Patent Publication Number: US-2009234703-A1

Title: Method and system for remote tracking of assets

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This Application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/069,744, filed Mar. 17, 2008 which is herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     Embodiments of the present invention generally relates to tracking of assets and, more particularly, to methods and systems for remote tracking of assets. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Many organizations conduct business through remote sites or assets. For example, a bank or a financial institution has assets, such as Automated Teller Machines (ATM), cash acceptors, cash recyclers, and currency sorters that provide bank customers and tellers access to accounts. Various airlines have assets, such as self check-in kiosks at the airports used for checking in, printing boarding passes, and checking baggage. In recent years, such assets have become a commonly used mode of commerce for many customers. Many such assets are remote and intend to serve the purpose of anytime, anywhere service. Therefore, the assets must have high availability. 
     However, these assets may malfunction at times, causing inconvenience to the users. To ensure proper functioning of ATM machines, the organizations may deploy field technicians that inspect asset in various locations. For example, a field technician may inspect ATM machines, identify the cause of malfunctions, and correct them. Such inspection requires extensive manpower and a high level of coordination. Despite such inspections, an ATM machine may malfunction in the intermittent time between periodic visits from a technician. Visits by field technicians may not be sufficient to sustain high availability. 
     In some cases, organizations remedy the problems with their assets by directing the field technicians through use of a call center or a helpdesk. Such call centers, although helpful, face problems in using field technicians effectively adding costly overhead, and an inability to facilitate repair of assets in a timely and efficient manner. 
     Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved method and system for remote tracking of assets that facilitates an effective and efficient way for maintenance and repair of such assets. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Embodiments of the present invention generally include a method and system for remote tracking of assets. According to one embodiment of the invention, the method for remote tracking comprises receiving location information, receiving a status of a remote asset, creating a task based on the status of the remote asset, determining a receiver to perform the task, and informing the determined receiver of the task. 
     In one embodiment, the system for remote tracking of assets comprises a receiver, an asset, and a controller. The receiver receives location information and transmits the location information to the controller. The asset transmits status data to the controller. The controller receives the location information and status information and transmits task information to the receiver. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a system for remote tracking of assets according to various embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a receiver according to various embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating an asset system according to various embodiments of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating a method for remote tracking of assets according to various embodiments of the present invention; 
     
    
    
     While the invention is described herein by way of example using several embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited to the embodiments of drawing or drawings described. It should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modification, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include,” “including,” and “includes” mean including, but not limited to. Further, the word “a” means “at least one” and the word “plurality” mean one or more, unless otherwise mentioned. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a system  100  for remote tracking of assets according to various embodiments of the present invention. The system  100  is used to track assets, report malfunctions, and dispatch the nearest technicians. 
     The asset tracking system  100  comprises a communication network  102 , receivers  104   1 ,  104   2  . . .  104   n  (collectively referred to as receiver  104 ), assets  105   1 ,  105   2  . . .  105   n  (collectively referred to as asset  105 ), a network of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites  106  (e.g. Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, GLONASS, and the like), and a controller  108 . The controller  108  communicates with the receiver  104  and/or the assets  105  via the communication network  102 . The communication network  102  may be a public and/or a private network, such as the Internet, a Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN) and the like. Typically, the receiver  104  communicates by wireless signals with the communication network  102 . In one embodiment, the receiver  104  is a mobile device (e.g., cellular telephone) and/or a computer comprising GNSS receiver. In another embodiment, the receiver  104  is purpose built tracking device, e.g., a personal navigation device (PND). 
     The GNSS satellites&#39;  106  signals include well-known information from which a receiver  104  computes a position. The receiver  104  utilizes the signals received from the GNSS satellites  106  to determine, in a well known manner, a position of the receiver  104 . According to one embodiment, the processing of the signal may comprise decoding the satellite signals to recover satellite navigation data using decoding process known in the art. In an alternative embodiment, the receiver  104  receives and transmits the received GNSS signals or information extracted from the GNSS signals to the controller  108 . In such an embodiment, the controller  108  processes the signals and computes the location of the receiver  104 . Whether the controller  108  computes the location or the receiver  104  computes the location is irrelevant to the invention. The controller is informed of the location of each receiver  104  and, consequently, the location of each technician associated with each receiver  104 . 
     The asset  105  may be any kiosk-like asset utilized by customers to conduct business at a remote location, such as accessing account data, checking in, and the like. For example, an asset  105  may be an Automated Teller Machine (ATM), a computing kiosk, an airline booth, an Internet terminal, a currency sorter, a cash recycler, and the like. The asset  105  communicates with the controller  108  via the communication network  102 . The assets  105   1 ,  105   2  . . .  105   n  may be located in various locations and may represent various businesses. The controller  108  may provide a service to a number of assets  105  for different commercial entities. In one embodiment, the asset  105  may include some or all the features of the receiver  104 . For example, the asset  105  may receive the GNSS signals and compute its location information, then report that location to the control  108 . 
