Electronic Shelf Label Positioning System and Method

Abstract

Multiple embodiments of this specification relate to the field of information technology, and specifically relate to an electronic shelf label positioning system and method. The system includes: a plurality of positioning base stations, a positioning chip, and a server. The plurality of positioning base stations are distributed in a target area. The positioning chip is built into a mobile device or a shelf label. The positioning chip obtains its own position information based on the positioning base stations. The server stores topographic information of the target area. The server performs the following steps: receiving the position information reported by the shelf label, and sending out label configuration information according to the position information of the shelf label, where the label configuration information includes goods information; receiving the target goods and position information reported by the mobile device, and feedbacking the goods searching path of the target goods; periodically receiving the new position information reported by the mobile device, and updating the goods searching path or prompting arrival according to the new position information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Multiple embodiments of this specification relate to the field of information technology, and more particularly to an electronic shelf label positioning system and method. Background Art

[0002] An electronic shelf label (ESL for short) is a device for displaying product prices in retail stores. It is connected to a central management system through wireless communication technology and can update product prices, promotional information, etc. in real time. With the development of technology, ESLs are not limited to price display but can also integrate positioning functions to help retailers better manage inventory and optimize the customer experience. The positioning function can assist stores in better inventory management. For example, when a certain product is approaching out of stock, the system can immediately notify employees to replenish the shelves, avoiding the loss of sales opportunities. In addition, for large supermarkets or department stores, accurately positioning the location of each product also means more efficient target area management and replenishment processes. Staff do not need to spend a lot of time looking for specific products but can directly go to their exact locations for operations. From the customer's perspective, the ESL system with a positioning function also brings great convenience. Customers can query the specific location of the products they need through a mobile application before entering the store and obtain navigation guidance, saving shopping time. This is particularly useful for consumers who are time-sensitive or unfamiliar with the store layout. At the same time, ESLs can also be used to display additional product information, such as ingredient lists, user reviews, recommended pairings, etc., enhancing customers' purchase confidence and satisfaction. However, current electronic shelf label technology has a problem of insufficient system capacity in large shopping malls or target areas, which limits the number and scale of electronic shelf labels in use. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Multiple embodiments of this specification describe an electronic shelf label positioning system and method.

[0004] In a first aspect, an embodiment of this specification provides an electronic shelf label positioning system, including:

[0005] A number of positioning base stations, positioning chips, and a server,

[0006] A number of the positioning base stations are distributed in a target area, the positioning chips are built into mobile devices or shelf labels, the positioning chips obtain their own location information based on the positioning base stations, a number of the positioning base stations establish a communication connection with the server, the mobile devices establish a communication connection with the server, the server stores topographic information of the target area, and the server performs the following steps:

[0007] Receive the location information reported by the shelf label, and issue label configuration information according to the location information of the shelf label, where the label configuration information includes goods information;

[0008] Receive the target goods and location information reported by the mobile device, and feedback the goods search path of the target goods;

[0009] Periodically receive the new location information reported by the mobile device, and update the goods search path or prompt arrival according to the new location information.

[0010] In a second aspect, an embodiment of this specification provides an electronic shelf label positioning method, including steps:

[0011] Set up a number of positioning base stations, positioning chips and servers. The number of positioning base stations are distributed in the target area. The positioning chips are built into the mobile device or the shelf label. The positioning chips obtain their own location information according to the positioning base stations. The number of positioning base stations establish communication connections with the server, and the mobile device establishes a communication connection with the server;

[0012] The server receives the location information reported by the shelf label, and issues label configuration information according to the location information of the shelf label, where the label configuration information includes goods information;

[0013] The server receives the target goods and location information reported by the mobile device, and feedback the goods search path of the target goods;

[0014] The server periodically receives the new location information reported by the mobile device, and updates the goods search path or prompts arrival according to the new location information.

[0015] In a third aspect, an embodiment of this specification provides an electronic device, including a processor and a memory;

[0016] The processor is connected to the memory;

[0017] The memory is used to store executable program code;

[0018] The processor runs a program corresponding to the executable program code by reading the executable program code stored in the memory, so as to execute the method described in any of the above aspects.

