REMOTE DEVICE MANAGEMENT INTERFACE

Abstract

A network for remotely managing a plurality of remote devices that are each individually configurable to have selected operating characteristics includes a server connected to the network and to the plurality of remote devices, and a display coupled to a computer which is connected to the network. Also included are means for assigning a common icon to each remote device of the same type and displaying the icons on the server display, and means for coloring each icon to indicate a current configuration status of each remote device and for displaying the color on the icon on the display.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/961,627 for Remote Device Management Interface filed Dec. 7, 2010 (and published Jun. 9, 2011 as U.S. Patent Publication No. 2011/0138310), now U.S. Pat. No. 9,497,092, which claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 61/267,641 for Remote Device Management Interface filed Dec. 8, 2009. Each of the foregoing patent applications, patent publication, and patent is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the management of remote devices such as portable data terminals (PDTs), and more particularly to an interface for managing the remote devices.

BACKGROUND

Remote devices, such as portable data terminals (PDTs), portable data assistants (PDAs), and other devices used for automatic identification and data collection (AIDC) generally provide data at remote locations back to a central office. Sometimes these devices have the ability to monitor the operation of the device and to provide device status information to the central office. Such a remote device is described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0185432 A1 to Caballo et al. which is hereby incorporated by reference.

The remote devices can have the ability to have their configuration changed or to have a new application program installed while away from the central office. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0044003 A1 to Berthiaume et al. teaches such a method, and is hereby incorporated by reference.

The remote devices can be managed by Remote Device Management (RDM) systems that allow an RDM user to manage the remote devices including updating configurations and device software, and to track problems which may be common to several devices, and provide fixes for these problems where feasible.

However, some RDM systems accumulate vast amounts of diagnostic and performance data. Organizing the data in a clear, concise, meaningful, and intuitive way on the graphical user interface of a computer display is a problem. Either too much data is presented so as to be cluttered and confusing, or the user has to navigate through multiple, sometimes non-intuitive, dialogs to access desired information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system of remote devices in communication with a server and a remote device management terminal in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A-2I are user interface screens showing displayed information, screen configuration options, and control commands for monitoring and controlling the configuration of the remote devices shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method for recognizing a problem with one of the remote devices shown in FIG. 1, and resolving the problem, if possible, using data received from other remote devices.

It will be appreciated that for purposes of clarity and where deemed appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated in the figures to indicate corresponding features.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made to exemplary embodiments of the invention which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. This invention, however, may be embodied in various forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these representative embodiments are described in detail so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope, structure, operation, functionality, and potential of applicability of the invention to those skilled in the art.

Referring to FIG. 1, a diagram 10 of a system of remote devices 12, 14, 16, and 18 in communication with a server 20 and a remote device management terminal 22 through a Wide Area Network (WAN) 24 in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention is shown. Those skilled in the art will understand that the WAN 24 may comprise the internet, cellular phone communication, other RF communication systems, etc. and combinations thereof. The remote device management terminal 22 includes a data processing unit 26, a keyboard 28, a pointing device 30 with at least two buttons for left and right clicks, and a display 32. The server 20 may have connected thereto a data storage module 34.

The remote devices 12-16 are data collection devices (DCDs) which may be portable data terminals (PDTs), portable data assistants (PDAs), etc. Data collection devices are a class of devices used to collect, process, and transfer data to a data processing system.

In operation, the remote devices 12-16 have the ability to monitor the operation of the respective devices and to provide device status and performance information to the central office as described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0185432 A1. The server 20 receives the data from remote devices, such as the remote devices 12-16 and provides configuration update information to the remote devices. The terminal 22 interacts with the server 20 to provide interface screens on the display 32 allowing a user of the remote devices to locate each remote device, determine the configuration of each remote device, analyze the performance of the remote devices, and send updated configuration information to the remote devices as necessary. The server 20 may also have error detection and configuration software, stored in a hard drive in the data processing unit 26 or the data storage module 34, which operates independently of the interface screens on the display 32.

FIG. 2A is one embodiment of a user interface screen 50, in the form of a Graphical User Interface (GUI), which might be shown on the display 32. The screen has a title “Remote Device Management” and has three main sections: a menu section 52, which has drop down lists (File, Selection Panel, Map Panel, Detail Panel, Window, and Help) for configuring the screen 50, a remote device interaction menu section 54 which has drop down lists (Configuration Update, Application Update, Diagnostics, and Security) for updating or querying one or more remote devices such as the remote devices 12-16, and a graphical presentation section 56 for providing graphical information that a user can view and manipulate.

