Electronic Shelf Label Segmentation for Transmission Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional electronic shelf label (ESL) systems face issues with transmission rate and stability due to increasing distances between ESLs and server databases, leading to inefficiencies in operations such as material sorting and label affixing.
Innovation Solution
The system employs a first logic signal, either a high or low voltage level of General Purpose Input Output (GPIO), to send task commands from an ESL mainboard to multiple small boards, which receive and display tasks, and provide feedback, including task completion status, using displays and sensors, allowing for centralized management and automation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of stationary object
If traditional communication protocols (RS-485, CAN bus) are used to connect ESL to server database, then transmission distance can be extended, but transmission rate decreases and transmission stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The ESL system is divided into multiple independent small boards, each capable of receiving and displaying task commands locally. This segmentation eliminates the need for long-distance communication between a central server and distant ESLs, as each small board operates autonomously after receiving initial configuration, thereby resolving the contradiction between transmission distance and stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a local controller or gateway as an intermediary between the server database and ESLs. This intermediary receives task commands from the server and distributes them to multiple small boards via a switch fabric, reducing the transmission distance for each individual ESL connection while maintaining system-wide coordination, thus improving transmission stability without limiting overall system scale.
2Quantity of substance
If transmission distance between ESL and server database increases, then more ESLs can be managed, but transmission rate decreases
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the ESL system into multiple small boards that can independently process and display task commands, the patent enables parallel communication channels. Each small board handles its own tasks locally, allowing the system to manage more ESLs simultaneously without increasing the transmission distance or reducing the transmission rate of individual channels.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a centralized star topology to a distributed mesh-like architecture where small boards communicate through a switch fabric. This dimensional change in network topology allows multiple ESLs to be managed concurrently through parallel communication paths, increasing the number of manageable ESLs while maintaining high transmission rates across all channels.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided are apparatus and method for management of electronic shelf label. The apparatus for management of electronic shelf label, ESL, including an ESL mainboard and a plurality of ESL small boards, wherein the ESL mainboard sends task commands to the plurality of ESL small boards through a first logic signal; and each ESL small board of the plurality of ESL small boards includes a receiving portion and a display portion, the receiving portion receives, through the first logic signal, a command for a task corresponding to the ESL small board as sent by the ESL mainboard, and the display portion displays the task.