Dynamic scan context determination for asset reconciliation background

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016239797-A1
Application number	US-201615140804-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 28, 2016
Priority date	May 1, 2012
Publication date	Aug 18, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Asset reconciliation is facilitated by dynamically determining and applying a scan context to asset-describing tag data. Tag data representative of assets are received from RFID tags. A working scan context defining a scope of coverage of assets to be included in an asset reconciliation is dynamically determined based on the received tag data. Additional tag data representative of additional assets are received, and the dynamically determined working scan context is applied to the additional tag data to automatically identifying which assets of the additional assets are to be included in the asset reconciliation. Assets included in the scope of coverage of the working scan context are included in the asset reconciliation, and assets not included in the scope of coverage of the working scan context are not included in the asset reconciliation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for asset reconciliation, comprising:
receiving tag data from a plurality of radio frequency identification tags carrying the tag data, the tag data representative of a plurality of assets; identifying characteristics about each of the plurality of assets based on at least a portion of each respective tag data; grouping a first plurality of assets based on a common characteristic of the characteristics of the first plurality of assets identified in each respective tag data; determining, by at least one processor, at least one grouping of assets based on a number of the first plurality of assets having the common characteristic; receiving additional tag data from one or more additional radio frequency identification tags carrying the additional tag data, the additional tag data representative of one or more additional assets and including at least one characteristic of the one or more additional assets; and identifying which assets of the one or more additional assets are to be included in the at least one grouping of assets when the common characteristic is included within the additional tag data of the one or more additional assets.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein responsive to the tag data of another radio frequency identification tag of the one or more additional radio frequency identification tags being representative of an asset not within the scope of coverage defined by the at least one grouping of assets, the asset is excluded from inclusion in the asset reconciliation.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein tag data of each radio frequency identification tag of the plurality of radio frequency identification tags comprises indications of asset properties of the asset represented by the tag data of the respective radio frequency identification tag, and wherein determining the at least one grouping of assets comprises identifying, based on the indications of asset properties in the tag data of the plurality of radio frequency identification tags, commonality between multiple assets of the plurality of assets.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the identifying commonality comprises:
performing data mining on the tag data from the plurality of radio frequency identification tags to identify the indications of asset properties thereof; clustering tag data from radio frequency identification tags of the plurality of radio frequency identification tags according to at least one matching identified indication of asset properties, to form at least one cluster of tag data from radio frequency identification tags of the plurality of radio frequency identification tags; and selecting a cluster from the at least one cluster, wherein the determined at least one grouping of assets comprises the selected cluster.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the matching indication of asset properties comprises a matching global trade item number encoded in the tag data.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the matching indication of asset properties includes matching information determined from a global trade item number encoded in the tag data, wherein the matching information indicates at least one of: a matching Universal Product Code, a matching European Article Number, a matching asset manufacturer, or a matching product type.

7 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the selected cluster comprises a cluster of the at least one cluster having a greatest number of assets represented by tag data therein.

8 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising, subsequent to the applying:
receiving tag data from further radio frequency identification tags; performing data mining on the tag data from the further radio frequency identification tags and clustering tag data from radio frequency identification tags of the further radio frequency identification tags according to at least one matching identified indication of asset properties, wherein the received tag data from the further radio frequency identification tags are added to at least one of: a cluster of the one or more clusters or a newly formed cluster; and dynamically switching the at least one grouping of assets to a different grouping of assets, based on the received tag data from the further radio frequency identification tags, the dynamically switching being responsive to satisfying a condition for switching the at least one grouping of assets.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the condition for switching the at least one grouping of assets comprises reaching a threshold amount of time since tag data from a radio frequency identification tag was added to the selected cluster, wherein the dynamically switching comprises switching the at least one grouping of assets responsive to determining that no tag data was added to the selected cluster within the threshold amount of time, and wherein the different grouping of assets comprises a different cluster than the selected cluster, the different cluster being a cluster of the one or more clusters or the newly formed cluster.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the condition for switching the at least one grouping of assets comprises a growth rate of a different cluster than the selected cluster exceeding a growth rate of the selected cluster by a threshold difference in growth rates, the different cluster being a cluster of the one or more clusters or the newly formed cluster, wherein the dynamically switching comprises switching the at least one grouping of assets responsive to determining that the growth rate of the different cluster exceeds the growth rate of the selected cluster by at least the threshold difference in growth rates, and wherein the different grouping of assets comprises the different cluster.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a confidence level for the determined at least one grouping of assets, the confidence level indicating a level of confidence that the determined at least one grouping of assets is to be applied, and automatically determining at least one grouping of assets responsive to the confidence level exceeding a predefined threshold confidence level.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising presenting to a user the at least one grouping of assets for approval, and receiving input from the user indicating that the at least one grouping of assets is approved.

13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a predefined asset reconciliation list comprising a list of assets to be included in the asset reconciliation; and predefining, based on the received predefined asset reconciliation list, a working scan context prior to receiving the tag data of the plurality of radio frequency identification tags, the predefined working scan context based on assets reflected in the predefined asset reconciliation list, the assets in the predefined asset reconciliation list being assets in a database against which the asset reconciliation is to be performed, wherein the predefined working scan context defines a scope of coverage of assets reflected in the database, and wherein the determined at least one grouping of assets is based, at least in part, on the predefined working scan context.

14 . A system for asset reconciliation, the system comprising:
a processor configured to perform:
receiving tag data from a plurality of radio frequency identification tags carrying the tag data, the tag data representative of a plurality of assets;
identifying characteristics about each of the plurality of assets based on at least a portion of each respective tag data;
grouping a first plurality of assets based on a common characteristic of the

Assignees

• Hand Held Prod Inc

Inventors

• Vargas Joseph
• Plocher Tom
• Wang Ynjiun Paul

Classifications

• H04B5/0068

  Electricity · mapped topic

• G06Q10/087 Primary

  Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders · CPC title

• G06K19/072

  the record carrier comprising a plurality of integrated circuit chips · CPC title

• G06K19/0723

  the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs · CPC title

• G06Q10/0833

  Tracking · CPC title