FIG.3 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless network of an electronic price display system according to the present invention.
  • the coordinator (400) may communicate with a plurality of ESL pagers (500) using Zigbee method, and each ESL pager (500) may communicate with a plurality of ESL terminals (600) using RFID method. That is, the ESL pager (500) relays communication between the coordinator (400) and the ESL terminal (600) using Zigbee network and RFID network.
  • the ESL pager (500) may include a first antenna (510), an RFID transmitter/receiver (520), a radio environment detector (530), a controller (540) and a Zigbee connector (550).
  • the first antenna (510) may transmit electronic price update information to the ESL terminal (600) through an RFID band channel, or receive tag information from the ESL terminal (600), where the antenna (510) of the ESL pager (500) and an antenna (610) of the ESL terminal (600) perform a mutual monitoring function on the RFID channel.
  • the RFID transmitter/receiver (520) may include a modulator and demodulator (not shown), where in a case the electronic price update information is modulated to an RF signal through the modulator, the RFID transmitter/receiver (520) transmits the modulated RF signal to the ESL terminal (600) through the first antenna (510).
  • the demodulator demodulates the tag information of the ESL terminal (600) received via the first antenna (510) to digital data and transmits the data to the controller (540).
  • the radio environment detector (530) monitors the ambient RFID radio channel environment and selects an optimal communication channel having the least mutual interference and transmits the channel to the controller (540).
  • the controller (540) forms an RFID wireless communication channel with the ESL terminals using the channel selected by the radio environment detector (530), and controls in such a manner that the price update information transmitted from the upper level node is transmitted to the selected ESL terminal (600).
  • the controller (540) is equipped with a plurality of communication protocols to control the RFID wireless communication with the ESL terminals, and to control the Zigbee wireless communication with the coordinator (400).
  • the Zigbee connector (550) will be described with reference to FIG.4.
  • the coordinator (400) may be connected to the Zigbee connector (550) of the ESL pager (500) to form a Zigbee network.
  • the Zigbee connector (550) may include an antenna (551), a receiver (552), a transmitter (553), a phase synchronization circuit ⁇ 554.
  • PLL(Phase Locked Loop) ⁇ a power control circuit (555) and an MAC (Media Access Control) processor (556), where the receiver (552), the transmitter (553), the phase synchronization circuit ⁇ 554.
  • PLL(Phase Locked Loop) ⁇ and the power control circuit (555) are constituent elements processing an operation corresponding to PHY (Physical) layer of Zigbee protocol stack to determine the RF communication structure and network topology.
  • the receiver (552) and the transmitter (553) may include an amplifier and a filter to process a frequency signal of a relevant band.
  • the phase synchronization circuit (554) may provide a standard frequency signal to allow the receiver (552) and the transmitter (553) to synthesize an intermediate frequency signal, and the power control circuit (555) may function to adjust the transmission power by determining the intensity of a received signal.
  • the receiver (552) and the transmitter (553) may process a signal of base band region, where the receiver (552) may process the synchronization of digital signal, despreading, demodulation and digital filtering, and the like, and the transmitter may process the spreading and signal reshaping.
  • the MAC processor may analyze the transmitted data frame structure and approves the frame once the digital process of PHY layer is finished, and monitor errors (through CRC or Checksum) to determine whether to re-transmit, and process the packet routing.
  • power supply unit (560) of ESL pager (500) may convert an AC power supplied from outside to a necessary DC power and supply as an operation power source of various circuits.
  • FIG.5 is a block diagram illustrating configuration of an ESL terminal according to an exemplary embodiments of the present invention, where the ESL terminal (600) may include an antenna (610), an analog processor (620), a memory (630), a display unit (640), a controller (650), a movement detection sensor (660), a temperature sensor (670) and a power supply unit (680).
  • the ESL terminal (600) may include an antenna (610), an analog processor (620), a memory (630), a display unit (640), a controller (650), a movement detection sensor (660), a temperature sensor (670) and a power supply unit (680).
  • the antenna (610) may transmit a wireless frequency signal of a predetermined frequency band to the ESL pager (500) and/or receive a wireless frequency signal of a predetermined frequency band from the ESL pager (500).
  • the analog processor (620. Analog Front End Module) may include a receiver (621) and a transmitter (625), where the receiver (621) may convert the radio frequency signal received from the antenna (610) to a digital signal and provide the digital signal to the controller (650), and the transmitter (625) may convert the digital signal provided from the controller (650) to a predetermined radio frequency signal.
  • the receiver (621) is a demodulator that converts the radio frequency signal transmitted from the antenna (610) to a predetermined digital signal, and generates a digital signal corresponding to information or data transmitted from the ESL pager (500) and provides the signal to the controller (650).
  • the transmitter (625) is a modulator that converts a response signal of a digital signal received from the receiver (621) or a digital signal extracted from within the ESL terminal (600) to a predetermined radio frequency signal for transmitting to the ESL pager (500) through the antenna (610).
  • the transmitter (625) generates (using a backscatter method) a pre-defined predetermined response signal and generates a radio frequency signal for transmitting the signal to the ESL pager (500) through the antenna (610), if a predetermined digital signal is received from the receiver (621).
  • the transmitter (625) may generate a radio frequency signal for transmitting a predetermined information or data generated by the controller (650) or received from the memory (630) to the ESL pager (500) via the antenna (610).
  • the transmitter (625) may modulate the tag information to an RF signal, and transmit the modulated tag information to the tag antenna (610), where the transmission is made using the backscatter way in a passive mode, while the transmission is made using an oscillation circuit in an active mode.
  • the controller (650) that controls a general function of the ESL terminal (600) may read out a digital signal received in response to the request of the ESL pager (500) through the receiver (621) and perform a control function responsive to the digital signal. Furthermore, the controller (650) may read out a predetermined response signal corresponding to the received digital signal or extract a predetermined information or data corresponding to the digital signal received from the memory (630), and control the generation of a predetermined digital signal to be transmitted to the ESL pager (500).
