Abstract:
A method and system for using a dynamically displayed bar code on a wireless device such as a cell phone or PDS, and a bar code reader to obtain a particular good and service, includes the steps of: (1) inputting a description of the good or service into the wireless device; (2) dynamically outputting a bar code corresponding to the description on the display screen of the wireless device; (3) positioning the display screen of the wireless device at a bar code reader; (4) scanning the bar code at the bar code reader; and (5) delivering the good and service in response to the scanning step. The wireless device includes location-identifying means whereby the product can be delivered to the location of the user. The system includes a database of prestored product descriptions and corresponding bar codes which is referenced by the wireless device.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to wireless technology and, more particularly, to a system and method for securing goods and services at a particular physical location using wireless and bar code technology.  
         BACKGROUND  
         [0002]    Wireless technology has permeated society in recent years as evidenced by the proliferation of cellular telephones and other wireless informational devices, e.g., personal digital assistant (PDAs). Most wireless devices sold today include an LCD or other display screen of such resolution that text as well as graphics can be viewed thereon. It is known to use wireless devices to query remote databases accessible via a wireless network to obtain information, e.g., price and availability of goods like consumer products. Such functionality is realized using WAP-enabled browsers in conjunction with wireless content provider networks.  
           [0003]    It is known that the location of an operational wireless device can be now be identified in real-time using the built-in functionality of long-range wireless carrier networks. Additionally, short-range location-identification is also known. As an example, Bluetooth® technology allows the short-range location of wireless devices to be determined with a greater precision than has heretofore been available. By knowing the location of a cellular telephone, the location of the user of the cellular phone can likewise be known at any particular instance of time.  
           [0004]    The use of bar code technology has similarly increased dramatically over recent years. Bar codes and associated bar code readers are used in a plurality of applications geared toward inventory control and product identification. For example, bar codes are used to control, organize and efficiently carry out the daily delivery of thousands of parcels by national couriers, e.g., United Parcel Services® and Federal Express®.  
           [0005]    Often times, a consumer finds himself in a situation in which he is unable to locate a particular product either because he cannot find the product in a large commercial outlet or because he is not certain of the identity of the product. Other times, a consumer must forego purchasing a good because he is not in an identifiable location such that delivery of the good to the user is not practicable or possible.  
           [0006]    What is desired, therefore, and has heretofore been unavailable is a system and method for obtaining a product using a wireless device that is capable of accurately identifying both a particular product as well as the real-time location of the user wishing to obtain the product so that the product can be delivered to the user in an efficient manner.  
         SUMMARY  
         [0007]    In one aspect of the present invention, a system and method are provided for using a dynamically displayed bar code on a wireless device and a bar code reader to obtain a good or service at a particular physical location. The system and method follow the steps of: (1) inputting a product description of the good or service into a wireless device; (2) receiving a bar code at the wireless device corresponding to the description; (3) dynamically outputting the bar code on the display screen of the wireless device; (4) positioning the display screen of the wireless device at a first bar code reader; (5) scanning the bar code at the first bar code reader; and (6) delivering the good to a user of the wireless device. The wireless device includes location-identifying means whereby the product can be delivered to the location of the wireless device or to a location corresponding to the location of the first bar code reader. The system includes a database of prestored product descriptions and corresponding bar codes which is referenced by the wireless device in selecting a product for delivery.  
           [0008]    In a further aspect of the invention, the database is updated using a second bar code reader, wherein the second bar code reader is used to scan a bar code printed on a certain product. The scanned product is associated with the user such that a user may later query the database to retrieve the scanned bar code when the user later desires to obtain the product in a commercial outlet.  
           [0009]    In a yet further aspect of the invention, the method and system perform the additional steps of: (1) correlating the location of the user with the location of a particular commercial outlet; (2) querying a database of goods and services available at the particular commercial outlet for a match to the product description input at the wireless device; and (3) in the absence of a match, displaying a message on the wireless device indicating that the good or service is not available at the particular commercial outlet.  