FIG. 2A shows a map 60 of a geographical region with remote devices indicated by icons 62 (each associated with a number 1-9 in the map 60) representing the types of remote devices, some of which are colored (numbers 1, 6, 8, and 9) to indicate configuration information about the devices. A user can select the type of icon which represent different configuration information, the color, and other variables which may make up each icon using the “Map Panel” button in the menu section 52. Complete configuration information for each of the remote devices may be stored in the data storage module 34. The location of each remote device may be determined from the longitude and latitude detected by each remote device using an internal GPS module and sent to the server 20. A user can zoom in on sections of the map using a zoom control 64, and the area covered in the map is indicated by a scale on the right side of the map 60.

In one embodiment of the present invention a double left click on the pointing device 30 with the pointing device arrow over an icon, for example the icon of remote device numbered 3, causes a detail panel window 70 and a chart panel window 72 to pop up as shown in FIG. 2B. The detail window 70 may have an icon grouping 74 representing the particular remote device 62 with the same number as that shown in the map. Each grouping 74 may also include the icon 62 representing the type of device and icon 76 representing the type of symbology that the particular remote device is configured to recognize along with more configuration information in a configuration box 78 below the icon 62. For example a camera icon 76 may indicate a remote device with a picture taking capability. The application software (App Software) which is used in the remote device may be shown along with the software configuration (Config.). In addition, a list of the monitored data, labeled “Metrics” in FIG. 2B, that has been sent to the server 30 may be shown. Each metric may be described in a box 80 with the current value on a line 82 for the metric shown below each box 80. There may also be a section 86 for the user to enter notes on the selected device.

The chart panel 72 is shown with a graph of the average scan time versus time which the selected remote device has reported which is data of one of the metrics 80 shown in the detail panel. The data contained in both the detail panel 70 and the chart panel 72 can be customized using the Detail Panel button and the Chart Panel button, respectively, in the menu section 52. Each of the panels, which include the map panel, the detail panel, the chart panel, and the selection panel in the embodiment shown in the drawings, can be moved, sized, enabled, disabled, and hidden by the user.

FIG. 2C is FIG. 2B in which the arrow controlled by the pointing device 30 is hovering over the icon 62 for remote device number 8. A box 90 containing configuration information is produced to allow a user to quickly determine more detailed configuration information about the remote device.

FIG. 2D is another configuration of the user interface screen which has a selection panel on the left side and the map panel on the right side. The selection panel may have icon groupings 74 for each of the remote devices shown in the map panel. Each icon grouping 74 may have the combination of icons 62 and 76 and configuration information box 78 shown in the left side of the detail panel shown in FIG. 2B. The hover and double click capabilities of the pointing device with regard to the map panel also apply to the selection panel. A configuration box 92 may have colored text indicating a particular type of configuration. The colored text in the configuration box 92 allows the user to quickly identify remote devices 62 that have a particular configuration.

FIG. 2E is FIG. 2D after a right click of the pointing device 30 on the icon in the selection box representing the number 8 remote device. A box 94 may be formed around the device number 8 icon and a selection box 96 is presented to the user. Hovering the pointing device over any of the items listed in the selection box 96 may cause a further list (not shown) of choices for the user. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2E the first four items, Configuration, Application, Diagnostics, and Security, may provide the same items as clicking the respective boxes in the menu section 54. The four items Selection, Map, Detail, and Chart may provide the same options as clicking each of the corresponding items in the menu section 52. Additional items, indicated by the vertical bullets, may be included in the selection box 96. These additional items may be commands to the selected remote devices to send certain data to the server 20 so that the data would be available to the user for further analysis and comparison.

FIG. 2F is FIG. 2D after four of the remote device icons have been dragged to a new position in the selection pane, a box 100 drawn around the four icons using the pointing device 30, and the selection box 96 made to appear by a right click on the pointing device 30 inside the box 84 away from any of the icon groups 74. By dragging selected icons corresponding to selected remote devices to one region, drawing a box around the selected icons, and right clicking on the box 100 a user can perform the same operation on several remote devices at once. For example, all of the devices within the box 100 can be upgraded with a new configuration by a user using the user interface screen shown in FIG. 2F. Hovering over an area of the box that is not filed with icon grouping 74 may bring up a configuration box which shows only the configuration parameters that are common to all of the remote devices inside the box. Thus, in FIG. 2F, hovering over an area of the box 100 that is not occupied by one of icon groupings 74 will produce a configuration box showing the common model numbers of the remote devices 3, 4, 5, and 6 if they are the same models, plus any other common configuration parameters.

FIG. 2G is FIG. 2F after the user has expanded a section around a selected location in the map 60 to form a more detailed map 102. The user has also elected to hide the remote devices other than the four remote devices inside the box 100 in both the selection panel and the map panel. Also, one of the icon groupings, 104, has been right clicked which brings up the selection box 96. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2G, by using the selection box 96 the remote device represented by the icon grouping 104 may be updated by changing the application in the remote device or by changing the configuration of the remote device.

