Radio power consumption management for case-level tracking

Abstract

A method for controlling ESL radio power consumption includes: tracking, using a plurality of ESL radios, at least one case, wherein the at least one case is in a first state when the at least one case is in motion, and a second state when the at least one case is stationary; triggering at least a first set of the ESL radios to operate in a first receiver configuration; determining whether the at least one case is in the second state; determining the current location of the at least one case; determining whether the current location of the at least one case is beyond a second threshold distance from the movable object; and triggering a second set of the ESL radios to operate in a second receiver configuration for at least a re-stocking time associated with the at least one case.

Description

Qualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -1 / 50-RADIO POWER CONSUMPTION MANAGEMENT FOR CASE-LEVEL TRACKINGRELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of Greek Application No. 20250100059, filed January 28, 2025, entitled “RADIO POWER CONSUMPTION MANAGEMENT FOR CASE-LEVEL TRACKING,” which is assigned to the assignee hereof, and incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

[0002] Wireless communication systems have developed through various generations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service (1G), a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), a third-generation (3G) high speed data, Internet-capable wireless service, a fourthgeneration (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax®), a fifthgeneration (5G) service (e.g., 5GNew Radio (NR)), etc., with a sixth-generation (6G) service in development. There are presently many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including Cellular and Personal Communications Service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobile access (GSM) variation of TDM A, etc.

[0003] A fifth generation (5G) mobile standard calls for higher data transfer speeds, greater numbers of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5G standard, according to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, is designed to provide data rates of several tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, with 1 gigabit per second to tens of workers on an office floor. Several hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported in order to support large sensor deployments. Consequently, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly enhanced compared to the current 4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiencies should be enhanced and latency should be substantially reduced compared to current standards.WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -2 / 50-

[0004] Networks of devices may be used for various wireless signal transfer applications. For example, networks of devices may transmit positioning signals that may be measured to determine information from which position information (e.g., one or more ranges between a target device and one or more signal sources, a position estimate, etc.) may be determined. As another example, networks of devices may transmit signals containing data and / or communications.SUMMARY

[0005] An example method for controlling electronic shelf label (ESL) radio power consumption includes: tracking, using a plurality of ESL radios, at least one case, wherein the at least one case is in a first state when the at least one case is in motion, and a second state when the at least one case is stationary; triggering, for the first state, at least a first set of the ESL radios to operate in a first receiver configuration based on a movable object being within a vicinity of at least one of the ESL radios; determining whether the at least one case is in the second state for at least a first threshold period of time; determining a current location of the at least one case based on determining that the at least one case is in the second state for at least the first threshold period of time; determining whether the current location of the at least one case is beyond a second threshold distance from the movable object; and triggering, based on the at least one case being in the second state and the current location of the at least one case being beyond the second threshold distance from the movable object, a second set of the ESL radios to operate in a second receiver configuration, that is different from the first receiver configuration, for at least a re-stocking time associated with the at least one case.

[0006] Another example method for controlling ESL radio power consumption includes: maintaining a list of a plurality of electronic tags (e-Tags) attached to a plurality of cases; determining, using measurements from a plurality of ESL radios of beacon signals from the plurality of cases, a position estimate for each of the e-Tags in the list; and suspending receiver operations of the ESL radios in a vicinity of the plurality of cases, based on the position estimate, for a period of time related to a restocking time of the plurality of cases.

[0007] An example apparatus includes: at least one transceiver; at least one memory; and at least one processor, communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver andWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -3 / 50-the at least one memory, configured to: track, using a plurality of ESL radios, at least one case, wherein the at least one case is in a first state when the at least one case is in motion, and a second state when the at least one case is stationary; trigger, for the first state, at least a first set of the ESL radios to operate in a first receiver configuration based on a movable object being within a vicinity of at least one of the ESL radios; determine whether the at least one case is in the second state for at least a first threshold period of time; determine a current location of the at least one case based on determining that the at least one case is in the second state for at least the first threshold period of time; determine whether the current location of the at least one case is beyond a second threshold distance from the movable object; and trigger, based at least on the at least one case being in the second state and the current location of the at least one case being beyond the second threshold distance from the movable object, a second set of the ESL radios to operate in a second receiver configuration, that is different from the first receiver configuration, for at least a re-stocking time associated with the at least one case.

[0008] Another example apparatus includes: at least one transceiver; at least one memory; and at least one processor, communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver and the at least one memory, configured to: maintain a list of a plurality of e-Tags attached to a plurality of cases; determine, using measurements from a plurality of ESL radios of beacon signals from the plurality of cases, a position estimate for each of the e-Tags in the list; and suspend receiver operations of the ESL radios in a vicinity of the plurality of cases, based on the position estimate, for a period of time related to a re-stocking time of the plurality of cases.

[0009] An example apparatus for controlling ESL radio power consumption includes: means for tracking, using a plurality of ESL radios, at least one case, wherein the at least one case is in a first state when the at least one case is in motion, and a second state when the at least one case is stationary; means for triggering, for the first state, at least a first set of the ESL radios to operate in a first receiver configuration based on a movable object being within a vicinity of at least one of the ESL radios; means for determining whether the at least one case is in the second state for at least a first threshold period of time; means for determining a current location of the at least one case based on determining that the at least one case is in the second state for at least the first threshold period of time; means for determining whether the current location of theWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -4 / 50-at least one case is beyond a second threshold distance from the movable object; and means for triggering, based on the at least one case being in the second state and the current location of the at least one case being beyond the second threshold distance from the movable object, a second set of the ESL radios to operate in a second receiver configuration, that is different from the first receiver configuration, for at least a restocking time associated with the at least one case.

[0010] Another example apparatus for controlling ESL radio power consumption includes: means for maintaining a list of a plurality of e-Tags attached to a plurality of cases; means for determining, using measurements from a plurality of ESL radios of beacon signals from the plurality of cases, a position estimate for each of the e-Tags in the list; and means for suspending receiver operations of the ESL radios in a vicinity of the plurality of cases, based on the position estimate, for a period of time related to a restocking time of the plurality of cases.

[0011] An example non-transitory processor-readable storage medium includes computer-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to control ESL radio power consumption, including: code for tracking, using a plurality of ESL radios, at least one case, wherein the at least one case is in a first state when the at least one case is in motion, and a second state when the at least one case is stationary; code for triggering, for the first state, at least a first set of the ESL radios to operate in a first receiver configuration based on a movable object being within a vicinity of at least one of the ESL radios; code for determining whether the at least one case is in the second state for at least a first threshold period of time; code for determining a current location of the at least one case based on determining that the at least one case is in the second state for at least the first threshold period of time; code for determining whether the current location of the at least one case is beyond a second threshold distance from the movable object; and code for triggering, based on the at least one case being in the second state and the current location of the at least one case being beyond the second threshold distance from the movable object, a second set of the ESL radios to operate in a second receiver configuration, that is different from the first receiver configuration, for at least a re-stocking time associated with the at least one case.

[0012] Another example non-transitory processor-readable storage medium includes computer-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to controlWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -5 / 50-ESL radio power consumption, including: code for maintaining a list of a plurality of e-Tags attached to a plurality of cases; code for determining, using measurements from a plurality of ESL radios of beacon signals from the plurality of cases, a position estimate for each of the e-Tags in the list; and code for suspending receiver operations of the ESL radios in a vicinity of the plurality of cases, based on the position estimate, for a period of time related to a re-stocking time of the plurality of cases.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] FIG. l is a perspective view of an example deployment of anchor wireless-signal transmitters.

[0014] FIG. 2 is a plan view of a gondola, shown in FIG. 1, with shelves containing anchor wireless-signal transmitters.

[0015] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of components of an example transmission / reception point.

[0016] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of components of a server.

[0017] FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of an example user equipment.

[0018] FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of an example network entity.

[0019] FIG. 7 is a graph of beacon signals transmitted from different radios in respective time windows.

[0020] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example environment for re-stocking cases, using electronic shelf labels (ESLs).

[0021] FIG. 9 is a process flow of an example method for controlling electronic shelf label (ESL) radio power consumption.

[0022] FIG. 10 is a process flow of another example method for controlling electronic shelf label (ESL) radio power consumption.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Techniques are discussed herein for positioning a target mobile device in a dense anchor deployment. Locations of anchor nodes may be provided to a target mobile device by leveraging a topology of the deployment. For example, a reference location may be provided in full for a lead anchor node and locations of other (follower) anchorWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -6 / 50-nodes may be indicated as offsets from the location of the lead anchor node. The offsets may be indicated as one or more distance offset increments for each of multiple time windows in which respective anchor nodes transmit respective beacon signals. Offset corrections may be provided, e.g., if a location offset of a follower anchor nodes changes. A subset of the anchor nodes in the deployment may be selected based on a coarse location of the target mobile device, which may reduce the signaling overhead for positioning the target mobile device by limiting the quantity of anchor nodes transmitting beacon signals for determining the location of the target mobile device. Other configurations, however, may be used.

[0024] Techniques are discussed for use with large-scale deployments, in which nodes may be inefficiently broadcasting their location. Location broadcasts may be reduced by taking into account physical features (e.g. layout of a warehouse / store), radio identifier, duty cycle of transmission and / or subset of preferred radios to be used for positioning. A physical region (e.g., with respect to a reference point such as an aisle, a shelf, etc.) may be used to define the radio ID (Identifier), so a user equipment (UE) may use the radio ID to determine location of the UE. A primary device may broadcast a location of the primary device and nearby devices may not provide their respective locations. Instead, for example, a time slot offset between the primary device and the nearby devices may correspond to a spatial relationship between the devices. The spatial relationship may be a horizontal offset, a vertical offset, a shelf offset, etc. There may be a "bubble" of a subset of radios that correspond to a coarse location of a primary device and the devices in the bubble may provide a beacon at a faster rate than devices outside the bubble. Location changes may be identified for an anchor location, and subsequent broadcast messages may include a correction factor for that anchor location. An anchor device may utilize a camera of the anchor device to periodically scan and identify non-uniform and / or altered spacing between other anchor devices. Based on a non-uniform and / or altered spacing being detected, a gateway can be notified. Electric Shelf Labels (ESLs) may be configured to transmit positioning reference signals at a certain periodicity and have offsets relative to other sets of ESL. A UE may receive assistance data for the UE to position with the ESLs.

