Patent ID: 6877133

Claim:
A method of automatically detecting and correcting errors in an electronic shelf label (ESL), the ESL comprising ESL registers, the ESL registers storing data controlling the content and formatting of information displayed by the ESL, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing an ESL data file comprising a data image of the intended contents of the ESL's registers; (b) calculating a sumcheck of at least a portion of the data image by an ESL computer; (c) transmitting a bedcheck message to the ESL by the ESL computer, the bedcheck message including the sumcheck; (d) receiving bedcheck message by the ESL; (e) comparing the received sumcheck with a sumcheck calculated using a portion of the actual contents of the ESL's registers, by ESL control circuitry; (f) transmitting a positive acknowledgement message from the ESL to the ESL computer, if the received sumcheck matches the sumcheck calculated using the actual contents of the ESL's registers; (g) transmitting a negative acknowledgment message to the ESL computer, if the received sumcheck does not match the sumcheck calculated using the actual contents of the ESL's registers; and (h) transmitting at least one message to the ESL updating the ESL's registers with the data image contained in the ESL data file, if a negative acknowledgement is received by the ESL computer.