[0019] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of this specification provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the method described in any of the above aspects is implemented.

[0020] Fifthly, embodiments of this specification provide a computer program product, including a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements the method described in any of the above aspects.

[0021] The beneficial effects brought by the technical solutions provided in some embodiments of this specification at least include:

[0022] In multiple embodiments of this specification, the provided electronic shelf label positioning system and method can, with the help of indoor positioning, provide users with a goods-searching path to help users quickly find the target goods they need; through the communication between the shelf label and the server, the content of the shelf label can be set remotely, and it can be linked with a mobile device to realize the prompting of the target goods, helping users find the target goods they need more conveniently; by dividing sub-regions and setting passing ranges, the number of interactions that the mobile device needs to have with the server is reduced, the burden on the server is reduced, and the number of mobile devices and shelf labels that the server can accommodate and serve is increased, which is suitable for use in large-scale supermarkets with a wide variety of goods.

[0023] Other features and advantages of multiple embodiments of this specification will be further revealed in the following specific implementation manners and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this specification, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required in the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of this specification. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0025] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the electronic shelf label positioning system provided for the embodiments of this specification.

[0026] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the shelf label provided for the embodiments of this specification.

[0027] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the deployment of the positioning chip provided for the embodiments of this specification.

[0028] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the architecture of the electronic shelf label positioning system provided for the embodiments of this specification.

[0029] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the interaction interface provided for the embodiments of this specification.

[0030] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the sub-region provided for the embodiments of this specification.

[0031] Figure 7The range schematic diagram provided by the embodiments of this specification.

[0032] Figure 8 The schematic diagram of the electronic shelf label positioning method provided by the embodiments of this specification.

[0033] Figure 9 The schematic diagram of the electronic device provided by the embodiments of this specification. Detailed implementation manners

[0034] Next, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this specification will be explained and described with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of this specification. However, the following embodiments are only the preferred embodiments of this specification, not all of them. Based on the embodiments in the implementation manners, other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative efforts all fall within the protection scope of this specification.

[0035] The terms "first", "second", "third", etc. in the specification, claims and the above-mentioned drawings of this specification are used to distinguish different objects, rather than to describe a specific order. In addition, the terms "include" and "have" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but optionally further includes steps or units not listed, or optionally further includes other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0036] In the following description, terms such as "inner", "outer", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", etc. indicating orientation or positional relationship are only for the convenience of describing the embodiments and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation to this specification.

[0037] The data involved in this application are all information and data authorized by users or fully authorized by all parties, and the collection of relevant data complies with the relevant laws, regulations and standards of relevant countries and regions.

[0038] Before introducing the technical solutions described in this specification, the application scenarios and related technologies of the technical solutions will be introduced.

[0039] Before introducing the technical solutions described in this specification, the application scenarios and related technologies of the technical solutions will be introduced.

[0040] The shelf label 13 is placed on the shelf 11 and is used to identify product names, prices, and other relevant information. It is usually applied in shopping malls or warehouses. After manual production and printing, it needs to be placed on the shelf 11. With the replacement of goods and the change of placement positions, it needs to be remade, which is time-consuming, laborious, and prone to errors. With the continuous enrichment of commodity varieties, especially in large supermarkets or complex warehouse environments, frequent price changes and promotional activities make the update of labels a heavy task. Manual operation not only increases operating costs but also may lead to inaccurate information, thus affecting the customer experience and sales performance. In addition, due to the lack of the ability to update in real time, traditional labels cannot meet the requirements of the modern business environment for quickly responding to market demand changes.

[0041] To address these issues, the Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL) 13 came into being. Different from traditional paper labels, the ESL is equipped with a small display screen that can display more abundant information content, including but not limited to product names, prices, discount information, and even inventory status. More importantly, the ESL system can be connected to the central server 50 through a wireless network to achieve instant synchronous update of information, greatly improving work efficiency and accuracy. The ink screen is often used as the display technology for the ESL. The ink screen is famous for its low power consumption characteristics, which means that it can maintain the working state for a long time even when powered by batteries, reducing the demand for power and at the same time lowering the maintenance cost. In addition, the ink screen has good viewing angles and contrast, and can provide clear and readable text display effects under various lighting conditions.

