Abstract: A method and system of predicting a maintenance schedule and estimating a cost for warranty service of systems, for example, hardware systems, is provided. The method and system in one aspect may collect component usage data and obtain component reliability data for each of the plurality of components. A component life distribution module (CLDM) may be constructed based on the real time component usage data and the component reliability data, and from CLDM a mean time to fail data may be obtained. A system life distribution model (SLDM) may be selected and the mean time to fail data input into the SLDM to obtain an operating environment index that represents the effect of environment conditions on the lifetime and reliability. A maintenance schedule may be predicted and an adjusted cost of warranty service may be calculated based on the operating environment index for each of the plurality of components.

Abstract: A method and system of predicting a maintenance schedule and estimating a cost for warranty service of systems, for example, hardware systems, is provided. The method and system in one aspect may collect component usage data and obtain component reliability data for each of the plurality of components. A component life distribution module (CLDM) may be constructed based on the real time component usage data and the component reliability data, and from CLDM a mean time to fail data may be obtained. A system life distribution model (SLDM) may be selected and the mean time to fail data input into the SLDM to obtain an operating environment index that represents the effect of environment conditions on the lifetime and reliability. A maintenance schedule may be predicted and an adjusted cost of warranty service may be calculated based on the operating environment index for each of the plurality of components.

Abstract: A method of selecting groups of radio frequency RF transponders (tags) for communication between a base station and the tags. The tags are selected into groups according to a physical attribute of the signal sent by the tags to the base station, or according to the physical response of the tags to a physical attribute of the signal sent from the base station to the tags. Communication with the tags is thereby simplified, and the time taken to communicate with the first tag is markedly reduced.

Abstract: A method of selecting groups of radio frequency RF transponders (tags) for communication between a base station and the tags. The tags are selected into groups according to a physical attribute ofthe signal sent by the tags to the base station, or according to the physical response of the tags to a physical attribute of the signal sent from the base station to the tags. Communication with the tags is thereby simplified, and the time taken to communicate with the first tag is markedly reduced.