WO2007035033A1

WO2007035033A1 - Method for providing information of manufactured goods to mobile communication apparatus having rfid module and record readable medium thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2007035033A1
Application number: PCT/KR2006/003652
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kyoung Jun Lee; Jong Chul Lee
Original assignee: Kyoung Jun Lee; Jong Chul Lee
Priority date: 2005-09-26
Filing date: 2006-09-14
Publication date: 2007-03-29
Also published as: KR100759264B1

Abstract

Provided is a method of providing basic information and additional information about a product to a mobile communication apparatus including an RFID module. When a possessor of the mobile communication apparatus wants to obtain the additional information about the product after reading the basic information stored in an RFID tag of the product using the mobile communication apparatus, the additional information output by a server can be obtained via the mobile communication apparatus. The server can accumulatively record the number of times of transmissions of the additional information. Existing purchasers of the product can use incentives generated on the basis of the accumulatively recorded number of times of transmissions of the additional information, for on-line and/or offline shopping. The possessor of the mobile com¬ munication apparatus can transmit the basic information and/or additional information to the other mobile communication apparatuses.

Description

METHOD FOR PROVIDING INFORMATION OF MANUFACTURED GOODS TO MOBILE COMMUNICATION APPARATUS HAVING RFID MODULE AND RECORD

READABLE MEDIUM THEREOF Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to an information providing method, and more particularly, to a method of providing basic information and/or additional information about a product to a mobile communication apparatus including an RFID module, and a recording medium that records a program for executing the method. Background Art

[2] In a modern society, marketing activities of companies become so fierce to be called a war, and companies concentrate their marketing abilities on advertisement activities that can attract the attentions of potential consumers having purchasing power. Advertisement, which is a marketing method, provides information about products (or manufactured goods) to consumers in order to induce the purchases of the consumers. The advertisement in the modern society typically uses media, such as, newspapers, magazines, radios, TVs, outdoor signboards, pamphlets, etc.

[3] When a person purchases a product that you want to have or are interested in, you can get information about the product by asking the purchaser about the product. However, when the purchase of the product happened quite a long time ago, the purchaser of the product has difficulty in providing accurate information about the product to the asker. In particular, it is uncomfortable to ask information of a person who is not acquainted, and the person who provides the information is not given any incentive although somewhat contributing to promotion of the product.

[4] With a development of information communications technology, mobile communication apparatuses, such as mobile telephones or PDAs, function as multimedia communications apparatuses that perform various functions, such as, wireless data communications, wireless Internet connections, image communications, moving picture message transmission, etc. Disclosure of Invention

Technical Problem

[5] According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing basic information and additional information about a product to a mobile communication apparatus including an RFID module. In this method, when a possessor of the mobile communication apparatus wants to obtain the additional information about the product after reading the basic information stored in an RFID tag of the product using the mobile communication apparatus, the additional information output by a server can be obtained via the mobile communication apparatus. Technical Solution

[6] The present invention provides a method of providing basic information about a product and/or additional information, which is more detailed than the basic information, using a mobile communication apparatus, and a recording medium that records a program for executing the method.

Advantageous Effects

[7] As described above, in a method of providing information about a product to a mobile communication apparatus including an RFID module according to the present invention, basic information about the product and additional information thereabout can be provided in real time.

[8] The additional information can be transmitted by means of a variety of multimedia, such as, an image instead of letters, a moving image, and a voice. The additional information can be transmitted to possessors of other mobile communication apparatuses, so that a promotion through a p2p network can be achieved. Furthermore, a possessor of a product to which an RFID tag is attached does not need to perform an active promotion of the product, and a person who obtains the basic information and additional information about the product can obtain information provided by a company that manufactures and sells the product. Therefore, reliable information about the product can be obtained. Brief Description of the Drawings

[9] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system and method of providing information about a product to a mobile communication apparatus having an RFID module, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[10] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of basic information displayed on the mobile communication apparatus; and

[11] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of additional information displayed on the mobile communication apparatus. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[12] To achieve the above aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing information about a product to a mobile communication apparatus including an RFID module, the method comprising: receiving an additional information request signal requesting additional information about the product that is output by a selection of a user of the mobile communication apparatus, and a product identification number included in basic information about the product, from the mobile communication apparatus including the RFID module capable of reading the basic information about the product from an RFID tag attached to the product; recording the number of times of receptions of the product identification number to information about purchasers of the product that is stored in a purchaser database on the basis of the received product identification number, and reading the additional information about the product from a product database on the basis of the received product identification number; and transmitting the read-out additional information about the product to the mobile communication apparatus.