[0042] With the development of Internet of Things technology and Bluetooth positioning technology, some ESLs have already built-in positioning chips 31. This kind of ESL with positioning function can not only accurately mark the positions of goods but also help store managers better manage and optimize the inventory layout. For example, please refer to the appendix Figure 1 , in a shopping mall, high-precision positioning services are crucial for enhancing the customer shopping experience. Merchants can create a more accurate product navigation system to help customers quickly find the target products; for warehouses, it helps to improve the picking efficiency and reduce the error rate.

[0043] In a shopping mall environment, to ensure the accuracy of positioning, usually a relatively high positioning accuracy is required. Please refer to the appendix Figure 2, due to the complex internal space of the supermarket and the dense distribution of electronic shelf labels 13, high requirements are imposed on the system's capacity and response speed. To solve this problem, many solutions adopt Bluetooth-based technologies to implement the positioning function. Although Bluetooth itself does not directly support positioning, by analyzing the Bluetooth signal strength received from multiple positioning base stations 30, the relative distance between the receiving device and each base station can be estimated. This method is called the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication) ranging method. Theoretically speaking, as long as there are more than four positioning base stations 30 with known positions, the three-dimensional coordinates can be calculated using the triangulation principle to achieve the purpose of precise positioning.

[0044] However, when deploying in large supermarkets or warehouses, it is also necessary to reasonably plan the positions of the positioning base stations 30 to cover the entire area. The simultaneous online operation of a large number of ESL devices will bring response pressure. Therefore, technologies for improving the response speed and system capacity need to be studied.

[0045] This specification first proposes an electronic shelf label 13 positioning system. Please refer to the appendix Figure 1 to the appendix Figure 3 , including:

[0046] Several positioning base stations 30, positioning chips 31 and a server 50,

[0047] Several of the positioning base stations 30 are distributed in the target area 10. The positioning chip 31 is built into the mobile device 40 or the shelf label 13. The positioning chip 31 obtains its own position information based on the positioning base stations 30. Several of the positioning base stations 30 establish a communication connection with the server 50. The mobile device 40 establishes a communication connection with the server 50. The server 50 stores the terrain information of the target area 10. The server 50 performs the following steps:

[0048] Receive the position information reported by the shelf label 13, and issue label configuration information according to the position information of the shelf label 13. The label configuration information includes goods information;

[0049] Receive the target goods 12 and position information reported by the mobile device 40, and feedback the goods search path 21 of the target goods 12;

[0050] Periodically receive the new position information reported by the mobile device 40, and update the goods search path 21 or prompt arrival according to the new position information.

[0051] The target area 10 is the usage area or open area of a commercial supermarket or warehouse. The positioning base station 30 is set within the target area 10. As a recommended method, the positioning base station 30 is set at the top of the target area 10. When set at the top, the broadcast signal is less blocked, resulting in a better positioning effect and improved positioning accuracy.

[0052] The technical solution provided in this embodiment can guide users to find the goods they need. Please refer to the attached Figure 1 again. The user uses the mobile device 40 to establish a communication connection with the server 50 and submits the target goods 12 and their own location information through the mobile device 40. The location information of the mobile device 40 itself is obtained through the interaction between the positioning chip 31 and the positioning base station 30. The mobile device 40 can directly integrate the positioning chip 31, or it can use the Bluetooth receiving device carried by the mobile device 40 itself and run the corresponding calculation program to obtain the location information through calculation.

[0053] Specifically, when the positioning chip 31 obtains its own location information based on the positioning base station 30, the following steps are executed:

[0054] Receive broadcast information containing the base station number and base station location broadcast by at least four positioning base stations 30;

[0055] Calculate the distance to the corresponding broadcast base station based on the signal strength of the received broadcast information;

[0056] Obtain its own location information based on the distances to the four positioning base stations 30 and the base station locations of the positioning base stations 30.

