Sap Ag

Sap Atkiengesellschaft

Jie Weng

Richard James Swan

Tao Lin

Hartmut K Vogler

Brian S Mo

Peter Ebert

Samir Raiyani

Stephan Haller

Li Gong

Rama Krishna Gurram

Ju-Kay Kwek

Jordan Anderson

Wai Or

John Hanley

Vinod Guddad

Systems, methods and computer program products for generic device integration within an auto-id system. The system includes an auto-id node operable to collect data emitted by one or more automatic data acquisition devices, process the data, and make the data available to one or more enterprise applications, user interfaces, or other auto-id nodes. The auto-id node includes a device integration layer that is operable to handle communication between the auto-id node and different types of automatic data acquisition devices, device controllers, or device management systems.

Generic device integration within an auto-id system

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.

Communications in an item tracking system

Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for real-time and context-aware tracking of items. Tags bound to items are read and information read from the tags and location information about the tags is provided by at least two enterprises and used to maintain disposition information about the items, which is made visible to enterprises in the supply chain. The disposition information can be mapped to a world model that tracks the items and circumstances affecting the items, for example, geo-spatial events and traffic delays. Visibility of the disposition information can be controlled through authorization. Visible information can include relationships between particular items and business documents such as order and shipping documents.

Context-aware and real-time item tracking system architecture and scenarios

A sales system is described that enables fast, efficient shopping by customers, and thereby increases sales and encourages customer loyalty, while simultaneously improving store management. An electronic device, which may be mobile or stationary, and which may belong or be assigned to (or accessed by) each customer, is used to access shopping information that might not otherwise be available to the customer during shopping. For example, a personal digital assistant or information kiosk may be used to provide specific product information and complete a sale thereof, or to provide suggested purchase lists and best routes through the store during shopping. The sales system is multi-modal, so that a plurality of input modalities (such as voice or auto-id techniques) are simultaneously available to the customer. Additionally, because it is multi-modal, the system can communicate with other store items, such as shelves or shopping carts, to gain (and integrate) information about customers and the products the customers are purchasing.

Multi-modal sales applications

A system for synchronizing multiple modalities is described. A user may use multiple modalities, such as voice and browser, to interact with data on a network, such as the World Wide Web. All of the modalities may be synchronized so that all are updated when the user enters information in just one. A method of communicating between devices includes receiving a request for first-modality data that includes first content, and sending a message in response to receiving the request, the message including information allowing the request of second-modality data that includes second content overlapping the first content. Another method includes requesting first data for a first modality, the first data including first content, and automatically requesting second data for a second modality, wherein the second data includes second content that overlaps the first content.

Multi-modal synchronization

A current state of an item being tracked by an item-tracking system may be determined using prior state information about the item. To ensure proper temporal order of the state information, software events triggered by physical events associated with the item are received from a reader at an event interpretation system. A database or queue within the event interpretation system holds the software events for a delay time determined by a maximum transmission delay time of the software events. A sorter within the event interpretation system orders the software events relative to one another so as to correspond to an order of the physical events. An association model of the event interpretation system may determine state information related to the item for storage in a state information database. Accordingly, system exceptions in the item tracking system may be reduced, and an accuracy and reliability of the system may be improved.

Exception reduction and event reordering in an item tracking system

A first-modality gateway and a second-modality gateway are synchronized, with both gateways interfacing between a user and a server system. The synchronizing allows the user to use either of the first-modality gateway or the second-modality gateway at a given point in time to interface with specific information in the server system. A method includes accessing a communication sent from a first-modality gateway, and providing a synchronizing mechanism in response to accessing the communication. Another method includes receiving a request for a first-modality data from a first-modality entity, determining a second-modality data, and providing the second-modality data to a second-modality entity, where the second-modality data corresponds to the first-modality data. An article includes a first-modality interface, a second-modality interface, and a controller interface. The controller interface includes instructions that when executed by a machine result in interfacing the first-modality interface and the second-modality interface to a controller that provides synchronization.

A graphical user interface may include a form with a plurality of fields, each field associated with a predetermined category. Each category may have its own, independent, discrete grammar associated therewith, and the independent grammars may be individually activated, simultaneously with their respective categories. In this way, a voice-recognition system that is inputting spoken data for each of the fields may have a restricted grammar to search when attempting to match a particular voice input with an entry for a particular field in the form. Moreover, a global grammar that is active with any one of the independent grammars may be used to move between the fields or perform other high-level functionality not associated with any one of the independent grammars.

Dynamic grammar for voice-enabled applications

Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for providing multiple enterprises real-time access to information about items in a supply chain. Tags bound to items are read and information read from the tags and location information about the tags is provided by at least two enterprises and used to maintain disposition information about the items, which is made visible to enterprises in the supply chain. The tags can be radio-frequency identification tags having each having an ePC (electronic product code) as unique tag identifier. Visibility of the disposition information can be controlled through authorization. Visible information can include relationships between particular items and business documents such as order and shipping documents. With shipping documents visible, information read from item tags can be used to confirm the identify or completeness of a shipment.

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Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Jie Weng