Online specification of a system which compares determined devices and installed devices

• US 7,197,418 B2
• Filed: 09/09/2005
• Issued: 03/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Peck, Joseph E., Andrade, Hugo A., Sierer, Brian, Pasquarette, John, Novacek, Matthew, Ranganathan, Ganesh, Fuller, David W. III, Santori, Michael L., Petersen, Newton
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoff; Marc S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Desta; Elias
• Application Number:
  US11/223,360
• Publication Number:
  US 20060009945A1
• Time in Patent Office: 564 Days
• Field of Search: 702121-123, 702/188, 702/127, 700/9, 700/28, 700/90, 709/208, 709/217, 709/238, 709/246, 713/1, 713/100
• US Class Current: 702/127
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44505 Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A system and method for online configuration of a measurement device for a measurement system. The user accesses a server with a client computer over a network and specifies a desired measurement task. If the user lacks the hardware required to perform the task, hardware specifications and configuration software and/or data specific to the user'"'"'s application, i.e., to perform the task, are sent to a manufacturer, who pre-configures the hardware with the configuration software and/or data to perform the task and sends the pre-configured hardware to the user. The hardware may be re-configurable hardware, such as a programmable hardware element or processor/memory based device. Configuration software and/or data for configuring the user'"'"'s measurement system hardware (and/or software) to perform the desired task may also be sent to the user. The configuration software sent to the user may comprise a graphical program usable by the measurement system to perform the task.

Claims

1. A method for configuring a measurement system, comprising:

a server computer receiving information regarding a measurement system over a wide area network (WAN);

the server computer determining one or more measurement devices in response to the information;

determining if a user does not have at least one of the determined one or more measurement devices by;

determining installed measurement devices in the measurement system over the wide area network;

comparing the determined installed measurement devices to the determined one or more measurement devices to determine if the at least one measurement device is not installed in the measurement system;

if the user does not have the at least one measurement device;

providing the at least one measurement device of the one or more measurement devices to the user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the server computer determining one or more measurement software products in response to the information; and

providing at least one measurement software product of the one or more measurement software products to the user.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said providing the at least one measurement software product to the user comprises:

determining if the user does not have the at least one measurement software product by;

determining installed measurement software products in the measurement system over the wide area network;

comparing the determined installed measurement software products to the one or more measurement software products to determine if the at least one measurement software product is not installed in the measurement system;

if the user does not have the at least one measurement software product;

providing the at least one measurement software product to the user.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein said providing the at least one measurement device of the one or more measurement devices to the user and said providing the at least one measurement software product to the user comprises:

configuring the at least one measurement hardware device with the at least one measurement software product; and

sending the configured at least one measurement device to the user.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said configuring and said sending are performed by a manufacturer.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the manufacturer includes a manufacturing server that is coupled to a configuration server over the network, the method further comprising:

the configuration server downloading information indicating the at least one measurement device and the at least one measurement software product to the manufacturing server over the network.

7. The method of claim 2,

wherein the at least one measurement device comprises a programmable hardware element;

and

wherein the at least one measurement software product includes a hardware configuration program which is usable to configure the programmable hardware element of the at least one measurement device.

8. The method of claim 2,

wherein the at least one measurement device comprises a processor and a memory;

and

wherein the at least one measurement software product comprises a software program which is operable to be stored in the memory and executed by the processor.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the measurement system includes a client computer system, wherein the one or more measurement software products include first measurement software products and second measurement software products, wherein the first measurement software products are useable by the manufacturer to configure the at least one measurement device, and wherein the second measurement software products include one or more of:

configuration data and configuration software which is executable by the client computer system to configure one or more of the client computer system and one or more application programs with the configuration data;

application software which is executable by the client computer system to operate in conjunction with the one or more measurement devices;

a graphical program which is executable by the client computer system to operate in conjunction with the one or more measurement devices;

machine executable code which is executable by the client computer system to operate in conjunction with the one or more measurement devices;

text based code which is compilable and executable, or interpretable, by the client computer system to operate in conjunction with the one or more measurement devices;

a self-executing program file which operates in conjunction with the one or more measurement devices; and

a self-executing program file which operates to configure the client computer system with configuration information, the method further comprising;

providing the second measurement software products to the client computer system.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein the measurement system includes a client computer system, wherein said providing the at least one measurement software product to the user comprises providing the at least one measurement software product to the client computer system over the WAN, and wherein the one or more measurement software products comprise a hardware configuration program, the method further comprising:

prior to said providing the at least one measurement software product to the client computer system, providing a simulation program which simulates operation of the hardware configuration program to the client computer system;

wherein the simulation program is executable by the client computer system to perform at least a portion of the functionality of the hardware configuration program; and

wherein use of the software program is discontinued when the hardware configuration program is deployed in the measurement system.

