Method and apparatus for maintaining and configuring systems
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A method of configuring a system comprising the steps of:
- generating a definition for said system, said definition containing one or more elements and being conveyed graphically using a set of product relationships, said product relationships identifying classifications for said one or more elements, said product relationships comprising an includes classification;
generating a set of part relationships between said one or more elements, said set of part relationships being conveyed graphically; and
configuring said system using said definition and said set of product relationships and said part relationships.
2 Assignments
Litigations
2 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides the ability to interactively select and configure a product among a set of related products based on availability and compatibility of features and options. It does not impose an order in the selection of products, features or options; only valid selections can be made at any time. To create an electronic representation of the product information to achieve the above goal, the invention provides a framework for defining a systems by defining the components of the system using elements contained in a parts catalog and defining relationships between the components of a system. A configuration system validates a configuration using the system definition, the current state of the configuration and user input.
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Citations
85 Claims
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1. A method of configuring a system comprising the steps of:
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generating a definition for said system, said definition containing one or more elements and being conveyed graphically using a set of product relationships, said product relationships identifying classifications for said one or more elements, said product relationships comprising an includes classification; generating a set of part relationships between said one or more elements, said set of part relationships being conveyed graphically; and configuring said system using said definition and said set of product relationships and said part relationships. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for defining a system that can be configured comprising the steps of:
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identifying an element of said system; specifying said element as an included element when said element is automatically included in the configuration; specifying said element as an optional element when said element is not a necessary component of said system; specifying said element as a required choice when said element is a group that contains one or more members from which to choose. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 34)
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20. An article of manufacture comprising:
a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for configuring a system comprising; computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to generate a definition for said system, said definition containing one or more elements and being conveyed graphically using a set of product relationships, said product relationships identifying classifications for said one or more elements, said product relationships comprising an includes classification; computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to generate a set of part relationships between said one or more elements, said set of part relationships being conveyed graphically; and computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to configure said system using said definition and said set of product relationships and said part relationships. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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35. An article of manufacture comprising
a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for defining a system that can be configured comprising: -
computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to identify an element of said system; computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to specify said element as an included element when said element is automatically included in the configuration; computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to specify said element as an optional element when said element is not a necessary component of said system; computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to specify said element as a required choice when said element is a group that contains one or more members from which to choose. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38)
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39. A method of configuring a system comprising the steps of:
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translating a system definition from an external representation comprising a set of intuitive relationships between components of said system definition into an internal representation comprising a set of internal relationships; validating configuration input using said internal representation; and modifying a configuration state based on said user input. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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60. A method of configuring a system comprising the steps of:
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generating a definition for said system, said definition containing one or more elements and being conveyed graphically using a set of product relationships; generating a set of part relationships between said one or more elements, said set of part relationships being conveyed graphically using a set of part relationships; and receiving input from a configuration user; validating said input based on said definition, said set of product relationships, said set of part relationships, and a current configuration state; and identifying a set of valid configuration options using said definition, said set of product relationships, said set of part relationships and said current configuration state. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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73. An article of manufacture comprising:
a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for configuring a system comprising; computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to generate a definition for said system, said definition containing one or more elements and being conveyed graphically using a set of product relationships; computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to generate a set of part relationships between said one or more elements, said set of part relationships being conveyed graphically using a set of part relationships; and computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to receive input from a configuration user; computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to validate said input based on said definition, said set of product relationships, said set of part relationships, and a current configuration state; and computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to identify a set of valid configuration options using said definition, said set of product relationships, said set of part relationships and said current configuration state. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85)
Specification