     The controller  108  may be electronic device such as a computer, a computer server, a mobile device or any such known device known in the art. The controller  108  comprises at least one processing unit  110 , support circuits  112  and memory  114 . The processing unit  110  may comprise one or more conventionally available microprocessors. The support circuits  112  are well known circuits used to promote functionality of the processing unit  110 . Such circuits include, but are not limited to, a cache, power supplies, clock circuits, I/O circuits and the like. 
     The memory  114  of the controller  108  may comprise random access memory, read only memory, removable disk memory, flash memory, and various combinations of these types of memory. The memory  108  is sometimes referred to as main memory and may, in part, be used as cache memory or buffer memory. The memory  108  generally stores the operating system  116 . The operating system  116  may be one of a number of commercially available operating systems such as, but not limited to, SOLARIS from SUN Microsystems, Inc., AIX from IBM Inc., HP-UX from Hewlett Packard Corporation, LINUX from Red Hat Software, Windows 2000 from Microsoft Corporation, and the like. 
     In addition, the memory  208  may store data  118  and various forms of application software  120 , such as an asset tracking module  124 . The data  118  may comprise a relational database, for example, SQL from Oracle Corporation. The data  118  may be utilized by the OS  116  and/or the application software  120 . The controller  108  utilizes the receiver tracking module  122  to communicate with and/or track the receivers  104 . The controller  108  utilizes the asset tracking module  124  to communicate with and/or track assets  105   
     In cases where the receiver  104  is not stationary, the receiver tracking module  122  utilizes the updated information related to the position of the receiver  104  and computes the position of the receiver  104  accordingly. The asset tracking module  124  is configured to track assets  105 . Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the remote tracking of the assets  105  by the asset tracking module  124  may include locating, configuring and/or monitoring the asset  105 . 
     The controller  108  may be coupled to I/O device. The I/O device is utilized to input data to, retrieve data from, or display data of the controller  108 . Such I/O device may be, but are not limited to, a mouse, keyboard, monitor, CD-ROM, and the like. 
     In one embodiment, the system  100  tracks the performance of one or more assets  105  and may monitor the performance of the individual components associated with the asset  105 . The component of the asset  105  may include printer, cash dispenser, token dispenser and the like. In cases where an individual component of the asset  105  is not performing to the desired level of functionality or is running low on a consumable (e.g., paper), a report of the issue is communicated to the controller  108 . Generally, the asset tracking module  124  performs the remote tracking of the asset  105  and is capable of remotely monitoring the performance of the individual components associated with the asset  105 . For example, if the asset in question is an ATM, the monitored components may include a magnetic card reader, a cash dispenser, an encrypted pin pad, a receipt printer, and the like. 
     In alternative embodiments, the asset tracking module  124  does not actively monitor the function of the asset  105 . In such an embodiment, the report related to asset function may be sent by a separate unit included in the asset  105 . The unit may comprise an asset tag configured to track the function of each component of the asset  105 . The unit may further comprise a communication device configured to communicate with the asset tracking module  124 . In case of a malfunction of the asset  105 , the unit may send a report related to the malfunction to the controller  108 . The report may include the description of the malfunctioning component, asset number/identification, location and the like. In another embodiment, the malfunctioning of an asset  105  is reported to a technician nearest to the malfunctioning asset  105 . Each technician (service provider) is associated with a receiver and the receiver locations are tracked by the controller. Thus, the controller identifies the nearest technician and notifies the nearest technician of a service requirement. The computed location of the malfunctioning asset  105  may further be plotted onto a map by the controller  108  and sent to the technician&#39;s receiver. The technician may not be stationary and hence, the map/location is periodically updated. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a receiver  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention. The receiver  200  includes a processing unit  202 , support circuit  204 , transceiver  206 , GNSS receiver  208 , and memory  210 . The processing unit  202  may comprise one or more conventionally available microprocessors. The support circuits  204  are well known circuits used to promote functionality of the processing unit  202 . The support circuits  204  may include conventional cache, power supplies, clock circuits, data registers, I/O circuitry, and the like to facilitate operation of the receiver  200 . 
     The transceiver  206  is a combination of transmitter/receiver used for wireless communications devices such as cellular telephones, cordless telephone sets, handheld two-way radios, mobile two-way radios and the like. The GNSS receiver  208  may include electronic equipment that receives GNSS signals for processing. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the GNSS receiver  208  receives the GNSS satellites signals and computes the location of the receiver  200 . 