11. The method of claim 10, the method further comprising:

displaying a configuration diagram on a display of the client computer system which iconically illustrates the measurement system, wherein said displaying comprises displaying one or more device icons corresponding respectively to one or more measurement devices in the measurement system, and/or one or more measurement software product icons corresponding respectively to one or more measurement software products in the measurement system;

wherein said displaying further comprises one or more of;

displaying a software program icon representing the simulation program, wherein after the at least one measurement device is deployed in the measurement system, the software program icon is replaced with a device icon representing the at least one measurement device; and

displaying a device icon representing the simulation program, wherein the device icon is modified to indicate that functions of the at least one measurement device are performed by the simulation program, wherein after the at least one measurement device is deployed in the measurement system, the modified device icon is replaced with a device icon representing the at least one measurement device.

12. The method of claim 2, wherein the measurement system comprises a client computer system, the method further comprising:

displaying a graphical user interface (GUI) on a display of the client computer system which iconically illustrates the measurement system; and

receiving user input to the GUI specifying one or more measurement devices in the measurement system to be configured by the one or more measurement software products.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said displaying the graphical user interface (GUI) on the display of the client computer system which iconically illustrates the measurement system comprises:

displaying one or more device icons corresponding respectively to one or more measurement devices in the measurement system; and

displaying connections between the one or more device icons, wherein the displayed connections correspond to couplings between the one or more measurement devices in the measurement system.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

displaying one or more measurement software product icons associated with the one or more measurement software products; and

associating at least one measurement software product icon with at least one device icon in response to user input, wherein the at least one measurement software product icon corresponds to a first measurement software product, wherein the at least one device icon corresponds to a first measurement device, wherein said associating operates to configure the first measurement device with the first measurement software product.

15. The method of claim 2, wherein the measurement system comprises a client computer system, the method further comprising:

displaying a graphical user interface (GUI) on a display of the client computer system which iconically illustrates the measurement system, wherein the GUI comprises a configuration diagram of the measurement system;

wherein said displaying includes displaying information representing the at least one measurement device and the at least one measurement software product to the user as proposed hardware and/or software products for the measurement system.

16. The method of claim 15, the method further comprising:

receiving user input to the GUI specifying purchase of the at least one measurement device and/or measurement software product; and

modifying the display of the information representing the at least one measurement device and/or the at least one measurement software product to reflect the purchase.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the modified information representing the at least one measurement device and/or the at least one measurement software product reflecting the purchase comprises a virtual device icon and/or a virtual software product icon, the method further comprising:

deploying the at least one measurement device and/or measurement software product to the measurement system; and

modifying the display of the information representing the at least one measurement device and/or the at least one measurement software product to reflect said deploying.

18. The method of claim 1,

wherein the measurement system includes a client computer system, the method further comprising:

prior to the manufacturer sending the at least one measurement device to the user, providing a simulation program to the client system, wherein the software program simulates operation of the at least one measurement device;

wherein the simulation program is executable by the client computer system to perform at least a portion of the functionality of the at least one measurement device; and

wherein use of the simulation program is discontinued when the at least one measurement device is deployed in the measurement system.

19. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving user input specifying payment information for the at least one measurement device and/or the at least one measurement software product.

20. The method of claim 2, wherein said determining one or more measurement software products comprises programmatically generating the one or more measurement software products based on the information.

21. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more measurement software products comprise one or more of:

a software program;

configuration information, wherein the configuration information is useable to configure at least a portion of the measurement system; and

a hardware configuration program, wherein the hardware configuration program is useable to configure a programmable hardware element in the measurement system.

22. The method of claim 2, wherein said providing the at least one measurement software product to the user comprises:

providing the at least one measurement software product to the user over the WAN.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving information regarding the measurement system comprises:

a client computer receiving user input indicating the information regarding the measurement system; and

the client computer providing the information to a server in response to the received user input to the client computer.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving information regarding the measurement system comprises:

a client computer receiving user input indicating the information regarding the measurement system; and

the client computer providing the user input indicating the information regarding the measurement system to a server in response to the received user input to the client computer.

25. A computer-readable medium which stores program instructions for configuring a measurement system, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to perform:

a server computer receiving information regarding a measurement system over a wide area network (WAN);

the server computer determining one or more measurement devices in response to the information;

determining if a user does not have at least one of the determined one or more measurement devices by;

determining installed measurement devices in the measurement system over the wide area network;

comparing the determined installed measurement devices to the determined one or more measurement devices to determine if the at least one measurement device is not installed in the measurement system;

if the user does not have the at least one measurement device;

providing the at least one measurement device of the one or more measurement devices to the user.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 25,

wherein the information regarding the measurement system comprises requirement information of a desired measurement system.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 25,

wherein the information regarding the measurement system comprises a configuration diagram of a desired measurement system.