  • the memory (630) may be comprised of a plurality of pre-defined storage regions (Bank0 ⁇ Bank3), where tag information such as electronic price information, counted movement frequency and temperature per time, its own identification information and EPC standard information are stored in the plurality of storage regions.
  • the memory (630) is formed with storage regions ranging, for example, from a first bank (Bank0) to a fourth bank (Bank3), where the first bank (Bank0) may be a pre-reserved storage region, the second bank (Bank1) may be a region in which EPC standard information is stored, the third bank (Bank2) may be a region where equipment identification information of the EPS terminal (600) is stored, and the fourth bank (Bank3) may be a user region where the tag information such as electronic price, the counted movement frequency, temperature per time is stored. Region designation of storage regions may be necessitated based on types of information that are written on or read from the memory (630).
  • identification information stored in the third bank may be identification information making it possible for the ESL pager (500) to identify the ESL terminal (600), and MAC address information may be used, for example.
  • the display unit (640) may selectively display price information stored in the memory (630) by the controller (650), temperature information and identification information.
  • the display unit (640) may be formed by e-paper that consumes less power, a bistable LCD or a 7-segment LCD that is comprised of ultra low power-consuming LCDs.
  • the movement detection sensor (660) may detect movement of products displayed on a shelf, i.e., the passing of a hand of a customer, and output the same to the controller (650) as a detection signal.
  • the controller (650) may count a signal inputted from the movement detection sensor (660) to accumulate the movement detection frequency, and allow the accumulated movement detection frequency to be stored in the memory (630). At this time, the controller (650) may divide the movement detection frequency by time zone and store the same in the memory (630).
  • the temperature sensor (670) may detect the temperature of the shelf and output the temperature to the controller (650), where the controller (650) may allow the temperature of the shelf to be stored in the memory (630) along with time information at a predetermined time interval.
  • a cool chain is selectively applied to the ESL terminal (600) attached to essential products (foodstuff, vegetable, fruit, etc.) in case of temperature sensor (670), and in a case there is an outside request to the ESL pager (500), temperature data per time zone stored in the memory (630) is transmitted.
  • the power supply unit (680) is a device configured to supply an operational power to various circuits including the analog processor (620), the memory (630), the display unit (640), the controller (650), the movement detection sensor (660) and the temperature sensor (670).
  • the ESL terminal (600) may be categorized into two types based on driving method of the antenna (610) and the power supply unit (680), that is, active mode type and a passive mode type.
  • the active mode type is such that an oscillation circuit is connected to the antenna (610) to transmit the tag information, and the power supply unit (680) formed with a battery provides the power to the oscillation circuit.
  • the passive mode type is such that the power supply unit (680) uses the radio energy of the RF signal transmitted from the ESL pager (500) to regenerate the power, where a detection diode installed at the receiver (621) amplifies the RF signal which is in turn rectified in DC voltage, and the rectified DC voltage is used as various power sources.
  • the ESL terminal (600) is basically designed in passive mode type in view of power consumption.
  • the ESL terminal (600) may be operated in a semi-passive mode type by additionally installing an auxiliary power supply unit (685) for driving the display unit (640) and various sensors.
  • the auxiliary power supply unit (685) may be a large capacity capacitor or a battery.
  • the power supply unit (680) may include a power controller (681), a voltage adjustor (683), an auxiliary power supply unit (685) and a switch unit (687).
  • the power controller (681) may check the level of DC power inputted through the receiver (621), and turn on the switch unit (687) to allow the power of the auxiliary power supply unit (685) to be controllably supplied to various circuits through the voltage adjustor (683) if the level of the DC power is below a predetermined level.
  • the auxiliary power supply unit (685) may include any one of a large capacity capacitor, a battery and a solar battery configured to charge the power through the power controller (681), and the voltage adjustor (683) may adjust in such a way that a constant voltage is supplied to various circuits regardless of inputted voltage.
  • the power supply unit (680) may be formed in two ways. That is, the display unit (640), the movement detection sensor (660), the memory (630) and the temperature sensor (670) may be configured to be operated by the auxiliary power supply unit (685), while the analog processor (620) and the controller (650) may be driven by the radio energy of the RF signal.
  • the ESL terminal is configured in semi-passive mode type.
  • the RFID technology is characterized in that a large number of ESL terminals can be selected within a short period of time at an upper level node, communication can be implemented in real time by connecting a particular ESL terminal, power consumption is very low in the range of several ⁇ A in the sleep mode, and a low power operation is possbile during wake-up.
  • the POS system (100) is built up in a tree structure of shelf position code per ESL terminal, a session code and identification information of ESL pager (S1). Of course, the POS system (100) is also stored with product (article) information corresponding to the ESL terminals.
  • the product information may be information related to a product such as, for example, a product name, a product type or kind, a manufacturing date, a shelf life, a country of origin, a manufacturer name and quantity.
  • the product information and information of the tree-structured ESL terminal may be shared with the ESL server (200).
  • the ESL server (200) may be installed at each store in case of a large site such as a hypermarket, supermarketor any other sales areas where the stores are installed at each region, where the main server of the POS system (100) may function as a host computer, and each ESL server (200) may firsthand update the price information of each ESL terminal (600) installed at a relevant store.
  • Session information is for grouping and managing the ESL terminal (600) which is a lower level node of the ESL pager (500), and the consumption power may be reduced by minimizing the response of the terminal (600).
  • the session information may be a code classified per product kind or a code classified per price update period.
  • the session information may be classified into four groups, i.e., a group in which the price display information is frequently changed every day, a group in which the price display information is changed once a day, and a group in which the price display information is changed several times a week, and a group in which the price display information is changed several times in a period ranging over a month.
