APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR DEVICE GROUP IDENTIFICATION

• US 20090237006A1
• Filed: 03/18/2008
• Published: 09/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kelaher, Daniel Paul, Meserth, Timothy Andreas, Windell, David Thomas, Champion, David Frederick, Tuten, Wallace G., Miller, Michael Sven, Hurlimann, Daniel Ernest
• Granted Patent: US 7,956,552 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 315/297
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/20 Controlling the colour of the light

Abstract

An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for identifying and differentiating among multiple groups of devices, comprising at least two LEDs, a controller, and a blending medium. The at least two LEDs emit a wavelength of light that is different from a wavelength of each other LED. The controller drives the at least two LEDs to each emit light at specified intensities in response to a color identifying value. The blending medium combines the light emitted by the at least two LEDs into an identifying color that identifies a group of devices.

Claims

1. An identification apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

at least two light emitting diodes (LED), each LED configured to emit a wavelength of light that is different from a wavelength of each other LED;

a controller configured to drive the at least two LEDs to each emit light at specified intensities in response to a color identifying value; and

a blending medium configured to combine the light emitted by the at least two LEDs into an identifying color that identifies a group of devices.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, the apparatus comprising three LEDs.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein a first LED emits a green wavelength, a second LED emits a blue wavelength, and a third LED emits a red wavelength.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein a first LED emits a cyan wavelength, a second LED emits a magenta wavelength, and a third LED emits a green wavelength.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein a first LED emits a violet wavelength, a second LED emits an orange wavelength, and a third LED emits a green wavelength.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the LEDs emit wavelengths selected from red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, purple, orange, red-orange, red-violet, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-violet, and blue-green.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the LEDs are selected from lensed LEDs and lensless LEDs.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a color selection interface that receives the color identifying value and a group selection for the group of devices.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the color selection interface is configured as a Graphical User Interface (GUI).

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the color selection interface is configured as a switch.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the blending medium comprises a frosted shield.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the blending medium comprises a light pipe.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, the controller further configured to receive the color identifying value over a communication channel.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the communication channel is shared among the group of devices through a management network.

15. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having a computer readable program stored on a tangible storage device, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to drive at least two LEDs to each emit light at specified intensities in response to a color identifying value, wherein each LED is configured to emit a wavelength of light that is different from a wavelength of each other LED and a blending medium combines the light emitted by the at least two LEDs into an identifying color that identifies a group of devices.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the computer readable program is further configured to cause the computer to receive the color identifying value and a group selection for the group of devices from a color selection interface.

17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the computer readable program is further configured to cause the computer to drive the LEDs by communicating the color identifying value to a controller over a communication channel.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the communication channel is shared among the group of devices through a management network.

19. A identification system, the system comprising:

a management network;

a plurality of devices that communicate over the management network, the plurality of devices organized into at least two groups, each device comprising

at least two LEDs, each LED configured to emit a wavelength of light that is different from a wavelength of each other LED;

a controller configured to drive the at least two LEDs to each emit light at specified intensities in response to a color identifying value received over the management network; and

a blending medium configured to combine the light emitted by the at least two LEDs into an identifying color that identifies a group of the at least two groups of devices.

20. A method for deploying computer infrastructure, comprising integrating a computer readable program stored on a tangible storage device into a computing system, wherein the program in combination with the computing system is capable of performing the following:

receiving a color identifying value;

receiving a group selection for a group of devices;

communicating the color identifying value;

driving at least two LEDs to each emit light at specified intensities in response to the color identifying value, wherein each LED is configured to emit a wavelength of light that is different from a wavelength of each other LED; and

combining the light emitted by the at least two LEDs into an identifying color that identifies the group of devices.