31. The computer-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to perform:

providing a graphical user interface over the WAN useable for creating the configuration diagram.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to perform:

the server computer determining one or more measurement software products in response to the information; and

providing at least one measurement software product of the one or more measurement software products over the WAN to the user.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 32, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to perform:

determining if the user does not have the at least one measurement software product by;

determining installed measurement software products in the measurement system over the wide area network;

comparing the determined installed measurement software products to the one or more measurement software products to determine if the at least one measurement software product is not installed in the measurement system;

if the user does not have the at least one measurement software product;

providing the at least one measurement software product to the user.

26. A system, comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memory media coupled to the one or more processors, wherein the one or more memory media store program instructions executable by the one or more processors to configure a measurement device;

wherein at least one of the one or more processors and at least one of the one or more memory media are comprised in a server computer, and wherein the program instructions are executable by the server computer to;

receive information regarding a measurement system over a wide area network (WAN) from a user;

determine one or more measurement devices in response to the information;

wherein the program instructions are further computer-executable by the one or more processors to;

determine if the user does not have at least one of the determined one or more measurement devices, wherein, to determine if the user does not have at least one of the determined one or more measurement devices the program instructions are further computer-executable to;

determine installed measurement devices in the measurement system;

compare the determined installed measurement devices to the determined one or more measurement devices to determine if the at least one measurement device is not installed in the measurement system;

if the user does not have the at least one measurement device;

initiate provision of the at least one measurement device of the one or more measurement devices to the user.

27. A method for configuring a system, comprising:

a server computer receiving information regarding a system over a wide area network (WAN);

the server computer determining one or more devices in response to the information;

determining if a user does not have at least one of the determined one or more devices by;

determining installed devices in the system over the wide area network;

comparing the determined installed devices to the determined one or more devices to determine if the at least one device is not installed in the system;

if the user does not have the at least one device;

providing the at least one device of the one or more devices to the user.

34. The method of claim 27,

wherein the information regarding the system comprises requirement information of a desired system.

35. The method of claim 27,

wherein the information regarding the system comprises a configuration diagram of a desired system.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

providing a graphical user interface over the WAN useable for creating the configuration diagram.

37. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

the server computer determining one or more software products in response to the information; and

providing at least one software product of the one or more software products over the WAN to the user.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising:

determining if the user does not have the at least one software product by;

determining installed software products in the system over the wide area network;

comparing the determined installed software products to the one or more software products to determine if the at least one software product is not installed in the system;

if the user does not have the at least one software product;

providing the at least one software product to the user.

28. A method for configuring a measurement system, comprising:

a server computer receiving information regarding a measurement system over a wide area network (WAN);

the server computer determining one or more measurement software products in response to the information;

determining if a user does not have at least one of the determined one or more measurement software products by;

determining installed measurement software products in the measurement system over the wide area network;

comparing the determined installed measurement software products to the determined one or more measurement software products to determine if the at least one measurement software product is not installed in the measurement system;

if the user does not have the at least one measurement software product;

providing the at least one measurement software product of the one or more measurement software products to the user.

39. A computer-readable medium which stores program instructions for configuring a system, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to perform:

a server computer receiving information regarding a system over a wide area network (WAN);

the server computer determining one or more devices in response to the information;

determining if a user does not have at least one of the determined one or more devices by;

determining installed devices in the system over the wide area network;

comparing the determined installed devices to the determined one or more devices to determine if the at least one device is not installed in the system;

if the user does not have the at least one device;

providing the at least one device of the one or more devices to the user.

40. The computer-readable medium of claim 39,

wherein the information regarding the system comprises requirement information of a desired system.

41. The computer-readable medium of claim 39,

wherein the information regarding the system comprises a configuration diagram of a desired system.

42. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to perform:

providing a graphical user interface over the WAN useable for creating the configuration diagram.

43. The computer-readable medium of claim 39, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to perform:

the server computer determining one or more software products in response to the information; and

providing at least one software product of the one or more software products over the WAN to the user.

44. The computer-readable medium of claim 43, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to perform:

determining if the user does not have the at least one software product by;

determining installed software products in the system over the wide area network;

comparing the determined installed software products to the one or more software products to determine if the at least one software product is not installed in the system;

if the user does not have the at least one software product;

providing the at least one software product to the user.

45. The computer-readable medium of claim 43,

wherein the at least one device comprises a programmable hardware element;

and

wherein the at least one software product includes a hardware configuration program which is usable to configure the programmable hardware element of the at least one device.

46. The computer-readable medium of claim 43,

wherein the at least one device comprises a processor and a memory;

and

wherein the at least one software product comprises a software program which is operable to be stored in the memory and executed by the processor.