[0057] Receive broadcast information containing base station numbers and base station locations broadcast by at least four positioning base stations 30. Each positioning base station 30 will continuously broadcast its unique base station number and the coordinates of the known base station location (usually X, Y, Z coordinates) periodically. These broadcast information are captured by the electronic shelf label 13 (ESL) or other devices with receiving capabilities through wireless communication protocols such as Bluetooth Low Energy Broadcast (BLE). When the ESL receives these broadcast information, it estimates the distance to each base station according to the strength of the received signal. This process involves the application of Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) technology. RSSI is a method to measure the strength of radio waves, usually expressed in decibels per milliwatt (dBm). In an ideal situation, the closer to the base station, the stronger the received signal; conversely, the weaker it is. However, there are various factors in the actual environment that may affect signal propagation, such as attenuation or reflection caused by obstacles like walls and humans. Therefore, the distance calculation based on RSSI is not completely accurate, but it can provide a relatively accurate estimated value. To improve the positioning accuracy, the system usually uses multiple base stations for triangulation or multilateration. When receiving the broadcast information of four different base stations and being able to extract their respective numbers, locations, and corresponding RSSI values from them. Then convert the RSSI into the actual distance. This step can be completed through a preset empirical formula or a machine learning model.

[0058] When the approximate distances from the ESL to each base station are obtained, mathematical methods such as the least squares method can be used to calculate the exact location of the ESL. Specifically, the position coordinates of the four base stations are (x1, y1, z1), (x2, y2, z2), (x3, y3, z3), and (x4, y4, z4), and the distances between the positioning chip 31 and these four positioning base stations 30 are d1, d2, d3, and d4 respectively. By solving the following non-linear equations:

[0059] (x - x1)^2 + (y - y1)^2 + (z - z1)^2 = d1^2

[0060] (x - x2)^2 + (y - y2)^2 + (z - z2)^2 = d2^2

[0061] (x - x3)^2 + (y - y3)^2 + (z - z3)^2 = d3^2

[0062] (x - x4)^2 + (y - y4)^2 + (z - z4)^2 = d4^2

[0063] Among them, (x, y, z) represents the position coordinates of the positioning chip 31. Since this is an overdetermined problem, that is, the number of equations is more than the number of unknowns, the least squares method or other numerical optimization algorithms can be applied to find the best fitting solution, so as to obtain the position information closest to the actual situation. After calculation, the position information of the positioning chip 31 itself can be finally obtained.

[0064] The system provided by this application adopts the system architecture as Figure 4 shown. Figure 4 FIG. is a schematic diagram of the system architecture in an embodiment of this application. As Figure 4 shown, the system architecture includes a server 50 and a mobile device 40. An interaction interface 41 is provided on the mobile device 40, as Figure 5 shown. Among them, the interaction interface 41 can run on the mobile device 40 in the form of a browser, or can run on the mobile device 40 in the form of an independent application (APP), etc. For the specific display form of the interaction interface 41, no limitation is made here. The server 50 involved in this application can be an independent physical server, or a server cluster or distributed system composed of multiple physical servers, or a cloud server that provides basic cloud computing services such as cloud services, cloud databases, cloud computing, cloud functions, cloud storage, network services, cloud communications, middleware services, domain name services, security services, Content Delivery Network (CDN), and big data and artificial intelligence platforms. The mobile device 40 can be a smart phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a handheld computer, a personal computer, a smart speaker, a smart TV, a smart watch, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, etc., but is not limited thereto. The mobile device 40 and the server 50 can be directly or indirectly connected through wired or wireless communication methods, and no limitation is made in this application. The number of the server 50 and the mobile device 40 is also not limited.

