Method and systems for wireless communication for a field service system

• US 7,069,333 B1
• Filed: 08/14/2000
• Issued: 06/27/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/13/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: FC Acquisition Corp. (Industrial & Financial Systems, IFS AB)
• Original Assignee: FieldCentrix, Inc. (Industrial & Financial Systems, IFS AB)
• Inventors: Morris, Roy, Lin, Albert, Knox, Brett
• Primary Examiner(s): Burgess, Glenton B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): PARTON, KEVIN S
• Application Number:
  US09/638,447
• Time in Patent Office: 2,143 Days
• Field of Search: 709/234, 709/235, 709/236, 709/217, 709/101, 709/223, 709/224, 709/225, 710/52
• US Class Current: 709/232
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/00 Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/34 Signalling channels for network management communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

A mobile field system comprises a service center that is connected to the office of a field service organization and number of customers of the field service organization via the Internet or another computer network. The service center is also connected to the mobile systems of technicians who work for the field service organization by a mobile communications system such as a wireless Internet service provider. One or more message queues may be used to increase the reliability of communications between the systems. By using such a queue, messages may not be lost and the communications can be made transparent to the user of the remote system.

Claims

1. A method for sending a message from a service center system to a remote, portable wireless system over an intermittently available communications network, comprising:

providing a first message queue for the service center system to store the status of the message;

providing a second message queue for the remote, portable wireless system;

connecting a host message agent to the first message queue;

connecting a remote message agent to the second message queue;

passing the message from the first message queue to the host message agent;

setting the status of the message in the first message queue;

determining that communication over the intermittently available communications network between the service center system and the remote, portable wireless system has been interrupted;

holding the message and the message status in the first message queue during the interruption;

automatically reconnecting the remote, portable wireless system to the intermittently available communications network;

determining that the communication over the intermittently available communications network between the service center system and the remote, portable wireless system has been reestablished, and automatically transmitting the message from the host message agent over the intermittently available communications network to the remote message agent;

passing the message from the remote message agent to the second message queue; and

updating the status of the message in the first message queue;

wherein at least a portion of the intermittently available communications network comprises a wireless communications network and the message is transmitted at least in part over the wireless communications network.

3. The method as in claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the intermittently available communications network comprises the Internet and the message is transmitted at least in part over the Internet;

and wherein the remote, portable wireless system communicates with the intermittently available communications network directly via the wireless communications network; and

wherein the wireless communications network comprises a cellular radio frequency network.

4. The method as in claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the intermittently available communications network comprises the Internet and the message is transmitted at least in part over the Internet;

and wherein the remote, portable wireless system communicates with the intermittently available communications network directly via the wireless communications network.

5. The method as in claim 1 wherein the service center selects a first protocol from a plurality of available protocols for transmitting the message.

6. The method as in claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the intermittently available communications network comprises the Internet and the message is transmitted at least in part over the Internet.

7. The method as in claim 1 wherein the wireless communications network comprises a cellular radio frequency network.

8. The method as in claim 1 wherein the message is transmitted at least in part over at least on of a land line telephone connection, an analog cellular telephone connection, a digital cellular telephone connection, a pager network, and a television cable network.

9. The method as in claim 1 wherein the message is transmitted at least in part using radio frequency communication.

2. A system for sending a message from a service center system to a remote, wireless system, comprising:

a first message queue in communication with the service center system;

a host message agent in communication with the first message queue;

a remote message agent in communication with the host message agent via an intermittently available wireless communications network; and

a second message queue in communication with the remote message agent and with the remote, wireless system;

wherein the first message queue is configured to store the message and the status of the message, and to receive updates to the status of the message from the host message agent, and the service center system determines when communication with the remote, wireless system, over the intermittently available wireless communications network, has been interrupted, and the host message agent is configured to send the message to the remote message agent over the intermittently available wireless communications network upon determining that communication with the remote, wireless system has been reestablished, the remote message agent configured to send an acknowledgement of the message to the host message agent upon receipt of the message, and the remote message agent configured to pass the message to the second message queue for access by the remote system.

10. The system as in claim 2 wherein the host message agent is configured to repeatedly transmit the message to the remote, portable system until an acknowledgement is received.

11. The system as in claim 2 wherein the message is transmitted at least in part over the Internet.

12. The system as in claim 2 wherein the message is transmitted at least in part over the Internet;

and wherein the intermittently available wireless communications network comprises a cellular radio frequency network.

13. The system as in claim 2 wherein the intermittently available wireless communications network comprises a cellular radio frequency network.