  • the POS system (100) or the ESL server (200) may generate price update information of the ESL terminal (600) and a message including the position-related information responsive to the inputted price update information, in a case a price information update event for a particular product is generated (S2), and transmit the same to the relevant ESL pager (500) through the gateway (300) and the coordinator (400) (S3).
  • the position-related information message may include any one of identification information of ESL terminal that desired to update the price, identification information of ESL pager, the session code and a shelf position code.
  • the message may be transmitted to the gateway (300) using the TCP/IP protocol, where the gateway (300) uses the Zigbee communication to transmit the transmitted message to the coordinator (400).
  • the coordinator (400) uses the Zigbee communication to selectively activate a relevant ESL pager (500) and transmits the message transmitted from the gateway (300).
  • the ESL pager (500) may relay heterogeneous networks, where communication with the coordinator (400) of an upper level node is implemented using Zigbee method, while the communication with the ESL terminal (600) of a lower level node is executed using the RFID method.
  • the ESL pager (500) may select an ESL terminal (600) group matching a condition desired by a user using a session code included in the message (S4), wake up the selected ESL terminal (600) group and recognize a particular ESL terminal (600) for updating a display information (price) (S5).
  • the mutual certification and recognition process of ESL pager (500) and the ESL terminal (600) may use mutatis mutandis the EPC class, the EPC Gen2 or ISO 18000-6 type C standard that are used as industrial standards in 900MHz frequency band, and it is also possible to use other communication protocols.
  • the communication order of ESL pager (500) and the ESL terminal (600) is such that the ESL pager (500) first recognizes the selected ESL terminal (600) group, and broadcasts a query command (including Q value and session code) to the ESL terminal (600) group. If one or more ESL terminals (600) having the same session code respond, the ESL pager (500) may set up time slot.
  • the ESL pager (500) may send a slot counter parameter (Q) to each ESL terminal (600) and designate the order.
  • the ESL terminal (600) having received the query command may select a random value (RN 16, handle) within 0 ⁇ 2 Q - 1 range, and set up the selected value as slot counter.
  • the slot counter of the ESL terminal (600) becomes zero, an immediate response is made, and in a case the slot counter is not zero, the slot counter is reduced by 1 to wait for a command from the ESL pager (500).
  • the time slot refers to a standard time of short range wireless communication and has the same concept as that of clock. Therefore, all the operations of the short range wireless communication sets the time based on the time slot, where the time slot may differ in unit time according to communication methods and standards.
  • the ESL pager (500) may transmit to the ESL terminal (600) a message indicating the price information to be updated and storage area of the memory (630) (S6), and the ESL terminal (600) may update the transmitted price information by storing the transmitted price information at a relevant area of the memory (630).
  • the ESL terminal (600) can display electronic price information on the display unit (640) by updating the electronic shelf price information to the price stored in the memory (630) (S7).
  • 16 bits (1 word) or a plurality of words may be entered at a time in a case data is updated to the memory (630).
  • the ESL terminal (600) may detect the passing of a hand on the shelf using the movement detection sensor (660) and output the information to the controller (650), where the controller (650) may count the movement detection frequency and store the detected movement detection frequency to a particular address of the memory (630).
  • the ESL terminal (600) may classify the movement detection frequency at each time zone, and store the frequency in the memory (630).
  • the ESL terminal (600) may detect temperatures on a shelf or a showcase using the temperature sensor (670) and output the temperature to the controller (650), where the controller (650) may store the shelf temperature at a particular address of the memory (630) along with time information at a predetermined time interval.
  • the memory (630) at the ESL terminal (600) is available with a first bank to a fourth bank, and the tag information such as electronic price information, counted movement frequency information and temperature information per time zone may be stored in the fourth bank (Bank3. user area) per address.
  • the movement detection frequency information and temperature information collected by the ESL terminal (600) may be transmitted upon request of the ESL pager (500), and the POS system (100) can analogize the customer interest to a certain relevant product per time zone and product status using the movement detection frequency information and temperature information.

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Abstract

The present invention relates to a terminal, a system and a method for ESL using an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) capable of updating price information in real time of an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) disposed at a shelf of a sales area, the system including: an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) terminal configured to update information including a price transmitted from an outside and store the information in a memory, and to display the stored price information; a main server configured to generate and transmit a message including price update information and position-related information of the ESL terminal; and an ESL pager configured to receive the message transmitted from the main server side through a wireless communication network, select a particular ESL terminal based on the position-related information included in the message using an RFID communication method, and transmit/relay the price update information to the selected ESL terminal.

Description

TERMINAL, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ELECTRONIC SHELF LABEL USING RADIO-FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION
The present invention relates to a terminal, a system and a method for ESL using an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) capable of updating price information in real time of an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) disposed at a shelf of a sales area.
It is conventionally cumbersome for a store staff to firsthand write or print a new price list and attach the new price list to a daily-price-changing commercial item every day. Particularly, customers feel unpleasant to see a price difference between the shelf price and POS (Point-Of-Sale) system.
Furthermore, necessities are continuously on the increase to find a solution to overcome the decrease in profitability caused by the increase in labor cost in retail stores and to find a new item for improving customer service.
Due to the foregoing reasons and commitant with development of recent ubiquitous computing technologies, researches are being briskly waged on a new concept future store that will bring an epoch-making change in the shopping culture using the technologies
For example, the future store may include item information search using a customer's mobile terminal, a real-time lump price updating through an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) attached to each position of products on a shelf, and a service of replenishing products by monitoring a real-time stock shortage using the shelf.
The present invention is disclosed to provide a terminal, a system and a method for ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) using an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) capable of updating price information in real time by selecting a plurality of an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) terminals and minimizing power consumption.
Technical problems to be solved by the present invention are not restricted to the above-mentioned, and any other technical problems not mentioned so far will be clearly appreciated from the following description by skill in the art.