[0065] Please refer to the attached Figure 6 . The goods search path 21 includes several indication points 22 and direction angles 23. When the mobile device 40 reaches the indication point 22, it turns according to the direction angle 23. The method for updating the goods search path 21 or prompting arrival according to the new position information includes:

[0066] According to the position information reported by the mobile device 40, it is judged whether the mobile device 40 deviates from the goods search path 21;

[0067] When not deviating from the goods search path 21, calculate the distance between the current mobile device 40 and the next indication point 22;

[0068] When the distance is greater than a preset first distance threshold, a passing range 25 is generated according to the terrain information, the passing range 25 is sent to the mobile device 40, and when it is indicated that the mobile device 40 has not moved out of the passing range 25, the location information is no longer reported;

[0069] When the distance is not greater than the preset first distance threshold, the mobile device 40 is instructed to report location information at a second frequency until the distance is less than or equal to a preset second distance threshold, at which time a turn is prompted or arrival is prompted. When arrival is prompted, the corresponding shelf label is controlled to display a prompt message;

[0070] When deviating from the goods-finding path 21, a new goods-finding path 21 is generated according to the location information and the target goods 12, and is sent to the mobile device 40.

[0071] In order to prompt the user to turn or arrive in a timely manner, when approaching an indication point or the target goods, intensive communication and data interaction are required between the mobile device and the server, which brings a large load to the server. If the data interaction is not intensive enough, the user may have passed the indication point or the target goods, resulting in inaccurate goods-finding navigation. Especially in large supermarkets and shopping malls, when a large number of users increase the frequency of data interaction, it will bring a serious burden to the server and may cause the server to crash or freeze. Among them, the method for judging whether the mobile device 40 deviates from the goods-finding path 21 includes:

[0072] Calculate the point-line distance between the current location information of the mobile device 40 and the goods-finding path 21;

[0073] When the point-line distance exceeds a preset threshold, according to the terrain information, judge whether there is an obstacle between the current location of the mobile device 40 and the nearest connection line of the goods-finding path 21;

[0074] When there is an obstacle, it is determined that the mobile device 40 deviates from the goods-finding path 21.

[0075] The point-line distance is the shortest perpendicular distance from the current position of the mobile device 40 (i.e., a point) to one or more line segments of the goods-finding path 21. If the point-line distance exceeds a pre-set threshold, it indicates that the mobile device 40 has deviated from the goods-finding route. The choice of this threshold depends on the requirements of the specific application scenario. For example, in a large supermarket, due to the wide aisles, a larger threshold can be set; while in a narrow warehouse aisle, a smaller threshold should be selected to ensure higher accuracy, which can be done according to the publicly available technologies in this field. Determine whether there are obstacles between the current position of the mobile device 40 and the nearest connecting line according to the terrain information. Here, the connecting line refers to the straight-line connection from the current position of the mobile device 40 to a certain point on the nearest goods-finding path 21. When there are obstacles, the system can determine that the mobile device 40 has indeed deviated from the goods-finding path 21. That is, the user did not go in the wrong direction due to personal reasons, but was affected by the actual physical environment. At this time, send a notification, voice prompt through the application program or the server 50 regenerates the navigation.

[0076] Please refer to the appendix Figure 7 , the method for generating the passing range 25 according to the terrain information includes:

[0077] Generate a plurality of square sub-regions 24 to cover all passable areas in the terrain information;

[0078] Establish an orthogonal coordinate system within the target area 10, and the boundaries of the direction sub-regions 24 are parallel to the coordinate axes of the orthogonal coordinate system;

[0079] Determine whether the mobile device 40 and the indication point 22 are located in the same sub-region 24;

[0080] If they are not located in the same sub-region 24, generate the passing range 25 according to the sub-region 24 where the mobile device 40 is currently located;

[0081] If they are located in the same sub-region 24, generate a circular area that is inscribed in the sub-region 24 or passes through the indication point 22 with the current position of the mobile device 40 as the center as the passing range 25.