[13] The attached drawings for illustrating preferred embodiments of the present invention are referred to in order to gain a sufficient understanding of the present invention, the merits thereof, and the objectives accomplished by the implementation of the present invention. Mode for the Invention

[14] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail by explaining preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the attached drawings. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.

[15] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system 100 and a method of providing information about a product to a mobile communication apparatus having an RFID module, according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of basic information displayed on the mobile communication apparatus. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of additional information displayed on the mobile communication apparatus. The method of providing information about a product according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 3.

[16] The system 100 includes a computer 110 in a shop, a server 130, a product 150 to which an RFID tag 151 is attached, a first mobile communication apparatus 170, and a second mobile communication apparatus 190. For convenience of explanation, the two mobile communication apparatuses 170 and 190 are illustrated, but the prevent invention is not limited to the two mobile communication apparatuses 170 and 190.

[17] The computer 110 in a shop is a reader capable of reading basic information about the product 150 that is stored in the RFID tag 151. When the product 150 is sold, the computer 110 transmits the basic information about the sold product 150 and information about a purchaser of the product 150 to a server 130 via a wired/wireless network, in operation Si l l.

[18] The basic information includes data that depends on the advertisement strategy of a company that manufactures or sells the product 150 or the management strategy of the product 150, such as, the name, brand name, manufacturing company, manufacturing country, and ID number thereof, etc. The information about the purchaser of the product 150 includes the name, address, and sex of the purchaser, the purchasing date of the product 150, etc. If the purchaser is a member joined in a website that interworks with the server 130, information about the purchaser includes an ID and password (PW) of the purchaser.

[19] The server 130 stores the received basic information and the information about the purchaser in a purchaser database 131, in operation Sl 13. The RFID tag 151 is attached to the product 150. The basic information about the product 150 is stored in the RFID tag 151. The RFID tag 151 may be attached to various things, such as, a product, a poster, etc.

[20] The first mobile communication apparatus 170 includes an RFID module 171, which is a reader capable of reading the basic information about the product 150 from the RFID tag 151. The RFID module 171 may be implemented as hardware and/or software. The first mobile communication apparatus 170 transmits predetermined data to or receives the same from the RFID tag 151 according to a predetermined standard.

[21] When a user of the first mobile communication apparatus 170 approaches the first mobile communication apparatus 170 to the RFID tag 151 of the product 150 and manipulates a predetermined key or command in order to obtain information about the product 150, the RFID module 171 of the first mobile communication apparatus 170 transmits to the RFID tag 151 a signal for reading the basic information about the product 150 from the RFID tag 151, in operation Sl 15. The RFID tag 151 of the product 150 transmits the basic information about the product 150 to the RFID module 171 in response to the signal received from the RFID module 171, in operation Sl 17.

[22] The RFID module 171 of the first mobile communication apparatus 170 receives the basic information about the product 150 and controls the received basic information to be displayed on a display apparatus 200 as illustrated in FIG. 2, in operation Sl 19. Hence, the user of the first mobile communication apparatus 170 can see the basic information about the product 150, namely, the name, brand name, manufacturing company, and manufacturing country thereof.

[23] The basic information includes a connection address, such as, the URL of a website that is connected to the server 130 and interworks with the server 130 to obtain additional information. The basic information may also include information about, for example, a hot key capable of being connected to the website via the mobile communication apparatus 170. However, the present invention is not limited to the inclusion of the information about the hot key.

[24] When the user of the first mobile communication apparatus 170 wants to obtain additional information about the product 150 in addition to the basic information about the product 150, or information about products other than the product 150 that are manufactured or sold by a person who manufactures or sells the product 150, the user manipulates a predetermined key (e.g., yes ) of the first mobile communication apparatus 170 as illustrated in FIG. 2 and transmits to the server 130 an additional information request signal which requests the additional information about the product 150 and the product ID number included in the basic information about the product 150, in operation S 121.

[25] When the user of the first mobile communication apparatus 170 selects "yes", the first mobile communication apparatus 170 is automatically connected to the server 130 using the connection address, such as, a URL or the like, included in the basic information about the product 150.

