System and method for service bulletin data exchange

• US 8,291,043 B2
• Filed: 05/09/2008
• Issued: 10/16/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Hadley, Brent L., Floyd, Joseph F., Kollgaard, Jeffrey R., Linn, John R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Haresh N
• Assistant Examiner(s): SIDDIQI, MOHAMMAD A
• Application Number:
  US12/118,055
• Publication Number:
  US 20090281688A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,621 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/717, 709/223, 709/218, 707/705, 701/1, 701/3, 701/29
• US Class Current: 709/218
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

In accordance with one or more embodiments, systems and methods for exchanging data over a network include communicating with a user via a portable communication device over the network, interacting with the user via an interactive software application, receiving a request for service bulletin data related to at least one aircraft from the user via the portable communication device, accessing service bulletin data related to the at least one aircraft from a database component based on a registry number associated with the at least one aircraft passed with the request from the user, and transferring service bulletin data related to the at least one aircraft from the database component to the portable communication device via the network for viewing by the user on the portable communication device.

Claims

1. A system for exchanging data over a network, the system comprising:

a communication component for exchanging data with a user via a cellular telephone over a network;

a system database component for storing service bulletin data related to at least one aircraft; and

a processing component, the processing component being hardware, to;

download an interactive software application to the cellular telephone,

interact with the user via the interactive software application to provide an aircraft maintenance guide for a desired maintenance task,

receive spoken requests and textual requests for service bulletin data related to the at least one aircraft from the user via the cellular telephone,

access service bulletin data related to the at least one aircraft from the database component based on a registry number associated with the at least one aircraft passed with the requests from the user,

transfer service bulletin data related to the at least one aircraft from the database component to the cellular telephone via the network for viewing by the user on the cellular telephone; and

receive service bulletin activity responses from the user'"'"'s cellular telephone, the responses including reports of aircraft damage found pursuant to the interaction with the user via the interactive software application, the user'"'"'s cellular telephone including a portable database component for storage of the service bulletin data related to the at least one aircraft or at least one part thereof, and the service bulletin data stored in the portable database component of the user'"'"'s cellular telephone providing the user with a guided interactive inspection of the at least one aircraft by viewing portions of the service bulletin data that are selectively searchable based on input by the user.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the system comprises a server.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the service bulletin activity responses from the user includes user answers to questions and one or more recorded results to the questions that are stored in the portable database component and transferred to the processing component for storage in the system database component.

4. A method for exchanging data over a network, the method comprising:

communicating with a user via a cellular telephone over the network;

downloading an interactive software application to the cellular telephone;

interacting with the user via the interactive software application to provide an aircraft maintenance guide for a desired maintenance task;

receiving spoken requests and textual requests for service bulletin data related to the at least one aircraft from the user via the cellular telephone;

accessing service bulletin data related to the at least one aircraft from a database component based on a registry number associated with the at least one aircraft passed with the requests from the user;

transferring service bulletin data related to the at least one aircraft from the database component to the cellular telephone via the network for viewing by the user on the cellular telephone, the user'"'"'s cellular telephone including a portable database component for storage of the service bulletin data related to the at least one aircraft or at least one part thereof, and the service bulletin data stored in the portable database component of the user'"'"'s cellular telephone providing the user with a guided interactive inspection of the at least one aircraft by viewing portions of the service bulletin data that are selectively searchable based on input by the user; and

receiving service bulletin activity responses from the user'"'"'s cellular telephone, the responses including reports of aircraft damage found pursuant to the interaction with the user via the interactive software application.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the method is performed by a server in communication with the cellular telephone over the network.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising displaying the service bulletin data to the user via a display component of the cellular telephone.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising storing the service bulletin data in a portable database component of the cellular telephone.

8. The method of claim 4, receiving input from the user including the registry number of the at least one aircraft.

9. The method of claim 4, further comprising providing the user with guided interactive inspection of the at least one aircraft by allowing the user to selectively view portions of the service bulletin data.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the portions of the service bulletin data are selectively searchable based on input by the user.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising storing the service bulletin activity responses from the user in the database component.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the service bulletin activity responses from the user includes user answers to questions and one or more recorded results to the questions.