Abstract:
A system and methods for tracking central office equipment and inventory records comprised of a series of modules to provide access to link drawings, racks and equipment across an entire network infrastructure. The system and methods provide a user the ability to view equipment, group equipment, and search for equipment and available rack space. Additionally, the central office equipment and inventory records can be compiled into reports for engineering, planning and analysis.

Description:
[0001]    This application is related to and claims the benefit of provisional application 60/238,522 filed Oct. 10, 2000, the teachings of which are hereby incorporated herein in their entirety, including all appendices. This application includes a microfiche appendix having 1 fiche of 39 frames each. The teachings contained on the fiche are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The invention relates to the field of telecommunications, and more specifically, to a system and methods for tracking central office equipment and inventory records.  
           [0004]    2. Background  
           [0005]    Various patents disclose methods for detecting feature interaction in telecommunication networks. U.S. Pat. No. 6,198,811 B1 issued Mar. 6, 2001 to Klose et al. discloses a system and method for downloading data from purchases of telephone services. This data can then be associated automatically with the purchaser for billing purposes. U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,519 B1 issued Feb. 6, 2001 to Lin et al. discloses a method and system for feature interaction detection in a telecommunication network to disclose potential problems between various types of telecommunications equipment. The teachings of these patents are herein incorporated by reference.  
           [0006]    None of the two listed patents monitor the overall management of the central office. This would include all equipment residing in the central office, whether it&#39;s a diesel engine, telephone switch, or a distributing frame. In addition, these shortcomings address primarily the management of the network, but not the equipment that runs the network. Furthermore, these patents all provide support involving accessing the central office, in order to update the snapshot of the current network equipment infrastructure or engineering drawings.  
           [0007]    There exists a need wherein a central processing unit (CPU) can be accessed by a database program for the purposes of inventory, asset management and financial accounting of central office telecommunications equipment. It is desirable to view, track and analyze central office equipment and the racks residing across an entire telecommunications infrastructure via the Internet, eliminating the need to visit the central offices which are often a large distance from the engineers, planners and accountants. A need also exists to track the life cycle of all central office equipment. To save space within current central office buildings and meet the demand for colocation space for competitors resulting from the Telecommunications Act of 1996, accurate information regarding telecommunications equipment is needed.  
           [0008]    Objects of the Invention  
           [0009]    Accordingly, several objects of the present invention for a system and methods for tracking central office equipment and inventory records are:  
           [0010]    a) A primary object of the invention is to provide a method to involve a graphical user interface (GUI) for a user to interact and access a database, allowing the user to view the central office equipment and inventory records, central office drawings and equipment details, including asset and financial information.  
           [0011]    b) Another object of the invention is to provide a method to track central office equipment and inventory records within a central processing unit (CPU) that can be accessed by a database program for the purposes of accessing inventory, asset management and financial accounting of central office equipment.  
           [0012]    c) Another object of the invention is to provide a method to conduct network planning at the central office, based upon the ability to know exactly what resides within each central office, via the Internet.  
           [0013]    d) A further object of the invention is to provide a method to track the equipment, providing various types and levels of equipment details.  
           [0014]    e) Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method to track the life cycle of central office equipment and inventory records, whether it is new, retired or moved, throughout the central office.  
           [0015]    f) Still yet another object of the invention is to provide a method to group central office equipment, by equipment type.  
           [0016]    g) Another object of the invention is to provide a method to integrate central office equipment and drawings together, thereby eliminating the need to travel to the central office to view equipment.  
           [0017]    h) Another object of the invention is to provide a method to view all racks within a central office via the Internet.  
           [0018]    i) A further object of the invention is to provide a system that can restrict access between users, departments, or companies.  
           [0019]    j) Yet another object of the invention is to provide a system to provide asset placement within an network infrastructure by central offices (or data centers), rows (or aisles), racks (or data cabinets), and equipment (or assets).  
           [0020]    k) Still yet another object of the invention is to provide a system to be updated and revised to generate reports for asset management, depreciation and other accounting procedures for financial purposes.  
           [0021]    l) Another object of the invention is to provide a system to search (or query) within a database program for user-friendly access to rack and equipment placement for specific central office equipment and inventory records via the Internet.  
           [0022]    m) Another object of the invention is to provide a system to track central office equipment and inventory records within a central processing unit (CPU) that can be accessed by a database program for the purposes of inventory, asset management and financial accounting of central office equipment.  
           [0023]    Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following descriptions, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed.  