[26] When the server 130 transmits the received product ID number to a purchaser database (DB) 131 in response to the additional information request signal in operation S 123, the purchase DB 131 records the number of times of receptions of the product ID number to the information about the purchaser of the product 150 on the basis of the product ID number output via the first mobile communication apparatus 170, in operation S 125. The recorded number of times the product ID number is received is used as basic information for giving a predetermined incentive, such as, a mileage or cyber money, to the purchaser of the product 150 in compensation for the advertisement of the purchased product 150.

[27] When the server 130 transmits the received product ID number to a product DB 133 in response to the additional information request signal in operation S 127, the product DB 133 searches for the additional information about the product 150 on the basis of the received product ID number in operation S 129, and the found additional information is transmitted to the server 130 in operation S 131.

[28] The server 130 transmits the additional information about the product 150 to the first mobile communication apparatus 170 in operation S 133. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the first mobile communication apparatus 170 displays the received additional information, such as, the price (e.g., a normal price and a selling price), the point, and the interest-free installment of a product of the same kind as the product 150, in operation S 135. Examples of the additional information may further include a shop guide, a guide about other products, a discount guide, etc, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

[29] The user of the first mobile communication apparatus 170 may purchase a product of the same kind as or a different kind from the product 150 on the basis of the displayed additional information by means of the server 130, in operation S 137. The user of the first mobile communication apparatus 170 may also transmit the basic information and/or additional information to the other mobile communication ap- paratuses using a predetermined program.

[30] A user of the second mobile communication apparatus 190, which includes an

RFID module 191 capable of reading the basic information about the product 150 stored in the RFID tag 151, can obtain additional information about the product 150 using operations S121 through S133 when wanting to obtain the additional information after obtaining the basic information using the second mobile communication apparatus 190.

[31] In this case, the purchaser DB 131 accumulatively records the number of times of receptions of the product ID number in the information about purchasers of the product 150 on the basis of the product ID number output via the second mobile communication apparatus 190, in operation S 125. An operator of the server 130 supplies predetermined incentives to the purchasers of the product 150 on the basis of the recorded number of times of receptions of the product ID number. The purchasers of the product 150 can use the incentives for on-line and/or offline shopping.

[32] A possessor of a mobile communications terminal can check much received basic information and/or additional information and selectively display basic information and/or additional information about a desired product on a display apparatus.

[33] A method of providing information about a product to a mobile communication apparatus including an RFID module according to the present invention can also be embodied as computer readable codes on a computer readable recording medium. The computer readable recording medium is any data storage device that can store data which can be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples of the computer readable recording medium include read-only memory (ROM), random- access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, optical data storage devices, and carrier waves (such as data transmission through the Internet). The computer readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. Also, functional programs, codes, and code segments for accomplishing the present invention can be easily construed by programmers skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains.

[34] While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims. Industrial Applicability

[35] As described above, a method of providing information about a product to a mobile communication apparatus including an RFID module according to the present invention can be used in e-commerce system or data processing system.

Claims

[1] A method of providing information about a product to a mobile communication apparatus including an RFID module, the method comprising: receiving an additional information request signal requesting additional information about the product that is output by a selection of a user of the mobile communication apparatus, and a product identification number included in basic information about the product, from the mobile communication apparatus including the RFID module capable of reading the basic information about the product from an RFID tag attached to the product; recording the number of times of receptions of the product identification number to information about purchasers of the product that is stored in a purchaser database on the basis of the received product identification number, and reading the additional information about the product from a product database on the basis of the received product identification number; and transmitting the read-out additional information about the product to the mobile communication apparatus.

[2] A method of providing information about a product to a mobile communication apparatus including an RFID module, the method comprising: receiving basic information about a sold product and information about purchasers of the sold product and storing the received information in a purchaser database; receiving an additional information request signal requesting additional information about the sold product that is output by a selection of a user of the mobile communication apparatus, and a product identification number included in basic information about the sold product, from the mobile communication apparatus including the RFID module capable of reading the basic information about the sold product from an RFID tag attached to the sold product; recording the number of times of receptions of the product identification number to the information about purchasers of the product that is stored in the purchaser database on the basis of the received product identification number, and reading the additional information about the sold product from a product database on the basis of the received product identification number; and transmitting the read-out additional information about the product to the mobile communication apparatus.

[3] The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising storing a mileage or cyber money information corresponding to the received number of times of receptions of the product identification number, in the purchaser database so that purchasers of the product use the mileage or cyber money information. [4] A recording medium recording a program for executing the method of claim 1 or