     The memory  210  may be random access memory, read only memory, for example PROM, EPROM, EEPROM and the like, removable storage such as optical disk, tape drive and the like, hard disk storage, flash drives or any combination of such memory devices. The memory  210  may include an operating system (OS)  212 , data  214  and application software  216 . The operating system  212  may be one of a number of commercially available operating systems used in mobile devices. 
     The application software  216  may include one or more applications utilized/executed by the processing unit  202 , such as a location based services (LBS) module  218 . The LBS module  218  processes GNSS signals and/or positions and reports the positions to the controller. The LBS module  218  also receives information from the controller to facilitate asset service notification. The communication module  220  is used to communicate information to and from the controller  108  using the transceiver. 
     In one embodiment of the invention, the receiver  104  is an LBS-enabled cellular telephone. 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating an asset monitoring unit  300  according to various embodiments of the present invention. In one embodiment, the asset monitoring unit  300  may be a subcomponent of an asset  105 . In another embodiment, the asset monitoring unit  300  may be located remotely from the monitored asset  105 . The asset monitoring unit  300  includes a processing unit  302 , support circuit  304 , memory  310 , a transceiver  320  and, an optional, and a GNSS receiver  322 . The processing unit  302  may comprise one or more conventionally available microprocessors. The support circuits  304  are well known circuits used to promote functionality of the processing unit  302 . The support circuits  304  may include conventional cache, power supplies, clock circuits, data registers, I/O circuitry, and the like to facilitate operation of the asset system  300 . 
     The memory  310  may be random access memory, read only memory, for example PROM, EPROM, EEPROM and the like, removable storage such as optical disk, tape drive and the like, hard disk storage, flash drives or any combination of such memory devices. The memory  310  may include an operating system (OS)  312 , data  316  and application software  314 . The operating system  312  may be one of a number of commercially available operating systems. The transceiver  320  communicates with the network ( 102  of  FIG. 1 ). The transceiver  320  may be a wireless (e.g., cellular telephone, Bluetooth, pager, Wi-Fi (802.11x and the like) and/or wired communication network (e.g., Ethernet, CATV network, fiber optic network and the like). The transceiver  320  communicates information regarding asset status to the controller ( 108  in  FIG. 1 ) as described below. 
     The asset monitoring unit  300  may optionally comprise a GNSS receiver  322 . If the unit  300  and its associated asset are stationary (fixed), the location may be known to the unit  300  and the controller without the need of a GNSS receiver. However, if the unit  300  and its asset are mobile, a GNSS receiver  322  can be used to provide location information to the controller. The GNSS receiver  322  conventionally receives and processes GNSS satellite signals to compute a position. The position is then communicated to the controller using the transceiver  320 . Such position transmissions may be intermittent or periodic. 
     The application software  314  may include one or more applications executed/utilized by the processing unit  302 , such as a communication module  318  and an asset monitoring module  324 . The asset monitoring module  324  monitors asset performance, including malfunction detection and reporting. The communication module  318  is utilized to communicate asset status information to the controller  108  (shown in  FIG. 1 ) using the transceiver  320 . In operation, the asset monitoring module  324  generates asset status information (including malfunctions) that is coupled to the communication module  314 . The communication module  314  combines the status information with the asset position (if necessary) and couples the combined information to the transceiver  320  for transmission to the controller. 
       FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating a method  400  performed by the controller for remote tracking of assets according to various embodiments of the present invention. The method  400  starts at step  402 . In one embodiment, the method may begin due to an “on-demand” status request from the controller. In another embodiment, the asset  105  may report the status due to a status change such as a malfunction, or due to a time interval having expired. When the asset has reported a status, the method proceeds to step  404 . At step  404 , the controller receives an asset status transmission. In one embodiment, the asset status transmission may include the status of specific subcomponents of the asset. At step  406 , the controller determines if the message contains a service notice. If there is not a need for service, the method  400  proceeds to step  404  to await the next status communication. The communication can be performed via an ‘on demand’ request from the controller, periodic transmissions from the asset, or intermittent transmissions upon a request for service. 
     If there is a service request, the method  400  proceeds to step  410  and determines the closest receiver to the location of the malfunctioning asset. At step  414 , the controller  108  informs the nearest receiver (i.e., a technician) of the malfunctioning asset and of relevant information, such as an asset identification number, location, problem, directions to the asset, maintenance history, and the like. 
     At step  416 , the controller  108  may monitor the status of the maintenance task. The job status may be updated by a technician reporting the service is complete, or the asset monitoring unit  300  may update the controller directly. In this manner, the controller may update its records upon correction of the malfunction. The technician may also be dispatched to perform regular (e.g., periodic) maintenance. The maintenance records would be updated upon completion of the scheduled maintenance. The method  400  ends at step  424 . 
     While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof.