Method and apparatus for associating data with a wireless memory device
US6371375B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 12, 1999 |
| Grant date | Apr 16, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 12, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06K19/08
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system for storing and retrieving data comprises a memory device, such as a radio frequency tag, having a memory for storing the data, a first identifier stored in the memory, and a machine-readable symbol associated with the memory device. At least a portion of the machine-readable symbol encodes a second identifier logically associable with the first identifier. The machine-readable symbol may be printed on an RF tag, or may be carried by a container that also carries an RF tag. The machine-readable symbol is composed of characters from a machine-readable symbology, and includes a flag character that indicates the existence of a memory device corresponding to the machine-readable symbol. A reader for reading the machine-readable symbol and the memory device conserves power by determining from the flag character whether a memory device is associated with the symbol, prior to operating a memory device reader section of the reader. The reader reads the machine-readable symbol to obtain a symbol identifier, and successively reads each of a number of memory devices to obtain a memory device identifier until a memory device identifier corresponding to the symbol identifier is found. …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.