An object of the invention is to solve at least one or more of the above problems and/or disadvantages in a whole or in part and to provide at least the advantages described hereinafter. In order to achieve at least the above objects, in whole or in part, and in accordance with the purposes of the disclosure, as embodied and broadly described, there is provided a system for an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) using an RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) according to one general aspect of the present invention, comprising: an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) terminal configured to update information including a price transmitted from an outside and store the information in a memory, and to display the stored price information; a main server configured to generate and transmit a message including price update information and position-related information of the ESL terminal; and an ESL pager configured to receive the message transmitted from the main server side through a wireless communication network, select a particular ESL terminal based on the position-related information included in the message using an RFID communication method, and transmit/relay the price update information to the selected ESL terminal.
There is provided a system for an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) using an RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) according to another general aspect of the present invention, comprising: a memory configured to be divided into a plurality of storage regions and stored with display information including price information at a predetermined storage region; a display unit configured to display the price information; an antenna configured to receive a radio signal of an RFID frequency band including price update information from an outside upper level node; an analog processor configured to convert the radio frequency signal received from the antenna or convert an inputted digital signal to a predetermined radio frequency signal; a controller configured to store the price update information received from the analog processor in a designated storage region of the memory, extract the information stored in the memory responsive to request of the upper level node and controllably transmit the information to the upper level node through the analog process; and a power supply unit configured to use radio frequency energy of the radio signal inputted through the analog processor to generate and supply a driving power source of various circuits.
There is provided a method for an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) using an RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) according to still another general aspect of the present invention, comprising: receiving, by an ESL pager, a message including price update information and position-related information of an ESL terminal from an upper level node using a wireless communication network; selecting, by the ESL pager, a relevant ESL terminal group using an RFID method responsive to the position-related information included in a memory; waking up the selected ESL terminal group to recognize an ESL terminal to be updated, and transmitting the price update information to the recognized ESL terminal through an RFID communication; and storing and updating, by the ESL terminal, the price information, and displaying the stored price information.
As explained in the foregoing, the present invention has advantageous effects in that an electronic price display system configured by using an RFID technology facilitates installation of an ESL system, a large amount of ESL terminals can be selected from an upper level node within a short period of time, and a particular ESL terminal can be connected and communicated in real time.
The present invention has other advantageous effects in that a current consumption in a manual RFID system is very small at a sleep mode, only in the range of several μA, and the manual RFID system is operable by a low power during wake-up to the advantage of maintenance and management.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating an electronic price display system related to the present invention.
FIG.2 is a schematic view illustrating an electronic price display system according to the present invention.
FIG.3 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless network of an electronic price display system according to the present invention.
FIG.4 is a block diagram illustrating configuration of Zigbee connector according to the present invention.
FIG.5 is a block diagram illustrating configuration of an ESL terminal according to an exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
FIG 6 is a flowchart illustrating an electronic price display process according to an exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference numerals refer to like parts or portions throughout the description of several views of the drawings. Detailed descriptions of well-known functions, configurations or constructions are omitted for brevity and clarity so as not to obscure the description of the present invention with unnecessary detail.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating an electronic price display system related to the present invention, where the system may include a POS (Point-of-Sale) system (10), a gateway (20), a coordinator (30), a router (40) and an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) terminal (50).
The electronic price display system is configured to update price information displayed on the ESL terminal according to the need, and the coordinator (30), the router (40) and the ESL terminal (50) may be implemented in one of an RF (Radio Frequency) communication, an IR (Infrared) communication and a Zigbee communication.
In a case the coordinator (30), the router (40) and the ESL terminal (50) use the RF communication method, all the ESL terminals (50) are operated in a reception mode for receiving a signal from the POS system (10) to the disadvantage of great consumption of current. The use of RF communication method in the case of the coordinator (30), the router (40) and the ESL terminal (50) also suffers from disadvantage in that a roof cable for antenna must be installed on a ceiling of the entire stores, where it is very inconvenient to install the antennas.
There are cases where communication is interrupted due to obstacles in the RF method, and in order to address the interruption of communication, several IR transmitters are connected in parallel, where it is inconvenient to install the IR transmitters. The Zigbee method also suffers from disadvantages in that although the current consumption is low due to wake-up of the ESL terminals at a time interval, the price information cannot be updated in real time.
Therefore, there is a need for development of a communication method with a low power consumption and ease in installation in the case of the coordinator (30), the router (40) and the ESL terminal (50), such that the present invention discloses an ESL system utilizing an RFID method as shown in FIG.2.
FIG.2 is a schematic view illustrating an electronic price display system according to the present invention, where the system may include a POS system (100), an ESL server (200), a gateway (300), a coordinator (400), an ESL pager (500) and an ESL terminal (600).
The POS system (100) is a system which collects and analyzes information regarding sale of each of products (articles). That is, the POS system (100) may input all the sales information including products, prices and quantity in the stores at the time of sales to a computer where the information is analyzed and utilized.
Although the POS system (100) is not illustrated in detail, the POS system (100) may include a store terminal installed at a cash register of each store, a main server connected to the store terminal via network to collect, analyze and utilize information regarding sale and distribution of each of products, and to update a position code of a shelf on which products are displayed and price information of each product by storing codes of the ESL terminal.
The store terminal may include a key board comprised of a portion key for inputting input data of each product, and a numerical key displaying an amount of the product, POS input means comprised of a card reader reading out information of a credit card for settling accounts of a purchased product with a customer, and a scanner for reading a bar code to input the product and the price, and a controller installed at a body, a monitor, a memory and a HDD (Hard Disk Drive). The controller controls each constituent element for processing sales data inputted through the POS input means. The HDD is stored with the sales data inputted through the POS input means and transmits the data to the main server via network such as LAN (Local Area Network).
