U.S. patent application number 16/849691 was filed with the patent office on 2020-10-22 for semi-transparent walk-through gate.
The applicant listed for this patent is NEC Laboratories America, Inc.. Invention is credited to Mustafa Arslan, Mohammad Khojastepour, Sampath Rangarajan.
Application Number | 20200334655 16/849691 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000004781165 |
Filed Date | 2020-10-22 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20200334655 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Khojastepour; Mohammad ; et
al. |
October 22, 2020 |
SEMI-TRANSPARENT WALK-THROUGH GATE
Abstract
A walk-through gate is provided. The walk-through gate includes
at least a first semi-transparent side wall and a second
semi-transparent side wall encapsulating a walk-through gate volume
having an ingress portion and an egress portion. The walk-through
gate further includes a plurality of antennas for wirelessly
receiving product identifiers for wireless checkout. At least one
of the plurality of antennas is made of a semi-transparent
conductive material.
Inventors: |
Khojastepour; Mohammad;
(Lawrenceville, NY) ; Arslan; Mustafa; (Princeton,
NJ) ; Rangarajan; Sampath; (Bridgewater, NJ) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
NEC Laboratories America, Inc. |
Princeton |
NJ |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000004781165 |
Appl. No.: |
16/849691 |
Filed: |
April 15, 2020 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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16822888 |
Mar 18, 2020 |
|
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16849691 |
|
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62836126 |
Apr 19, 2019 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 20/208 20130101;
G06K 7/10366 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 20/20 20120101
G06Q020/20; G06K 7/10 20060101 G06K007/10 |
Claims
1. A walk-through gate, comprising: at least a first
semi-transparent side wall and a second semi-transparent side wall
encapsulating a walk-through gate volume having an ingress portion
and an egress portion; and a plurality of antennas for wirelessly
receiving product identifiers for wireless checkout.
2. The walk-through gate of claim 1, where at least one of the
first and second semi-transparent side walls comprises a two layer
wall having a first wall separated from a second wall by a
predetermined wall-to-wall separation for signal attenuation
outside of the walk-through gate volume.
3. The walk-through gate of claim 2, wherein each of the first and
second walls comprise conductive particles.
4. The walk-through gate of claim 3, wherein the conductive
particles are arranged as respective sheets in each of the first
and second walls.
5. The walk-through gate of claim 1, wherein an innermost one of
the first and second walls is at least partially curved for signal
attenuation outside of the walk-through gate volume.
6. The walk-through gate of claim 1, wherein an edge of at least
one of the first and second semi-transparent side walls comprises
an opaque material for mounting at least one of the plurality of
antennas thereon and for signal attenuation beyond the walk-through
gate volume.
7. The walk-through gate of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality
of antennas is partially encapsulated in a shield configured to
attenuate antenna leakage in other than an intended direction.
8. The walk-through gate of claim 1, further comprising a movable
semi-transparent slider at at least one of the ingress portion and
egress portion.
9. The walk-through gate of claim 8, wherein the movable
semi-transparent slider comprises conductive particles configured
to attenuate antenna leakage outside of the walk-through gate
volume.
10. The walk-through gate of claim 1, wherein the walk-through gate
is disposed at a stadium and performs an application selected from
the group consisting of a checkout application, an entrance
application, and an exit application.
11. The walk-through gate of claim 1, wherein the walk-through gate
is disposed at a theater and performs an application selected from
the group consisting of a checkout application, an entrance
application, and an exit application.
12. The walk-through gate of claim 1, wherein the walk-through gate
is disposed at a department storage and comprised in a theft
detection system.
13. A method for walk-through gate checkout, comprising:
encapsulating, by at least a first and a second semi-transparent
side wall, a walk-through gate volume having an ingress portion and
an egress portion; wirelessly reading, by a plurality of antennas,
product identifiers of products and signal attributes of the
product identifier signals; and judging, for a given checkout
session responsive to the signal attributes, whether any of the
products should be included in the given checkout session and
whether any of the products should be excluded from the given
checkout session.
14. The method of claim 13 further comprising providing one of a
late charge or a late credit to a bill for the given checkout
session responsive to a given judgement for the given checkout
session.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the given judgment is based on
at least a reading of a product identifier after a duration of the
given checkout session and the signal attributes of the
reading.
16. The method of claim 13, wherein the given judgement is based on
at least a reading of a product identifier before a start of the
given checkout session and the signal attributes of the
reading.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the reading of the product
identifier and its signal attributes are used as a prior knowledge
about the product.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the prior knowledge comprises a
likelihood value.