[0025] Items and / or techniques described herein may provide one or more of the following capabilities, as well as other capabilities not mentioned. Signaling overhead for positioning a target mobile device may be reduced, e.g., relative to transmitting fullWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -7 / 50-locations of each anchor node in a deployment of anchor nodes. Regularity of topology of an anchor node deployment, e.g., a dense anchor node deployment, may be leveraged to reduce signaling overhead to convey locations of anchor nodes for positioning a target mobile device. Latency and power consumption and transmitters and receivers for positioning target mobile devices may be reduced, e.g., by reducing signaling overhead. Other capabilities may be provided and not every implementation according to the disclosure must provide any, let alone all, of the capabilities discussed.

[0026] Obtaining the locations of mobile devices that are accessing a wireless network may be useful for many applications including, for example, emergency calls, personal navigation, consumer asset tracking, locating a friend or family member, etc. Existing positioning methods include methods based on measuring radio signals transmitted from a variety of devices or entities including satellite vehicles (SVs) and terrestrial radio sources in a wireless network such as base stations and / or access points. Various positioning methods may be used with wireless networks, e.g., positioning methods that use reference signals transmitted by signal sources (e.g., base stations and / or access points) in a manner similar to which LTE wireless networks utilize Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) and / or Cell-specific Reference Signals (CRS) for position determination.

[0027] Using a wireless network to convey signals, e.g., communication signals, positioning signals, and / or data signals may be very useful. One or more of such signals may serve multiple purposes, e.g., a communication signal may also be used as a positioning signal. Transmitting and receiving such signals has limitless applications.

[0028] Using a synchronized network may help with operation of a wireless network. For example, with synchronized signal transmissions from multiple access points, would-be recipients of the signal may be able to listen for the signal transmissions at specific times, over small windows of time, which may help conserve processing time and / or processing power to receive, measure, decode, and / or interpret the signal transmissions.

[0029] The description herein may refer to sequences of actions to be performed, for example, by elements of a computing device. Various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuits (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combinationWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -8 / 50-of both. Sequences of actions described herein may be embodied within a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a corresponding set of computer instructions that upon execution would cause an associated processor to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various examples described herein may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which are within the scope of the disclosure, including appropriate claimed subject matter.

[0030] An electronic shelf label (ESL) system may include one or more ESLs that are controlled by a management entity. To facilitate control by the management entity, each ESL system may have a wireless connection (e.g., a BLUETOOTH® Low Energy (BLE) wireless communication protocol connection) from an ESL radio, of the ESL system, to an access point (AP) that is communicatively connected to the management entity (e.g., via a communication line, or via a network such as the Internet).Commands from the management entity may be wirelessly transmitted to the ESL system by the access point. An ESL system may include an ESL and one or more other devices (e.g., a radio (which may include a radio transmitter and / or a radio receiver as appropriate), a camera, etc.) that are physically separate from the ESL (e.g., an electronic display, a speaker, a camera, etc.).

[0031] Referring to FIG. 1, an example environment 100 includes an anchor-node deployment including ESL radios 110, access points 120, and a management entity 130. The management entity 130 may be communicatively coupled to the access points 120, e.g., via wired connections. The management entity 130 may be hosted in the cloud and accessed via a network, e.g., a personal area network (e.g., a Bluetooth® wireless communication protocol network) or other Local Area Network (LAN), and / or the Internet or another Wide Area Network (WAN). The access points 120 and the ESL radios 110 may be configured to communicate with each other wirelessly, e.g., using a short-range wireless protocol such as Bluetooth® wireless communication protocol or BLE (Bluetooth® Low Energy wireless communication protocol) and / or through another wireless protocol such as a cellular communication protocol, e.g., 5G NR (New Radio). In the example environment 100, the anchor nodes are ESL radios 110 with known locations. For example, each of the ESL radios 110 may know its own location and / or another entity (e.g., a management entity and / or a gateway (e.g., an edge server)) may know the locations of the ESL radios 110. At least some of the ESL radios 110 may be associated with one or more ESLs 115, although an ESL radio 110 may not beWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -9 / 50-associated with any ESL. Also, one or more of the ESL radios 110 may each be associated with multiple ESLs 115. The ESL radios 110 may each include one or more transmitters and may each include one or more receivers, as discussed further below.

[0032] The access points 120 may include one or more devices capable of receiving, generating, storing, processing, providing, and / or routing information associated with access point synchronization and / or handover, as described herein. The access points 120 may include a communication device and / or a computing device. The access points 120 may be configured to transmit beacons (e.g., BLE beacons), as well as to scan for and locate other devices (e.g., other devices communicating using BLE protocols). Each of the access points 120 may provide a protocol translator to translate between Internet Protocol (IP) and a non-IP protocol.

[0033] The ESL radios 110 may each include one or more devices capable of receiving, generating, storing, processing, and / or providing information associated with access point synchronization and / or handover. Each of the radios 110 may include a communication device and / or a computing device. The radios 110 may each be, may each include, or may each be included in, an ESL.

[0034] The management entity 130 may include a communication device and / or a computing device. For example, the management entity 130 may include a server, such as an application server, a client server, a web server, a database server, a host server, a proxy server, a virtual server (e.g., executing on computing hardware), or a server in a cloud computing system. The management entity 130 may include computing hardware used in a cloud computing environment. The management entity 130 may provide control of a system (e.g., an ESL system) that includes the access points 120 and the radios 110.

[0035] The number and arrangement of devices and networks shown in FIG. 1 are provided as an example. In practice, there may be additional devices and / or networks, fewer devices and / or networks, different devices and / or networks, and / or differently arranged devices and / or networks than those shown in FIG. 1. Furthermore, two or more devices shown in FIG. 1 may be implemented within a single device, and / or one or more single devices shown in FIG. 1 may be implemented as multiple, distributed devices. Additionally, or alternatively, a set of devices (e.g., one or more devices) of the environment 100 may perform one or more functions described as being performedWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -10 / 50-by another set of devices of the environment 100. While in the example shown in FIG.1, the environment 100 includes nine ESL radios 110, the environment 100 may include a large-scale deployment of ESL radios, e.g., tens or even hundreds of ESL radios. For example, the environment 100 includes three shelving units 140 forming two aisles 150, and each of the shelving units 140 may include more than the three ESL radios 110 shown for each of the shelving units 140.

[0036] Referring also to FIG. 2, shelving unit 200, which may be called a gondola and which may be an example of one of the shelving units 140, may have a deployment of numerous ESL radios 210 and corresponding ESLs 225. Groups of the ESL radios 210 may be disposed in regularly-spaced arrays. For example, ESL radios 210 in each of ESL radio groups 231, 232, 233, 234 may be disposed at regular intervals, with center-to-center separation distances being consistent, with separation distances in different groups perhaps being different. For example, centers of the ESL radios 210 in each of the groups 231-233 are separated from the adjacent ESL radio(s) 210 by a separation distance 240 (e.g., between Im and 3m), and centers of the ESL radios 210 in the group 234 are separated from adjacent ESL radio(s) 210 by a separation distance 250 that is larger than the separation distance 240. Further, the ESL radios 210 in different groups may be disposed at respectively different heights (here corresponding to different shelves 261, 262, 263, 264). A vertical separation distance 270 corresponding to the vertical separation of the groups 231-234 may be the same between vertically-adjacent groups of ESL radios 210. The regular spacing of ESL radios within groups may be leveraged to reduce overhead to provide locations of the ESL radios to a target UE to be positioned (i.e., a UE whose location is to be determined), e.g., a UE 160 shown in FIG.1. Also, a different quantity of shelves may be provided in a store gondola, e.g., six shelves, etc.

[0037] The ESLs 225 may be installed along the shelves 261-264 within an aisle, although for sake of simplicity of FIG. 2, ESLs are only shown on the shelves 261, 264 in FIG. 2. One or more of the ESLs 225 may be equipped with a display and a camera. The ESL radios 210 may be deployed in a dense manner, e.g., such that radios are spaced in close proximity to each other, e.g., less than or equal to 4m apart such as 2m apart, Im apart, or a different distance apart.WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -11 / 50-

[0038] Referring also to FIG. 3, an example of a TRP 300 (Transmission / Reception Point), which may be an example of the access points 120, comprises a computing platform including a processor 310, memory 311 including software (SW) 312, and a transceiver 315. Even if referred to in the singular, the processor 310 may include one or more processors, the transceiver 315 may include one or more transceivers (e.g., one or more transmitters and / or one or more receivers), and / or the memory 311 may include one or more memories. The processor 310, the memory 311, and the transceiver 315 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 320 (which may be configured, e.g., for optical and / or electrical communication). One or more of the shown apparatus (e.g., a wireless transceiver) may be omitted from the TRP 300. The processor 310 may include one or more hardware devices, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 310 may comprise multiple processors (e.g., including a general-purpose / application processor, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor). The memory 311 may be a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM)), flash memory, disc memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 311 may store the software 312 which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that are configured to, when executed, cause the processor 310 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 312 may not be directly executable by the processor 310 but may be configured to cause the processor 310, e.g., when compiled and executed, to perform the functions.

