Asset management infrastructure

• US 8,692,649 B2
• Filed: 11/15/2011
• Issued: 04/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Clevenger, Lawrence A., Krause, Rainer K., Petrarca, Kevin S., Radens, Carl J., Sapp, Brian C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tai T
• Application Number:
  US13/296,242
• Publication Number:
  US 20120126937A1
• Time in Patent Office: 875 Days
• Field of Search: 340/5.6, 340/5.61, 340/10.1, 340/568.1, 3405721-5728
• US Class Current: 340/5.6
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/14 by lifting or attempted removal of hand-portable articles

Abstract

Asset management for control of electric appliances comprises a keycode unit and an equipment unit embedded in an appliance. The keycode unit is located in a protected environment and relates to an asset management area. The equipment unit may store an appliance identification code. The keycode unit and the equipment unit may be in communication contact, whereby the equipment unit sends positioning coordinates to the keycode unit, and wherein the equipment unit is adapted to lock the appliance via the lock unit, in response to a lock signal that the equipment unit receives from the keycode unit, if the appliance moves outside the asset management area.

Claims

1. An asset management system for a control of electric appliances, the asset management system comprising:

a keycode unit comprising a keycode device chip having a first communication unit wherein the keycode unit is located in a protected environment and relates to an asset management area, and wherein a power supply for the keycode unit is provided by induction from a power line; and

an equipment unit, embedded in an appliance, the equipment unit comprising an equipment device chip comprising a positioning system unit, a lock unit, a second communication unit and a memory, the memory being adapted for storing an appliance identification code;

wherein the keycode unit and the equipment unit are in communication contact to each other via the first communication unit and the second communication unit, the second communication unit being adapted for sending positioning coordinates, which the positioning system unit receives, from the equipment unit to the keycode unit, and wherein the equipment unit is adapted to lock the appliance via the lock unit, in response to a lock signal that the equipment unit receives from the keycode unit if the appliance moves outside the asset management area.

2. The asset management system according to claim 1, wherein the keycode unit further comprises a third communication unit.

3. The asset management system according to claim 2, wherein the equipment unit further comprises a fourth communication unit configured to communicate with the third communication unit.

4. The asset management system according to claim 1, wherein the equipment unit is adapted to unlock the appliance based on a signal received from the keycode unit, the signal generated based on a registration confirmation signal received by the keycode unit from the equipment unit upon storing an equipment identification code in the memory of the equipment device chip, the equipment identification code being received from the keycode unit.

5. The asset management system according to claim 1, wherein the keycode device chip is an application-specific integrated circuit (“

ASIC”

).

6. The asset management system according to claim 1, wherein the equipment device chip is an application-specific integrated circuit (“

ASIC”

).

7. The asset management system according to claim 1, wherein the locking of the appliance is based on an eFuse in the equipment unit.

8. The asset management system according to claim 1, wherein the equipment unit further comprises a power consumption measurement unit.

9. The asset management system according to claim 1, wherein the keycode device chip further comprises a positioning system receiver.

10. A method for operating an asset management system, the asset management system comprising a keycode unit comprising a keycode device chip having a first communication unit and keycode unit memory, and an equipment unit embedded in an appliance, the equipment unit comprising an equipment device chip comprising a positioning system unit, a lock unit, a second communication unit corresponding to the first communication unit, and a memory, the method comprising:

positioning the first keycode unit in a protected environment, such that the keycode unit is protected against unauthorized access;

powering the keycode unit by inductive coupling to a power line;

registering the equipment unit by sending an identification code from the keycode unit to the equipment unit and storing the identification code in the memory of the equipment device chip;

defining an asset management area;

signaling positioning coordinates received by the positioning system unit of the equipment device chip via the second communication unit and the first communication unit to the keycode unit; and

locking the appliance, if the appliance is moved outside the defined asset management area, in response to a signal sent by the keycode unit to the equipment unit.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising locating a position of the appliance by a plurality of WLAN routers that are in wireless communication contact to the equipment unit as well as in communication contact to the keycode unit.

12. The method according to claim 10, further comprising storing data received from the equipment unit in the keycode unit memory.

13. The method according to claim 10, further comprising de-registering the appliance from an inventory list stored in the keycode unit memory.

14. The method according to claim 10, further comprising delaying a power-on of the appliance by the equipment unit to a predefined power-on time.

15. The method according to claim 10, further comprising repeatedly refreshing an initialization of the equipment unit by a signal sent from the keycode unit to the equipment unit as long as the equipment unit is located within the asset management area.

16. A computer program product for operating an asset management system, the asset management system comprising a keycode unit and an equipment unit embedded in an appliance, the keycode unit comprising a keycode device chip having a first communication unit and keycode unit memory and the equipment unit comprising an equipment device chip comprising a positioning system unit, a lock unit, a second communication unit corresponding to the first communication unit, and a memory, the computer program product stored on at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium providing program code that, when executed by an instruction execution system, performs:

positioning the first keycode unit in a protected environment, such that the keycode unit is protected against unauthorized access;

powering the keycode unit by inductive coupling to a power line;

registering the equipment unit by sending an identification code from the keycode unit to the equipment unit and storing the identification code in the memory of the equipment device chip;

defining an asset management area;

signaling positioning coordinates received by the positioning system unit of the equipment device chip via the second communication unit and the first communication unit to the keycode unit; and

locking the appliance, if the appliance is moved outside the defined asset management area, in response to a signal sent by the keycode unit to the equipment unit.