[0082] Sub-region 24 should cover all the walkable spaces within the entire shopping mall or warehouse, including aisles, open areas, etc. The size of sub-region 24 can be adjusted according to actual needs. For example, in a large supermarket, a larger sub-region 24 can be set, while in a warehouse with dense shelves 11, a smaller size should be selected. An orthogonal coordinate system is established within the target region 10 such that the boundaries of the directional sub-region 24 are parallel to the coordinate axes of this coordinate system. This step helps to simplify the process of position calculation and path planning. In this way, each sub-region 24 can be uniquely determined by the coordinate values of its four vertices, and the position of the mobile device 40 or the indicating point 22 can also be accurately located in this coordinate system. When determining whether the mobile device 40 has moved out of sub-region 24, it can be simply compared by coordinates. If the mobile device 40 and the indicating point 22 are not in the same sub-region 24, it means that the user is still at a certain distance from the indicating point 22, and the range 25 is set as sub-region 24. When in the same sub-region 24, a circular area inscribed in the sub-region 24 is generated with the current position of the mobile device 40 as the center. When the inscribed circular area includes the indicating point 22, the radius of the circular area needs to be reduced to the size passing through this indicating point 22, that is, as shown in the appendix Figure 7 shown. When the mobile device 40 has not moved out of the passing range 25, there is no need to interact with the server 50 for data, thus greatly reducing the requests that the server 50 needs to process, expanding the capacity of the system, and at the same time ensuring the positioning accuracy and response speed.

[0083] On the other hand, this specification discloses a method for positioning an electronic shelf label 13. Please refer to the appendix Figure 8 , including the steps:

[0084] Step S101) Set a number of positioning base stations 30, positioning chips 31 and a server 50. A number of the positioning base stations 30 are distributed in the target region 10. The positioning chip 31 is built into the mobile device 40 or the shelf label 13. The positioning chip 31 obtains its own position information based on the positioning base stations 30. A number of the positioning base stations 30 establish a communication connection with the server 50, and the mobile device 40 establishes a communication connection with the server 50;

[0085] Step S102) The server 50 receives the position information reported by the shelf label 13 and issues label configuration information according to the position information of the shelf label 13. The label configuration information includes goods information;

[0086] Step S103) The server 50 receives the target goods 12 and position information reported by the mobile device 40 and feedbacks the goods-finding path 21 of the target goods 12;

[0087] In step S104), the server 50 periodically receives new location information reported by the mobile device 40, and updates the goods search path 21 or gives a prompt to arrive according to the new location information.

[0088] Among them, the method by which the positioning chip 31 obtains its own location information based on the positioning base station 30 includes:

[0089] Receiving broadcast information containing the base station number and the base station location broadcast by at least four positioning base stations 30;

[0090] Calculating the distance from the corresponding broadcast base station according to the signal strength of the received broadcast information;

[0091] Obtaining its own location information according to the distances from the four positioning base stations 30 and the base station locations of the positioning base stations 30.

[0092] Please refer to Figure 9 the schematic structural diagram of an electronic device provided by an embodiment of the present specification shown.

[0093] As Figure 9 shown, the electronic device 1100 may include: at least one processor 1101, at least one network interface 1104, a user interface 1103, a memory 1105, and at least one communication bus 1102. Among them, the communication bus 1102 can be used to realize the connection and communication of the above-mentioned various components. Among them, the user interface 1103 may include buttons, and the optional user interface may further include a standard wired interface and a wireless interface. Among them, the network interface 1104 may but is not limited to include a Bluetooth module, an NFC module, a Wi-Fi module, etc. Among them, the processor 1101 may include one or more processing cores. The processor 1101 connects various parts within the entire electronic device 1100 through various interfaces and lines, and executes various functions of the routing device 1100 and processes data by running or executing instructions, programs, code sets or instruction sets stored in the memory 1105, and calling data stored in the memory 1105. Optionally, the processor 1101 may be implemented in at least one of the hardware forms of DSP, FPGA, and PLA. The processor 1101 may integrate one or a combination of several of CPU, GPU, and modem, etc. Among them, the CPU mainly processes the operating system, the user interface, and application programs, etc.; the GPU is responsible for rendering and drawing the content to be displayed on the display screen; the modem is used to process wireless communication.

[0094] It can be understood that the above-mentioned modem may not be integrated into the processor 1101 and may be implemented separately through a single chip.