[0039] The description herein may refer to the processor 310 performing a function, but this includes other implementations such as where the processor 310 executes software and / or firmware. The description herein may refer to the processor 310 performing a function as shorthand for one or more of the processors contained in the processor 310 performing the function. The description herein may refer to the TRP 300 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components (e.g., the processor 310 and the memory 311) of the TRP 300 (e.g., a gNB (general NodeB), an eNB (evolved NodeB), or an ng-eNB (next-generation eNB)) performing the function. The processor 310 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 311. Functionality of the processor 310 is discussed more fully below.WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -12 / 50-

[0040] The transceiver 315 may include a wireless transceiver 340 and / or a wired transceiver 350 configured to communicate with other devices through wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 340 may include a wireless transmitter 342 and a wireless receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 348 and transducing signals from the wireless signals 348 to guided (e.g., wired electrical, and / or optical) signals and from guided (e.g., wired electrical, and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 348. Thus, the wireless transmitter 342 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 344 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 340 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 160, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) according to a variety of radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobiles), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers specification 802.11, including IEEE 802. lip), WiFi® short-range wireless signaling protocol, WiFi® Direct (WiFi®-D) wireless signaling protocol, Bluetooth® short-range wireless signaling protocol, Zigbee® short-range wireless signaling protocol, etc. The wired transceiver 350 may include a wired transmitter 352 and a wired receiver 354 configured for wired communication, e.g., a network interface that may be utilized to communicate with an NG-RAN (Next Generation Radio Access Network) to send communications to, and receive communications from, the management entity 130 (e.g., an LMF (Location Management Function)), for example, and / or one or more other network entities. The wired transmitter 352 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 354 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 may be configured, e.g., for optical communication and / or electrical communication.WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -13 / 50-

[0041] The configuration of the TRP 300 shown in FIG. 3 is an example and not limiting of the disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, the description herein discusses that the TRP 300 may be configured to perform or performs several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by another device (e.g., a server and / or a UE may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0042] Referring also to FIG. 4, a server 400, that may be an example of the management entity 130, may comprise a computing platform including a processor 410, memory 411 including software (SW) 412, and a transceiver 415. Even if referred to in the singular, the processor 410 may include one or more processors, the transceiver 415 may include one or more transceivers (e.g., one or more transmitters and / or one or more receivers), and / or the memory 411 may include one or more memories. The processor 410, the memory 411, and the transceiver 415 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 420 (which may be configured, e.g., for optical and / or electrical communication). One or more of the shown apparatus (e.g., a wireless transceiver) may be omitted from the server 400. The processor 410 may include one or more hardware devices, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 410 may comprise multiple processors (e.g., including a general-purpose / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor). The memory 411 may be a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM)), flash memory, disc memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 411 may store the software 412 which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that are configured to, when executed, cause the processor 410 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 412 may not be directly executable by the processor 410 but may be configured to cause the processor 410, e.g., when compiled and executed, to perform the functions. The description herein may refer to the processor 410 performing a function, but this includes other implementations such as where the processor 410 executes software and / or firmware. The description herein may refer to the processor 410 performing a function as shorthand for one or more of the processors contained in the processor 410 performing the function. The description herein may refer to the server 400 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the server 400WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -14 / 50-performing the function. The processor 410 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 411. Functionality of the processor 410 is discussed more fully below.

[0043] The transceiver 415 may include a wireless transceiver 440 and / or a wired transceiver 450 configured to communicate with other devices through wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may include a wireless transmitter 442 and a wireless receiver 444 coupled to one or more antennas 446 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 448 and transducing signals from the wireless signals 448 to guided (e.g., wired electrical, and / or optical) signals and from guided (e.g., wired electrical, and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 448. Thus, the wireless transmitter 442 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 444 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 440 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 160, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) according to a variety of radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobiles), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers specification 802.11, including IEEE 802. lip), WiFi® short-range wireless signaling protocol, WiFi® Direct (WiFi®-D) wireless signaling protocol, Bluetooth® short-range wireless signaling protocol, Zigbee® short-range wireless signaling protocol, etc. The wired transceiver 450 may include a wired transmitter 452 and a wired receiver 454 configured for wired communication, e.g., a network interface that may be utilized to communicate with an NG-RAN to send communications to, and receive communications from, the TRP 300, for example, and / or one or more other network entities. The wired transmitter 452 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 454 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 450 may be configured, e.g., for optical communication and / or electrical communication.WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -15 / 50-

[0044] The description herein may refer to the processor 410 performing a function, but this includes other implementations such as where the processor 410 executes software (stored in the memory 411) and / or firmware. The description herein may refer to the server 400 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components (e.g., the processor 410 and the memory 411) of the server 400 performing the function.

[0045] The configuration of the server 400 shown in FIG. 4 is an example and not limiting of the disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may be omitted. Also or alternatively, the description herein discusses that the server 400 is configured to perform or performs several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the TRP 300 and / or another device, e.g., a UE (i.e., the TRP 300 and / or a UE may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0046] Referring also to FIG. 5, a UE 500, which may be an example of the UE 160, includes a processor 510, a transceiver 520, and a memory 530 communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 540. Even if referred to in the singular, the processor 510 may include one or more processors, the transceiver 520 may include one or more transceivers (e.g., one or more transmitters and / or one or more receivers), and the memory 530 may include one or more memories. The UE 500 may include the components shown in FIG. 5 and may include one or more other components. For example, the processor 510 may include one or more hardware devices, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 510 may comprise multiple processors (e.g., including a general-purpose / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor). The transceiver 520 may include one or more wireless transmitters, one or more wireless receivers, one or more antennas, one or more wired transmitters, and / or one or more wired receivers. The memory 530 may include software with processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor 510 to perform functions as discussed herein.

[0047] The description herein may refer to the processor 510 performing a function, but this includes other implementations such as where the processor 510 executes software (stored in the memory 530) and / or firmware. The description herein may refer to the UE 500 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate componentsWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -16 / 50-(e.g., the processor 510 and the memory 530) of the UE 500 performing the function. The processor 510 (possibly in conjunction with the memory 530 and, as appropriate, the transceiver 520) may include a positioning unit 550. The positioning unit 550 may be configured to perform positioning operations (e.g., determine position information (e.g., measurements, pseudoranges, position estimates, etc.). The positioning unit 550 is discussed further below, and the description may refer to the processor 510 generally, or the UE 500 generally, as performing any of the functions of the positioning unit 550, with the UE 500 being configured to perform the function(s).

[0048] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not specific to or otherwise limited to any particular Radio Access Technology (RAT), unless otherwise noted. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset tracking device, Internet of Things (loT) device, automobile, etc.) used to communicate over a wireless communications network. A UE may be mobile or may (e.g., at certain times) be stationary, and may communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be referred to interchangeably as an "access terminal" or "AT," a "client device," a "wireless device," a "subscriber device," a "subscriber terminal," a "subscriber station," a "user terminal" or UT, a "mobile terminal," a "mobile station," a "mobile device," or variations thereof. Generally, UEs can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network the UEs can be connected with external networks such as the Internet and with other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms of connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UEs, such as over wired access networks, WiFi® short-range wireless communication technology networks (e.g., based on IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11, etc.) and so on. Two or more UEs may communicate directly in addition to or instead of passing information to each other through a network.

[0049] A UE may be a mobile wireless signaling device. A mobile wireless signaling device may be a device that is configured to transmit wireless signals. A mobile wireless signaling device may be a device that is configured to receive wireless signals. A mobile wireless signaling device may be a device that is configured to transmit wireless signals and to receive wireless signals.WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -17 / 50-

[0050] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed. Examples of a base station include an Access Point (AP), a Network Node, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), or a general Node B (gNodeB, gNB). In addition, in some systems a base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions while in other systems it may provide additional control and / or network management functions.

[0051] UEs may be embodied by any of a number of types of devices including but not limited to printed circuit (PC) cards, compact flash devices, external or internal modems, wireless or wireline phones, smartphones, tablets, consumer asset tracking devices, asset tags, and so on. A communication link through which UEs can send signals to a RAN is called an uplink channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which the RAN can send signals to UEs is called a downlink or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to either an uplink / reverse or downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0052] Referring also to FIG. 6, a network entity 600, which may be an example of an ESL radio, includes a processor 610, a transceiver 620, and a memory 630 communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 635. Even if referred to in the singular, the network entity 600 may include one or more network entities, the processor 610 may include one or more processors, the transceiver 620 may include one or more transceivers (e.g., one or more transmitters and / or one or more receivers), and the memory 630 may include one or more memories. The network entity 600 may include the components shown in FIG. 6, and may include one or more other components, and may be configured to be a component of a communication network (e.g., a terrestrial communication network such as a cellular network). The processor 610 may include one or more hardware devices, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 610 may comprise multiple processors (e.g., including a general-purpose / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor). The memory 630 may be a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM)), flash memory, disc memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 630 may store software 632 which may be processor-readable, processor-executableWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -18 / 50-software code containing instructions that are configured to, when executed, cause the processor 610 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 632 may not be directly executable by the processor 610 but may be configured to cause the processor 610, e.g., when compiled and executed, to perform the functions. The description herein may refer to the processor 610 performing a function, but this includes other implementations such as where the processor 610 executes software and / or firmware. The description herein may refer to the processor 610 performing a function as shorthand for one or more of the processors contained in the processor 610 performing the function. The description herein may refer to the network entity 600 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the network entity 600 performing the function. The processor 610 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 630.Functionality of the processor 610 is discussed more fully below.

[0053] The transceiver 620 may include a wireless transceiver 640 and / or a wired transceiver 650 configured to communicate with other devices through wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 640 may include a wireless transmitter 642 and a wireless receiver 644 coupled to one or more antennas 646 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 648 and transducing signals from the wireless signals 648 to guided (e.g., wired electrical, and / or optical) signals and from guided (e.g., wired electrical, and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 648. Thus, the wireless transmitter 642 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 644 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 640 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 160, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) according to a variety of radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobiles), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers specification 802.11, including IEEE 802. lip), WiFi® short-range wireless signaling protocol, WiFi® Direct (WiFi®-D) wirelessWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -19 / 50-signaling protocol, Bluetooth® short-range wireless signaling protocol, Zigbee® short-range wireless signaling protocol, etc. The wired transceiver 650 may include a wired transmitter 652 and a wired receiver 654 configured for wired communication, e.g., a network interface that may be utilized to communicate with an NG-RAN to send communications to, and receive communications from, the TRP 300, for example, and / or one or more other network entities. The wired transmitter 652 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 654 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 650 may be configured, e.g., for optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0054] The description herein may refer to the processor 610 performing a function, but this includes other implementations such as where the processor 610 executes software (stored in the memory 630) and / or firmware. The description herein may refer to the network entity 600 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components (e.g., the processor 610 and the memory 630) of the network entity 600 performing the function. The processor 610 (possibly in conjunction with the memory 630 and, as appropriate, the transceiver 620) may include a positioning unit 615. The positioning unit 615 may be configured to perform positioning operations (e.g., sending positioning signals, and possibly sending an indication of a location of the network entity 600, indications of locations of other network entities, a correction to a location of the network entity, and / or corrections to locations of other network entities. The positioning unit 615 is discussed further below, and the description may refer to the processor 610 generally, or the network entity 600 generally, as performing any of the functions of the positioning unit 615, with the network entity 600 being configured to perform the function(s).

