Real-time alert mechanism for monitoring and controlling field assets via wireless and internet technologies
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and system are disclosed for the real-time monitoring and control of field assets. In particular, a monitoring device is disclosed that may be coupled to a field asset. The monitoring device may be designed as a stand-alone unit or it may be designed to leverage one or more technologies included in the field asset to determine the occurrence of one or more error conditions. The error conditions may be detected either as they occur or by testing the field asset at timed intervals. Upon detection of one or more error conditions, the monitoring device may initiate one or more corrective sequences to resolve the error condition. Alternatively, the monitoring device may notify a network operations center, via a wireless network, of the detected error condition. Users may access the network operations center via the Internet using a Internet-enabled remote device. From the Internet-enabled remote device, the user may view status information concerning one or more field assets. The user may also use the Internet-enabled remote device to instruct the network operations center to issue commands to be executed by the monitoring device coupled to the field asset such that the error conditions on the field asset may be corrected.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1-8. -8. (canceled)
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9. An apparatus for managing a vending machine comprising:
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at least one processor;
memory operably coupled to the at least one processor; and
a wireless network interface operably coupled to the memory and the processor, the wireless network interface operable to receive commands from a network operations center transmitted via the wireless network, said commands operable to correct at least one error condition on the vending machine. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A system for the Internet enabled management of a field asset comprising:
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a field asset having a controller board operable to detect at least one error condition present on the field asset;
a monitoring device operably coupled to the field asset;
the monitoring device including a processor, memory operably coupled to the processor, and a wireless network interface operably coupled to the memory and the processor and operable to communicate with a wireless network;
the wireless network interface operable to receive commands from a network operations center transmitted via the wireless network;
a network operations center operably coupled to the wireless network; and
the network operations center operable to;
receive alerts indicative of error conditions existing on the field asset from the monitoring device; and
transmit a command via the wireless network in response to a selected error condition, the command operable to correct the selected error condition on the field asset. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for monitoring the operating status of a vending machine comprising:
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coupling at least one monitoring device to a controller board of the vending machine;
determining, by the monitoring device, whether at least one error condition is present on the vending machine;
transmitting the at least one error condition to a network operations center over a wireless network; and
transmitting a commands from the network operations center via the wireless network to correct the at least one error condition on the vending machine. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
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Specification