METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DEVICE CONFIGURATION AND CUSTOMIZATION DURING MANUFACTURING PROCESS

• US 20110265078A1
• Filed: 04/23/2010
• Published: 10/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Psion PLC (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Psion PLC (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Hodul, Rastislav, Watler, Miguel, Beatty, Kevin, Hsu, Harold, Newman, Nader
• Granted Patent: US 8,997,087 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation

Abstract

A method and a system for customizing a handheld device being produced in manufacturing assembly. The method provides customization via configuration of the device by a server in a communication network. In response to a configuration predefined such via a customer purchase order, assigning, at the server, a group to the at least one handheld device, identifying, at the server, a configuration of components for download to the at least one handheld device, the configuration of components associated with the assigned group, and downloading, for installation at the handheld device, the configuration of components to the at least one handheld device of the assigned group.

Claims

1. A method for configuring at a plurality of handheld devices by a server in a communication network, the method comprising:

assigning, at the server, a group to the at least one handheld device;

identifying, at the server, a configuration of components for download to the at least one handheld device, the configuration of components associated with the assigned group; and

downloading, for installation at the handheld device, the configuration of components to the at least one handheld device of the assigned group.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising installing the configuration of components at the handheld devices.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising reporting to the server the results of installing the configuration of components including successful component installations and failed component installations.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the assigned group is associated with a predefined ordering of configuration components, and downloading comprises downloading the configuration of components according to the predefined order.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising installing, at the handheld device, the configuration of components according to the predefined order of downloading.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising displaying, at a graphical user interface (GUI) display of the server, the configuration of components in the predefined order for downloading, and modifying the predefined order.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the configuration of components downloaded comprise a configuration of software components.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the at least one component of the software components downloaded is selected from the group of software components consisting of:

a software application, a software driver,

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising communicating from the handheld device to the server an informational element for unique identification of the handheld device, the informational element selected from the group of informational elements consisting of:

a serial number, an operating system identifier, a device model number, IP addresses, and a terminal name.

10. A server system comprising:

a server configuration module for;

assigning a group to the at least one handheld device;

identifying a configuration of components for download to the at least one handheld device, the configuration of components associated with the assigned group; and

downloading the configuration of components to the at least one handheld device of the assigned group.

11. The server system of claim 10 further comprising a graphical user interface display screen for displaying and updating the identified configuration of components.

12. The server system of claim 10 further comprising automatically specifying a set of pre-defined configuration of components based on the customer order entry as sourced from a database of an order management system.

13. A handheld device in a communication network including a plurality of handheld devices and a server, the handheld device comprising:

a processor;

a memory;

a device configuration module, the device configuration module including;

a device download module for receiving a downloaded configuration of components from the server; and

a device installation module for installing, in the memory of the handheld device, the downloaded configuration of components from the server.

14. The handheld device of claim 13 further comprising an update detection module for detecting an update request targeted to a group assigned, by the server, to include the handheld device.

15. The handheld device of claim 14 further comprising updating the installed configuration of components.

16. The handheld device of claim 13 wherein the device configuration module communicates to the server an informational element for unique identification of the handheld device, the informational element selected from the group of informational elements consisting of:

a serial number, an operating system identifier, a device model number, IP addresses, and a terminal name.