The POS system (100) may be operated in association with SCM (Supply Chain Management) and CRM (Customer Relationship Management). The ESL server (200) may be stored in tree structure with product-related data including product information and price information per identification information of the ESL terminal installed at each shelf, a shelf position code and identification information of a relevant ESL pager. The ESL server (200) may also generate a command for updating price information of a particular ESL terminal (600) using the POS system. The product-related data may be shared by the ESL server (200) and the POS system (100), where the ESL server (200) may store the product-related data by receiving the data from the POS system (100).
The product information may be information related to a product (article) such as, for example, a product name, a product type or kind, a manufacturing date, a shelf life, a country of origin, a manufacturer name and quantity. The product information and information of the tree-structured ESL terminal may be shared with the POS system (100).
The ESL server (200) may be installed at each store in case of a large site such as a hypermarket, supermarketor any other sales areas where the stores are installed at each region, where the main server of the POS system (100) may function as a host computer, and each ESL server (200) may generate a command for firsthand updating the price information of each ESL terminal (600) installed at a relevant store.
The gateway (300) may connect computers each located at a different type of network, and enable a communication by making the networks each having a different attribute (speed, system and language) compatible. The gateway (300) according to the present invention performs a TCP/IP communication with the ESL server (200) and performs a wireless communication with the coordinator (400) of a lower level node.
The coordinator (400) may perform functions such as set-up, maintenance and management of network and allotment of network address, and wirelessly transmit to the ESL pager (500) a command transmitted from the ESL server (200) through the gateway (300). The coordinator (400) may communicate with a plurality of ESL pagers.
The ESL pager (500) may use the wireless communication method to communicate with the coordinator (400), and communicate with the ESL terminal of a lower level node, using the RFID communication method. That is, the ESL pager (500) may relay heterogenous networks between the coordinator (400) connected via the wireless communication network and the ESL terminal (600) connected via the RFID network. The wireless communication network may be one of communication methods from a group consisting of Zigbee, Bluetooth, UWB (Ultra Wide Band) and WLAN (Wireless LAN). Although the following description exemplifies the Zigbee for the sake of explanation, it should be apparent that the network may use other communication methods.
The ESL terminal (600) may display price information by receiving the price information from the ESL pager (500), and transmit to the ESL pager (500) movement detection and temperature-related tag information stored in the memory (630) by reading the same responsive to the request of the ESL pager (500).
That is, the uppermost level node of the wireless network is the coordinator (400), the lower level node is ESL pager (500), and the lowermost level node is the ESL terminal (600). Communication between the coordinator (400) and the ESL pager (500) is implemented using one channel set up by the coordinator (400), and communication between the ESL pager (500) and the ESL terminal (600) is realized within aN available set-up channel using one channel set up by the ESL pager (500).
FIG.3 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless network of an electronic price display system according to the present invention.
The coordinator (400) may communicate with a plurality of ESL pagers (500) using Zigbee method, and each ESL pager (500) may communicate with a plurality of ESL terminals (600) using RFID method. That is, the ESL pager (500) relays communication between the coordinator (400) and the ESL terminal (600) using Zigbee network and RFID network.
Referring to FIG.3, the ESL pager (500) may include a first antenna (510), an RFID transmitter/receiver (520), a radio environment detector (530), a controller (540) and a Zigbee connector (550).
The first antenna (510) may transmit electronic price update information to the ESL terminal (600) through an RFID band channel, or receive tag information from the ESL terminal (600), where the antenna (510) of the ESL pager (500) and an antenna (610) of the ESL terminal (600) perform a mutual monitoring function on the RFID channel.
The RFID transmitter/receiver (520) may include a modulator and demodulator (not shown), where in a case the electronic price update information is modulated to an RF signal through the modulator, the RFID transmitter/receiver (520) transmits the modulated RF signal to the ESL terminal (600) through the first antenna (510). The demodulator demodulates the tag information of the ESL terminal (600) received via the first antenna (510) to digital data and transmits the data to the controller (540).
The radio environment detector (530) monitors the ambient RFID radio channel environment and selects an optimal communication channel having the least mutual interference and transmits the channel to the controller (540).
The controller (540) forms an RFID wireless communication channel with the ESL terminals using the channel selected by the radio environment detector (530), and controls in such a manner that the price update information transmitted from the upper level node is transmitted to the selected ESL terminal (600). The controller (540) is equipped with a plurality of communication protocols to control the RFID wireless communication with the ESL terminals, and to control the Zigbee wireless communication with the coordinator (400).
The Zigbee connector (550) will be described with reference to FIG.4.
The coordinator (400) may be connected to the Zigbee connector (550) of the ESL pager (500) to form a Zigbee network. The Zigbee connector (550) may include an antenna (551), a receiver (552), a transmitter (553), a phase synchronization circuit ｛554. PLL(Phase Locked Loop)｝, a power control circuit (555) and an MAC (Media Access Control) processor (556), where the receiver (552), the transmitter (553), the phase synchronization circuit ｛554. PLL(Phase Locked Loop)｝and the power control circuit (555) are constituent elements processing an operation corresponding to PHY (Physical) layer of Zigbee protocol stack to determine the RF communication structure and network topology.
The receiver (552) and the transmitter (553) may include an amplifier and a filter to process a frequency signal of a relevant band. The phase synchronization circuit (554) may provide a standard frequency signal to allow the receiver (552) and the transmitter (553) to synthesize an intermediate frequency signal, and the power control circuit (555) may function to adjust the transmission power by determining the intensity of a received signal.
In a case an analog signal is processed by the constituent elements thus described, the receiver (552) and the transmitter (553) may process a signal of base band region, where the receiver (552) may process the synchronization of digital signal, despreading, demodulation and digital filtering, and the like, and the transmitter may process the spreading and signal reshaping.
