Bluetooth RSSI-Based Customer Identification at Retail POS

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Solution Overview

Problem

In retail environments, identifying customers at point of transaction terminals is time-consuming due to the need for scanning identification cards or inputting customer information, which delays processing and increases operational costs.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a Bluetooth wireless communication system that uses RSSI values to detect and prioritize nearby mobile devices, allowing for faster customer identification and transaction processing by determining the nearest device and excluding internal devices from the communication list.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of time

If traditional customer identification methods (scanning ID cards or inputting customer information) are used at point of transaction terminals, then customer identification can be achieved, but transaction processing time increases and operational costs increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetransaction processing timeVSAvoidcustomer processing efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of timeVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary customer identification by detecting mobile devices in the vicinity of the point of transaction terminal before the actual transaction begins. The POT terminal continuously monitors for nearby devices and pre-identifies customers, so that when a transaction is initiated, the customer is already identified and ready for processing, eliminating the time-consuming step of scanning ID cards or inputting information at the terminal.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Speed

If Bluetooth wireless communication system is implemented to detect mobile devices, then customer identification speed improves, but device complexity and system setup requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecustomer identification speedVSAvoidwireless communication system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

SpeedVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent leverages the ubiquity of Bluetooth technology, which is already present in most modern mobile devices. By utilizing this existing, widely-compatible wireless communication standard, the system achieves fast customer identification without requiring specialized or complex proprietary hardware. The Bluetooth capability enables the POT terminal to communicate with various types of mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops) uniformly, simplifying the overall system architecture while maintaining high identification speed.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS10860996B2Mobile device discovery and information distribution system for an indicia reader system at retail establishment

Publication Date: 2020.12.08 HAND HELD PRODS INC

AI summary

A retail store communications network, a point of transaction (POT) terminal and methods of using the same according to embodiments of the application can include a hand held and/or stationary optical reader for reading a bar code symbol of an item and generating a decoded out bar code data message. The network is configured so that the POT terminal can use linked or identified mobile devices by way of wireless communication, to provide a sequenced order of identified customers at the POT terminal among a plurality of discoverable wireless devices.