[0055] Referring also to FIG. 7, the ESL radios 110, 210 are configured to transmit beacon signals in a TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) manner. For example, the processor 610, e.g., the positioning unit 615, may be configured to transmit, via the wireless transmitter 642 and the antenna 646, a beacon signal during a time window assigned to the network entity 600, here, an ESL radio. The beacon signals may include an AP ID (AP identity), application-layer information (e.g., such that only customers of a store deploying the ESL radios 110, 210 may decode the beacon signals), an indication of a location (which may be called a position) of one or more of the ESLWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -20 / 50-radios 110, 210, and / or other information. The positioning unit 615 may be configured dynamically (e.g., by a configuration message received via the transceiver 620 from the TRP 300 (e.g., the AP 120)) as to a time window in which to transmit a beacon signal. Different ESL radios may be assigned different time windows for transmitting their respective beacon signals. Also or alternatively, different network entities 600 may be assigned different frequencies for transmitting their respective beacon signals, e.g., different OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) resource elements. As shown in FIG. 7, a TDMA schedule 700 of beacon signals includes time windows Tl, T2, T3, . . ., TN and time windows TM, TM+1, TM+2, . . ., TM+P. In this example, the time windows Tl, T2, T3, . . ., TN are assigned to ESL radios ESL1, ESL2, ESL3, . . ., ESLN and the time windows TM, TM+1, TM+2, . . ., TM+P are assigned to ESL radios ESLM, ESLM+1, ESLM+2, . . ., ESLM+P. such that each of the ESL radios ESL1, ESL2, ESL3, . . ., ESLN, ESLM, ESLM+1, ESLM+2, . . ., ESLM+P is assigned a different (distinct) time window in which to transmit a respective beacon signal. In this way, beacon signals may be transmitted without colliding and a UE receiving the beacon signals can distinguish from which ESL radios the respective beacon signals are received.

[0056] The UE 500, e.g., the positioning unit 550, may be configured to determine a location of the UE 500 based on beacon signals received from the network entities 600 (e.g., the ESL radios 110, 210) and knowledge of the locations of the network entities 600 transmitting the respective beacon signals. For example, the UE 160 may be a target device and may receive beacon signals from multiple anchor nodes (here, ESL radios) and measure signal strengths to determine indications of signal strengths (e.g., RSSIs (Received Signal Strength Indicators) of the received beacon signals. The positioning unit 550 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 500 (e.g., the UE 160) as a weighted average of locations of the anchor nodes from which beacons signals are received. The locations of the anchor nodes may be weighted based on the RSSI values of the respective beacon signals. For example, the positioning unit 550 may be configured to determine the position of the UE 500 according to

[0058] where P is the weighted average location, wk is a weight factor for a kth beacon signal (where the weight factor depends on the RSSI of the kth beacon signal), Pk is theWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -21 / 50-location of the ESL radio from which the kth beacon signal is received, and N is the quantity of received beacon signals used to determine the weighted average location. The quantity N may be the quantity of beacon signals received, or a total quantity of ESL radios in an environment, or may be another quantity, e.g., a specified number of highest-RSSI beacon signals that the UE 500 will consider to determine the weighted average location.

[0059] The transmission of the beacon signals by the network entities 600 may occupy a significant amount of overhead. For example, if the environment 100 includes numerous, e.g., tens of, hundreds of, or even thousands of, network entities 600 each transmitting a beacon signal, then the beacon signals constitute a large amount of signaling overhead, which uses a large amount of processing and transmission resources including power. To help reduce the potential overhead of the beacon signals, techniques are discussed herein for leveraging the regularity of locations of the network entities 600 to provide indications of the locations of the network entities 600 using less information than full locations for each network entity 600, e.g., by considering a layout of network entities, duty cycle of transmissions, one or more identifiers associated with one or more network entities, and / or subsets of network entities to be used for positioning. For example, coded locations instead of full locations may be included in beacon signals. As another example, location offsets may be used to indicate locations using fewer bits than full location indications for each network entity 600 based on consistent spacings between network entities. As another example, a subset of network entities 600 within an environment may be used to transmit beacon signals. The subset of network entities 600 may, for example, be a specified number of the network entities 600 within a threshold distance of a coarse location of a target UE, or a specified number of the network entities 600 corresponding to highest-RSSI beacon signals received by the target UE, or the network entities 600 from which beacon signals of at least a threshold RSSI are received by the target UE, or another collection of network entities 600 (e.g., determined in another manner). Still other examples of considerations and / or techniques for reducing signaling overhead may be used.

[0060] A location of the network entity 600 in an environment (e.g., any of the ESL radios 110 in the environment 100) may be indicated by an ID included in the beacon signal from the network entity 600. The environment 100 (e.g., a store) may be associated with a unique identifier along with a unique topology and / or deployment ofWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -22 / 50-the network entities 600. A region within the environment 100 may be associated with a unique offset relative to (with respect to) a reference point in the environment 100. For example, each of the aisles 150 of the environment 100 may be associated with a respective relative offset with respect to a reference point in the environment 100. Within each of the aisles 150, each shelf (e.g., each of the shelves 261-264) may be associated with a unique relative offset with respect to a reference point in the aisle, e.g., an entry point of the aisle 150. Each shelf of a gondola may be associated with a single network entity 600 such that a shelf ID is akin to a network entity ID.Alternatively, a single shelf may have multiple network entities 600 that each have a respective network entity ID and each of the network entity IDs may have one or more shared portions corresponding to the shared shelf (e.g., corresponding to a shared height component (z component of location) and a shared lateral location component (e.g., shared y component (see FIG. 1) of the location of the network entities 600)). A target device, e.g., the UE 500, may gauge at least a portion of a location of the network entity 600 by analyzing the network entity ID. The network entity 600 may thus not transmit a full location (e.g., all three coordinates of a three-dimensional location, e.g., x-coordinate, y-coordinate, and z-coordinate) of the network entity 600 because the network entity ID may provide a coded indication of at least one component of the location of the network entity 600. The coded location may use fewer bits than a full indication of the location component(s) coded into the network entity ID. The location(s) of the reference point(s) of the environment 100 (e.g., of the whole environment 100 and / or of a portion (e.g., an aisle) of the environment 100) may be provided to a target device. The reference point location(s) may be provided before the target device begins positioning, e.g., through a communication session with the management entity 130 upon the target device entering the environment 100.

[0061] A subset of the network entities 600 may be determined and used based on a coarse location of the target device. A coarse location of the target device may be determined based on one or more of a variety of factors. For example, the location of an access point that receives a signal from the target device, or the access point that receives a signal with a strongest RS SI if multiple access points receive the signal from the target device, may be used as a coarse location of the target device. Alternatively, a coarse location of the target device may be obtained using trilateration based on signals (e.g., 5GNR signals, short-range wireless protocol signals) transferred between theWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -23 / 50-target device and one or more other devices, based on dead reckoning, and / or trilateration based on Satellite Positioning System (SPS) signals received by the target device. A subset of the network entities 600 may be determined as the network entities 600 close to the target UE, e.g., based on a threshold distance of the coarse location and / or based on signal strengths and / or based on one or more other criteria. A hierarchical approach may be taken to determine the subset of network entities.

[0062] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example environment 800 for re-stocking cases 806, 808, and 810 using ESLs. The environment 800 includes a movable carrier 804 with an ESL radio 802 placed on the movable carrier 804. The movable carrier 804 may be configured to transport cases 806, 808, and 810 to various re-stocking locations. Cases 806, 808, and 810 are containers that may contain at least one object of any of a variety of shapes and / or sizes, such as store items or the like. Cases 806, 808, and 810 may have any of a variety of constructions (e.g., be made of any of a variety of materials) and may be of any of a variety of shapes (e.g., rectangular) and / or sizes. The surface of each case 806, 808, and 810 may be affixed with an electronic tag (e-Tag) 816 to identify the location and items of cases 806, 808, and 810. The re-stocking locations may be at or near portions of shelves 812 or 814. The shelves 812 and 814 may include ESLs 225 for displaying labels for the various products on shelves 812 and 814, and may include various ESL radios such as ESL radios 110 or 210 described herein. A single ESL radio may be associated with multiple ESLs.

[0063] At any given time, each of cases 806, 808, and 810 may be in either of two states. The first state may involve one or more of cases 806, 808, and 810 being in a state of motion, e.g., on movable carrier 804. The second state may include one or more of cases 806, 808, and 810 being stationary. Improving the power consumption of ESL radios 110 or 210 of shelves 812 and 814 may depend on whether one or more of cases 806, 808, and 810 are in the in-motion state or the stationary state. The longer cases 806, 808, and 810 are static, the higher the number of RS SI measurements that can be aggregated to achieve superior location accuracy. Hence, ESL radios 110 or 210 of shelves 812 and 814 can operate at lower duty cycles for conserving power, while cases 806, 808, and 810 are in the stationary state.

[0064] Each e-Tag 816 may be a passive tag (that is not self-powered) that is charged by network entity 600 broadcasting energizing waveforms throughout environment 800.WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -24 / 50-Each e-Tag 816 may include an e-Tag ID / MAC address (Media Access Control address) used to identify one of the cases 806, 808, 810, and, possibly, the nature of the items within the case. Each of the e-Tags 816 may take time to charge up and transmit a beacon signal indicative of the location of a respective one of cases 806, 808, and 810, including the e-Tag ID / MAC address. In some instances, the beacon signal may include at least one signal characteristic, such as an RSSI value, of at least one received signal that charged the e-Tag 816.

[0065] The time required by e-Tag 816 to charge up for transmission may be inversely proportional to the received energizing signal strength since an e-Tag requires more time to accumulate sufficient charge from weaker energizing signals. Because the e-Tag 816 is not self-powered and relies on received charging energy that is of unknown strength in advance, an e-Tag beacon transmission cannot be scheduled, and ESL radios 110 or 210 do not know when to expect e-Tag beacon signals. Hence, ESL radios 110 or 210 may scan for beacon signals for extended periods of time.