           [0010]    In another aspect of the invention, a method and system are provided that allows a user of a wireless device to obtain an advertised good or service at an identifiable location. The method and system perform the steps of: (1) scanning a bar code relating to a good or service that appears in, e.g., an advertisement of the good in a magazine, using a bar code reading means of a wireless device; (2) sending data corresponding to the scanned bar code to a remote computer; (3) processing the data as a request to purchase the good or service; (4) determining the location of the good or service; (5) determining the location of the user and the proximity of the good to the location of the user, wherein the location of the user is determined based on one of the location of the wireless device and the location of a wireless device locating means; and (6) delivering the good or service to the user at the determined location of the user. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    The above-discussed and other embodiments of the system and method of the present invention will be described in greater detail hereinafter with reference to the following figures wherein reference like reference numbers indicate the same or similar components:  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the system of the present invention which includes a wireless device connected to a wireless network, with an internetwork, a database and a bar code reader;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is a flow chart describing the operation of an embodiment of the system and method of the present invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 illustrates a further embodiment of the system of the present method which includes a second bar code reader; and  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of the system of the present invention which includes a wireless device having bar code reader as an integrated component. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0016]    The following description of the preferred and various other embodiments of the system and method of the present invention are illustrative only and are not meant to limit the scope of the invention which is defined solely by the claims which are recited at the end of this document. Thus, the discrete components, elements, systems and processes described herein are discussed solely for the purpose of enabling one skilled in the art to practice the claimed invention and are not intended to define the limitations of the claimed invention.  
         [0017]    Turning to FIG. 1, an embodiment of a system of the present invention is illustrated. A wireless device  110  is represented by a cellular telephone. Wireless device  110  may alternately be a wireless PDA or any other known wireless device having an LCD or other display screen capable of displaying text and graphics. Wireless device  110  includes user input means, e.g., a keypad or writing stylus pad. As will be more fully explained hereinafter, a user of wireless device  110  utilizes the input means to enter a description of a good or service. Wireless device  110  then displays graphics representative of a bar code for that good or service that can be used to obtain the good or service.  
         [0018]    Wireless device  110  communicates via wireless network  120  which may be any of the known wireless carrier networks, e.g., Verizon Wireless®, Cingular® or AT&amp;T®. Wireless network  120  connects to internetwork  130  which preferably is the Internet but may be any known public or proprietary local or wide area network.  
         [0019]    Internetwork  130  connects with a database  140 . Database  140  contains a listing of product or service descriptions and respective corresponding bar codes. Intemetwork  130  also connects with a bar code reader  150  which is utilized to read a bar code present on the display of wireless device  110 . Bar code reader  150  can be any of the various types of bar code readers known in the art and is preferably network-enabled allowing it to intelligently communicate with a control unit  170 .  
         [0020]    Internetwork  130  also connects to short-range location device  160  which is preferably a Bluetooth® sales point device. The specifications relating to Bluetooth® technology are publically available at the Bluetooth® SIG web site, bluetooth.com. Briefly, Bluetooth® wireless technology provides a low-power, short-range radio link between two or more electronic devices to thereby enable reliable transmissions between the devices using frequency hopping, digital packet transfer techniques. Using Bluetooth technology, short-range location device  160  determines the exact location of wireless device  120  to within a precision of mere inches.  
         [0021]    Internetwork  130  also connects to a control unit  170  which is preferably a SunSPARC® or other server platform computer system that coordinates the operation and interaction of the various elements illustrated in FIG. 1 as described herein.  
         [0022]    The particular manner and structure by which communications among the elements illustrated in FIG. 1 is accomplished is not critical to the present invention. Thus, one skilled in the art can appreciate that bar code reader  150  may be connected to wireless network  120  rather than internetwork  130 . Alternately or additionally, database  140  may include one or more databases located together or remotely, each running respective networked database software in order to achieve speed and efficiency. Internetwork  130  may be the Internet or may alternately be a local area network providing connectivity for devices in a local environment.  
         [0023]    The system of FIG. I is advantageously utilized by a user in, e.g., a department store, supermarket or other commercial outlet where many different products are offered in different locations throughout the store. The user utilizes his wireless device  110  to select a particular good that is believed to be available for sale at the commercial outlet and then receives, on the screen of the wireless device  110 , a bar code corresponding to that designated good. The user thereafter scans the displayed bar code at bar code reader  150  which is located at a convenient location in the commercial outlet or elsewhere (e.g. at the user&#39;s home or hotel room). The good corresponding to the scanned bar code is then delivered to the user. In this manner, the user avoids the need to wander about the commercial outlet looking for the desired product and, thus, saves time and unnecessary effort.  
         [0024]    The operation of the system illustrated in FIG. 1 will now be described in greater detail with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 2.  
