Local Analytics Device

• US 20170163515A1
• Filed: 12/07/2016
• Published: 06/08/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uptake Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Uptake Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Heliker, Brett, Nicholas, Brad
• Granted Patent: US 10,623,294 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/263 Arrangements for using multiple switchable power supplies, e.g. battery and AC G06F1/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/266 Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3058 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring environmental properties or parameters of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring of power, currents, temperature, humidity, position, vibrations thermal management in cooling arrangements of a computing system G06F1/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4282 on a serial bus, e.g. I2C bus, SPI bus on daisy chain buses G06F13/4247
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40078 Bus configuration home automation networks H04L12/2803; arrangements for maintenance or administration H04L41/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/40215 Controller Area Network CAN
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0654 using network fault recovery ring fault isolation or reconfiguration in loop networks without recovery actions by a network management system H04L12/437
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/14 using software, i.e. software packages network security related monitoring H04L63/1408
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

Disclosed herein is an improved local analytics device that includes a single-board computer with a high-capacity processing unit, a remote network interface configured to wirelessly communicate with a remote computing system, a local network interface configured to wirelessly communicate with a remote computing system, a secondary power source, and an asset interface that may include (i) a communication connector that enables the local analytics device to be coupled to the asset'"'"'s on-board systems via a single cable that carries both data and power, (ii) an asset communication subsystem configured to manage data communication with an asset'"'"'s on-board systems, and (iii) a power management subsystem configured to receive and manage power from the asset'"'"'s on-board systems.

Claims

1. A local analytics device comprising:

a single-board computer comprising a processing unit and data storage;

a remote network interface configured to facilitate communication between the local analytics device and a remote computing system;

a local network interface configured to facilitate communication between the local analytics device and one or more local devices computing system;

a secondary power source configured to supply power to the single-board computer; and

an asset interface coupled to the single-board computer, wherein the asset interface comprises (i) a communication connector configured to couple the local analytics device to an asset via a single cable, (ii) an asset communication subsystem configured to manage data communication between the single-board computer and the asset, and (iii) a power management subsystem configured to manage the power supplied to the single-board computer by selecting between a power source supplied by the asset and the secondary power source,

wherein the single-board computer, the wireless network interface, the secondary power source, and the asset interface are packaged into a single housing.

2. The local analytics device of claim 1, wherein the processing unit comprises a high-capacity processor.

3. The local analytics device of claim 1, wherein the single-board computer comprises a general-purpose computer that has been repurposed for use in a specific-purpose device.

4. The local analytics device of claim 1, wherein the single-board computer further comprises program instructions stored in the data storage, and wherein the program instructions are executable by the processing unit to cause the local analytics device to execute a predictive model based on data received from the asset via the communication connector.

5. The local analytics device of claim 1, wherein the remote network interface comprises at least one of a cellular-network interface and a satellite-communication interface.

6. The local analytics device of claim 1, wherein the local network interface comprises at least one of a Wi-Fi interface and a Bluetooth®

interface.

7. The local analytics device of claim 1, wherein the single-board computer further comprises program instructions stored in the data storage, and wherein the program instructions are executable by the processing unit to cause the local analytics device to determine that network connectivity with the remote computing system is not available and responsively send data intended for the remote computing system through the local network interface to an intermediary device.

8. The local analytics device of claim 1, wherein the communication connector comprises one of a Controller Area Network (CAN) connector, a Modbus connector, an Open Platform Communications (OPC) connector, an Ethernet connector, or a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector.

9. The local analytics device of claim 1, wherein the asset communication subsystem comprises (i) a CAN transceiver, (ii) a DC/DC converter, and (iii) an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection diode.

10. The local analytics device of claim 9, wherein the CAN transceiver is coupled to the communication connector via the ESD protection diode, wherein the DC/DC converter is coupled to the CAN transceiver, and wherein the CAN transceiver is coupled to the single-board computer.

11. The local analytics device of claim 1, wherein the power management subsystem comprises (i) a power path manager, (ii) a transient-voltage-suppression (TVS) diode, (iii) a buck converter, (iv) a buck-boost converter, and (v) a low-dropout (LDO) regulator.

12. The local analytics device of claim 11, wherein the power path manager is coupled to the communication connector via the TVS diode and the buck converter, wherein the power path manager is coupled to the single-board computer via the buck-boost converter and the LDO regulator, and wherein the power path manager is further coupled to the secondary power source.

13. The local analytics device of claim 11, wherein the power path manager is configured to detect that no power is being supplied by the asset and responsively switch the power supplied to the single-board computer from the power source supplied by the asset to the secondary power source.

14. The local analytics device of claim 11, wherein the power path manager is configured to:

detect an abnormality in the power source supplied by the asset and responsively switch the power supplied to the single-board computer from the power source supplied by the asset to the secondary power source.

15. The local analytics device of claim 1, wherein the secondary power source comprises one or more batteries.

16. The local analytics device of claim 15, wherein the power management subsystem further comprises a battery charger configured to charge the one or more batteries.

17. The local analytics device of claim 1, further comprising one or more sensors coupled to the single-board computer, wherein the one or more sensors are configured to measure attributes of the local analytics device.

18. The local analytics device of claim 17, wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one of a temperature sensor, an eCompass, an accelerometer, and a barometer.

19. The local analytics device of claim 1, further comprising an adhesive tape affixed to the exterior of the single housing.

20. A local analytics device comprising:

a single-board computer comprising a processing unit, data storage, and program instructions stored in the data storage;

a remote network interface configured to facilitate wireless communication between the local analytics device and a remote computing system;

a local network interface configured to facilitate wireless communication between the local analytics device and a remote computing system;

a secondary power source configured to supply power to the single-board computer;

an asset interface coupled to the single-board computer, wherein the asset interface comprises;

a Controller Area Network (CAN) connector configured to couple the local analytics device to an asset via a single cable;

an asset communication subsystem configured to manage communication between the single-board computer and the asset, wherein the asset communication subsystem comprises (i) a CAN transceiver coupled to the CAN connector, (ii) a DC/DC converter, and (iii) an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection diode; and

a power management subsystem configured to manage the power supplied to the single-board computer by selecting between a power source supplied by the asset and the secondary power source, wherein the power management subsystem comprises (i) a power path manager, (ii) a transient-voltage-suppression (TVS) diode, (iii) a buck converter, a (iv) buck-boost converter, and (v) a low-dropout (LDO) regulator; and

one or more sensors coupled to the single-board computer, wherein the one or more sensors are configured to measure attributes of the local analytics device,

wherein the single-board computer, the wireless network interface, the secondary power source, the asset interface, and the one or more sensors are packaged together into a single housing, and

wherein the program instructions stored in the data storage are executable by the processing unit to cause the local analytics device to execute a predictive model based on data received from the asset via the CAN connector.