[0066] The movable carrier 804 may be a cart or the like where a re-stocker (e.g., a person) can move cases 806, 808, and 810 to the re-stocking location. The ESL radio 802 may be attached to movable carrier 804. Also, the ESL radio 802 may be similar to other ESL radios 110 or 210 described herein. The ESL radios 110 or 210 of ESLs 225 may operate in a first receiver configuration. ESL radios 110 or 210 of ESLs 225 may be configured to receive signals from ESL radio 802 or e-Tags 816 when operating in the first receiver configuration. When the re-stocker moves movable carrier 804 (with cases 806, 808, and 810 thus being in the in-motion state), the ESL radios 110 or 210 of ESLs 225 in the vicinity of the movable carrier 804 may be triggered to be in a first receiver configuration to receive signals from ESL radio 802 and e-Tags 816. The ESL radios 110 or 210 of ESLs 225 may determine the location of ESL radio 802 or e-Tags 816 using RSSI measurements of signals issued by ESL radio 802 or e-Tags 816, Wi-Fi, ESL camera, or the like. The ESL radios 110 or 210 of ESLs 225 in the vicinity of the movable carrier 804 may be determined based on a maximum distance between the location of any of the ESL radios 110 or 210 of ESLs 225 and the location of ESL radio 802. Those ESL radios 110 or 210 of ESLs 225 having distances between itself and ESL radio 802 greater than the maximum distance are not considered to be in the vicinity of the movable carrier 804 and may not be triggered to be in the first receiver configuration to receive signals from ESL radio 802 and e-Tags 816. The ESL radiosWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -25 / 50-110 or 210 of shelves 812 and 814 may send the location information of ESL radio 802 or e-Tags 816 to network entity 600 to track the location of movable carrier 804.

[0067] In response to cases 806, 808, and 810 surpassing the first threshold in the stationary state, the distance between the movable carrier 804 and each case 806, 808, and 810 is at least a second threshold distance 820 away from the cart is determined. For example, when a re-stocker removes case 810 from movable carrier 804, the corresponding e-Tag 816 of case 810 sends a beacon to ESL radio 802. The ESL radio 802 determines the location of case 10 based on the beacon signal and sends the location of case 810 to network entity 600 to estimate the distance between the movable carrier 804 and case 810. If the estimated distance between case 810 surpasses the second threshold, network entity 600 infers the items in case 810 are being re-stocked. The re-stocking times for cases 806 and 808 may be determined in the same way as case 810, which is discussed further below.

[0068] The network entity 600 may assign a respective re-stocking time to a re-stocking case of cases 806, 808, and 810, i.e., a case 806, 808, or 810 that is in the stationary state, and beyond the second threshold distance for at least the first threshold time. The re-stocking time may be associated with the time for re-stocking the items in a case or may be associated with the case itself. For example, a case containing cereal boxes may be assigned a re-stocking time of one minute and a case containing smaller items may be assigned a shorter re-stocking time, e.g., 30 seconds. The network entity 600 may trigger the ESL radios 110 or 210 of shelves 812 and 814 in the vicinity of a re-stocking case of cases 806, 808, and 810 to operate in a second receiver configuration for a period defined by the re-stocking time. The second receiver configuration is different from the first receiver configuration. While operating in the second receiver configuration, ESL radios 110 or 210 of shelves 812 and 814 in the vicinity of cases 806, 808, and 810 may operate at a lower duty cycle (compared to the first receiver configuration) for conserving power during the periods of re-stocking of cases 806, 808, and 810 as defined by the re-stocking times. After the re-stocking time has finished, ESL radios 110 or 210 of shelves 812 and 814 in the vicinity of the re-stocking case of cases 806, 808, and 810 may return to the first receiver configuration.

[0069] In some implementations, the data from e-Tag 816 may be utilized by network entity 600 to determine the re-stocking times assigned for items in each case, such asWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -26 / 50-cases 806, 808, and 810. For instance, the e-Tag ID can be linked to case 806, which is then associated with the type of items contained within that case. This connection allows for determining a specific re-stocking time. By using the estimated re-stocking time for each item in case 806, the total re-stocking time for the entire case can be calculated. This approach can also be applied to cases 808 and 810.

[0070] In some implementations, the network entity 600 may access a camera having visibility into an aisle to determine re-stocking time. In this case, visual markers (such as the case color, colored stickers on the case, case shape and / or size) may be used to first identify case 806, 808, or 810, which in turn can be mapped to the nature of items contained within case 806, 808, or 810, and which can be mapped to a (typical) restocking time for those items.

[0071] In some implementations, the case 806, 808, or 810 may be unloaded at multiple locations throughout environment 800. With each re-stocking event, some number of items may be removed from case 806, 808, or 810. Given some previous re-stocking events that occurred at corresponding shelves, the number of remaining items in case 806, 808, or 810 may be estimated by network entity 600 (since each shelf may be associated with some number of items that were re-stocked). A re-stocking time may then be determined based on the remaining number of items in case 806, 808, or 810.

[0072] In some implementations, the estimated location of an e-Tag 816 affixed on cases 806, 808, and 810 when in the stationary state may also be used to infer the nature of items in cases 806, 808, and 810 being re-stocked at a particular shelf. In other words, the estimated location of an e-Tag 816 may be mapped to a given shelf 812 or 814, which in turn may be mapped to a specific re-stocking time (since the items on that shelf are known, along with the size of the shelf), e.g., if a quantity of items within a known range of quantities is typically, if not always, re-stocked.

[0073] In some implementations, in the event that a wrong case is being re-stocked at an estimated location of a case, network entity 600 may issue an alert / notification to the re-stocker (or at an edge server) with an indication of erroneous re-stocking. For example, network entity 600 may cause one or more ESLs (near the estimated location of the case) to provide an audible alert and / or a visual alert indicating incorrect restocking.WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -27 / 50-

[0074] In some implementations, movable carrier 804 may be equipped with one or more weight sensors that can be used to predict the number of remaining items within a case. The weight of a case may be measured before the case is taken off movable carrier 804 and after the case is placed back on movable carrier 804. The weights may be used to determine a weight difference, which may be used to estimate a number of items that were removed from the case, and thus a number of items remaining in the case.

[0075] In some implementations, power consumption may be conserved by estimating an e-Tag location within an aisle and causing one or more ESL radios to enter a sleep mode for a period of time. A list of e-Tags 816 may be maintained by network entity 600 for cases 806, 808, and 810 that are about to be re-stocked in a given aisle. The network entity 600 may utilize information received from ESL radios 110 or 210 of shelves 812 and 814 in the vicinity of cases 806, 808, and 810 to estimate the locations of the e-Tags 816 for cases 806, 808, and 810. The estimated position of each e-Tag 816 in the list may be determined with sufficient confidence. A metric for measuring confidence may be based on: number of ESL radios 110 or 210 receiving a beacon being above a threshold number, total number of beacons received being above a threshold number, and / or a camera feed from ESL 225 achieving high accuracy after device matching. For example, a camera may be used to detect a case and estimate a location of the case, then RS SI values of beacons received by one or more ESL radios near that location estimate may be used to determine which case corresponds to that location estimate. Based on a position estimate for each of the e-Tags 816 in the list is found with at least a desired confidence level (e.g., approximately 90%), network entity 600 may issue a command to suspend radio operations in receiver mode for ESL radios 110 or 210 in the vicinity of the cases 806, 808, and 810 for a period of time. This period of time may be related to the re-stocking time(s) for the cases 806, 808, and 810. ESL radio operation may be suspended for the expected re-stocking time(s), e.g., because a reliable time estimate has already been found, and positioning operations can resume after re-stocking is completed. Alternatively, ESL radio operation may be suspended for less than the expected re-stocking time, e.g., 75% of the expected restocking time or 50% of the expected re-stocking time.

[0076] Referring to FIG. 9, with further reference to FIGS. 1-8, a method 900 for controlling electronic shelf label (ESL) radio power consumption includes the stagesWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -28 / 50-shown. The method 900 is, however, an example only and not limiting. The method 900 may be altered, e.g., by having stages added, removed, rearranged, combined, performed concurrently, and / or having single stages split into multiple stages. For example, one or more stages may occur before, and / or one or more stages may occur after, the stages shown in FIG. 9. The method 900 may be implemented by network entity 600. Still other implementations are possible.

[0077] At stage 902, the method 900 includes tracking, using a plurality of ESL radios, at least one case, wherein the at least one case is in a first state when the at least one case is in motion, and a second state when the at least one case is stationary. The network entity 600, including the processor 610, is a means for tracking at least one case. In an example, the ESL radios 110 or 210 of shelves 812 and 814 may send the location information of ESL radio 802 to network entity 600 or a server to track the location of movable carrier 804..

[0078] At stage 904, the method 900 includes triggering, for the first state, at least a first set of the ESL radios to operate in a first receiver configuration based on the movable object being within a vicinity of at least one of the ESL radios. The network entity 600, including the processor 610, is a means for triggering the at least the first set of the ESL radios. In an example, the re-stocker may move movable carrier 804 during the first state, ESL radio 802 may trigger other ESL radios 110 or 210 of ESLs 225 in the vicinity of movable carrier 804 to be in a first receiver configuration that receives location information of ESL radio 802 associated with movable carrier 804. The ESL radios 110 or 210 of shelves 812 and 814 may send the location information of ESL radio 802 to network entity 600 to track the location of movable carrier 804.

[0079] At stage 906, the method 900 includes determining whether the at least one case is in the second state for at least a first threshold period of time. The network entity 600, including the processor 610, is a means for determining whether the at least one case is in the second state. In an example, the e-Tags 816 on cases 806, 808, and 810 may send beacon signals to ESL radios 110 or 210 at shelves 812 and 814 that can be used to identify the location of cases 806, 808, and 810 and whether cases 806, 808, and 810 are on the move or stationary. The network entity 600 (e.g., the positioning unit 615) may determine that cases 806, 808, and 810 are stationary if cases 806, 808, and 810 do not move for a specified first threshold period of time (or move less than aWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -29 / 50-distance threshold over the first threshold period of time). This would indicate cases 806, 808, and 810 are in the second state.