19. The method of claim 13, further comprising performing a first
reading of a first product identifier for a first product and a
second reading of a second product identifier for a second product
prior to a start of the given checkout session, and calculating a
proximity metric between the first and second products based on the
first and the second readings and the signal attributes of the
first and the second readings.
20. The method of claim 14, further comprising performing a first
reading of a first product identifier for a first product and a
second reading of a second product identifier for a second product
after a duration of the checkout session, and calculating a
proximity metric between the first and second products based on the
first and the second readings and the signal attributes of the
first and the second readings.
Description
RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 16/822,888 filed on Mar. 18, 2020 which claims priority to
U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/836,126, filed on Apr. 19,
2019, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in
their entirety.
BACKGROUND
Technical Field
[0002] The present invention relates to checking out and more
particularly a semi-transparent walk-through gate.
Description of the Related Art
[0003] The checkout stations in retail stores sometimes become the
bottleneck in increasing revenue. This is due to several reasons.
First, during the period of times that the store is visited by many
customers, the queue for each of the checkout stations builds up
and the store cannot process more than a given amount of customer
per hour. This simply puts a cap on the possible revenue. Second,
if the customer realizes that in a certain time period the checkout
queues are long, they may decide to shop elsewhere instead of
visiting the store of interest. Third, if the queue build up at the
checkout stations happens too frequently, the customers may choose
not to visit the store anymore and go to a competitor which is even
more drastic by considering that the store loses a possible
lifelong customer and not only a particular sale in a given time
period. Fourth, the store may decide to allocate more checkout
stations and attendants to reduce the average queue length at the
checkout. This in turn changes the store layout and causes valuable
store area specially at the front of the store to be wasted for
having many number of checkout stations which may not be fully
utilized in less crowded times of the day (say, in the middle of a
workday) where the number of customers is less. Fifth, the store
has to dedicate more cashiers for the checkout or have variable
number of cashiers as a regular or stand-by to handle the checkout
stations. This in turn puts an extra burden on the store management
and increases the cost. Automated approaches still suffer from many
of the aforementioned deficiencies. Thus, there is a need for an
improved checkout.
SUMMARY
[0004] According to aspects of the present invention, a
walk-through gate is provided. The walk-through gate includes at
least a first semi-transparent side wall and a second
semi-transparent side wall encapsulating a walk-through gate volume
having an ingress portion and an egress portion. The walk-through
gate further includes a plurality of antennas for wirelessly
receiving product identifiers for wireless checkout. At least one
of the plurality of antennas is made of a semi-transparent
conductive material.
[0005] According to other aspects of the present invention, a
method is provided for walk-through gate checkout. The method
includes encapsulating, by at least a first and a second
semi-transparent side wall, a walk-through gate volume having an
ingress portion and an egress portion. The method further includes
wirelessly reading, by a plurality of antennas, product identifiers
of products and signal attributes of the product identifier
signals. The method also includes judging, for a given checkout
session responsive to the signal attributes, whether any of the
products should be included in the given checkout session and
whether any of the products should be excluded from the given
checkout session.
[0006] These and other features and advantages will become apparent
from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments
thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0007] The disclosure will provide details in the following
description of preferred embodiments with reference to the
following figures wherein:
[0008] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an exemplary processing
system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0009] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an exemplary RF
backscattering mechanism to which the present invention can be
applied, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0010] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an exemplary inside area of a
WTG, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0011] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing exemplary inside antennas and
outside antennas that are placed on the WTG walls, in accordance
with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0012] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing two curved transparent walls as
each of the left and right side walls of a WTG, in accordance with
an embodiment of the present invention;
[0013] and
[0014] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing an exemplary method for
walk-through gate checkout, in accordance with an embodiment of the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0015] Embodiments of the present invention are directed to at
least a semi-transparent walk-through gate.
[0016] By using RFID technology at the checkout stations, one can
considerably speed up the checkout process by reading multiple
items together (or much faster than what is possible with barcodes)
in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. It is
noted that "together" in this context means that the time that it
takes to read multiple items are so short that from the perspective
of the customer it is considered simultaneous, even though in
reality the items are read one at the time and sequentially in
time.