         [0025]    At step  210 , a user enters a description of a product or service into the user&#39;s wireless device  110 . The description may be chosen from a menu of descriptions or may be entered directly by the user. In either event the product and service description corresponds to one of a multiplicity of descriptions that are preferably prestored in database  140 .  
         [0026]    As an example, in response to a user prompt at wireless device  110 , database  140  and control unit  170  generate a menu that is delivered to, and presented on, the display of wireless device  110 . The menu lists food categories, e.g., meats, milk, breads, soups, etc. Upon choosing “soups”, a submenu of selections is presented: “chicken, vegetable, and beef”. The user eventually (after navigating through any additional subcategories) settles upon a specific product description stored in database  140 , e.g., “Acme Brand Canned Chicken Noodle Soup, 16 oz.”.  
         [0027]    The descriptions of various goods and services from which the user selects are stored on database  140 . Database  140  is preferably a networked server running known database software suites such as those designed by Oracle® and Microsoft®. Database  140  may be associated with the particular commercial outlet, e.g., supermarket where the user is presently situated. In such a case, database  140  contains product descriptions of goods that are presently in stock at the supermarket. Database  140  may be located on the premises of the supermarket (in which case internetwork  130  is understood to be a local area network) or may be remotely located and shared by a plurality of supermarkets (in which case internetwork  130  is understood to be the Internet, a virtual private network or a wide area network).  
         [0028]    Rather than being associated with a particular commercial outlet, database  140  may alternately be associated with the user of wireless device  110  in which case database  140  contains descriptions of goods and services that have been prestored therein by the user. A further embodiment of the present invention which provides for updating such a user-specific database will be described in greater detail below.  
         [0029]    In yet another alternate embodiment, the product descriptions relating to a plurality of goods and services are prestored by the user in the user&#39;s wireless device  110 . In such a configuration, database  140  is understood to be resident on wireless device  110  itself and, thus, the need for a separate remote database  140  to maintain prestored descriptions as illustrated in FIG. 1 is not necessary. In such a configuration, where wireless device  110  is a cellular telephone, the cellular telephone is preprogrammed to include database functionality via custom-programmed application specific integrated chip (ASIC) design if the wireless device  110  is a PDA, database functionality is provided and implemented via known programming languages and development tools such as CodeWarrior® by Metrowerks® and the Palm OS™ Client Software Development Kit from Palm Computing®.  
         [0030]    Alternately, the system includes multiple databases  140  of product descriptions in multiple locations, including that stored within wireless device  110 . In this case, a user of wireless device  110  accesses both a user-specific as well as a commercial outlet-specific database  140 .  
         [0031]    In a still further embodiment, rather than selecting from a menu of product and service descriptions, the user enters a description manually using, e.g., a stylus and stylus handwriting recognition pad found on PDAs. Once the description is entered, control unit  170  matches the user-entered description with a corresponding one of the prestored description located in database  140 .  
         [0032]    Database  140  includes a table that correlates product and service descriptions with respective unique bar codes. At step  220 , the system queries database  140  to find the bar code corresponding to the description entered at step  210 . If at step  230 , the system determines that there is no corresponding bar code in database  140 , the system notifies the user by sending a message to wireless device  110  and then returns to step  210 .  
         [0033]    If, however, a corresponding bar code is located at step  220 , the system proceeds to step  240  and sends bar code data to wireless device  110 . At step  250 , wireless device  110  displays the bar code on its display screen. Continuing with the present example, a bar code corresponding to a 16 oz. Can of “Acme Chicken Noodle Soup” is displayed on the screen of wireless device  110 , perhaps together with other information.  
         [0034]    At step  260 , the user scans the bar code presently displayed on the screen of wireless device  110  at bar code reader  150 . In response, a request is sent to, e.g., a stock room in the supermarket wherein stock room personnel is instructed to deliver the product corresponding to the bar code to the user&#39;s location. In response, the good or service, e.g., the “Acme Brand Canned Chicken Noodle Soup, 16 oz.” of the present example, is delivered to the user at the user&#39;s location. The user&#39;s location is based on either the location of bar code reader  150  (which is prestored and known by control unit  170 ) or the exact location of wireless device  110  as identified by location-identification unit  160 .  
