System for strategic management and communication of data in machine environments

• US 20080291918A1
• Filed: 05/25/2007
• Published: 11/27/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Caterpillar Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Caterpillar Incorporated
• Inventors: Turcot, Keith Albert
• Granted Patent: US 8,462,793 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/395.3
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13333 Earth satellites
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13349 Network management
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0087 Network testing or monitoring arrangements

Abstract

A system for strategic management and communication of data in machine environments includes at least one communication module for communicating data with an off-board system, the communication module being disposed in a machine environment and adapted for use with one or more communication methods. The system also includes a data interpreter communicatively coupled to the at least one communication module. The data interpreter is configured to communicate operation data associated with a machine, the operation data including a plurality of operational aspects associated with at least a portion the machine. The data interpreter prioritizes each of the plurality of operational aspects in a communication queue associated with the data interpreter. The data interpreter is also configured to select a communication method for each of the plurality of operational aspects based on a priority associated with a respective operational aspect and transmit each of the operational aspects to the off-board system via the selected communication method.

Claims

1. A system for strategic management and communication of data in machine environments comprising:

at least one communication module for communicating data with an off-board system, the communication module being disposed in a machine environment and adapted for use with one or more communication methods;

a data interpreter communicatively coupled to the at least one communication module and configured to;

communicate operation data associated with a machine, the operation data including a plurality of operational aspects associated with at least a portion the machine;

prioritize each of the plurality of operational aspects in a communication queue associated with the data interpreter;

select a communication method for each of the plurality of operational aspects based on a priority associated with a respective operational aspect; and

provide each of the operational aspects to the off-board system via the selected communication method.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one communication module includes one or more of a satellite, cellular, short message service, smartcard, or global navigational communication module configured to communicate data via a communication network.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the communication module is communicatively coupled to a global navigational satellite system network adapted to collect location information associated with the machine and provide the location information to the at least one communication module.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one communication module includes a communication module that supports data communication via satellite, cellular, and short message service communication networks.

5. The system of claim 1, further including a plurality of monitoring devices communicatively coupled to the data interpreter, each of the monitoring devices configured to:

monitor an operational aspect associated with the machine; and

provide data indicative of the monitored operational aspect to the data interpreter.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the data interpreter is further configured to prioritize each of the plurality of operational aspects by:

analyzing each operational aspect based on predetermined operational criteria;

identifying one or more operational aspects that do not conform with the predetermined operation criteria as high-priority; and

identifying one or more operational aspects that conform with the predetermined operation criteria as low-priority.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein selecting the at least one communication method includes:

detecting a plurality of available communication methods;

assigning a communication method to each of the plurality of operation aspects in the communication queue such that high-priority operational aspects are queued for transmission based on reliability of the available communication method and low-priority operational aspects are queued for transmission based on cost of the available communication method.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the data interpreter is further configured to:

query a communication server for a list of available communication methods;

receive the list of available communication methods in response to the request, wherein the list of available communication methods includes cost and reliability data associated with each available communication method.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein selecting the communication method includes:

receiving a list of available communication methods from the off-board system, the list including cost data associated with each available communication method;

establishing a time limit that each operational aspect can remain in the queue based on the priority associated with a respective operational aspect;

selecting the least costly communication method available;

monitoring a time that the operational aspect remains in the queue; and

selecting a second communication method from the list of available communication methods if the monitored time exceeds the time limit.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the off-board system is configured to:

monitor a location of the machine;

identify available communication methods based on the location of the machine;

determine cost and reliability data associated with the available communication methods based on the location of the machine; and

provide a table that includes a list of the available communication methods, the list including cost and reliability data associated with each of the available communication methods.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein selecting the communication method further includes:

monitoring a location of the machine;

providing data indicative of the location of the machine to the off-board system;

receiving cost and reliability information associated with available communication methods from the off-board system;

wherein the cost and reliability data is based on the location of the machine.

12. A method for data communication between one or more geographically dispersed assets and a project management system comprising:

receiving, in a data interpreter, operation data associated with a remote asset operating in a project environment, the operation data including a plurality of operational aspects associated with the remote asset;

assigning a priority to each of the plurality of operational aspects;

arranging the plurality of operational aspects in a communication queue based on the assigned priority associated with the plurality of operational aspects;

selecting a communication method for each of the plurality of operational aspects in the communication queue; and

transmitting data from the communication queue via the selected communication method.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein receiving operation data associated with a remote asset includes:

receiving an operational aspect associated with the remote asset from one or more monitoring devices; and

analyzing the received operational aspect based on predetermined operational criteria associated with a respective operational aspect.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein assigning a priority to each of the plurality of operational aspects includes:

identifying one or more operational aspects that do not conform with the predetermined operation criteria as high-priority; and

identifying one or more operational aspects that conform with the predetermined operation criteria as low-priority.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein selecting the communication method includes:

identifying at least one available communication method based on a location of the remote asset;

determining a cost and reliability associated with the at least one available communication method; and

assigning a communication method to each of the plurality of operation aspects in the communication queue such that high-priority operational aspects are queued for transmission based on the reliability of the available communication methods and low-priority operational aspects are queued for transmission based on the cost of the available communication methods.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein selecting a communication method for transmitting operation data stored in the communication queue includes:

analyzing a plurality of communication methods based on one or more of reliability and cost associated with each of the plurality of available communication methods;

selecting, for high priority operational aspects, a communication method as an available communication methods with a reliability factor that exceeds a predetermined reliability threshold; and

selecting, for low priority operational aspects, a communication method as an available communication methods with a cost less than a predetermined cost threshold.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein selecting the communication method for high-priority operational aspects includes:

selecting the communication method with the highest reliability factor of the available communication methods; and

selecting the communication method for low-priority operational aspects includes selecting the communication method with the lowest cost of the available communication methods.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein selecting a communication method includes:

establishing a time limit that the operational aspect can remain in the queue;

monitoring an actual time that the operational aspect has been in the queue; and

selecting a second communication method if the actual time that the operational aspect has been in the queue exceeds the time limit.

19. A method for data communication between one or more geographically dispersed assets and a project management system comprising:

monitoring operation data associated with a remote asset operating in a project environment;

prioritizing the monitored operation data;

establishing a communication queue for communicating the operation data between a remote asset and a project management system, the communication queue being configured to arrange the operation data for communication based on the priority associated with the operation data;

selecting a communication method for transmitting the operation data in the communication queue such that operation data is queued for transmission based on one or more of reliability and cost of available communication methods; and

transmitting operation data associated with the communication queue via a selected communication method.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein selecting a communication method for transmitting operation data stored in the communication queue includes:

analyzing a plurality of communication methods based on one or more of reliability and cost associated with each of the plurality of available communication methods;

selecting, for high priority operation data, a communication method as an available communication method with a reliability factor that exceeds a predetermined reliability threshold; and

selecting, for low priority operation data, a communication method as an available communication method with a cost less than a predetermined cost threshold.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein selecting the communication method includes:

receiving a list of available communication methods from an off-board system, the list including cost data associated with each available communication method;

establishing a time limit that each operational aspect can remain in the queue based on the priority associated with the operation data;

selecting the least costly communication method available;

monitoring a time that the operational aspect remains in the queue; and

selecting a second communication method from the list of available communication methods if the monitored time exceeds the time limit.