Multi-use wireless display tag infrastructure and methods

Abstract

A multiuse system for use with Wireless Display Tags (WDTs) includes, in one or more exemplary arrangements, techniques for automatically maintaining synchronicity between pricing data for a product and advertising, marketing or promotional data associated with that product, and for detecting the proximity and location of a customer within a category of goods displayed within a managed environment. A messaging format suitable for such low power operation among a large number of peers is also disclosed, as is a technique for integrating a plurality of smaller displays to yield a single large display. An access point capable of serving as a communications hub within such a network, while at the same time offering visual and audio surveillance capabilities, is also disclosed.

1 . A multiunit display for creating a single larger display, comprising:
 a plurality of bit-mapped display units, each display unit disposed in a predetermined configuration relative to the other display units and all of the display units adjacent to at least one other display unit; and   at least one display driver adapted to drive the plurality of display units in a coordinated manner to generate an image which spans at least some of the plurality of display units.   
     
     
         2 . The display of  claim 1 , wherein each display unit is a wireless display tag. 
     
     
         3 . The display of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of bit-mapped display units are laid out in a grid. 
     
     
         4 . The display of  claim 1 , wherein each display unit displays a portion of an image and the plurality of display units display the image being made up of a plurality of portions of the image. 
     
     
         5 . A method for creating a single larger display, comprising:
 disposing a plurality of bit-mapped display units in a predetermined configuration relative to the other display units and all of the display units adjacent to at least one other display unit; and   driving, by a display driver, the plurality of display units in a coordinated manner to generate an image which spans at least some of the plurality of display units.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein disposing the plurality of bit-mapped display units further comprises disposing the plurality of bit-mapped display units in a grid. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein each display unit displays a portion of an image and the plurality of display units display the image being made up of a plurality of portions of the image.