[0017] Embodiments of the present invention provide an alternative
design for a walk-through gate (WTG) where most areas of the walls
in the WTG are designed to be transparent. Such transparent
material would guide the customer through the WTG. However, the
walls of the WTG do not block the view of the other customers.
Thus, a main design feature is transparent side walls for the WTG.
A design is presented that takes advantage of particular
transparent material that can provide precise separation between
inside and outside region of WTG. Further, our physical design is
essential to achieve this goal. In an embodiment, such physical
design can include particular curved surfaces, using multiple such
curved surfaces, using fine-grained (e.g., having a pitch in a
range between 0.01 mm to 3 mm), mesh conductive material sheets,
using fine grained conductive particles in a form of a cloud, using
inside and outside antennas, using directional antennas at the
floor where the beams are pointed upward, and so forth. The
conductive mesh that is used for transparent side walls is made of
such a fine grained mesh that is practically transparent. Such
conductive mesh may also be used on the screens for touch sensing
applications.
[0018] It is to be appreciated that the present invention can be
employed in multiple types of venues including stores, theaters,
stadiums, and so forth. In, for example, theaters or stadium, items
that an event viewer may pick up for purchase can be checked out in
a WTG in accordance with the present invention.
[0019] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an exemplary processing
system 100, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention. The processing system 100 includes a set of processing
units (e.g., CPUs) 101, a set of GPUs 102, a set of memory devices
103, a set of communication devices 104, and set of peripherals
105. The CPUs 101 can be single or multi-core CPUs. The GPUs 102
can be single or multi-core GPUs. The one or more memory devices
103 can include caches, RAMs, ROMs, and other memories (flash,
optical, magnetic, etc.). The communication devices 104 can include
wireless and/or wired communication devices (e.g., network (e.g.,
WIFI, etc.) adapters, etc.). The peripherals 105 can include a
display device, a user input device, a printer, an imaging device,
and so forth. Elements of processing system 100 are connected by
one or more buses or networks (collectively denoted by the figure
reference numeral 110).
[0020] In an embodiment, memory devices 103 can store specially
programmed software modules to transform the computer processing
system into a special purpose computer configured to implement
various aspects of the present invention. In an embodiment, special
purpose hardware (e.g., Application Specific Integrated Circuits,
Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and so forth) can be used
to implement various aspects of the present invention. In an
embodiment, the memory devices 103 store a special purpose
algorithm 103A for supporting transparent walk-through gate
functions.
[0021] Of course, the processing system 100 may also include other
elements (not shown), as readily contemplated by one of skill in
the art, as well as omit certain elements. For example, various
other input devices and/or output devices can be included in
processing system 100, depending upon the particular implementation
of the same, as readily understood by one of ordinary skill in the
art. For example, various types of wireless and/or wired input
and/or output devices can be used. Moreover, additional processors,
controllers, memories, and so forth, in various configurations can
also be utilized. These and other variations of the processing
system 100 are readily contemplated by one of ordinary skill in the
art given the teachings of the present invention provided
herein.
[0022] Moreover, it is to be appreciated that various figures as
described below with respect to various elements and steps relating
to the present invention that may be implemented, in whole or in
part, by one or more of the elements of system 100.
[0023] As employed herein, the term "hardware processor subsystem"
or "hardware processor" can refer to a processor, memory, software
or combinations thereof that cooperate to perform one or more
specific tasks. In useful embodiments, the hardware processor
subsystem can include one or more data processing elements (e.g.,
logic circuits, processing circuits, instruction execution devices,
etc.). The one or more data processing elements can be included in
a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, and/or a
separate processor- or computing element-based controller (e.g.,
logic gates, etc.). The hardware processor subsystem can include
one or more on-board memories (e.g., caches, dedicated memory
arrays, read only memory, etc.). In some embodiments, the hardware
processor subsystem can include one or more memories that can be on
or off board or that can be dedicated for use by the hardware
processor subsystem (e.g., ROM, RAM, basic input/output system
(BIOS), etc.).
[0024] In some embodiments, the hardware processor subsystem can
include and execute one or more software elements. The one or more
software elements can include an operating system and/or one or
more applications and/or specific code to achieve a specified
result.
[0025] In other embodiments, the hardware processor subsystem can
include dedicated, specialized circuitry that performs one or more
electronic processing functions to achieve a specified result. Such
circuitry can include one or more application-specific integrated
circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and/or
programmable logic arrays (PLAs).
[0026] These and other variations of a hardware processor subsystem
are also contemplated in accordance with embodiments of the present
invention.