The MAC processor (556) may analyze the transmitted data frame structure and approves the frame once the digital process of PHY layer is finished, and monitor errors (through CRC or Checksum) to determine whether to re-transmit, and process the packet routing.
Meanwhile, power supply unit (560) of ESL pager (500) may convert an AC power supplied from outside to a necessary DC power and supply as an operation power source of various circuits.
FIG.5 is a block diagram illustrating configuration of an ESL terminal according to an exemplary embodiments of the present invention, where the ESL terminal (600) may include an antenna (610), an analog processor (620), a memory (630), a display unit (640), a controller (650), a movement detection sensor (660), a temperature sensor (670) and a power supply unit (680).
The antenna (610) may transmit a wireless frequency signal of a predetermined frequency band to the ESL pager (500) and/or receive a wireless frequency signal of a predetermined frequency band from the ESL pager (500).
The analog processor (620. Analog Front End Module) may include a receiver (621) and a transmitter (625), where the receiver (621) may convert the radio frequency signal received from the antenna (610) to a digital signal and provide the digital signal to the controller (650), and the transmitter (625) may convert the digital signal provided from the controller (650) to a predetermined radio frequency signal.
That is, the receiver (621) is a demodulator that converts the radio frequency signal transmitted from the antenna (610) to a predetermined digital signal, and generates a digital signal corresponding to information or data transmitted from the ESL pager (500) and provides the signal to the controller (650). The transmitter (625) is a modulator that converts a response signal of a digital signal received from the receiver (621) or a digital signal extracted from within the ESL terminal (600) to a predetermined radio frequency signal for transmitting to the ESL pager (500) through the antenna (610). The transmitter (625) generates (using a backscatter method) a pre-defined predetermined response signal and generates a radio frequency signal for transmitting the signal to the ESL pager (500) through the antenna (610), if a predetermined digital signal is received from the receiver (621).
Furthermore, the transmitter (625) may generate a radio frequency signal for transmitting a predetermined information or data generated by the controller (650) or received from the memory (630) to the ESL pager (500) via the antenna (610). The transmitter (625) may modulate the tag information to an RF signal, and transmit the modulated tag information to the tag antenna (610), where the transmission is made using the backscatter way in a passive mode, while the transmission is made using an oscillation circuit in an active mode.
The controller (650) that controls a general function of the ESL terminal (600) may read out a digital signal received in response to the request of the ESL pager (500) through the receiver (621) and perform a control function responsive to the digital signal. Furthermore, the controller (650) may read out a predetermined response signal corresponding to the received digital signal or extract a predetermined information or data corresponding to the digital signal received from the memory (630), and control the generation of a predetermined digital signal to be transmitted to the ESL pager (500).
The memory (630) may be comprised of a plurality of pre-defined storage regions (Bank0∼Bank3), where tag information such as electronic price information, counted movement frequency and temperature per time, its own identification information and EPC standard information are stored in the plurality of storage regions. The memory (630) is formed with storage regions ranging, for example, from a first bank (Bank0) to a fourth bank (Bank3), where the first bank (Bank0) may be a pre-reserved storage region, the second bank (Bank1) may be a region in which EPC standard information is stored, the third bank (Bank2) may be a region where equipment identification information of the EPS terminal (600) is stored, and the fourth bank (Bank3) may be a user region where the tag information such as electronic price, the counted movement frequency, temperature per time is stored. Region designation of storage regions may be necessitated based on types of information that are written on or read from the memory (630).
Furthermore, identification information stored in the third bank (Bank2) may be identification information making it possible for the ESL pager (500) to identify the ESL terminal (600), and MAC address information may be used, for example.
The display unit (640) may selectively display price information stored in the memory (630) by the controller (650), temperature information and identification information. The display unit (640) may be formed by e-paper that consumes less power, a bistable LCD or a 7-segment LCD that is comprised of ultra low power-consuming LCDs.
The movement detection sensor (660) may detect movement of products displayed on a shelf, i.e., the passing of a hand of a customer, and output the same to the controller (650) as a detection signal. The controller (650) may count a signal inputted from the movement detection sensor (660) to accumulate the movement detection frequency, and allow the accumulated movement detection frequency to be stored in the memory (630). At this time, the controller (650) may divide the movement detection frequency by time zone and store the same in the memory (630).
The temperature sensor (670) may detect the temperature of the shelf and output the temperature to the controller (650), where the controller (650) may allow the temperature of the shelf to be stored in the memory (630) along with time information at a predetermined time interval.
Preferably, a cool chain is selectively applied to the ESL terminal (600) attached to essential products (foodstuff, vegetable, fruit, etc.) in case of temperature sensor (670), and in a case there is an outside request to the ESL pager (500), temperature data per time zone stored in the memory (630) is transmitted.
The power supply unit (680) is a device configured to supply an operational power to various circuits including the analog processor (620), the memory (630), the display unit (640), the controller (650), the movement detection sensor (660) and the temperature sensor (670).
The ESL terminal (600) may be categorized into two types based on driving method of the antenna (610) and the power supply unit (680), that is, active mode type and a passive mode type. The active mode type is such that an oscillation circuit is connected to the antenna (610) to transmit the tag information, and the power supply unit (680) formed with a battery provides the power to the oscillation circuit. Furthermore, the passive mode type is such that the power supply unit (680) uses the radio energy of the RF signal transmitted from the ESL pager (500) to regenerate the power, where a detection diode installed at the receiver (621) amplifies the RF signal which is in turn rectified in DC voltage, and the rectified DC voltage is used as various power sources.
Preferably, the ESL terminal (600) is basically designed in passive mode type in view of power consumption. However, the ESL terminal (600) may be operated in a semi-passive mode type by additionally installing an auxiliary power supply unit (685) for driving the display unit (640) and various sensors. The auxiliary power supply unit (685) may be a large capacity capacitor or a battery.
