Computer manufacturing with smart configuration methods

• US 6,247,128 B1
• Filed: 04/30/1998
• Issued: 06/12/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Compaq Computer Corporation (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Fisher, Jerald C., Seaburg, Gunnar P., Katz, Richard S., Nguyen, Lien Dai, Hedlund, Galen W., Young, James
• Primary Examiner(s): Elmore, Reba I.
• Application Number:
  US09/070,431
• Time in Patent Office: 1,139 Days
• Field of Search: 713/1, 713/100, 713/700, 713/200, 713/2, 713/106
• US Class Current: 713/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/63 Image based installation; Cloning; Build to order
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A system of computer manufacturing with pre-installation of software which utilizes a software selection process controlled by a rules database to determine the proper software components to be pre-installed onto an assembled computer or hard drive. Additionally, the rules base determines the appropriate diagnostic and set-up software components to be installed in order to ensure a system that is ready-to-run upon receipt by a purchaser.

Claims

1. A process for manufacturing computer systems with pre-installed software, comprising the steps of repeatedly:

(a.) selecting a hardware and software configuration;

(b.) storing a list corresponding to said configuration;

(c.) assembling hardware components according to said list;

(d.) translating said list using an automatic inference procedure into a list of software components to be downloaded onto a computer system, wherein said automatic inference translating is performed according to a rules database separately stored from a software-loading-system; and

(e.) downloading software components from the software-loading-system according to said software component list, to create a predetermined software configuration on an assembled computer system.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein said hardware configuration list is created by scanning hardware part numbers.

3. The process of claim 1, wherein said downloaded software components create a predetermined software configuration and also a self-test and software set-up environment on said system which is customized for the particular software configuration.

4. The process of claim 1, wherein tags are used by said inference procedure to associate said hardware and software selections with a set of rules.

5. The process of claim 1, wherein said software component list is dependent on said hardware configuration.

6. The process of claim 1, wherein said software component list is dependent on a language preference selection.

7. The process of claim 1, wherein said software component list is dependent on an operating system preference selection.

8. The process of claim 1, wherein said software component list includes diagnostic software.

9. The process of claim 1, wherein said software component list includes set-up routines which are dependent on said hardware and software configuration.

10. The process of claim 1, wherein said automatic procedure translates according to a set of rules stored in a database.

11. The process of claim 1, wherein said hardware configuration and said software component list are stored in a database.

12. The process of claim 1, wherein hardware and software configurations not provided by a manufacturer which are installed on said assembled computer system are stored in a database.

13. The process of claim 1, wherein said inference procedure translates said list by associating a language selection with software selections.

14. The process of claim 1, wherein said inference procedure translates said list by associating a hardware selection with software selections.

15. The process of claim 1, wherein said inference procedure translates said list by associating a software selection with software selections.

16. A process for manufacturing computer systems with pre-installed software, comprising the steps of repeatedly:

(a.) selecting a hardware and software configuration;

(b.) storing a list corresponding to said configuration;

(c.) assembling hardware components according to said list;

(d.) storing unique identification numbers for each hardware component;

(e.) storing a unique identification number for the operating system, if selected;

(f.) translating said list using an automatic inference procedure into a list of software components to be downloaded onto a computer system, wherein said automatic inference translating is accomplished according to a set of rules in a rules database stored separately from a software-downloading-system; and

(g.) downloading software components from a software-loading-system according to said software component list, to create a predetermined software configuration on an assembled computer system.

17. The process of claim 16, wherein said hardware configuration list is created by scanning hardware part numbers.

18. The process of claim 16, wherein said downloaded software components create a predetermined software configuration and also a self-test and software set-up environment on said system which is customized for the particular software configuration.

19. The process of claim 16, wherein tags are used by said inference procedure to associate said hardware and software selections with a set of rules.

20. The process of claim 16, wherein said software component list is dependent on said hardware configuration.

21. The process of claim 16, wherein said software component list is dependent on a language preference selection.

22. The process of claim 16, wherein said software component list is dependent on an operating system preference selection.

23. The process of claim 16, wherein said software component list includes diagnostic software.

24. The process of claim 16, wherein said software component list includes set-up routines which are dependent on said hardware and software configuration.

25. The process of claim 16, wherein said inference procedure translates using a set of rules stored in a database.

26. The process of claim 16, wherein said hardware configuration and said software component list are stored in a database.

27. The process of claim 16, wherein hardware and software configurations not provided by a manufacturer which are installed on said assembled computer system are stored in a database.

28. The process of claim 16, wherein said inference procedure translates said list by associating a language selection with software selections.

29. The process of claim 16, wherein said inference procedure translates said list by associating a hardware selection with software selections.

30. The process of claim 16, wherein said inference procedure translates said list by associating a software selection with software selections.

31. A system for manufacturing computer systems with pre-installed software, comprising:

(a.) a stored hardware and software configuration list;

(b.) a computer system assembled according to said list;

(c.) a program which translates said list using an automatic inference procedure into a list of software components to be downloaded onto said computer system, wherein said program translates said list using a set of rules stored separately from a software-loading-system; and

(d.) said software-loading-system downloads said software components according to said software component list, to create a predetermined software configuration on said computer system.

32. The system of claim 31, further comprising:

(a.) unique identification numbers for each hardware component; and

(b.) a unique identification number for the operating system selected.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein said hardware configuration list is created by scanning hardware part numbers.

34. The system of claim 31, wherein said downloaded software components create a predetermined software configuration and also a self-test and software set-up environment on said system which is customized for the particular software configuration.

35. The system of claim 31, wherein tags are used by said inference procedure to associate said hardware and software configuration with a set of rules.

36. The system of claim 31, wherein said software component list is dependent on said hardware configuration.

37. The system of claim 31, wherein said software component list is dependent on a language preference selection.

38. The system of claim 31, wherein said software component list is dependent on an operating system preference selection.

39. The system of claim 31, wherein said software component list includes diagnostic software.

40. The system of claim 31, wherein said software component list includes set-up routines which are dependent on said hardware and software configuration.

41. The system of claim 31, further comprising a database to store set of rules used by said inference procedure to translate said list.

42. The system of claim 31, further comprising a database to store said hardware configuration and said software component list.

43. The system of claim 31, further comprising a database to store hardware and software configurations not provided by a manufacturer which are installed on said assembled computer system.

44. The system of claim 31, wherein said inference procedure translates said list by associating a language selection with software selections.

45. The system of claim 31, wherein said inference procedure translates said list by associating a hardware selection with software selections.

46. The system of claim 31, wherein said inference procedure translates said list by associating a software selection with software selections.

47. A database structure for managing a software selection rules base in a computer manufacturing environment, comprising:

a first data association including a key uniquely identifying software or hardware part information contained in said database;

a second data association including a key uniquely identifying model information contained in said database;

a third data association including a key uniquely identifying software configuration rules contained in said database;

a fourth data association including a key associating said part information to its appropriate rule;

wherein a many-to-one relationship exist between said first and second data associations;

wherein a many-to-one relationship exist between said fourth and first data associations; and

wherein a many-to-many relationship exist between said third and fourth associations;

wherein said first, second, third, and fourth associations define the rules base to be used in the selection of software, software set-up routines, and software and hardware diagnostics to be installed in computers in a manufacturing environment.

48. The database structure of claim 47, wherein each said data association is a data table in a relational database model.