[0027] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an exemplary RF
backscattering mechanism 200 to which the present invention can be
applied, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0028] The backscattering mechanism 200 involves a passive RF tag
210 and an RF reader 220 with an RF antenna 221. One or more of the
preceding elements can be communication devices and/or peripherals
of processing system 100 of FIG. 1. While one exemplary tag is
shown for the sake of illustration, the present invention is
intended to be employed in an environment having many tags, where
conventional approaches would suffer the aforementioned
deficiencies overcome by embodiments of the present invention
described herein with respect to reading the tags in such an
environment.
[0029] In FIG. 2, d denotes a distance between the RF antenna 221
to the RF tag 210, .lamda., denotes a wavelength of the transmitted
wave 230, .theta..sub.T denotes the phase of the transmit signal,
.theta..sub.R denotes the phase of the backscattered received
signal, and f.sub.1 denotes a frequency of the transmitted wave 230
and also of the backscatter wave 240.
[0030] In operation, a Radio Frequency (RF) wave 230 is transmitted
from the antenna 221 of the RF reader 220. Depending upon an
orientation of the RF tag 210, the RF wave 230 reflects the RF wave
230 back to the RF antenna 221 as a backscatter wave 240. Moreover,
by modulating the state of the reflected signal, i.e., the
backscatter wave 240, the passive RF tag 210 is able to convey
information stored in the passive RF tag 210.
[0031] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an exemplary inside area 300 of
a WTG, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
The inside area 300 is the volume between the two side walls 301
and 302 of the WTG and it may also include a bigger volume directly
above the gate and slightly outside the gate entrance 311 and the
gate exit 312.
[0032] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing exemplary inside antennas 401
and outside antennas 402 that are placed on the WTG walls, in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0033] Such inside antennas 401 and outside antennas 402 may be
made of transparent conductive mesh in order to make the antennas
transparent. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 4, eight antennas
as used. However, it is to be appreciated that other numbers of
antennas can be used in other embodiments, depending upon the
implementation. In FIG. 4, the antennas are designated by the
figure reference numerals Aa through Ah. Aa through Af are inside
antennas 401, while Ag and Ah are outside antennas 402.
[0034] A description will now be given regarding a physical
structure of the present invention, in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention.
[0035] A smart checkout station is called a walk-though gate (WTG)
where it is designed to have two side walls and the volume between
the side walls is considered to be inside the WTG. The inside area
of WTG may also be defined as a connected volume that is larger
than the volume between the two side walls and that completely
encompasses that volume. For example, the volume above the height
of the side walls but between the side walls may be considered
inside. Any area that is not inside a WTG is considered outside.
Please note that there might be multiple WTGs deployed in close
proximity that can even have adjacent walls.
[0036] In an embodiment, operation is exemplified as follows: The
customer enters the inside area of WTG and possibly pauses for a
moment until a signal from the system informs the customer that he
can exit the WTG. Exiting the WTG means leaving the inside area of
WTG and going outside. Please note that in an example scenario the
customer is only allowed to enter from one side and exit from the
other side. The duration in which the customer remains inside the
WTG is called a session and the time that is spent in a session is
referred to as session duration.
[0037] We call the area outside the WTG and adjacent to the WTG
walls as the sides of WTG (for the left side and right side). The
area that is used as an entrance to the WTG as the front (or
ingress portion) and the area close to the exit of the WTG as the
back (or egress portion) of WTG. The transparent WTG is a WTG which
has fully transparent or partially non-transparent walls.
[0038] A description will now be given regarding wall composition,
in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0039] In order to have a transparent wall, we may use glass,
resin, polycarbonate, plastic or other types of transparent
material that are sturdy and shatter resistant. Using one or a
combination of (1) fine-grained conductive mesh and (2) an infusion
of tiny conductive particles such as carbon particles (e.g.,
graphite powders), copper, or tin (or other conductive material)
into the wall is used to make the side walls considerably attenuate
the RF signals that pass from one side to the other. One
possibility is to employ a fine-grained mesh that is attached to
the side wall of the WTG that is, for example, made of
polycarbonate material. Multiple such walls with a proper distance
between them, e.g., 3 cm-10 cm may be placed in each side of the
WTG. The purpose of a multi-layer side wall is to further trap the
RF signal and attenuate the RF signal that passes from one side to
another. We note that the RF signal here means the RF signal in the
frequency band in which the RFID devices are operating. The size of
the mesh and material that the mesh is made of has to be properly
chosen in order to achieve the desired attenuation.