[0080] At stage 908, the method 900 includes determining a current location of the at least one case based on determining that the case is in the second state for at least the first threshold period of time. The network entity 600, including processor 610, is a means for estimating the current location of the at least one case. In an example, the network entity 600 may estimate the distances of the movable carrier 804 to multiple ESL radios, and use these distances and known locations of the ESL radios to determine (e.g., by trilateration) the current location of cases 806, 808, and 810 once the first threshold of time is surpassed.

[0081] At stage 910, the method 900 includes determining whether the current location of the at least one case is beyond a second threshold distance from the movable object. The network entity 600, including processor 610, is a means for determining whether the estimated current location of the at least one case is beyond a second threshold distance. In example, once cases 806, 808, and 810 surpass the first threshold in the second state, the network entity 600 may estimate the distance between the movable carrier 804 and each case 806, 808, and 810 to determine whether each case 806, 808, and 810 is at least a second threshold distance away from the cart.

[0082] At stage 912, the method 900 includes triggering, based on the at least one case being in the second state and the current location of the at least one case being beyond the second threshold distance from the movable object, a second set of the ESL radios to operate in a second receiver configuration, that is different from the first receiver configuration, for at least a re-stocking time associated with the at least one case. The network entity 600, including processor 610, is a means for triggering the second set of the ESL radios. In an example, the network entity 600 may determine (e.g., assign) a re-stocking time to cases 806, 808, and 810 based on each case 806, 808, and 810 being in the second state and surpassing the first and second thresholds. The re-stocking time may be associated with the time for re-stocking the items in a case or the case itself. Also in an example, ESL radios 110 or 210 of shelves 812 and 814 in the vicinity of cases 806, 808, and 810 may be triggered to operate in a second receiver configuration for at least a period defined by the re-stocking time. The second receiver configuration is different from the first receiver configuration, e.g., having a lower duty cycle than theWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -30 / 50-first receiver configuration. After the re-stocking time has finished, ESL radios 110 or 210 of shelves 812 and 814 in the vicinity of cases 806, 808, and 810 may return to the first receiver configuration.

[0083] Referring to FIG. 10, with further reference to FIGS. 1-9, a method 1000 method for controlling electronic shelf label (ESL) radio power consumption includes the stages shown. The method 1000 is, however, an example only and not limiting. The method 1000 may be altered, e.g., by having stages added, removed, rearranged, combined, performed concurrently, and / or having single stages split into multiple stages. For example, one or more stages may occur before, and / or one or more stages may occur after the stages shown in FIG. 10. The method 1000 is implemented by network entity 600. Still, other implementations are possible.

[0084] At stage 1002, the method 1000 includes maintaining a list of a plurality of electronic tags (e-Tags) 816 attached to a plurality of cases. The network entity 600, including processor 610, is a means for maintaining the list of e-Tags 816. In an example, the movable carrier 804 may be configured to transport cases 806, 808, and 810 to a re-stocking location. Each case 806, 808, and 810 may include an electronic e-Tag 816 to identify the location and items of cases 806, 808, and 810. A list of the e-Tags 816 used by cases 806, 808, and 810 may be stored and managed by network entity 600.

[0085] At stage 1004, the method 1000 includes determining, using measurements from a plurality of ESL radios of beacon signals from the plurality of cases, a position estimate for each of the e-Tags 816 in the list. The network entity 600, including processor 610, is a means for estimating the position for each of the e-Tags 816. In an example, the network entity 600 may utilize information received from ESL radios 110 or 210 of shelves 812 and 814 in the vicinity of cases 806, 808, and 810 to estimate the location of the e-Tags 816 for each case 806, 808, and 810.

[0086] At stage 1006, the method includes suspending receiver operations of the ESL radios in a vicinity of the plurality of cases, based on the position estimate, for a period of time related to a re-stocking time of the plurality of cases. The network entity 600, including processor 610, is a means for suspending receiver operations of the ESL radios in a vicinity of the cases for the period of time. In an example, the network entity 600 may send a command to ESL radios 110 or 210 of shelves 812 and 814 to suspendWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -31 / 50-their receiver operations in a vicinity of the cases for a period of time related to the restocking time.

[0087] In some implementation, the method may include determining whether the position estimate of each of the e-Tags 816 in the list meets a minimum threshold confidence level. The network entity 600, including processor 610, is a means for determining whether the position of each of the e-Tags 816 in the list meets the minimum threshold confidence level. In an example, the network entity 600 may determine the position of each of the e-Tags 816 in the list meets a minimum threshold confidence level by determining whether a number of the ESL radios 110 or 210 of shelves 812 and 814 received a beacon from e-Tags of cases 806, 808, and 810 is above a threshold number. ESL radios 110 or 210 of shelves 812 and 814 may send information about the received beacons from e-Tags 816 to network entity 600. In an example, the network entity 600 may use a camera of ESL 225 to determine whether the estimated position of at least one of the cases 806, 808, and 810 is approximately the given location for re-stocking at least one of the cases 806, 808, and 810. The network entity 600 may store the given location for re-stocking cases 806, 808, and 810.

[0088] Implementation examples

[0089] Implementation examples are provided in the following numbered clauses.

[0090] Clause 1. A method for controlling electronic shelf label (ESL) radio power consumption, comprising:

[0091] tracking, using a plurality of ESL radios, at least one case, wherein the at least one case is in a first state when the at least one case is in motion, and a second state when the at least one case is stationary;

[0092] triggering, for the first state, at least a first set of the ESL radios to operate in a first receiver configuration based on a movable object being within a vicinity of at least one of the ESL radios;

[0093] determining whether the at least one case is in the second state for at least a first threshold period of time;

[0094] determining a current location of the at least one case based on determining that the at least one case is in the second state for at least the first threshold period of time;WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -32 / 50-

[0095] determining whether the current location of the at least one case is beyond a second threshold distance from the movable object; and

[0096] triggering, based on the at least one case being in the second state and the current location of the at least one case being beyond the second threshold distance from the movable object, a second set of the ESL radios to operate in a second receiver configuration, that is different from the first receiver configuration, for at least a restocking time associated with the at least one case.

[0097] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein tracking the at least one case comprises tracking a plurality of cases having at least one electronic tag (e-Tag) attached thereon.

[0098] Clause 3. The method of clause 2, wherein determining the current location of the at least one case comprises determining the current location of the at least one e-Tag to a specified confidence level.

[0099] Clause 4. The method of clause 3, wherein the specified confidence level is at least 90%.

[0100] Clause 5. The method of clause 3, wherein triggering the second set of the ESL radios to operate in the second receiver configuration comprises triggering the second set of ESL radios to turn off for a period of time related to the re-stocking time.

[0101] Clause 6. The method of clause 1, wherein determining the current location of the at least one case comprises using a camera to identify and determine the current location of the at least one case.

[0102] Clause 7. The method of clause 1, further comprising determining the restocking time based on the current location of the at least one case.

[0103] Clause 8. The method of clause 1, further comprising determining the restocking time based on at least one item within the at least one case.

[0104] Clause 9. The method of clause 1, further comprising determining the restocking time based on at least one weight associated with the at least one case.

[0105] Clause 10. A method for controlling electronic shelf label (ESL) radio power consumption, comprising:WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -33 / 50-

[0106] maintaining a list of a plurality of electronic tags (e-Tags) attached to a plurality of cases;

[0107] determining, using measurements from a plurality of ESL radios of beacon signals from the plurality of cases, a position estimate for each of the e-Tags in the list; and

[0108] suspending receiver operations of the ESL radios in a vicinity of the plurality of cases, based on the position estimate, for a period of time related to a re-stocking time of the plurality of cases.

[0109] Clause 11. The method of clause 10, wherein maintaining the list of the plurality of the e-Tags comprises determining whether at least one of the plurality of the cases being a minimum threshold distance from a movable object transporting the at least one of the plurality of cases.

[0110] Clause 12. The method of clause 10, wherein determining the position estimate comprises determining whether a number of the ESL radios receiving the beacon signals from at least one of the e-Tags is above a threshold number.

[0111] Clause 13. The method of clause 10, wherein determining the position estimate comprises determining, using a camera, whether the position estimate of the at least one of the plurality of cases is approximately a given location for re-stocking the at least one of the plurality of cases.

[0112] Clause 14. The method of clause 10, further comprising determining whether a number of the ESL radios receiving at least one of a plurality of beacon signals from at least one of the e-Tags is above a threshold number.

[0113] Clause 15. The method of clause 10, wherein suspending the receiver operations is based at least in part on the position estimate of each of the e-Tags in the list meeting a minimum threshold confidence level.

[0114] Clause 16. An apparatus comprising:

[0115] at least one transceiver;

[0116] at least one memory; andWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -34 / 50-

[0117] at least one processor, communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver and the at least one memory, configured to:

[0118] track, using a plurality of electronic shelf label (ESL) radios, at least one case, wherein the at least one case is in a first state when the at least one case is in motion, and a second state when the at least one case is stationary;

[0119] trigger, for the first state, at least a first set of the ESL radios to operate in a first receiver configuration based on a movable object being within a vicinity of at least one of the ESL radios;

[0120] determine whether the at least one case is in the second state for at least a first threshold period of time;

[0121] determine a current location of the at least one case based on determining that the at least one case is in the second state for at least the first threshold period of time;

[0122] determine whether the current location of the at least one case is beyond a second threshold distance from the movable object; and

[0123] trigger, based at least on the at least one case being in the second state and the current location of the at least one case being beyond the second threshold distance from the movable object, a second set of the ESL radios to operate in a second receiver configuration, that is different from the first receiver configuration, for at least a restocking time associated with the at least one case.

[0124] Clause 17. The apparatus of clause 16, wherein the at least one processor is configured to track the at least one case by tracking a plurality of cases having at least one electronic tag (e-Tag) attached thereon.

[0125] Clause 18. The apparatus of clause 17, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the current location of the at least one case by determining the current location of the at least one of the e-Tags to a specified confidence level.

