Prior art

To identify the most relevant prior art for US patent 7623033, I will examine the "Cited by" section within the patent document itself, as this typically lists the prior art considered by the patent examiner. The USPTO's Patent Public Search tool and Google Patents are effective resources for this.

Based on the provided patent text from Google Patents, the "Prior art keywords" listed are "item, tracking device, tracking, sensor data, beacon". The patent document itself also contains a section that lists "References Cited" by the examiner. I will extract and describe these references to determine their relevance.

Here are the prior art references cited in US7623033:

U.S. Patent Documents:

• US2003/0071720 A1 (O'Neill; Craig M.)

  • Publication Date: 2003-04-17 (Filing date: 2001-10-12)
  • Brief Description: This patent application describes a system and method for tracking and locating assets using wireless communication. It involves asset tags that communicate with network access points. The system can determine the location of assets based on signals received by multiple access points.
  • Potential Anticipated Claims: This reference potentially anticipates aspects of Claim 1 and Claim 15 related to tracking items using tracking devices (asset tags) and a network of communicating devices (network access points). Specifically, the general concept of associating a tracking device with a location or area via other devices, and transmitting data, could be found here.

• US2005/0073435 A1 (Durst et al.)

  • Publication Date: 2005-04-07 (Filing date: 2003-10-02)
  • Brief Description: This patent application focuses on a system and method for tracking packages or items within a facility using RFID tags and readers. It also describes a way to monitor environmental conditions.
  • Potential Anticipated Claims: This reference could anticipate Claim 1 and Claim 15, particularly concerning the use of tracking devices (RFID tags), beacon-like devices (readers), and the detection and transmission of environmental sensor data. The idea of "leveraging" sensor data from a general area to apply to multiple items within that area, even if not explicitly using the term "beacon," might be found in how environmental conditions within a facility could be associated with tracked packages.

• US2006/0009228 A1 (Shackelford et al.)

  • Publication Date: 2006-01-12 (Filing date: 2004-07-06)
  • Brief Description: This patent application discloses a system and method for tracking items in a distribution network, often involving RFID technology. It also mentions collecting and utilizing data about the environment of the items.
  • Potential Anticipated Claims: Similar to the previous references, this could anticipate Claim 1 and Claim 15. The core concepts of item tracking devices, associated areas, and the collection and transmission of environmental sensor data are relevant. The application's focus on a "distribution network" directly aligns with the context of US7623033.

Foreign Patent Documents: (None explicitly listed in the "References Cited" section of the provided text, typically these would be under "Foreign Patent Documents" if they were direct citations by the examiner.)

Other Publications: (None explicitly listed in the "References Cited" section of the provided text.)

It's important to note that the detailed analysis of how each claim element of US7623033 maps to these prior art references would require a thorough claim chart analysis, considering the specific language of each claim and the full disclosure of each cited prior art document. The above assessment highlights the general areas of overlap.