[0040] Another possibility is to infuse the plastic or glass into
the conductive mesh in which case the mesh will be buried inside
the material, e.g., glass or plastic (say polycarbonate). In a more
advanced design, small conductive particles form a cloud in the
entire material that is used to make the side wall of the WTG. Such
material, say tiny copper or carbon particle, or carbon fiber (or
other conductive material) can collectively generate an RF
absorbing material throughout the whole thickness of the side wall
that is made of this material. Hence, they provide more attenuation
and considerably less reflection. On the other hand, the conductive
mesh generates considerable reflection and less absorption.
Although from the perspective of having attenuation from one side
of the wall to the other both techniques are quite effective,
depending on the use case one may employ one or the other, or even
a combination of both in order to reach a desired level of
attenuation as well as reflection in either direction.
[0041] More specifically, one may use two layers of mesh, one close
to the internal surface of the wall and another close to the
external surface of the wall in order to provide reflection in
either direction In addition, the space between these two
conductive mesh may be filled with a material such as polycarbonate
or resin that is doped with tiny conductive particles or carbon
fibers. The use of carbon fiber also enhances the durability and
increases the strength of the material in building the side
walls.
[0042] A description will now be given regarding a wall physical
design, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0043] The physical design of the wall depends on numerous
factors.
[0044] First, we need to provide isolation between the inside and
outside region of the WTG. Using a curved surface for the side
walls can contain most of the RF signals from the internal antennas
in the internal region of WTG and have small spill over to the
outside region of the WTG. Such curvature can also allow less RF
signals from the outside antennas to be leaked to the inside region
of WTG.
[0045] Second, to increase the isolation, it is possible to have
multiple curved surfaces on each side wall, e.g., when all the
curvatures are identical and they are separated with a fixed
distance from each other. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing two curved
transparent walls 501 and 502 as each of the left and right side
walls of a WTG, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention. FIG. 5 also shows a possible arrangement of antennas 521
on the ground for covering the inside region, antennas 522 on the
outside region at the entrance (or exit), and antennas 523 on the
outside region on the side of the WTG. Such antennas may also be
placed on the ceiling as well.
[0046] Third, since the walls are supposed to be transparent or
mostly transparent with partial blockage, placement of the actual
antennas on the side wall should be limited. To this end, a design
is proposed to allow the antennas to be placed on the ground and
under the passageway of the WTG for the inside antennas. For the
same reason, the antennas for the side (the outward side antennas)
may be placed on the ground or inside a hole in the ground. These
antennas that are placed on the ground will be pointed up, which
means that their transmission pattern is unilateral and upward
(towards the ceiling). A patch antenna is a good candidate for such
a design.
[0047] Fourth, if no opaque material is used on the side walls,
i.e., the walls are fully transparent, the outside antennas at the
entrance and at the exit may be placed again on the ground or
inside a hole on the ground and be covered by carpet, wooden tiles,
or any other (non-conductive) material that does not affect the RF
signals that pass through.
[0048] Fifth, the edges of the side walls close to the entrance,
and/or close to the exit, and/or even on the top may be covered by
some opaque material such as metal. In that case, it is possible to
place an antenna both inside and outside with respect to such
opaque surfaces.
[0049] Sixth, in order to avoid unwanted leakage from the antennas,
each antenna and, in particular, the antenna in the ground, may be
placed inside a shell casing that is made of RF absorbing material
where only the face of the antenna (e.g., the transmitting face of
the patch antenna) is not covered.
[0050] Seventh, in order to further isolate the inside and outside
region of WTG with respect to the RF signals, it is possible to
have a movable transparent divider that could extend from the top
of the side walls during the session. The same idea of a movable
divider may be used at the entrance and exit, e.g., as multiple
sliding panels or doors. The movable divider may be composed of
similar materials used for the side walls, i.e., cloud particles or
conductive meshes, and so forth.
