Communications in an item tracking system
AssigneeSap SE
InventorsJie Weng, Tao Lin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
System and methods for communicating tracking information about tagged items. A tagged item is a tangible item that carries a self-identifying tag. The tracking information can be stored in the tag or in a document that is accessible through an item tracking system. The tracking information can be accessible by multiple consumers having different levels of access. The methods include methods for masking redundancies in the tracking information, filtering the tracking information, and controlling access to the tracking information.
Claims12
A method for communicating tracking information, the method comprising:
- receiving a plurality of identification codes, each identification code uniquely identifying an associated physical object;
- sorting the plurality of identification codes into one or more sets of identification codes;
- recognizing a redundant portion of code that is common to each identification code within a set of identification codes;
- creating a document containing the one or more sets of identification codes;
- and
- organizing the document in a hierarchical structure such that for each set of identification codes, the redundant portion is listed once and each identification code is listed with the redundant portion omitted.
A method for filtering tracking information, the method comprising:
- retrieving a plurality of identification codes associated with a plurality of physical objects, the physical objects including items and containers of items, each identification code being a string of characters that uniquely identify the associated physical object;
- locating a character within each identification code that indicates whether the associated object is an item or a container;
- and
- based on the located character, determining whether each identification code corresponds to an item or a container.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.