That is, the power supply unit (680) may include a power controller (681), a voltage adjustor (683), an auxiliary power supply unit (685) and a switch unit (687). The power controller (681) may check the level of DC power inputted through the receiver (621), and turn on the switch unit (687) to allow the power of the auxiliary power supply unit (685) to be controllably supplied to various circuits through the voltage adjustor (683) if the level of the DC power is below a predetermined level.
The auxiliary power supply unit (685) may include any one of a large capacity capacitor, a battery and a solar battery configured to charge the power through the power controller (681), and the voltage adjustor (683) may adjust in such a way that a constant voltage is supplied to various circuits regardless of inputted voltage.
The power supply unit (680) may be formed in two ways. That is, the display unit (640), the movement detection sensor (660), the memory (630) and the temperature sensor (670) may be configured to be operated by the auxiliary power supply unit (685), while the analog processor (620) and the controller (650) may be driven by the radio energy of the RF signal.
In the present invention, the ESL terminal is configured in semi-passive mode type. However, the RFID technology is characterized in that a large number of ESL terminals can be selected within a short period of time at an upper level node, communication can be implemented in real time by connecting a particular ESL terminal, power consumption is very low in the range of several μA in the sleep mode, and a low power operation is possbile during wake-up.
Now, various operation processes of the electronic price display system thus configured will be described in the following with reference to FIG.6.
First of all, the POS system (100) is built up in a tree structure of shelf position code per ESL terminal, a session code and identification information of ESL pager (S1). Of course, the POS system (100) is also stored with product (article) information corresponding to the ESL terminals.
The product information may be information related to a product such as, for example, a product name, a product type or kind, a manufacturing date, a shelf life, a country of origin, a manufacturer name and quantity. The product information and information of the tree-structured ESL terminal may be shared with the ESL server (200).
The ESL server (200) may be installed at each store in case of a large site such as a hypermarket, supermarketor any other sales areas where the stores are installed at each region, where the main server of the POS system (100) may function as a host computer, and each ESL server (200) may firsthand update the price information of each ESL terminal (600) installed at a relevant store.
Session information is for grouping and managing the ESL terminal (600) which is a lower level node of the ESL pager (500), and the consumption power may be reduced by minimizing the response of the terminal (600). The session information may be a code classified per product kind or a code classified per price update period. For example, the session information may be classified into four groups, i.e., a group in which the price display information is frequently changed every day, a group in which the price display information is changed once a day, and a group in which the price display information is changed several times a week, and a group in which the price display information is changed several times in a period ranging over a month.
The POS system (100) or the ESL server (200) may generate price update information of the ESL terminal (600) and a message including the position-related information responsive to the inputted price update information, in a case a price information update event for a particular product is generated (S2), and transmit the same to the relevant ESL pager (500) through the gateway (300) and the coordinator (400) (S3). The position-related information message may include any one of identification information of ESL terminal that desired to update the price, identification information of ESL pager, the session code and a shelf position code.
The message may be transmitted to the gateway (300) using the TCP/IP protocol, where the gateway (300) uses the Zigbee communication to transmit the transmitted message to the coordinator (400). The coordinator (400) uses the Zigbee communication to selectively activate a relevant ESL pager (500) and transmits the message transmitted from the gateway (300). The ESL pager (500) may relay heterogeneous networks, where communication with the coordinator (400) of an upper level node is implemented using Zigbee method, while the communication with the ESL terminal (600) of a lower level node is executed using the RFID method.
The ESL pager (500) may select an ESL terminal (600) group matching a condition desired by a user using a session code included in the message (S4), wake up the selected ESL terminal (600) group and recognize a particular ESL terminal (600) for updating a display information (price) (S5).
The mutual certification and recognition process of ESL pager (500) and the ESL terminal (600) may use mutatis mutandis the EPC class, the EPC Gen2 or ISO 18000-6 type C standard that are used as industrial standards in 900MHz frequency band, and it is also possible to use other communication protocols. For example, the communication order of ESL pager (500) and the ESL terminal (600) is such that the ESL pager (500) first recognizes the selected ESL terminal (600) group, and broadcasts a query command (including Q value and session code) to the ESL terminal (600) group. If one or more ESL terminals (600) having the same session code respond, the ESL pager (500) may set up time slot.
That is, the ESL pager (500) may send a slot counter parameter (Q) to each ESL terminal (600) and designate the order. The ESL terminal (600) having received the query command may select a random value (RN 16, handle) within 0 ∼2Q - 1 range, and set up the selected value as slot counter. In a case the slot counter of the ESL terminal (600) becomes zero, an immediate response is made, and in a case the slot counter is not zero, the slot counter is reduced by 1 to wait for a command from the ESL pager (500).
The time slot refers to a standard time of short range wireless communication and has the same concept as that of clock. Therefore, all the operations of the short range wireless communication sets the time based on the time slot, where the time slot may differ in unit time according to communication methods and standards.
In a case the particular ESL terminal (600) for updating the price information is recognized by the method thus described, the ESL pager (500) may transmit to the ESL terminal (600) a message indicating the price information to be updated and storage area of the memory (630) (S6), and the ESL terminal (600) may update the transmitted price information by storing the transmitted price information at a relevant area of the memory (630). As a result, the ESL terminal (600) can display electronic price information on the display unit (640) by updating the electronic shelf price information to the price stored in the memory (630) (S7).
In the foregoing, 16 bits (1 word) or a plurality of words may be entered at a time in a case data is updated to the memory (630). At the same time, the ESL terminal (600) may detect the passing of a hand on the shelf using the movement detection sensor (660) and output the information to the controller (650), where the controller (650) may count the movement detection frequency and store the detected movement detection frequency to a particular address of the memory (630). At this time, the ESL terminal (600) may classify the movement detection frequency at each time zone, and store the frequency in the memory (630).