[0051] A description will now be given regarding side antennas on
the side wall, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0052] As mentioned, the main goal of the design is to have side
walls that are mostly transparent, which means that only small
areas will be visually blocked. Hence, it is still possible to
place antennas on the side walls for the inside antennas facing
toward the inside region of WTG and for the outside side antennas
that are facing toward the outside region of WTG. The size of a
patch antenna in the frequency range of the RFID is usually around
10-15 cm (in the form of a square). Here, two improvements are
possible. One is to design antennas that are made of transparent
meshes and the feed line are made of micro strips having a line
width between 1 mm to 4 mm. Even using opaque material for the
micro strips and/or the transmitting surface of the antenna would
be possible without blocking too much of the view. The design can
even be used to generate a desired aesthetic effect which can even
improve the plain look of the WTG side walls. Another improvement
is to use meta-material in the design of the antenna. With such
material, the size of the antenna may be considerably reduced
(e.g., by about an order of magnitude).
[0053] A description will now be given regarding antenna movement,
in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0054] Yet another improvement to the design of the transparent WTG
is to have antenna elements that are movable. This movement not
only provides perturbation in the transmitted RF field that is
necessary and important for providing coverage in the near- and
mid-field of the antennas, but also provides a means to track the
movement of the RFIDs that are affixed to the items, and better
scan the RFIDs of the products. This could be in the form of a
flapping mechanism for the antennas that generates rotations on the
antennas, e.g., as a back and forth movement, or it can generate
mall movement by shaking the antennas. Another possibility is to
have an antenna that moves from one end of the side wall to the
other end along the curvature of the side wall. Such movement only
generates blockage of the view in a small area and for a short time
as it moves from one end to the other. It is also possible to use
either type of moving antennas as the floor antennas as well.
Again, such antennas should be covered by materials that do not
block RF signals. We note that the idea of antenna movement may be
used in other form of a WTG. However, the movement in the WTG with
transparent walls is more important from a specific point of view
which is to minimize blocking the possible view of other
customers.
[0055] A description will now be given regarding ceiling antennas,
in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0056] Since the inside antennas that are placed under the floor
may read the tags that are higher than the side walls and are
outside WTG where the RF signal is not blocked, it is envisioned to
place antennas on the ceiling to alleviate this problem. In the
processing algorithm of the WTG, the readings from all antennas can
be used to judge if the tag is inside or outside. Such ceiling
antennas would normally be placed in front and back areas of the
WTG and away from the WTG.
[0057] A description will now be given regarding prior knowledge,
in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0058] Hereinafter, we discuss an algorithmic improvement to the
design of WTG which is particularly important in the design of a
transparent WTG. The collection of antennas whether inside or
outside antennas are labeled, and depending on their position they
play a different role in the decision making algorithm that judges
if a RFID tag is within the inside region or outside region of WTG.
These antennas may have different weights associated with them
which could be a function of many parameters including received
signal strength from that antenna. Each reading provides a
likelihood for a tag to be in a certain position. This likelihood
is a function of the specific antenna (e.g., whether inside or
outside, and where it is placed) as well as the parameters such as
received signal strength (RSSI), phase shift, or Doppler. This
likelihood in general can be a function of time as well, which
means it might consider multiple samples together where such
samples may be from the same or different antennas and provide a
joint likelihood function. This may include a case that reading
from some joint antennas have higher weight than similar readings
from another set of antennas. In a judgment algorithm, a metric
computation is performed using the readings to judge if the tag is
inside or outside.
[0059] The algorithm may be further improved, when prior knowledge
is available. For example, when a clustering or grouping technique
is used prior to entering the WTG by means of the outside antennas
that are placed on the floor, on the ceiling and at the entrance
side of the WTG, one can combine a prior knowledge about the items
in the decision making process. Such prior knowledge could be in
the form of proximity factor such as a distance measure or
embedding distance measure (e.g., by using neural networks) between
the items or between an item and a reference tag. A reference tag
may be used on the shopping cart or shopping bag that is carried by
the customer. Alternatively, the reference tag might be in the form
of a membership card or embedded within the membership card that is
carried by the customer. Such proximity factor may in turn be
translated to a likelihood ratio which is easily possible to be
combined with the metric computation that is performed by the
judgment algorithm.
[0060] A description will now be given regarding delayed billing,
in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0061] The algorithm may be further improved if we consider time
series of the readings for example when the readings start from the
antennas that are at the entrance (ingress portion) and then
transition to the antennas that are in the middle (i.e., the inside
antennas of WTG) and then to the antennas at the exit (egress
portion). Using this temporal information, one may deduce the
transition of the items from one end to the other. If there is only
a single session during this time period, such information may be
used to adjust the judgment algorithm accordingly. Such algorithm
would then require the possibility of late billing. This is due to
the fact that any prior knowledge that is acquired by a time-series
analysis algorithm can potentially be used along with the metric
computation algorithm while one is in session. However, the
accuracy of such time-series analysis may reach a pre-set value
after the judgment is performed. In this case, the time-series
algorithm may be useful to be combined with the judgment algorithm
only if late billing is possible. This means that if the algorithm
later decides that an item belongs to this session (i.e., the item
is inside WTG even though it was judged to be outside by the
conclusion of the session) it will be added to the related cart or
bag of the user at a later time and will be billed accordingly.