[0095] Among them, the memory 1105 may include RAM and may also include ROM. Optionally, the memory 1105 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The memory 1105 can be used to store instructions, programs, codes, code sets or instruction sets. The memory 1105 may include a program storage area and a data storage area. Among them, the program storage area may store instructions for implementing the operating system, instructions for at least one function (such as touch function, sound playback function, image playback function, etc.), instructions for implementing the above method embodiments, etc.; the data storage area may store the data involved in the above method embodiments. Optionally, the memory 1105 may also be at least one storage device located far from the aforementioned processor 1101. The memory 1105 as a computer storage medium may include an operating system, a network communication module, a user interface module, and application programs. The processor 1101 may be used to call the application programs stored in the memory 1105 and execute the methods in the above-mentioned multiple embodiments.

[0096] The embodiments of this specification also provide a computer-readable storage medium. Instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium. When the instructions are run on a computer or a processor, the computer or the processor is caused to execute multiple steps in the above embodiments. If the respective component modules of the above electronic device are implemented in the form of software function units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in the computer-readable storage medium.

[0097] The embodiments of this specification also provide a computer program product, including a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements multiple steps in the above embodiments.

[0098] Without conflict, the technical features in this embodiment and the implementation solutions can be combined arbitrarily.

[0099] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes a plurality of computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this specification are generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted through the computer-readable storage medium. The computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server 50, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center in a wired manner (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or a wireless manner (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or a data center that integrates a plurality of available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (such as a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (such as a Solid State Disk (SSD)), etc.

[0100] When implemented by hardware or firmware, the foregoing method flow is programmed into a hardware circuit to obtain a corresponding hardware circuit structure and implement the corresponding function. For example, a Programmable Logic Device (PLD) (such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)) is such an integrated circuit whose logical function is determined by a user's programming of the device. A designer can program on their own to "integrate" a digital system on a single PLD, without having to ask a chip manufacturer to design and fabricate a dedicated integrated circuit chip. Moreover, nowadays, instead of manually fabricating integrated circuit chips, this programming is mostly implemented using "logic compiler" software, which is similar to the software compiler used in program development and writing. The original code before compilation also has to be written in a specific programming language, which is called a Hardware Description Language (HDL), and there is not just one type of HDL, but many types. Those skilled in the art should also be clear that only by slightly logically programming the method flow with the above-mentioned several hardware description languages and programming it into an integrated circuit can a hardware circuit for implementing the logical method flow be easily obtained.

[0101] The embodiments described above are only described in terms of the preferred embodiments of this specification, and do not limit the scope of this specification. Without departing from the design spirit of this specification, various deformations and improvements made by those of ordinary skill in the art to the technical solutions of this specification shall fall within the protection scope determined by the claims of this specification.

Claims

1. An electronic shelf label positioning system, characterized in that, Comprising: A plurality of positioning base stations, positioning chips and servers, The plurality of positioning base stations are distributed in a target area, the positioning chip is built into a mobile device or a shelf label, the positioning chip obtains its own position information according to the positioning base station, the plurality of positioning base stations establish a communication connection with the server, the mobile device establishes a communication connection with the server, the server stores terrain information of the target area, and the server performs the following steps: Receiving the position information reported by the shelf label, and issuing label configuration information according to the position information of the shelf label, where the label configuration information includes goods information; Receiving the target goods and position information reported by the mobile device, and feedbacking the goods searching path of the target goods; Periodically receiving the new position information reported by the mobile device, and updating the goods searching path or prompting arrival according to the new position information; The goods searching path includes a plurality of indication points and direction angles. When the mobile device reaches the indication point, it turns according to the direction angle. The method for updating the goods searching path or prompting arrival according to the new position information includes: Judging whether the mobile device deviates from the goods searching path according to the position information reported by the mobile device; When not deviating from the goods searching path, calculating the distance between the current mobile device and the next indication point; When the distance is greater than a preset first distance threshold, generating a passing range according to the terrain information, issuing the passing range to the mobile device, and indicating that when the mobile device does not move out of the passing range, it does not report position information anymore; When the distance is not greater than the preset first distance threshold, instructing the mobile device to report position information at a second frequency until the distance is less than or equal to a preset second distance threshold, prompting a turn or prompting arrival, and when prompting arrival, controlling the corresponding shelf label to display a prompt content; When deviating from the goods searching path, regenerating a goods searching path according to the position information and the target goods, and issuing it to the mobile device.

