Tracking a mobile unit in a housing facility for mobile units

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9210549-B2
Application number	US-201314133985-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 19, 2013
Priority date	Dec 19, 2013
Publication date	Dec 8, 2015
Grant date	Dec 8, 2015

Abstract

A mobile unit in a housing facility for mobile units may be tracked by activating a first reading device at a first location of the housing facility upon detecting a first mobile unit arriving at or departing from the first location, wherein the first mobile unit has a first tag having an identification code (ID) readable by the first reading device. A set of readings may be performed by the first reading device to read a set of tag IDs during a time interval. Upon an ending of the time interval, tag IDs, in the set of tag IDs, that correspond to the first tag ID are identified based on the set of readings. A record is updated to associate the first tag ID with the first location.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer implemented method for tracking a mobile unit in a housing facility for mobile units, the method comprising:
in response to receiving a signal from a detector associated with a first location, activating a first reading device having a reading range that includes at least the first location;
receiving a first set of tag IDs from the first reading device, read during a first time interval; and
in response to determining that one of the tag IDs in the first set of tag IDs can be associated with the first location, updating a record to record an association of the one tag ID with the first location;
wherein the determining further comprises:
in response to determining that one of the tag IDs in the first set of tag IDs cannot be associated with the first location,
activating one or more second reading devices, each having a reading range that includes at least the first location, wherein the reading range of at least one of the second reading devices is different from the reading range of the first reading device;
receiving a second set of tag IDs from the second reading devices read during a second time interval; and
identifying a tag ID that is read by a highest number of the second reading devices and associating the identified tag ID with the first location.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining comprises:
determining that every tag ID in the first set of tag IDs corresponds to a same tag ID; and
identifying any one of the tag IDs in the first set of tag IDs to associate with the first location.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining comprises:
determining that a tag ID in the first set of tag IDs appears more than any other tag ID in the set of tag IDs; and
identifying the tag ID appearing more than any other tag ID in the first set of tag IDs to associate with the first location.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the determining further comprises:
eliminating from the first set of tag IDs any tag ID associated with any location other than the first location.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that one of the tag IDs in the first set of tag IDs cannot be associated with the first location is based a number of instances of two or more of the tag IDs in the first set of tag IDs being within a threshold range.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
communicating the associated tag ID to a recipient device based on the record of the first location.

7. A computer system for tracking a mobile unit in a housing facility for mobile units, the system comprising:
a computer having a processor and a tangible storage device; and
a program embodied on the storage device for execution by the processor, the program having a plurality of program modules, the program modules including:
an activating module configured to such that, in response to receiving a signal from a detector associated with a first location, the activating module activates a first reading device having a reading range that includes at least the first location;
a receiving module configured to receive a first set of tag IDs from the first reading device, read during a first time interval; and
an updating module configured such that, in response to determining that one of the tag IDs in the first set of tag IDs can be associated with the first location, the updating module updates a record to record an association of the one tag ID with the first location;
wherein the updating module is further configured to:
in response to determining that one of the tag IDs in the first set of tag IDs cannot be associated with the first location,
activate one or more second reading devices, each having a reading range that includes at least the first location, wherein the reading range of at least one of the second reading devices is different from the reading range of the first reading device;
receive a second set of tag IDs from the second reading devices read during a second time interval; and
identify a tag ID that is read by a highest number of the second reading devices and associate the identified tag ID with the first location.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the updating module is further configured to:
determine that every tag ID in the first set of tag IDs corresponds to a same tag ID; and
identify any one of the tag IDs in the first set of tag IDs to associate with the first location.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the updating module is further configured to:
determine that a tag ID in the first set of tag IDs appears more than any other tag ID in the set of tag IDs; and
identifying the tag ID appearing more than any other tag ID in the first set of tag IDs to associate with the first location.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the updating module is further configured to:
eliminate from the first set of tag IDs any tag ID associated with any location other than the first location.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein determining that one of the tag IDs in the first set of tag IDs cannot be associated with the first location is based a number of instances of two or more of the tag IDs in the first set of tag IDs being within a threshold range.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the program modules further include:
a communicating module configured to communicate the associated tag ID to a recipient device based on the record of the first location.

13. A computer program product for tracking a mobile unit in a housing facility for mobile units, comprising a tangible storage device having program code embodied therewith, the program code executable by a processor of a computer to perform a method comprising:
in response to receiving a signal from a detector associated with a first location, activating, by the processor, first reading device having a reading range that includes at least the first location;
receiving a first set of tag IDs, by the processor, from the first reading device, read by the first reading device during a first time interval; and
in response to determining, by the processor, that one of the tag IDs in the first set of tag IDs can be associated with the first location, updating a record, by the processor, to record an association of the one tag ID with the first location;
wherein the determining further comprises:
in response to determining, by the processor, that one of the tag IDs in the first set of tag IDs cannot be associated with the first location,
activating, by the processor, one or more second reading devices, each having a reading range that includes at least the first location, wherein the reading range of at least one of the second reading devices is different from the reading range of the first reading device;
receiving, by the processor, a second set of tag IDs from the second reading devices read by the second reading devices during a second time interval; and
identifying, by the processor, a tag ID that is read by a highest number of the second reading devices and associating, by the processor, the identified tag ID with the first location.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the determining comprises:
determining, by the processor, that every tag ID in the first set of tag IDs corresponds to a same tag ID; and
identifying, by the processor, any one of the tag IDs in the first set of tag IDs to associate with the first location.

15. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the determining comprises:
determining, by the processor, that a tag ID in the first set of tag IDs appears more than any other tag ID in the set of tag IDs; and
identifying, by

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Rawlinson Andrew
• Sun Xing Zhi
• Wang Ziyuan

Classifications

• H04W4/80 Primary

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title

• G06K19/00

  Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings · CPC title

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title

• H04W4/33 Primary

  for indoor environments, e.g. buildings · CPC title

• H04W4/30

  Services specially adapted for particular environments, situations or purposes · CPC title