Furthermore, the ESL terminal (600) may detect temperatures on a shelf or a showcase using the temperature sensor (670) and output the temperature to the controller (650), where the controller (650) may store the shelf temperature at a particular address of the memory (630) along with time information at a predetermined time interval.
The memory (630) at the ESL terminal (600) is available with a first bank to a fourth bank, and the tag information such as electronic price information, counted movement frequency information and temperature information per time zone may be stored in the fourth bank (Bank3. user area) per address.
The movement detection frequency information and temperature information collected by the ESL terminal (600) may be transmitted upon request of the ESL pager (500), and the POS system (100) can analogize the customer interest to a certain relevant product per time zone and product status using the movement detection frequency information and temperature information.
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, the general inventive concept is not limited to the above-described embodiments. It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes and variations in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims (18)

  1. A system for an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) using an RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) method, comprising: an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) terminal configured to update information including a price transmitted from an outside and store the information in a memory, and to display the stored price information; a main server configured to generate and transmit a message including price update information and position-related information of the ESL terminal; and an ESL pager configured to receive the message transmitted from the main server side through a wireless communication network, select a particular ESL terminal based on the position-related information included in the message using an RFID communication method, and transmit/relay the price update information to the selected ESL terminal.
  2. The system of claim 1, wherein the ESL pager is connected to an upper level node via any one of Zigbee, Bluetooth, UWB (Ultra Wide Band) and WLAN, and the ESL terminal is connected to a lower level node via an RFID method.
  3. The system of claim 1, wherein the ESL terminal is a passive or semi-passive RFID terminal that is driven by an RF energy transmitted from the ESL pager.
  4. The system of claim 1, wherein the position related information of the message includes any one of identification information, a session code, a shelf position code and identification information of ESL terminal.
  5. The system of claim 4, wherein the session code is a code classifying the ESL terminals based on the kind of product, or a code classifying the price update per period.
  6. The system of claim 1, wherein the ESL pager includes a Zigbee connector communicating by being connected through the upper level node and a Zigbee network; an antenna transmitting electronic price update information to the terminal through the RFID channel band or receiving tag information from the terminal; a transmitter modulating the price update information inputted from the Zigbee connector to an RF signal and transmitting the modulated price update information to the ESL terminal through the antenna; a radio environment detector monitoring ambient RFID radio channel environment to select an optimal communication channel having less mutual interference; and a controller forming ESL terminals and RFID communication channel using channel selected by the radio environment detector for controllably transmitting the price update information transmitted from the upper level node using the selected ESL terminals.
  7. The system of claim 1, comprising: a memory divided into a plurality of storage regions, and stored with display information including price information at a designated storage region; a display unit configured to display the price information; an antenna receiving a radio frequency signal including the price update information from an outside upper level node; an analog processor converting the radio frequency signal received from the antenna or converting an inputted digital signal to a predetermined frequency signal; and a controller reading out the digital signal received through the analog processor for storage at a storage region designated by the memory by updating the price information, and displaying the stored price information on the display unit.
  8. An ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) terminal using an RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification), comprising: a memory configured to be divided into a plurality of storage regions and stored with display information including price information at a predetermined storage region; a display unit configured to display the price information; an antenna configured to receive a radio signal of an RFID frequency band including price update information from an outside upper level node; an analog processor configured to convert the radio frequency signal received from the antenna or convert an inputted digital signal to a predetermined radio frequency signal; a controller configured to store the price update information received from the analog processor in a designated storage region of the memory, extract the information stored in the memory responsive to request of the upper level node and controllably transmit the information to the upper level node through the analog process; and a power supply unit configured to use radio frequency energy of the radio signal inputted through the analog processor to generate and supply a driving power source of various circuits.
  9. The ESL terminal of claim 8, further comprising a movement detection sensor detecting whether there is any movement of product on a shelf, wherein the controller counting a detection signal inputted from the movement detection sensor to store movement detection frequency at the memory.
  10. The ESL terminal of claim 9, wherein the controller divides the movement detection frequency per time zone and store the frequency in the memory.
  11. The ESL terminal of claim 8, further comprising a temperature sensor detecting a temperature on the shelf, wherein the controller collecting the temperature on the shelf from the temperature sensor at a predetermined interval and storing in the memory along with time information.
  12. The ESL terminal of claim 8, wherein the power supply unit includes an auxiliary power supply unit charging a DC power inputted from the analog processor, and supplies the power of the auxiliary power supply unit to various circuits if the DC power is less than a predetermined level.
  13. The ESL terminal of claim 12, wherein the auxiliary power supply unit is at least any one of a large capacity capacitor, a battery and a solar battery.
  14. The ESL terminal of claim 8, wherein the display unit is any one of e-paper, a bistable LCD and 7-segment LCD.
  15. A method for an ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) using an RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification), comprising: receiving, by an ESL pager, a message including price update information and position-related information of an ESL terminal from an upper level node using a wireless communication network; selecting, by the ESL pager, a relevant ESL terminal group using an RFID method responsive to the position-related information included in a memory; waking up the selected ESL terminal group to recognize an ESL terminal to be updated, and transmitting the price update information to the recognized ESL terminal through an RFID communication; and storing and updating, by the ESL terminal, the price information, and displaying the stored price information.
  16. The method of claim 15, wherein the position-related information of the message includes any one of identification information, a session code, a shelf position code and identification information of ESL terminal.
  17. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of selecting a relevant ESL terminal group is implemented by using a session code, and the session code is a code dividing the ESL terminals by the type of product, or a code dividing the ESL terminals per price update period.
  18. The method of claim 15, wherein the ESL pager is connected to the upper level node using any one radio network of Zigbee, Bluetooth, UWB (Ultra Wide Band) WLAN.
PCT/KR2010/003351 2009-05-29 2010-05-27 Terminal, system and method for electronic shelf label using radio-frequency identification WO2010137883A2 (en)

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