           [0024]    Advantages of the Invention  
           [0025]    Accordingly, the system and methods for tracking telecommunications central office equipment and inventory records can be used to easily access and view equipment records without requiring the need to travel to these rural or remote central offices. In addition, the system and methods have additional advantages in that they:  
           [0026]    provide for the ability to search (or query) the database for the purposes of finding various record data for maintenance purposes;  
           [0027]    provide for the ability to view, save and conduct light markup of central office drawings off-line;  
           [0028]    provide for the ability for multiple users to view drawings at the same time for engineering and planning purposes;  
           [0029]    provide for the ability to move laterally from a “drawing to racks” and “racks to drawing” interchangeably;  
           [0030]    provide for the ability to easily update the database via forms seamlessly transferring data directly into the database;  
           [0031]    provide for the ability to be accessed by wireless application protocols (WAP) via a cellular phone and/or personal digital assistant.  
           [0032]    Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. Thus, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims, rather than by the examples given.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0033]    A system and method for tracking telecommunications central office equipment and inventory records comprising a series of modules to provide access to link, view, group, search, and report central office information (drawings, racks, equipment) across an entire network infrastructure.  
           [0034]    A system for tracking telecommunications central office equipment information includes a database of telecommunications equipment information for a central office, a management report generator for extracting and providing reports on the equipment contained in a central office, a search engine for responding to queries of the entire database of telecommunication equipment information, a graphical user interface for providing visual representations of equipment within a central office, and a drawing system interfacing with the graphical user interface and the database for viewing, printing and editing drawings depicting central office equipment. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0035]    The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 1 is a screenshot illustrating the home and log in page.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 2 is a screenshot illustrating the “About Cenotrack” page.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 3 is a screenshot illustrating the Main Menu page.  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 4 is a screenshot illustrating the Drawing Search page.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 5 is a screenshot illustrating the Rack Search page.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 6 is a screenshot illustrating the Equipment Search page.  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 7 is a screenshot illustrating the Reports Search page.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 8 is a screenshot illustrating the Search Results page.  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 9 is a screenshot illustrating the Search Results detail page.  
         [0045]    [0045]FIG. 10 is a screenshot illustrating the Drawing page.  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 11 is a screenshot illustrating the frontal view of a rack.  
         [0047]    [0047]FIG. 12 is a screenshot illustrating the Rack Details page.  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 13 is a screenshot illustrating the Log Out page.  
         [0049]    [0049]FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating the detailed rack configuration  
         [0050]    [0050]FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating the flow of the present invention.  
         [0051]    [0051]FIG. 16 is a high-level flow chart of the operation of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0052]    Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment are provided herein. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed system, structure or manner.  
         [0053]    A preferred embodiment of the system and methods for tracking central office equipment and inventory is illustrated in FIG. 1 as the home/login screen. FIG. 1 shows the start of the computer program which provides a login  10 , username  12  and password protection  14  for entering the Cenotrack web site. If the login, username and password information is incorrect, the user is sent to the FIG. 13 log out screen. Additionally, as shown in FIG. 1, the user may find out information about CenoTrack  16  or about Advanced Engineering Design, Inc. 18 by clicking on the appropriate buttons.  
         [0054]    [0054]FIG. 2 discloses information about the present invention including reports, searching, rack information, and drawings changes that can be made in using the present invention. Information can be gained without having Internet access to the CenoTrack web site.  
         [0055]    If the login is successful, the user is brought to the main menu screen shown in FIG. 3 containing four application modules. CenoDraw  30  enables users to view, print or plot a web format of a central office drawing. This visual representation contains multiple views, layers and other important central office data. CenoRack  32  provides an accurate, visual representation of each central office rack, frame or piece of equipment. In addition, the software provides a comprehensive view of all central office equipment details, including model numbers, serial numbers, nodes, heat load, etc. CenoSearch  34  enables users to query or search the entire database of central office locations to a specific piece of equipment, which is used for identifying spare parts, maintenance records or determining depreciation value. CenoReport  36  provides management reports of central office data needed to facilitate decision-making. Some report examples, which can be developed are Cable Report, Power Report, Grounding Report, Open Rack Space Report, Colocation Report, etc. From the FIG. 3 screenshot, the user has the ability to retrieve central office equipment and inventory reports in a format that is user friendly. The method increases the productivity of the user by simplifying engineering work flow and financial and accounting functions.  
         [0056]    In an example, the user has the ability to retrieve central office drawings by clicking on CenoDraw  30 . This sends the user to the FIG. 4 drawing search screen for input of data. The user is required to input a base number  40  or any other information such as floor  42 , letter  44 , along with building name  46  or common language location identifier (CLLI)  48 . Upon entry to known information, the user can then query the database and retrieve a multitude of central office drawings and floors. The information can be narrowed by specific letters or CLLI codes to pinpoint the desired data.  
