Reduced PID Tag Set for Retail Transaction Data

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing systems for processing transaction data in retail environments are costly, labor-intensive, and require significant resources to maintain, with limitations in categorization and analysis due to reliance on specific product identification specifications, leading to inefficiencies in data capture and processing.

Innovation Solution

A reduced PID tag set specification is introduced, allowing for the representation of transaction data in a format independent of retail store product specifications, using a central database to store and analyze data with a simplified tag set that includes fewer PID tags, enabling category-based analysis and processing without requiring access to the retailer's specific PID specification.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If a full PID specification is used to represent transaction data, then data accuracy and product identification precision are improved, but device complexity and data processing cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveproduct identification precisionVSAvoiddata structure complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the essential PID information needed for category-based analysis, separating critical identification data from redundant specification details. By taking out only the necessary PID tags for transaction processing and analysis, the system reduces data structure complexity while maintaining sufficient product identification precision for marketing purposes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the PID specification into essential tags for transaction data representation and non-essential specification details. This segmentation allows the system to process only the necessary PID information for category analysis while excluding redundant specification data, thereby reducing overall data complexity and processing requirements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Measurement precision

If retailer-specific PID specifications are stored and processed, then data accuracy for product categorization is improved, but loss of information and processing overhead increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveproduct categorization accuracyVSAvoidspecification data redundancy

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent creates a universal PID tag set that can represent product identification data across different retailer specifications. This universal set performs multiple functions: it maintains product categorization accuracy by mapping various retailer-specific PIDs to standardized categories, while eliminating the need to store and process redundant retailer-specific specification details.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an intermediary mapping layer between retailer-specific PID specifications and standardized category identifiers. This intermediary mechanism translates diverse retailer PIDs into unified category-based representations, preserving categorization accuracy while filtering out redundant specification information from the processing pipeline.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Productivity

If comprehensive product identification data is captured, then analysis capability is improved, but use of energy and computational resources increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata analysis capabilityVSAvoidcomputational resource consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the essential PID tags necessary for category-based analysis, removing redundant specification data from the processing pipeline. This extraction reduces the volume of data requiring computational processing, thereby lowering energy consumption while preserving sufficient analysis capability for marketing insights.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies partial action by processing only the necessary portion of PID data required for category analysis, rather than processing complete product identification specifications. This selective processing approach maintains adequate analysis capability for marketing purposes while significantly reducing computational resource consumption.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentUS7788125B2Data structure and architecture for processing transaction data

Publication Date: 2010.08.31 CATALINA MARKETING CORP

AI summary

A reduced PID tag set specification represents POS transaction data in a manner that is largely retail store product specification independent. A reduced PID tag set specification is a tagged format specification in which a number of PID tags in the tagged format specification is less than the number of PIDs for products contained in RS POS CSs PID specification. In a preferred embodiment, there is only one tag set defined for identifying product identification datum as such. As a result, the product descriptions of all of the product identifications that exist in a retailer's product identification specification are lost when saving the same data in the preferred reduced PID tag set specification. However, saving the retailer's transaction data in a reduced PID tag set specification moots the need to know the retailer's product identification specification in order to receive, store, organize, and, to a certain extent, process the retailer's transaction data.