Method for tracking and controlling grainy and fluid bulk goods in stream-oriented transportation process using rfid devices

Abstract

A method and system for tracking non-discrete goods. The method includes inserting a first identification device into a non-discrete good, detecting the first identification device within the non-discrete good, and determining a characteristic of the non-discrete good from the first identification device. The system includes a plurality of identification devices having characteristics similar to a non-discrete good, and a set of sensors to detect the plurality of identification devices and determine a characteristic of the non-discrete good based on the identification devices.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 inserting a first identification device into a non-discrete good;   sending an authentication key to the first identification device in the non-discrete good; receiving an acknowledgement from the first identification device indicating that a sender of the authentication key has been authenticated by the first identification device;   sending a data request to the first identification device in response to receiving the acknowledgement;   receiving a response to the data request from the first identification device;   determining a characteristic of the non-discrete good from the response from the first identification device by a tracking system, the characteristic including location information; and   determining, by a computer with a processor and memory unit, a loss of or addition to the non-discrete good by comparing the location information to an expected location or an actual location for the first identification device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 inserting a second identification device into the non-discrete good, the second identification device to provide additional data regarding the non-discrete good.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 comparing an actual distance between the first identification device and the second identification device with an expected distance between the first identification device and the second identification device at a time of insertion of the second identification device into the non-discrete good.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 determining a rate of movement of the non-discrete good by determining the relative position of the second identification device to the first identification device and an elapsed time.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 comparing data from the first identification device with data from the second identification device to verify an origin of the non-discrete good.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the non-discrete good is any one of a liquid, granular material and gas. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first identification device has characteristics similar to the characteristics of the non-discrete good including any one of density, weight, buoyancy and particle size. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 identifying an origin of the non-discrete good through the first identification device.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 storing data about the non-discrete good in the first identification device during transportation of the non-discrete good.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first identification device is a radio frequency identification device (RFID). 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 inserting a third identification device into another non-discrete good; and   detecting an improper mixture of the non-discrete good and another non-discrete good by detection of the first identification device and the third identification device.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 detecting a loss of the first identification device; and   determining a portion of the non-discrete good that is lost based on the detected loss of the first identification device.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first identification device indicates a transition between non-discrete goods. 
     
     
         14 . A non-transitory machine readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a set of operations comprising:
 transmitting a first message to an identification device in a non-discrete good including an authentication key;   receiving a second message from the identification device in response to the first message, the second message including data indicating a characteristic of the non-discrete good the characteristic including location information; and   detecting a mixing, misrouting, gain, or loss of the non-discrete good by tracking the location information and comparing the location information with an expected location or an actual location for the identification device.   
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 14 , wherein the first message wakes the identification device from a dormant state. 
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 14 , having further instructions stored therein, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a set of further operations comprising:
 storing data from the identification device in a database.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 14 , having further instructions stored therein, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a set of further operations comprising:
 transmitting a third message to be stored in the identification device.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 14 , having further instructions stored therein, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a set of further operations comprising:
 tracking movement of the identification device by analyzing the characteristic of the second message.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 14 , having further instructions stored therein, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a set of further operations comprising:
 accessing a database to update data related to the non-discrete good based on the second message.