System and Method to Integrate Measurement Information within an Electronic Laboratory Notebook Environment

• US 20090313347A1
• Filed: 06/16/2008
• Published: 12/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Keysight Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Agilent Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Pritchard, William R., Engel, Glenn R., Schiefer, Jan, Burch, Jefferson B., Purdy, Glen L. JR.
• Granted Patent: US 8,984,083 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/212
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B

Abstract

Capability to record relevant aggregated data via a test and measurement instrument interface through a software agent. The agent resides within the test and measurement instrument and gathers the information when activated. The information can be measurement data; measurement setup parameters; test system topology; user notes, brief descriptions, audio recordings or pen input; pictures; or attached documents. The agent can communicate directly to an electronic laboratory notebook server or can store the information on a portable computer readable media (CRM). A user can upload the information from the portable CRM to the server. The user can access the information via a PC workstation.

Claims

1. A data transfer system comprising:

a test and measurement instrument;

a data processor of the test and measurement instrument for generating aggregated data, the aggregated data comprising measurement data and user notes related to a measurement performed by the test and measurement instrument; and

an interface of the test and measurement instrument for transmitting the aggregated data to an external computer readable media for storage.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the test and measurement instrument is a standalone measuring instrument or a PC based measuring instrument.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the external computer readable media is an Electronic Laboratory Notebook server or a portable USB Flash drive.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a user button on the front panel of the test and measurement instrument, the user button triggering the data processor to generate the aggregated data.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the user button is a hard key or a soft key on the test and measurement instrument.

6. A method of aggregating and transferring measurement data and user notes related to a measurement performed by a test and measurement instrument, the method comprising the steps of:

aggregating the measurement data and the user notes using a data processor to generate aggregated data; and

transferring the aggregated data from the test and measurement instrument to an external computer readable media for storage and access.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprises the step of selecting the contents of the aggregated data to be generated.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the external computer readable media is a portable USB Flash drive and the method further comprises the step uploading the aggregated data from the USB Flash drive to a server via a PC workstation.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprises the step of accessing the aggregated data from the server via a PC workstation.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the external computer readable media is a database on a server and the method further comprises the step establishing a connection with the server.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprises the step of accessing the aggregated data from the server via a PC workstation.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the server is an Electronic Laboratory Notebook server.

13. The method of claim 6, wherein the user notes comprises information in the form of a text file, recorded audio, pictures or attached documents.

14. A computer readable media containing code thereon, the code providing instructions for aggregating and transferring measurement data and user notes related to a measurement performed by a test and measurement instrument, the code providing instructions for executing the steps of:

aggregating the measurement data and the user notes using a data processor to generate aggregated data; and

transferring the aggregated data from the test and measurement instrument to an external computer readable media for storage and access.

15. The computer readable media containing code thereon as recited in claim 14, wherein the external computer readable media is a database on a server and the code providing instructions to the test and measurement instrument for executing the additional step of establishing a connection to the server.

16. The computer readable media containing code thereon as recited in claim 15, wherein the server is configured as an Electronic Laboratory Notebook server.

17. The computer readable media containing code thereon as recited in claim 14, the code providing instructions to the test and measurement instrument for executing the additional step of receiving as an input, details of the contents of the aggregated data to be gathered in response to receiving a trigger signal input.

18. The computer readable media containing code thereon as recited in claim 14, wherein the external computer readable media is a USB Flash drive.

19. The computer readable media containing code thereon as recited in claim 14, wherein user notes comprises information in the form of a text file, recorded audio, pictures or attached documents.

20. The computer readable media containing code thereon as recited in claim 14, the code providing instructions to the test and measurement instrument for executing the additional step of making a measurement on the test and measurement instrument.