         [0057]    A drawing search according to FIG. 4 results in a select number of drawings presented on the search results screen illustrated in FIG. 8. By clicking on the search results  80 , the drawing can be viewed with a free downloadable program, such as Autodesk Voloview Express 2, as shown in FIG. 10. Once within the screen illustrated in FIG. 10, the drawing of the central office showing the racks and isles can be panned. The user may scroll on the drawing and zoom in and out for greater detail.  
         [0058]    By clicking on a portion of FIG. 10, an individual piece of equipment such as a rack, may be retrieved such as that shown in FIG. 11. FIG. 11 shows a two-dimensional view of a rack including filled and unfilled positions. As a matter of convention, the lowest position is the one closest to the bottom of the rack. An important feature of the present invention is the ability to link racks to the drawing  1000  by the user. By clicking within the rack drawing, the user is presented with a view of the two-dimensional representation of the rack as illustrated in FIG. 14.  
         [0059]    In another example of the operation of the invention, the user has the ability to retrieve central office equipment rack information by clicking CenoRack  32  as shown in FIG. 3. This brings up the screen illustrated in FIG. 5. Once the user inputs base number  50 , floor number  52  or letter  54 , the database is queried to produce one or more drawings as shown in FIG. 9. From the drawings retrieved during the search, a detail of the rack is uncovered as shown in FIG. 12.  
         [0060]    [0060]FIG. 3 provides the user the ability to retrieve specific central office equipment information, including equipment details bypassing the drawing of Figure  10  and the rack shown in FIG. 11. By clicking on CenoSearch  34 , the user is sent to FIG. 6 to input data. The user is requested to input either the serial number  60 , barcode  62  or the equipment type  64 . This sends the user to the equipment details of the central office equipment shown in FIG. 12, bypassing the search results screen FIG. 8.  
         [0061]    [0061]FIG. 3 provides the user the ability to retrieve predefined reports of central office equipment inventory, including transport, power, colocation, and open space, allowing the user to view reports based upon an entire central office inventory records. By clicking on CenoReport  36 , the user is sent to FIG. 7 to retrieve the desired reports. Predefined reports may include aisle rack, telephone equipment, cable, empty space and Internet equipment reports.  
         [0062]    Throughout every figure screen, (FIG. 1 to FIG. 13), the user can click the log out button  1300 , in order to log out from the CenoTrack site.  
         [0063]    Illustrated in FIG. 16 is the overall architecture of the present invention. A user  1602  logs in through Internet  1604  to a web server  1606 . If the login script  1608  is verified, the user may use the web server to view drawing modules, to search rack modules, to search for equipment or to generate reports. The web server  1606  interfaces with a database  1612  through search query script  1610 . The database contains rack images, equipment images, reports and drawings.  
         [0064]    The process flow of the present invention is illustrated in block diagram form in FIG. 15. From the login screen  1502 , the user can obtain information about CenoTrack in box  1504  or log onto the CenoTrack main menu  1506 . From the main menu, a user may choose CenoDraw  1508  to perform a drawing search step 1510 , which can be obtained from entry of a base number, floor number, letter, building name, or CLLI code. The drawing search results  1512  lead to the actual drawing  1514 . The actual drawing can be panned, scrolled or zoomed to the desired location.  
         [0065]    By selecting a portion of the drawing shown in FIG. 10, a link to the corresponding rack is made in step  1516  and which is displayed in FIG. 11. Rack details  1518  can then be displayed as shown in FIG. 12.  
         [0066]    If CenoRack  1520  is chosen from the main menu, the rack search page  1522  is presented. By entering base number, floor number or letter as shown in FIG. 5, the rack search results  1524  are presented as shown in FIG. 9. More detailed information can be obtained from rack page  1516  and rack details  1518 .  
         [0067]    When choosing CenoSearch  1530  from the main menu, a search for equipment can be made. In step  1532  the equipment search page is presented for user input of serial number, barcode and equipment type. The query results in the rack search or in the rack detail page depending upon the input information.  
         [0068]    Selection of CenoReport  1540  from the main menu brings up a view report module. A report search page  1542  illustrated in FIG. 7 contains predefined reports  1544  which may be chosen as desired.  
         [0069]    At any time throughout the use CenoTrack, the log out feature  1550  may be chosen to end the session.  
         [0070]    While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.