Patent ID: 8525674

Claim:
A device for enabling the management of objects distributed in an object location space, said device comprising: a receptacle for an object, said receptacle having two electrically conductive members, a first one of said electrically conductive members being provided to receive address signals supplied by a source; an address decoder circuit associated to said object, said address decoder circuit having a unique system address, said address decoder circuit further having a first electrically conductive terminal coupled to said first one of said two electrically conductive members for receiving said address signals, and a second electrically conductive terminal; an indicator having an input terminal and an output terminal, said input terminal of said indicator being coupled to said second electrically conductive terminal of said address decoder circuit for activation whenever said address decoder circuit detects an address signal present on said first one of said two electrically conductive members and representative of said unique system address, said output terminal of said indicator being coupled to a second one of said two electrically conductive members of said receptacle; a current detector circuit having an input terminal and an output terminal, said input terminal of said current detector circuit being coupled to said second one of said two electrically conductive members of said receptacle, said current detector providing a VALID signal on the output terminal thereof when said indicator is activated; and circuitry coupled to said first one of said electrically conductive members and said address decoder circuit for deriving operating power for said address decoder circuit from said address signal.