System and method for remotely monitoring modem status

• US 20030023720A1
• Filed: 07/30/2001
• Published: 01/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Semtech Corporation
• Original Assignee: Sierra Wireless Incorporated
• Inventors: Wodzianek, Richard
• Granted Patent: US 7,600,013 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements

Abstract

An application allows the user to monitor the status of groups of wireless modems employed in the field. The requests are sent out to multiple modems and responses return from the modem units to the computer program. The information from the modem units is then displayed to the user at a personal computer.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a computer operably connected to a network, the computer having software adapted to track the status of multiple modem units, the software allowing for the production of status checks to be sent to the multiple modem units; and

modem units adapted to receive status check message, the modem units being associated with host processors, the modem units being adapted to reply with status information without being controlled by the host processors.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the computer is connected by the Internet to a server.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the server is connected to a cellular network.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the computer system sends requests across the network through the server, across the cellular network to the individual modem units.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the modem units receive the requests and transmit status information back across the cellular network to the computer.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the modem units transmit across a cellular network.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the modem units run the UPD protocol over IP.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the modem units do not have a TCP stack at the modem unit.

9. A computer adapted to track the status of multiple modem units, the computer producing indications that result in status checks being sent to multiple modem units, the computer receiving status information from the multiple modem units in response to the status checks, the status information being produced by modem units without being controlled by host processors associated with the modem units.

10. The computer of claim 9 wherein the computer is connected by the Internet to a server.

11. The computer of claim 10 wherein the server is connected to a cellular network.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein the modem units can be connected across a cellular network.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the requests are sent from the computer system across the cellular network to the modem unit and the status information is sent from the modem unit across the cellular network to the computer.

14. The system of claim 9 wherein the status information is produced by the modem units using UDP over IP stack.

15. The computer of claim 14 wherein the modem units do not use a tcp stack to produce the status information response.

16. A method comprising:

transmitting modem status requests to modem units across cellular network;

at modem unit, determining whether status request is for that modem unit and, if so, constructing a status response and transmitting a wireless response from modem unit;

receiving modem status responses from a number of modem units and producing a display for a group of modem units.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the modem status requests are transmitted to the modem units across the cellular network.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the modem status requests are sent from a computer to the modem units.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the computer is connected by the Internet to a server.

20. The method of claim 16 wherein at the modem unit a udp over IP stack is implemented to interpret the modem status requests and to produce the modem status responses.

21. The method of the claim 20 wherein the modem units do not have a tcp stack at the modem unit to produce the modem status responses.