2. The electronic shelf label positioning system according to claim 1, wherein When the positioning chip obtains its own position information according to the positioning base station, the following steps are performed: Receiving broadcast information including base station numbers and base station positions broadcast by at least four positioning base stations; Calculating the distance from the corresponding broadcast base station according to the signal strength of the received broadcast information; Obtaining its own position information according to the distances from the four positioning base stations and the base station positions of the positioning base stations.

3. The electronic shelf label positioning system according to claim 1, wherein The method for judging whether the mobile device deviates from the goods searching path includes: Calculating the point-line distance between the current position information of the mobile device and the goods searching path; When the point-line distance exceeds a preset threshold, judging whether there is an obstacle between the current position of the mobile device and the nearest connection line of the goods searching path according to the terrain information; When there is an obstacle, determining that the mobile device deviates from the goods searching path.

4. The electronic shelf label positioning system according to claim 1, wherein The method for generating a passing range according to the terrain information includes: Generate multiple square sub-regions to cover all passable regions in the terrain information; Establish an orthogonal coordinate system within the target region, where the boundaries of the direction sub-regions are parallel to the coordinate axes of the orthogonal coordinate system; Determine whether the mobile device and the indicated point are located in the same sub-region; If they are not located in the same sub-region, generate a passing range based on the sub-region where the mobile device is currently located; If they are located in the same sub-region, generate a circular region that is inscribed in the sub-region or passes through the indicated point with the current position of the mobile device as the center as the passing range.

5. Electronic shelf label positioning method, characterized in that, Include the steps: Set up several positioning base stations, positioning chips and servers. The several positioning base stations are distributed in the target region. The positioning chip is built into the mobile device or the shelf label. The positioning chip obtains its own position information based on the positioning base stations. The several positioning base stations establish a communication connection with the server, and the mobile device establishes a communication connection with the server; The server stores the terrain information of the target region. The server receives the position information reported by the shelf label and issues label configuration information according to the position information of the shelf label. The label configuration information includes goods information; The server receives the target goods and position information reported by the mobile device and feedbacks the searching path of the target goods; The server periodically receives the new position information reported by the mobile device and updates the searching path or prompts arrival according to the new position information; The searching path includes several indicated points and direction angles. When the mobile device reaches the indicated point, it turns according to the direction angle. The method for updating the searching path or prompting arrival according to the new position information includes: Judge whether the mobile device deviates from the searching path according to the position information reported by the mobile device; When not deviating from the searching path, calculate the distance between the current mobile device and the next indicated point; When the distance is greater than a preset first distance threshold, generate a passing range according to the terrain information, send the passing range to the mobile device and instruct the mobile device not to report position information when it does not move out of the passing range; When the distance is not greater than the preset first distance threshold, instruct the mobile device to report position information at a second frequency until the distance is less than or equal to the preset second distance threshold, then prompt turning or prompt arrival. When prompting arrival, control the corresponding shelf label to display the prompt content; When deviating from the searching path, regenerate the searching path according to the position information and the target goods and send it to the mobile device.

6. The electronic shelf label positioning method according to claim 5, characterized in that The method for the positioning chip to obtain its own position information based on the positioning base station includes: Receive broadcast information including base station numbers and base station positions broadcast by at least four positioning base stations; Calculate the distance from the corresponding broadcast base station according to the signal strength of the received broadcast information; Obtain its own position information according to the distances from the four positioning base stations and the base station positions of the positioning base stations.

7. An electronic device, characterized in that, Include a processor and a memory; The processor is connected to the memory; The memory is configured to store executable program code; The processor runs a program corresponding to the executable program code by reading the executable program code stored in the memory, so as to execute the method according to claim 5 or 6.

8. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by a processor, the method according to claim 5 or 6 is implemented.

9. A computer program product, comprising a computer program, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by a processor, the method according to claim 5 or 6 is implemented.

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