Similarly, any items that should have not been assigned to this
session may be adjusted accordingly.
[0062] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing an exemplary method 600 for
walk-through gate checkout, in accordance with an embodiment of the
present invention.
[0063] At block 605, encapsulate, by a first semi-transparent side
wall and a second semi-transparent side wall, a walk-through gate
volume having an ingress portion and an egress portion. The side
walls can be formed as curved surfaces. The side walls can include
a mesh conductive material sheet. The side walls can include
conductive particles. The conductive particles can be encapsulated
in a semi-transparent material. The side walls can be multi-layer,
with a fixed separation between the walls for signal attenuation
outside of the WTG. A movable slide can be provided at the ingress
and/or egress portions, e.g., for signal attenuation.
[0064] At block 610, wirelessly receive, by a plurality of
antennas, product identifiers for wireless checkout. The antennas
can be mounted on or proximate to a floor, wall, ceiling, and so
forth. The antennas can be shielded to provide uni-directional
transmission and reception. The antennas can be formed from a
semi-transparent mesh. The antennas can be movable.
[0065] According to aspects of the present invention, a
walk-through gate is provided that includes at least a first
semi-transparent side wall and a second semi-transparent side wall
encapsulating a walk-through gate volume having an ingress portion
and an egress portion. The walk-through gate further includes a
plurality of antennas for wirelessly receiving product identifiers
for wireless checkout.
[0066] In an embodiment, at least one of the first and second
semi-transparent side walls includes a two layer wall having a
first wall separated from a second wall by a predetermined
wall-to-wall separation for signal attenuation outside of the
walk-through gate volume.
[0067] In an embodiment, each of the first and second walls include
conductive particles.
[0068] In an embodiment, the conductive particles are arranged as
respective sheets in each of the first and second walls.
[0069] In an embodiment, an innermost one of the first and second
walls is at least partially curved for signal attenuation outside
of the walk-through gate volume.
[0070] In an embodiment, an edge of at least one of the first and
second semi-transparent side walls includes an opaque material for
mounting at least one of the plurality of antennas thereon and for
signal attenuation beyond the walk-through gate volume.
[0071] In an embodiment, each of the plurality of antennas is
partially encapsulated in a shield configured to attenuate antenna
leakage in other than an intended direction.
[0072] In an embodiment, the walk-through gate includes a movable
semi-transparent slider at at least one of the ingress portion and
egress portion.
[0073] In an embodiment, the movable semi-transparent slider
includes conductive particles configured to attenuate antenna
leakage outside of the walk-through gate volume.
[0074] In an embodiment, the walk-through gate is disposed at a
stadium and performs an application selected from the group
consisting of a checkout application, an entrance application, and
an exit application. A checkout application is an application that
allows for product purchase/checkout. An entrance application is an
application that relates to entering an entity/facility and can
involve monitoring, counting, issuance of a pass, and so forth. An
exit application is an application that relates to exiting an
entity/facility and can involve monitoring, counting, revocation of
a pass, and so forth.
[0075] In an embodiment, the walk-through gate is disposed at a
theater and performs an application selected from the group
consisting of a checkout application, an entrance application, and
an exit application.
[0076] In an embodiment, the walk-through gate is disposed at a
department storage and included in a theft detection system.
[0077] According to other aspects of the present invention, a
method for walk-through gate checkout is provided. The method
includes encapsulating, by at least a first and a second
semi-transparent side wall, a walk-through gate volume having an
ingress portion and an egress portion. The method further includes
wirelessly reading, by a plurality of antennas, product identifiers
of products and signal attributes of the product identifier
signals. The method also includes judging, for a given checkout
session responsive to the signal attributes, whether any of the
products should be included in the given checkout session and
whether any of the products should be excluded from the given
checkout session.
[0078] In an embodiment, the method further includes providing one
of a late charge or a late credit to a bill for the given checkout
session responsive to a given judgement for the given checkout
session.