FIG. 2H is FIG. 2G after the remote device represented by icon grouping 104 has been updated which may result in displaying the remote device icon 62 in a new color thus confirming the update. Also, another icon 106 has been added to the remote device icon 104 in FIG. 2H indicating that the remote device now has the ability to interpret postal code symbols.

FIG. 2I shows the process of dragging an icon from the selection panel to the detail panel, as indicated by dashed line 108. A single left click may highlight the icon group 110 and the associated information with a box 112, and the box can be dragged into the detail panel. The transfer into the detail panel leaves the icon group 74 in the selection panel in one embodiment of the present invention. Also, by double left clicking on one of the metrics, as indicated by arrow 114, causes a plot of the metric value for a predetermined number of dates to be presented in the chart panel.

When the remote device manager interface screen is closed, the last screen and the setting in the selection, map, detail, and chart panels are saved and restored to the user when the interface screen is brought up the next time.

The user interface screens shown in FIGS. 2A-2I allow a user to address configuration issues by providing a graphical configuration tool. In addition, new devices introduced into the system can be quickly identified and brought into a desired configuration using the graphical user interfaces described above.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart 120 showing a process for identifying faults or potential faults in the remote devices 62. The server 20 receives raw metric data which enter the system as indicated by box 122. Such metrics may include CPU load, scan times, and the other monitored events listed in U.S. Patent Publication 2008/0185432. The raw metric data can be sent to the server automatically or can be sent to the server as a result of a request for information by the server 20. The server 20 will cross reference the new data with specifications for the acceptable range of the metric data stored in the data storage module 34 to determine if a new metric is out of tolerance, and may also compare the new metric data with previous data to determine if the new metric data deviates significantly from the mean of the previous metric data for the same type and configuration of remote device 62 as indicated by boxes 124 and 126.

If the metric data is out of range, in that it is out or tolerance or deviates significantly from the mean of previous metric data, or in case of a notification from a remote device of an error or device fault, the server 20 would try to correlate this data with previous data to determine if the fault has previously occurred as indicated by box 128. In both cases the system would also attempt to find a correlation between the device with the issue and the device model, revision, installed software, etc. of other devices. In this way it would not only detect a problem, but detect precisely what other devices may have the same issue and, therefore, automatically update those devices. In the correlation process, indicated by box 128, the system will also attempt to make correlations between a metric that is out of range and devices that had the same or similar out of range condition, thus being able to anticipate if a system is likely to have a problem. The events that it would compare would not be limited to faults or out of tolerance metrics as even data that seems okay could be a predictor of an issue. As the database grows and its mesh of event correlations grows, the system would be increasingly effective at predicting issues.

If the metric data is out of range by the test described above and indicated in box 126, the server 20 determines if a fix is available for the out of range condition as indicated by box 130. If a fix is available, the fix is applied as indicated in box 132. If a fix is not available, a user is alerted as indicated in box 134. Here the term “user” refers to either the operator of the remote device or a person in charge of the remote devices 62, or both.

If it is determined that there is a pattern with the faulted device, the device that has a metric that is out of range, in the test indicated in boxes 126 and 128, then a determination is made whether the fault is critical as indicated in box 136. If the fault is critical, then the user is alerted as indicated by box 134, and if the fault is not critical, the server will wait for more metric data as indicated in box 138 by returning to receive new raw metric data indicated by box 122. If it is determined that there is not a pattern with the faulted device in box 128, then a check is made using a broader data base, such as a data base made available from a manufacturer of the particular remote device, or wait for more metric data as indicated in box 140 by returning to receive new raw metric data indicated by box 122.

While the invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the scope of the invention.

Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

Claims

1-22. (canceled)

23. A method for managing a plurality of remote devices, the method comprising:

providing a user interface, the user interface comprising a map of a geographical region in which one or more of the plurality of remote devices are located, wherein each remote device of the plurality of remote devices is a mobile data collection device that is configurable by receiving one or more configuration updates from a server;

displaying, for each remote device of the plurality of remote devices, a respective icon representative of the respective remote device on the map at a first location on the map that corresponds to a first location of the remote device in the geographical region and a first configuration status, the first location of the remote device on the map determined at least in part based upon a first location data obtained from the remote device, wherein the respective icon representative of the respective remote device on the map is updated to a second location on the map from the first location of the remote device on the map in response to determining a second location of the remote device in the geographical region, the second location of the remote device on the map determined at least in part based upon a second location data obtained from the remote device;

receiving a request to update a configuration of the remote device; and

adjusting the first configuration status to a second configuration status for a remote device of the plurality of remote devices, in response to the update.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

adding another icon on the user interface to indicate an additional symbology associated with the update.

25. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

identifying a fault in at least one remote device;

determining another update that addresses the fault; and

applying the another update in response to the another update being available, wherein a third configuration status reflects the another update in the user interface.

26. The method of claim 23, further comprising, displaying, on the map, icons of the plurality of remote devices, which are of a selected type, and hiding, on the map, icons of all remote devices, of the plurality of remote devices, which are of a type other than the selected type.

27. The method of claim 23, further comprising, providing, a selection panel on the user interface, the selection panel comprising multiple icon groupings, each icon grouping corresponding to a respective icon placed on the map, wherein an icon grouping comprises a device icon for the remote device represented by the icon, on the map, to which the icon grouping corresponds and further comprises at least one additional icon representative of at least one characteristic of the remote device represented by the icon, on the map, to which the icon grouping corresponds.

28. The method of claim 23, further comprising applying a common configuration update to each of the remote devices in the icon grouping.

29. The method of claim 23, further comprising receiving a selection, via the user interface, two or more devices from the plurality of remote devices and applying a configuration update to the two or more devices.

30. The method of claim 23, further comprising receiving metric data relating to at least one remote device of the plurality of remote devices and displaying a representation of the metric data, wherein the representation of the metric data is associated with the at least one remote device.

31. The method of claim 23, further comprising identifying a new remote device and applying a configuration update to the new remote device based on a request received via the user interface.

32. The method of claim 23, wherein the update is at least one of a security update, a firmware update, and an extension of decoding capability of the remote device to an additional symbology; and wherein at least one remote device of the plurality of remote devices is configured to capture and decode postal code symbols.

33. An apparatus configured for managing a plurality of remote devices, the apparatus comprising at least a processor, and a memory associated with the processor having computer coded instructions therein, with the computer coded instructions configured to, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to:

provide a user interface, the user interface comprising a map of a geographical region in which one or more of the plurality of remote devices are located, wherein each remote device of the plurality of remote devices is a mobile data collection device that is configurable by receiving one or more configuration updates from a server;

display, for each remote device of the plurality of remote devices, a respective icon representative of the respective remote device on the map at a first location on the map that corresponds to a first location of the remote device in the geographical region and a first configuration status, the first location of the remote device on the map determined at least in part based upon a first location data obtained from the remote device, wherein the respective icon representative of the respective remote device on the map is updated to a second location on the map from the first location of the remote device on the map in response to determining a second location of the remote device in the geographical region, the second location of the remote device on the map determined at least in part based upon a second location data obtained from the remote device;

receive a request to update a configuration of the remote device; and

adjust the first configuration status to a second configuration status for a remote device of the plurality of remote devices, in response to the update.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the computer coded instructions further cause the apparatus to:

add another icon on the user interface to indicate an additional symbology associated with the update.

35. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the computer coded instructions further cause the apparatus to:

identify a fault in at least one remote device;

determine another update that addresses the fault; and

apply the another update in response to the another update being available, wherein a third configuration status reflects the another update in the user interface.

36. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the computer coded instructions further cause the apparatus to display, on the map, icons of the plurality of remote devices, which are of a selected type, and hiding, on the map, icons of all remote devices, of the plurality of remote devices, which are of a type other than the selected type.

37. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the computer coded instructions further cause the apparatus to provide, a selection panel on the user interface, the selection panel comprising multiple icon groupings, each icon grouping corresponding to a respective icon placed on the map, wherein an icon grouping comprises a device icon for the remote device represented by the icon, on the map, to which the icon grouping corresponds and further comprises at least one additional icon representative of at least one characteristic of the remote device represented by the icon, on the map, to which the icon grouping corresponds.

38. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the computer coded instructions further cause the apparatus to apply a common configuration update to each of the remote devices in the icon grouping.

39. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the computer coded instructions further cause the apparatus to receive a selection, via the user interface, two or more devices from the plurality of remote devices and applying a configuration update to the two or more devices.

40. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the computer coded instructions further cause the apparatus to receive metric data relating to at least one remote device of the plurality of remote devices and displaying a representation of the metric data, wherein the representation of the metric data is associated with the at least one remote device.

41. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the computer coded instructions further cause the apparatus to identify a new remote device and applying a configuration update to the new remote device based on a request received via the user interface.

42. The method of claim 33, wherein the update is at least one of a security update, a firmware update, and an extension of decoding capability of the remote device to an additional symbology; and wherein at least one remote device of the plurality of remote devices is configured to capture and decode postal code symbols.