SUSTAINING A FLEET OF CONFIGURATION-CONTROLLED ASSETS

• US 20070124189A1
• Filed: 11/14/2006
• Published: 05/31/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: White, Robert, Gould, Peter, Bacon, Alan, Hooks, Dean, Fox, Barry, Burke, Terence, Thompson, Jenny, Stoughton, Chris, Oakes, Janet, Bonin, Kim, Beggs, Robert
• Granted Patent: US 10,248,914 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/8
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31348 Gateway
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31396 Business management, production, document, asset, regulatory management, high level
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32024 Remote ordering, electronic selection article and fitting to form of client
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32234 Maintenance planning
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/36542 Cryptography, encrypt, access, authorize with key, code, password
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer program products sustain a fleet of configuration-controlled assets. The method involves integrating a plurality of previously separate systems with reusable business transactions associated with managing a fleet of vehicles. The method also involves receiving operational data associated with a vehicle of the fleet, integrating the operational data per customer requirements, packaging and distributing the operational data to the plurality of systems, and installing and distributing the operational data to one or more applications of the plurality of systems utilizing reusable business transactions. The system utilizes a plurality of applications and a plurality of logical subsystems, which are connected to each other through gateways. The logical subsystems use a common format defined by a set of messages. However, the applications can use a plurality of different formats. The gateways, which are the connecting blocks, convert the data flow between the logical subsystems and the applications.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for sustaining a fleet of configuration-controlled assets, the method comprising:

integrating a plurality of previously separate systems with reusable business transactions associated with managing a fleet of assets wherein functional capabilities of the previously separate systems are defined by the reusable business transactions;

receiving operational data associated with at least one asset of the fleet;

integrating said data per customer requirements;

packaging and distributing said data to the plurality of systems; and

installing and distributing said data to one or more applications of the plurality of systems utilizing at least one of the reusable business transactions.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving operations data regarding the at least one vehicle in response to the vehicle being in operation;

evaluating and determining maintenance needs of the at least one vehicle to create a work order;

determining whether parts are available to fulfill the work order; and

determining an optimal schedule to perform the work order.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining whether a trained resource is available to perform the work order.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising receiving performance of the work order and recording the work performed.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising tracking and reporting one or more anomalies detectable via one or more of the plurality of systems.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

aggregating metrics data associated with sustaining the fleet; and

calculating one or more key performance indicators (KPIs) based on the metrics data collected wherein the KPIs are identified by the customer.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

forwarding at least one of the metrics data or the KPIs for engineering system analysis and feedback; and

analyzing the metrics data or KPIs for reliability, maintainability, and performance trends related to the fleet and its assets.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

forwarding at least one of the metrics data or the KPIs for logistical system analysis and feedback; and

analyzing the metrics data or KPIs for logistical reliability, logistical maintainability, and logistical performance trends related to the fleet and its assets.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising managing users of the plurality of previously separate systems via a central authoritative logon for the plurality of systems.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein managing users via the central authoritative logon comprises:

receiving logon inputs from one or more users;

identifying and authenticating the users; and

issuing a role-based credential for each user to be used during a user session accessing one or more of the plurality of systems.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of systems comprise at least two of a vehicle mission planning system, a supply chain management system, a training management system, a vehicle configuration state database, an optimized resource planning service, a technical publications system, a maintenance management system, and an integrated vehicle health management system.

12. A computer-implemented system for integrating a plurality of applications, the system comprising:

an integration manager operative to manage the insertion and removal of applications to and from the plurality of applications;

an integration gateway operative to interface reusable business transactions and the plurality of applications;

one or more application adapters interfacing the plurality of applications with the integration gateway; and

an intelligent transaction manager extract operative to extract and install reusable business transactions.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising a single sign-on authentication module operative to:

manage users of the system via a central authoritative logon point for the plurality of applications;

identify and authenticate a user; and

issue role-based credentials for the user to use during an engagement comprising a time from logon through a time of logout with a maximum time period.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the reusable business transactions utilize previously latent features in one or more of the plurality of applications.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the reusable business transactions are documented in XML and wherein storage and representation of the reusable business transactions are enabled to extend to alternative technologies.

16. The system of claim 12, further comprising an encryption module operative to verify the reusable business transactions with an encrypted relational database against at least one of a primary real-time repository or a runtime extract of the repository.

17. The system of claim 12, further comprising a system integration business logic service operative to:

instantiate a service-oriented architecture (SOA);

permit interconnection of previously separate applications through the reusable business transactions; and

prohibit direct use of external interfaces controlled by the system.

18. The system of claim 12, further operative to implement modular advanced services for the plurality of applications, therein adding capability to the system via a utility application that leverages the reusable business transactions when a customer needs capability beyond existing capability of the application.

19. The system of claim 12, further operative to implement an integrated transmission test capability to capture transmitted reusable business transactions into an audit log.

20. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having control logic stored therein for causing a computer to sustaining a fleet of configuration-controlled assets, the control logic comprising computer-readable program code for causing the computer to:

integrate a plurality of previously separate systems with reusable business transactions associated with managing a fleet of assets;

receive operational data associated with at least one vehicle of the fleet;

integrate the operational data per customer requirements;

package and distribute the operational data to the plurality of systems; and

install and distribute the operational data to one or more applications of the plurality of systems utilizing at least one of the reusable business transactions.

21. A system for sustaining a fleet of vehicles, the system comprising:

a plurality of applications associated with the management of a fleet of mobile platforms;

a plurality of logical subsystems, each of which associated with a respective one of the plurality of applications; and

a plurality of gateways, each of which connects one of the plurality of applications to a respective one of the plurality of logical subsystems and converts the data flow between the applications and the subsystems.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the plurality of the logical subsystems utilize a common format defined by a set of messages.

23. A method for sustaining a fleet of vehicles, the method comprising:

integrating a plurality of modules associated with the management of a fleet of mobile platforms; and

creating a predetermined set of messages for allowing the plurality of the modules to communicate with each other.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the plurality of the modules are integrated vehicle health management system, maintenance management system, supply chain management, training management system, and resource optimization scheduler.

25. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of monitoring the performance of the plurality of separate systems.

26. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of monitoring the anomalies of the plurality of separate systems.

27. The method of claim 23, further comprising the steps of analyzing the anomalies of the plurality of separate systems and providing a recommendation.

28. A method for managing the insertion and removal of previously separate domain applications that have been integrated with one another, said method comprising:

configuring an extended application interface to connect the domain applications together;

providing a gateway operative to interface reusable transactions with the domain applications;

operating a transaction manager to extract and install the reusable transactions; and

implementing an application adapter for each new domain application to be added, with the application adapter configured to interface the new domain application to the extended application interface.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein configuring an extended application interface to connect the domain applications together comprises combining message-oriented middleware and service oriented architecture with modular application gateway adapters and standard formatted messages.

30. The method of claim 28 further comprising connecting existing systems with logic contained in modular application gateway connectors through verified transactions with anti-spoofing capabilities.