AUTOMATIC DEVICE INVENTORY MANAGEMENT FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF DEVICES

• US 20140006225A1
• Filed: 06/28/2012
• Published: 01/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Bowman, Bruce, Scheinost, Charles C., Harris, Mike, Kishnani, Amit, Hamlin, Matthew
• Granted Patent: US 9,117,191 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

An apparatus and method for automatically inventorying a plurality of devices is disclosed herein. A secure, trusted connection is established between a remote device each device of a plurality of devices. The remote device automatically extracts device information from each device of the plurality of devices. The remote device creates an inventory of the plurality of devices based on the extracted device information. The remote device automatically maintains the inventory including automatically extracting at least updated device information associated with an update event of the first device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

establishing a secure, trusted connection between an inventory management device and each device of the plurality of devices, a first device included in the plurality of devices being a different type of device from a second device included in the plurality of devices;

automatically extracting, by the inventory management device, device information from each device of the plurality of devices, the device information comprising an operating system (OS) version and a battery charge level indication associated with each device of the plurality of devices;

obtaining supplemental device information based on at least a portion of the device information extracted from the plurality of devices, the supplemental device information obtained from a source other than the plurality of devices, the source being at least one of a server and a device information repository, the supplemental device information not being available from the plurality of devices;

storing the supplemental device information with the device information;

creating, by the inventory management device, an inventory of at least one of files and records pertaining to the plurality of devices based on the extracted device information and the supplemental device information; and

automatically maintaining the inventory by the inventory management device, wherein the automatically maintaining of the inventory includes automatically extracting at least updated device information associated with an update event of the first device.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising registering each device of the plurality of devices with the inventory management device for a purpose other than to inventory the plurality of devices, wherein the registering of each device occurs prior to establishing the secure, trusted connection.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving at least one of a searching, sorting, reporting, or data mining request, and using the inventory to fulfill the request.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving freeform-type device information, and including the freeform-type device information in the inventory.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining occurrence of an alert event associated with the first device based on the inventory, and communicating a notification to the first device of the alert event.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a scheduling request to use one or more devices of the plurality of devices, and communicating a notification of device availability in accordance with the received scheduling request and the inventory.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the device information comprises one or more of a device name, a device Internet Protocol (IP) address, a device model number, a device serial number, a device identifier, a software version, an application version, a firmware version, a kernel version, a build number, browser details, screen details, hardware acceleration. availability, sound mode, battery status, phone number, network type, carrier, service state, mobile network state, signal strength, international mobile equipment identity (IMEI), IMEI software version, Wi-Fi settings, Wi-Fi media access control address (MAC) address, Bluetooth address, up time, geo-location information, storage capacity, current storage availability, account information, email address, information associated with details of device hardware features, information associated with device camera resolution, information associated with existence of a device camera, information associated with existence of a device accelerometer, information associated with existence of a global positioning system (GPS) chip, information associated with a device state, information associated with a device setting, information associated with a device configuration, information associated with a device implementation, information associated with a device identifier, or information associated with device accounts.

3. (canceled)

9. A system comprising:

a processor configured to;

automatically extract device information from each device of a plurality of devices, the device information comprising an operating system (OS) version and a battery charge level indication associated with each device of the plurality of devices, wherein a secure, trusted connection has been established with each device and a first device included in the plurality of devices is a different type of device from a second device included in the plurality of devices; and

obtain supplemental device information based on at least a portion of the device information extracted from the plurality of devices, the supplemental device information obtained from a source other than the plurality of devices, the source being at least one of a server and a device information repository, the supplemental device information not being available from the plurality of devices; and

a storage device in communication with the processor, the storage device configured to store an inventory of at least one of files and records pertaining to the plurality of devices, the at least one of files and records based on the device information and the supplemental device information,

wherein the processor is configured to automatically maintain the inventory including automatically extracting at least updated device information associated with an update event of the first device.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the device information comprises metadata from each device of the plurality of devices.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the secure, trusted connection comprises a wireless secure, trusted connection and each device of the plurality of devices comprises a mobile device.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the processor is included in a server and the storage device is included in a database.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the first device differs from the second device in at least one of hardware, firmware, software, operating system, operating system version, platform, web browser, or content viewing applications.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the processor receives at least one of a searching, sorting, reporting, or data mining request, and the processor uses the inventory to fulfill the request.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the processor receives freeform-type device information, and wherein the storage device includes the freeform-type device information as part of the inventory.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the freeform-type device information comprises one or more of a device purchase date, a device purchase price, service contract provider details, an account login and password associated with authenticating a device for the secure, trusted connection, an organization'"'"'s asset tag number, accessories included with a device, or what tests have been performed on a device.

18. The system of claim 9, wherein the device information comprises one or more of a device name, a device Internet Protocol (IP) address, a device model number, a device serial number, a device identifier, a software version, an application version, a firmware version, a kernel version, a build number, browser details, screen details, hardware acceleration availability, sound mode, battery status, phone number, network type, carrier, service state, mobile network state, signal strength, international mobile equipment identity (IMEI), IMEI software version, Wi-Fi settings, Wi-Fi media access control address (MAC) address, Bluetooth address, up time, geo-location information, storage capacity, current storage availability, account information, email address, information associated with details of device hardware features, information associated with device camera resolution, information associated with existence of a device camera, information associated with existence of a device accelerometer, information associated with existence of a global positioning system (GPS) chip, information associated with a device state, information associated with a device setting, information associated with a device configuration, information associated with a device implementation, information associated with a device identifier, or information associated with device accounts.

14. (canceled)

19-26. -26. (canceled)