[0126] Clause 19. The apparatus of clause 18, wherein the specified confidence level is at least 90%.

[0127] Clause 20. The apparatus of clause 18, wherein the at least one processor is configured to trigger the second set of the ESL radios to operate in the second receiverWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -35 / 50-configuration by triggering the second set of ESL radios to turn off for a period of time related to the re-stocking time.

[0128] Clause 21. The apparatus of clause 16, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the current location of the at least one case by using a camera to identify and determine the current location of the at least one case.

[0129] Clause 22. The apparatus of clause 16, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the re-stocking time for the at least one case based on the current location of the at least one case.

[0130] Clause 23. The apparatus of clause 16, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the re-stocking time for the at least one case based on at least one item within the at least one case.

[0131] Clause 24. The apparatus of clause 16, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the re-stocking time for the at least one case based on at least one weight associated with the at least one case.

[0132] Clause 25. An apparatus comprising:

[0133] at least one transceiver;

[0134] at least one memory; and

[0135] at least one processor, communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver and the at least one memory, configured to:

[0136] maintain a list of a plurality of electronic tags (e-Tags) attached to a plurality of cases;

[0137] determine, using measurements from a plurality of electronic shelf label (ESL) radios of beacon signals from the plurality of cases, a position estimate for each of the e-Tags in the list; and

[0138] suspend receiver operations of the ESL radios in a vicinity of the plurality of cases, based on the position estimate, for a period of time related to a re-stocking time of the plurality of cases.

[0139] Clause 26. The apparatus of clause 25, wherein the at least one processor is configured to maintain the list of the plurality of the e-Tags by determining whether atWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -36 / 50-least one of the plurality of cases being a minimum threshold distance from a movable object transporting the at least one of the plurality of cases.

[0140] Clause 27. The apparatus of clause 25, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the position estimate by determining whether a number of the ESL radios receiving the beacon signals from at least one of the e-Tags is above a threshold number.

[0141] Clause 28. The apparatus of clause 25, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the position estimate by determining, using a camera, whether the position estimate of the at least one of the plurality of cases is approximately a given location for re-stocking the at least one of the plurality of cases.

[0142] Clause 29. The apparatus of clause 25, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine whether a number of the ESL radios receiving at least one of a plurality of beacon signals from at least one of the e-Tags is above a threshold number.

[0143] Clause 30. The apparatus of clause 25, wherein the at least one processor is configured to suspend the receiver operations based at least in part on the position estimate of each of the e-Tags in the list meeting a minimum threshold confidence level.

[0144] Clause 31. An apparatus for controlling electronic shelf label (ESL) radio power consumption, comprising:

[0145] means for tracking, using a plurality of ESL radios, at least one case, wherein the at least one case is in a first state when the at least one case is in motion, and a second state when the at least one case is stationary;

[0146] means for triggering, for the first state, at least a first set of the ESL radios to operate in a first receiver configuration based on a movable object being within a vicinity of at least one of the ESL radios;

[0147] means for determining whether the at least one case is in the second state for at least a first threshold period of time;

[0148] means for determining a current location of the at least one case based on determining that the at least one case is in the second state for at least the first threshold period of time;WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -37 / 50-

[0149] means for determining whether the current location of the at least one case is beyond a second threshold distance from the movable object; and

[0150] means for triggering, based on the at least one case being in the second state and the current location of the at least one case being beyond the second threshold distance from the movable object, a second set of the ESL radios to operate in a second receiver configuration, that is different from the first receiver configuration, for at least a re-stocking time associated with the at least one case.

[0151] Clause 32. The apparatus of clause 31, wherein the means for tracking the at least one case comprises means for tracking a plurality of cases having at least one electronic tag (e-Tag) attached thereon.

[0152] Clause 33. The apparatus of clause 32, wherein means for determining the current location of the at least one case comprises means for determining the current location of each of the e-Tags to a specified confidence level.

[0153] Clause 34. The apparatus of clause 33, wherein the specified confidence level is at least 90%.

[0154] Clause 35. The apparatus of clause 33, wherein the means for triggering the second set of the ESL radios to operate in the second receiver configuration comprises means for triggering the second set of ESL radios to turn off for a period of time related to the re-stocking time.

[0155] Clause 36. The apparatus of clause 31, wherein the means for determining the current location of the at least one case comprises means for using a camera to identify and determine the current location of the at least one case.

[0156] Clause 37. The apparatus of clause 31, further comprising means for determining the re-stocking time based on the current location of the at least one case.

[0157] Clause 38. The apparatus of clause 31, further comprising means for determining the re-stocking time based on at least one item within the at least one case.

[0158] Clause 39. The apparatus of clause 31, further comprising means for determining the re-stocking time based on at least one weight associated with the at least one case.WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -38 / 50-

[0159] Clause 40. An apparatus for controlling electronic shelf label (ESL) radio power consumption, comprising:

[0160] means for maintaining a list of a plurality of electronic tags (e-Tags) attached to a plurality of cases;

[0161] means for determining, using measurements from a plurality of ESL radios of beacon signals from the plurality of cases, a position estimate for each of the e-Tags in the list; and

[0162] means for suspending receiver operations of the ESL radios in a vicinity of the plurality of cases, based on the position estimate, for a period of time related to a restocking time of the plurality of cases.

[0163] Clause 41. The apparatus of clause 40, wherein the means for maintaining the list of the plurality of the e-Tags comprises means for determining whether at least one of the plurality of cases being a minimum threshold distance from a movable object transporting the at least one of the plurality of cases.

[0164] Clause 42. The apparatus of clause 40, wherein the means for determining the position estimate comprises means for determining whether a number of the ESL radios receiving the beacon signals from at least one of the e-Tags is above a threshold number.

[0165] Clause 43. The apparatus of clause 40, wherein the means for determining the position estimate comprises means determining, using a camera, whether the position estimate of the at least one of the plurality of cases is approximately a given location for re-stocking the at least one of the plurality of cases.

[0166] Clause 44. The apparatus of clause 40, further comprising means for determining whether a number of the ESL radios receiving at least one of a plurality of beacon signals from at least one of the e-Tags is above a threshold number.

[0167] Clause 45. The apparatus of clause 40, wherein means for suspending the receiver operations is based at least in part on the position estimate of each of the e-Tags in the list meeting a minimum threshold confidence level.WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -39 / 50-

[0168] Clause 46. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising computer-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to control electronic shelf label (ESL) radio power consumption, comprising:

[0169] code for tracking, using a plurality of ESL radios, at least one case, wherein the at least one case is in a first state when the at least one case is in motion, and a second state when the at least one case is stationary;

[0170] code for triggering, for the first state, at least a first set of the ESL radios to operate in a first receiver configuration based on a movable object being within a vicinity of at least one of the ESL radios;

[0171] code for determining whether the at least one case is in the second state for at least a first threshold period of time;

[0172] code for determining a current location of the at least one case based on determining that the at least one case is in the second state for at least the first threshold period of time;

[0173] code for determining whether the current location of the at least one case is beyond a second threshold distance from the movable object; and

[0174] code for triggering, based on the at least one case being in the second state and the current location of the at least one case being beyond the second threshold distance from the movable object, a second set of the ESL radios to operate in a second receiver configuration, that is different from the first receiver configuration, for at least a restocking time associated with the at least one case.

[0175] Clause 47. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 46, wherein the code for tracking the at least one case comprises code for tracking a plurality of cases having at least one electronic tag (e-Tag) attached thereon.

[0176] Clause 48. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 47, wherein the code for determining the current location of the at least one case comprises code for determining the current location of each of the e-Tags to a specified confidence level.

[0177] Clause 49. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 48, wherein the specified confidence level is at least 90%.WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -40 / 50-

[0178] Clause 50. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 48, wherein the code for triggering the second set of the ESL radios to operate in the second receiver configuration comprises code for triggering the second set of ESL radios to turn off for a period of time related to the re-stocking time.

[0179] Clause 51. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 46, wherein the code for determining the current location of the at least one case comprises code for using a camera to identify and determine the current location of the at least one case.

[0180] Clause 52. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 46, further comprising code for determining the re-stocking time based on the current location of the at least one case.

[0181] Clause 53. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 46, further comprising code for determining the re-stocking time based on at least one item within the at least one case.

[0182] Clause 54. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 46, further comprising code for determining the re-stocking time based on at least one weight associated with the at least one case.

[0183] Clause 55. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising computer-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to control electronic shelf label (ESL) radio power consumption, comprising:

[0184] code for maintaining a list of a plurality of electronic tags (e-Tags) attached to a plurality of cases;

[0185] code for determining, using measurements from a plurality of ESL radios of beacon signals from the plurality of cases, a position estimate for each of the e-Tags in the list; and

[0186] code for suspending receiver operations of the ESL radios in a vicinity of the plurality of cases, based on the position estimate, for a period of time related to a restocking time of the plurality of cases.

[0187] Clause 56. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 55, wherein the code for maintaining the list of the plurality of the e-Tags comprisesWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -41 / 50-code for determining whether at least one of the plurality of cases being a minimum threshold distance from a movable object transporting the at least one of the plurality of cases.

[0188] Clause 57. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 55, wherein code for determining the position estimate comprises code for determining whether a number of the ESL radios receiving the beacon signals from at least one of the e-Tags is above a threshold number.

[0189] Clause 58. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 55, wherein the code for determining the position estimate comprises code for determining, using a camera, whether the position estimate of the at least one of the plurality of cases is approximately a given location for re-stocking the at least one of the plurality of cases.

[0190] Clause 59. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 55, wherein the code for determining whether the position estimate of each of the e-Tags comprises code for determining whether a number of ESL radios that received a beacon from at least one of the e-Tags is above a threshold number.

[0191] Clause 60. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of clause 55, wherein code for suspending the receiver operations is based at least in part on the position estimate of each of the e-Tags in the list meeting a minimum threshold confidence level.

[0192] Other considerations

[0193] Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software and computers, functions described above can be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or a combination of any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.