[0079] In an embodiment, the given judgment is based on at least a
reading of a product identifier after a duration of the given
checkout session and the signal attributes of the reading.
[0080] In an embodiment, the given judgement is further based on at
least a reading of a product identifier before a start of the
session and the signal attributes of the reading.
[0081] In an embodiment, the reading of a product identifier and
signal attributes of the reading are used as a prior knowledge
about the product.
[0082] In an embodiment, the prior knowledge comprises a likelihood
value.
[0083] In an embodiment, the method further includes performing a
first reading of a first product identifier for a first product and
a second reading of a second product identifier for a second
product prior to a start of the given checkout session, and
calculating a proximity metric between the first and second
products based on the first and the second readings and the signal
attributes of the first and the second readings.
[0084] In an embodiment, the method further includes performing a
first reading of a first product identifier for a first product and
a second reading of a second product identifier for a second
product after a duration of the checkout session, and calculating a
proximity metric between the first and second products based on the
first and the second readings and the signal attributes of the
first and the second readings.
[0085] Embodiments described herein may be entirely hardware,
entirely software or including both hardware and software elements.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is implemented in
software, which includes but is not limited to firmware, resident
software, microcode, etc.
[0086] Embodiments may include a computer program product
accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium
providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer
or any instruction execution system. A computer-usable or computer
readable medium may include any apparatus that stores,
communicates, propagates, or transports the program for use by or
in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or
device. The medium can be magnetic, optical, electronic,
electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or
device) or a propagation medium. The medium may include a
computer-readable storage medium such as a semiconductor or solid
state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a
random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid
magnetic disk and an optical disk, etc.
[0087] Each computer program may be tangibly stored in a
machine-readable storage media or device (e.g., program memory or
magnetic disk) readable by a general or special purpose
programmable computer, for configuring and controlling operation of
a computer when the storage media or device is read by the computer
to perform the procedures described herein. The inventive system
may also be considered to be embodied in a computer-readable
storage medium, configured with a computer program, where the
storage medium so configured causes a computer to operate in a
specific and predefined manner to perform the functions described
herein.
[0088] A data processing system suitable for storing and/or
executing program code may include at least one processor coupled
directly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus. The
memory elements can include local memory employed during actual
execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories
which provide temporary storage of at least some program code to
reduce the number of times code is retrieved from bulk storage
during execution. Input/output or I/O devices (including but not
limited to keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.) may be
coupled to the system either directly or through intervening I/O
controllers.
[0089] Network adapters may also be coupled to the system to enable
the data processing system to become coupled to other data
processing systems or remote printers or storage devices through
intervening private or public networks. Modems, cable modem and
Ethernet cards are just a few of the currently available types of
network adapters.
[0090] Reference in the specification to "one embodiment" or "an
embodiment" of the present invention, as well as other variations
thereof, means that a particular feature, structure,
characteristic, and so forth described in connection with the
embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present
invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment"
or "in an embodiment", as well any other variations, appearing in
various places throughout the specification are not necessarily all
referring to the same embodiment. However, it is to be appreciated
that features of one or more embodiments can be combined given the
teachings of the present invention provided herein.
[0091] It is to be appreciated that the use of any of the following
"/", "and/or", and "at least one of", for example, in the cases of
"A/B", "A and/or B" and "at least one of A and B", is intended to
encompass the selection of the first listed option (A) only, or the
selection of the second listed option (B) only, or the selection of
both options (A and B). As a further example, in the cases of "A,
B, and/or C" and "at least one of A, B, and C", such phrasing is
intended to encompass the selection of the first listed option (A)
only, or the selection of the second listed option (B) only, or the
selection of the third listed option (C) only, or the selection of
the first and the second listed options (A and B) only, or the
selection of the first and third listed options (A and C) only, or
the selection of the second and third listed options (B and C)
only, or the selection of all three options (A and B and C). This
may be extended for as many items listed.
[0092] The foregoing is to be understood as being in every respect
illustrative and exemplary, but not restrictive, and the scope of
the invention disclosed herein is not to be determined from the
Detailed Description, but rather from the claims as interpreted
according to the full breadth permitted by the patent laws. It is
to be understood that the embodiments shown and described herein
are only illustrative of the present invention and that those
skilled in the art may implement various modifications without
departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Those skilled
in the art could implement various other feature combinations
without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.
Having thus described aspects of the invention, with the details
and particularity required by the patent laws, what is claimed and
desired protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended
claims.
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