         [0035]    Variations on the above-described embodiments may be realized. For example, if the system determines that the product or service which the user seeks is not available at the user&#39;s present location then the system identifies the next closest supermarket to the user&#39;s present location by querying a database describing the inventory of that supermarket to determine if the requested good or service can be obtained thereat. If the product or service is located there, the user is informed, via wireless device  110 , to proceed to the next closest supermarket, or, alternately, personnel in the stock room of the other supermarket is instructed to deliver the desired good to the user at his present location.  
         [0036]    Additionally, the system of FIG. 1 preferably includes payment and display means located proximate to bar code reader  150 . The display means, e.g., a free-standing LCD display, guides a user through various steps of the process described above by presenting the user with instructions. The payment means, e.g., a magnetic strip credit card reader, allows the user to pay for the requested good or service. The display and payment means are preferably connected to internetwork  130  and controlled by control unit  170 . Alternatively, payment can be authorized by the user directly from the wireless device  110  by providing payment and delivery information.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 3 illustrates a further embodiment of the present system wherein means for updating database  140  are provided. The system of FIG. 3 is similar to the system of FIG. 1 except that an additional bar code reader  180  is connected to internetwork  130 .  
         [0038]    Bar code reader  180  allows a user to update database  140  with bar codes relating to products that a user will frequently purchase in the future. Bar code reader  180  preferably Internet network-enabled. Bar code reader  180  is preferably placed in or around a user&#39;s refrigerator such that a user can scan a food product for future reference. As an example, if a user purchases a juice of a type and brand which he finds particularly satisfying, the user scans the bar code printed on the juice carton using bar code reader  180 . Control unit  170  is programmed to update database  140  to include the bar code of the juice (if it is not already present in database  140 ) and further associates the bar code with the user. Accordingly, a user is assured that he will be able to access the bar code of, and thus obtain, the particular type and brand of juice during his next visit to the supermarket or when near a bar code reader  150 .  
         [0039]    The above described processes are accomplished by, and the system elements interoperate using, control unit  170  which, as described above, is preferably a microprocessor-based computer server capable of controlling various types of networked devices. Control unit  170  is programmed using any of the known programming languages in the art, including object oriented programming languages, e.g., C++. Control unit  170  may also utilize Internet-based object-oriented programming languages, e.g., Java, and is further capable of interacting with Bluetooth®-based components. The exact manner in which control unit  170  is programmed to accomplish the above-described processes is not critical and one skilled in the art will appreciate that various approaches may taken to implement the present invention without deviating from the scope of the invention.  
         [0040]    Another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 4. The system of FIG. 4 is similar to that of FIG. 1 except that: (1) it does not include bar code reader  150 ; and (2) wireless device  110  now includes a bar code reader as a physically integrated component. Wireless device  110  is used to read bar codes on, e.g., a product, advertisement or computer screen. Upon scanning the bar code, wireless device  110  communicates with control unit  170  which identifies an appropriate database  140  for querying. For example, the related bar code may be a database of goods that the control unit identifies as being in close proximity of wireless device  110 .  
         [0041]    As in the system of FIG. 1, database  140  of FIG. 4 contains a table of bar codes and corresponding goods and service descriptions. Database  140  matches the bar code scanned by wireless device  110  with its corresponding description. Control unit  170  then directs appropriate personnel to deliver the product or service relating to the scanned bar code to the user.  
         [0042]    As in the case of the system of FIG. 1, many variations of the system configuration of FIG. 4 may be realized. For example, communications between wireless device  110  and control unit  170  may be achieved using wireless network  120  and internetwork  130  or, alternately, by utilizing only internetwork  130  via sales point  160 .  
         [0043]    As an example of the later case, multiple Bluetooth® sales points  160  are located throughout a hotel. Each guest room is provided with a menu listing room service items and other services with accompanying respective bar codes. A guest with a Bluetooth-enabled wireless device  110 , selects a particular menu item using wireless device  110  by scanning the bar code associated with the item or service. Wireless device  110  communicates the scanned bar code selection to sales point  160  and then onto database  140  which finds the corresponding item or service in its records. Control unit  170  then sends the request to appropriate hotel personnel who fulfill the request by delivering the requested good or service to the user. The user&#39;s location is preferably identified via sales point  160 .  
         [0044]    The above-described embodiments of the system and method of the present invention are illustrative and one skilled in the art will realize that many variations may be made to the above without departing from the scope of the claimed invention.