System and method for tracking installed equipment and deploying spare parts

• US 20060091207A1
• Filed: 11/04/2004
• Published: 05/04/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Footprint Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Footprint Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Chang, Louis
• Granted Patent: US 7,219,834 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/385
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

There is disclosed a system and method of tracking installed equipment and deploying spare parts. In an embodiment, each piece of equipment may includes a unique electronic identifier configured to be accessible over a data network, and accessible locally via a RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) network. The unique identifier may be read utilizing a RFID reader of known geographic location. Any installed equipment and spare parts deployed in the vicinity of the RFID reader may be identified by their respective unique identifiers, and their geographic location may be tracked and collected at a networked data collection server. Status information for each unit of installed equipment may also be tracked and correlated with the geographic location at the data collection server. Spare parts may be deployed, or redeployed, based on the collected status information for each unit, and the geographic location as identified by the RFID reader.

Claims

1. A method of tracking installed equipment on a network and spare parts for servicing said installed equipment, said method comprising:

identifying, via a reader of known geographic location, a unique identifier for each piece of equipment within said reader'"'"'s range;

collecting, through said network, said unique identifier and status information indicative of an operational status of said each piece of equipment;

correlating, based on said unique identifier, the geographic location of said each piece of equipment and said status information indicative of the operational status of said each piece of equipment.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising utilizing an electronic tag for said unique identifier.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said electronic tag is an Electronic Product Code (EPC).

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising utilizing a radio frequency identification (RFID) transponder to store said EPC.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising detecting said RFID transponder utilizing an RFID reader.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

deploying spare parts in geographic proximity to said installed equipment in dependence upon said correlated geographic location and status information for said each piece of equipment.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said status information comprises one of total operational time and fault signals generated by said each piece of equipment.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising generating an alarm for replacement of an installed piece of equipment with a corresponding spare part upon occurrence of a replacement indication event.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said replacement indication event is one of a piece of equipment reaching a predetermined point of its designed operational life, and the frequency of fault signals generated by a piece of equipment exceeding a predetermined threshold.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising, redeploying said spare parts in dependence upon said updated status information.

11. A system for tracking installed equipment on a network and spare parts for servicing said installed equipment, comprising:

means for identifying, via a reader of known geographic location, a unique identifier for each piece of equipment within said reader'"'"'s range;

means for collecting, through said network, said unique identifier and status information indicative of an operational status of said each piece of equipment;

means for correlating, based on said unique identifier, the geographic location of said each piece of equipment and said status information indicative of the operational status of said each piece of equipment.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein said unique identifier is an electronic tag.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein said electronic tag is an Electronic Product Code (EPC).

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising a radio frequency identification (RFID) transponder to store said EPC.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising a RFID reader to detect said RFID transponder.

16. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

means for deploying spare parts in geographic proximity to said installed equipment in dependence upon said correlated geographic location and status information for said each piece of equipment.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein said status information comprises one of total operational time and fault signals generated by said each piece of equipment.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising means for generating an alarm for replacement of an installed piece of equipment with a corresponding spare part upon occurrence of a replacement indication event.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein said replacement indication event is one of a piece of equipment reaching a predetermined point of its designed operational life, and the frequency of fault signals generated by a piece of equipment exceeding a predetermined threshold.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising, means for redeploying said spare parts in dependence upon said updated status information.