Intelligent production station and production method
First Claim
1. A production station for processing a product to be manufactured, the product including two or more units, the production station comprising:
- a data retrieval component communicatively coupled to a first unit of the two or more units to be included in the product, the data retrieval component operative to retrieve data from the first unit, the data from the first unit including actual software configuration revision information regarding a revision of software on the first unit and licensing information regarding an applicable license of the software on the first unit;
a data access component operative to obtain from a server data associated with the first unit, the associated data including desired software configuration revision information and current license data indicating at least one software license associated with the desired software configuration revision;
a data verification component operative to compare the retrieved data with the obtained data to verify that the software configuration revision information from the first unit is acceptable based on a comparison with the desired software configuration revision information and to verify that the applicable license of the software on the first unit is an acceptable license based on the licensing information from the first unit and the current license data from the server, and to generate an output based on the comparison, the output indicating whether the first unit should be accepted for processing and included in the product, further processing of the first unit being allowed based on the output; and
a data writing component operative to write new software to the first unit if the verification of the data verification component indicates that the software configuration revision information from the first unit is not acceptable or if the verification of the data verification component indicates that the applicable license of the software on the first unit is not an acceptable license.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
One aspect related to design of systems and methods for manufacturing products that include technology in skilled areas is configuring a production station for use by an operator without specialized skills. The present invention contemplates an approach to designing a station configurable to perform one or more of incoming inspection, assembly, testing, and branding. A preferred approach includes verifying data associated with units prior to accepting them for incorporation, preventing incorporation of an incorrect unit, and guiding an operator in possible remedial action. This approach includes storing data in a server and making such data substantially instantly accessible to production stations once written in the server. Such data preferably includes software to configure the production station such that the operator need not have specialized skills. A production station designed using this approach is particularly useful in the manufacture of an outdoor unit of a split-mount microwave radio system.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A production station for processing a product to be manufactured, the product including two or more units, the production station comprising:
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a data retrieval component communicatively coupled to a first unit of the two or more units to be included in the product, the data retrieval component operative to retrieve data from the first unit, the data from the first unit including actual software configuration revision information regarding a revision of software on the first unit and licensing information regarding an applicable license of the software on the first unit; a data access component operative to obtain from a server data associated with the first unit, the associated data including desired software configuration revision information and current license data indicating at least one software license associated with the desired software configuration revision; a data verification component operative to compare the retrieved data with the obtained data to verify that the software configuration revision information from the first unit is acceptable based on a comparison with the desired software configuration revision information and to verify that the applicable license of the software on the first unit is an acceptable license based on the licensing information from the first unit and the current license data from the server, and to generate an output based on the comparison, the output indicating whether the first unit should be accepted for processing and included in the product, further processing of the first unit being allowed based on the output; and a data writing component operative to write new software to the first unit if the verification of the data verification component indicates that the software configuration revision information from the first unit is not acceptable or if the verification of the data verification component indicates that the applicable license of the software on the first unit is not an acceptable license. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for processing a product to be manufactured, the product including two or more units, the method comprising:
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obtaining, from a server, data associated with a first unit of the two or more units to be included in the product, the data from the server including desired software configuration revision information and current license data indicating at least one software license associated with the desired software configuration revision; retrieving data from the first unit, the data from the first unit including actual software configuration revision information regarding a revision of software on the first unit and licensing information regarding an applicable license of the software on the first unit; comparing the data retrieved from the first unit with the data obtained from the server to verify that the software configuration revision information from the first unit is acceptable based on a comparison with the desired software configuration revision information and to verify that the applicable license of the software on the first unit is an acceptable license based on the licensing information from the first unit and the current license data from the server; generating an output based on the comparison, the output indicating whether the first unit should be accepted for processing and included in the product, further processing of the first unit being allowed based on the output; and writing new software to the first unit if the verification of the data verification component indicates that the software configuration revision information from the first unit is not acceptable or if the verification of the data verification component indicates that the applicable license of the software on the first unit is not an acceptable license. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A production station for processing a product to be manufactured, the product including two or more units, the production station comprising:
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means for retrieving data from a first unit of the two or more units to be included in the product, the data from the first unit including actual software configuration revision information regarding a revision of software on the first unit and licensing information regarding an applicable license of the software on the first unit; means for obtaining from a server data associated with the first unit, the data including desired software configuration revision information and current license data indicating at least one software license associated with the desired software configuration revision; means for comparing the retrieved data with the obtained data to verify that the software configuration revision information from the first unit is acceptable based on a comparison with the desired software configuration revision information and to verify that the applicable license of the software on the first unit is an acceptable license based on the licensing information from the first unit and the current license data from the server; means for generating an output based on the comparison, the output indicating whether the first unit should be accepted for processing and included in the product, further processing of the first unit being allowed based on the output; and means for writing new software to the first unit if the verification of the data verification component indicates that the software configuration revision information from the first unit is not acceptable or if the verification of the data verification component indicates that the applicable license of the software on the first unit is not an acceptable license.
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Specification