[0194] As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Thus, reference to a device in the singular (e.g., “a device,” “the device”), including in the claims, includesWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -42 / 50-at least one, i.e., one or more, of such devices (e.g., “a processor” includes at least one processor (e.g., one processor, two processors, etc.), “the processor” includes at least one processor, “a memory” includes at least one memory, “the memory” includes at least one memory, etc.). The phrases “at least one” and “one or more” are used interchangeably and such that “at least one” referred-to object and “one or more” referred-to objects include implementations that have one referred-to object and implementations that have multiple referred-to objects. For example, “at least one processor” and “one or more processors” each includes implementations that have one processor and implementations that have multiple processors. Also, a “set” as used herein includes one or more members, and a “subset” contains fewer than all members of the set to which the subset refers.

[0195] The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” and / or “including,” as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0196] Also, as used herein, a list of items prefaced by “at least one of’ or prefaced by “one or more of’ indicates a disjunctive list such that, for example, a list of “at least one of A, B, or C,” or a list of “at least one of A, B, and C,” or a list of “one or more of A, B, or C”, or a list of “one or more of A, B, and C”, or a list of “A or B or C” means A, or B, or C, or AB (A and B), or AC (A and C), or BC (B and C), or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or combinations with more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.).Thus, a recitation that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to perform a function regarding at least one of A or B, or a recitation that an item is configured to perform a function A or a function B, means that the item may be configured to perform the function regarding A, or may be configured to perform the function regarding B, or may be configured to perform the function regarding A and B. For example, a phrase of “a processor configured to measure at least one of A or B” or “a processor configured to measure A or measure B” means that the processor may be configured to measure A (and may or may not be configured to measure B), or may be configured to measure B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or may be configured to measure A and measure B (and may be configured to select which, or both, of A and B to measure). Similarly, a recitation of a means for measuring at least one of A or B includes means for measuring A (which may or may not be able to measure B), or means for measuringWAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -43 / 50-B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or means for measuring A and B (which may be able to select which, or both, of A and B to measure). As another example, a recitation that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to at least one of perform function X or perform function Y means that the item may be configured to perform the function X, or may be configured to perform the function Y, or may be configured to perform the function X and to perform the function Y. For example, a phrase of “a processor configured to at least one of measure X or measure Y” means that the processor may be configured to measure X (and may or may not be configured to measure Y), or may be configured to measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X), or may be configured to measure X and to measure Y (and may be configured to select which, or both, of X and Y to measure).

[0197] As used herein, unless otherwise stated, a statement that a function or operation is “based on” an item or condition means that the function or operation is based on the stated item or condition and may be based on one or more items and / or conditions in addition to the stated item or condition.

[0198] Substantial variations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. For example, customized hardware might also be used, and / or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.) executed by a processor, or both. Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input / output devices may be employed. Components, functional or otherwise, shown in the figures and / or discussed herein as being connected or communicating with each other are communicatively coupled unless otherwise noted. That is, they may be directly or indirectly connected to enable communication between them.

[0199] The systems and devices discussed above are examples. Various configurations may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For instance, features described with respect to certain configurations may be combined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elements of the configurations may be combined in a similar manner. Also, technology evolves and, thus, many of the elements are examples and do not limit the scope of the disclosure or claims.WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -44 / 50-

[0200] A wireless communication system is one in which communications are conveyed wirelessly, i.e., by electromagnetic and / or acoustic waves propagating through atmospheric space rather than through a wire or other physical connection, between wireless communication devices. A wireless communication system (also called a wireless communications system, a wireless communication network, or a wireless communications network) may not have all communications transmitted wirelessly, but is configured to have at least some communications transmitted wirelessly. Further, the term “wireless communication device,” or similar term, does not require that the functionality of the device is exclusively, or even primarily, for communication, or that communication using the wireless communication device is exclusively, or even primarily, wireless, or that the device be a mobile device, but indicates that the device includes wireless communication capability (one-way or two-way), e.g., includes at least one radio (each radio being part of a transmitter, receiver, or transceiver) for wireless communication.

[0201] Specific details are given in the description herein to provide a thorough understanding of example configurations (including implementations). However, configurations may be practiced without these specific details. For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques have been shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the configurations. The description herein provides example configurations, and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configurations of the claims. Rather, the preceding description of the configurations provides a description for implementing described techniques. Various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements.

[0202] The terms “processor-readable medium,” “machine-readable medium,” and “computer-readable medium,” as used herein, refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific fashion. Using a computing platform, various processor-readable media might be involved in providing instructions / code to processor(s) for execution and / or might be used to store and / or carry such instructions / code (e.g., as signals). In many implementations, a processor-readable medium is a physical and / or tangible storage medium. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical and / or magnetic disks. Volatile media include, without limitation, dynamic memory.WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -45 / 50-

[0203] Having described several example configurations, various modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, wherein other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the disclosure. Also, a number of operations may be undertaken before, during, or after the above elements are considered. Accordingly, the above description does not bound the scope of the claims.

[0204] Unless otherwise indicated, “about” and / or “approximately” as used herein when referring to a measurable value such as an amount, a temporal duration, and the like, encompasses variations of ±20% or ±10%, ±5%, or ±0.1% from the specified value, as appropriate in the context of the systems, devices, circuits, methods, and other implementations described herein. Unless otherwise indicated, “substantially” as used herein when referring to a measurable value such as an amount, a temporal duration, a physical attribute (such as frequency), and the like, also encompasses variations of ±20% or ±10%, ±5%, or ±0.1% from the specified value, as appropriate in the context of the systems, devices, circuits, methods, and other implementations described herein.

[0205] A statement that a value exceeds (or is more than or above) a first threshold value is equivalent to a statement that the value meets or exceeds a second threshold value that is slightly greater than the first threshold value, e.g., the second threshold value being one value higher than the first threshold value in the resolution of a computing system. A statement that a value is less than (or is within or below) a first threshold value is equivalent to a statement that the value is less than or equal to a second threshold value that is slightly lower than the first threshold value, e.g., the second threshold value being one value lower than the first threshold value in the resolution of a computing system.WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WO

Claims

Qualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -46 / 50-CLAIMS:

1. A method for controlling electronic shelf label (ESL) radio power consumption, comprising:tracking, using a plurality of ESL radios, at least one case, wherein the at least one case is in a first state when the at least one case is in motion, and a second state when the at least one case is stationary;triggering, for the first state, at least a first set of the ESL radios to operate in a first receiver configuration based on a movable object being within a vicinity of at least one of the ESL radios;determining whether the at least one case is in the second state for at least a first threshold period of time;determining a current location of the at least one case based on determining that the at least one case is in the second state for at least the first threshold period of time;determining whether the current location of the at least one case is beyond a second threshold distance from the movable object; andtriggering, based on the at least one case being in the second state and the current location of the at least one case being beyond the second threshold distance from the movable object, a second set of the ESL radios to operate in a second receiver configuration, that is different from the first receiver configuration, for at least a restocking time associated with the at least one case.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein tracking the at least one case comprises tracking a plurality of cases having at least one electronic tag (e-Tag) attached thereon.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the current location of the at least one case comprises determining the current location of the at least one e-Tag to a specified confidence level.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the specified confidence level is at least 90%.WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -47 / 50-5. The method of claim 3, wherein triggering the second set of the ESL radios to operate in the second receiver configuration comprises triggering the second set of ESL radios to turn off for a period of time related to the re-stocking time.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the current location of the at least one case comprises using a camera to identify and determine the current location of the at least one case.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the re-stocking time based on the current location of the at least one case.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the re-stocking time based on at least one item within the at least one case.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the re-stocking time based on at least one weight associated with the at least one case.

10. An apparatus comprising:at least one transceiver;at least one memory; andat least one processor, communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver and the at least one memory, configured to:track, using a plurality of electronic shelf label (ESL) radios, at least one case, wherein the at least one case is in a first state when the at least one case is in motion, and a second state when the at least one case is stationary;trigger, for the first state, at least a first set of the ESL radios to operate in a first receiver configuration based on a movable object being within a vicinity of at least one of the ESL radios;determine whether the at least one case is in the second state for at least a first threshold period of time;determine a current location of the at least one case based on determining that the at least one case is in the second state for at least the first threshold period of time;WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -48 / 50-determine whether the current location of the at least one case is beyond a second threshold distance from the movable object; andtrigger, based at least on the at least one case being in the second state and the current location of the at least one case being beyond the second threshold distance from the movable object, a second set of the ESL radios to operate in a second receiver configuration, that is different from the first receiver configuration, for at least a re-stocking time associated with the at least one case.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is configured to track the at least one case by tracking a plurality of cases having at least one electronic tag (e-Tag) attached thereon.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the current location of the at least one case by determining the current location of the at least one of the e-Tags to a specified confidence level.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the specified confidence level is at least 90%.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the at least one processor is configured to trigger the second set of the ESL radios to operate in the second receiver configuration by triggering the second set of ESL radios to turn off for a period of time related to the re-stocking time.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the current location of the at least one case by using a camera to identify and determine the current location of the at least one case.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the re-stocking time for the at least one case based on the current location of the at least one case.WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406863WO -49 / 50-17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the re-stocking time for the at least one case based on at least one item within the at least one case.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the re-stocking time for the at least one case based on at least one weight associated with the at least one case.

19. An apparatus for controlling electronic shelf label (ESL) radio power consumption, comprising:means for tracking, using a plurality of ESL radios, at least one case, wherein the at least one case is in a first state when the at least one case is in motion, and a second state when the at least one case is stationary;means for triggering, for the first state, at least a first set of the ESL radios to operate in a first receiver configuration based on a movable object being within a vicinity of at least one of the ESL radios;means for determining whether the at least one case is in the second state for at least a first threshold period of time;means for determining a current location of the at least one case based on determining that the at least one case is in the second state for at least the first threshold period of time;means for determining whether the current location of the at least one case is beyond a second threshold distance from the movable object; andmeans for triggering, based on the at least one case being in the second state and the current location of the at least one case being beyond the second threshold distance from the movable object, a second set of the ESL radios to operate in a second receiver configuration, that is different from the first receiver configuration, for at least a restocking time associated with the at least one case.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the means for tracking the at least one case comprises means for tracking a plurality of cases having at least one electronic tag (e-Tag) attached thereon.WAVS Ref. No. QLCMP616WO

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