# US 2018/0025304 A1 · Fleet management system for portable maintenance tools

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- Number: US 2018/0025304 A1
- Document ID: US20180025304A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 15/214,632
- Filed: 2016-07-20
- Published: 2018-01-25
- Earliest claimed: 2016-07-20
- Assignees: Fisher-Rosemount Systems, Inc.
- Applicants: Fisher-Rosemount Systems, Inc.
- Inventors: Joseph D. Fisher; Todd M. Toepke; Nicholas T. Meyer
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180025304A1

## CPC

- G06Q 10/06313: {Resource planning in a project environment}
- G05B 19/042: using digital processors (G05B19/05 takes precedence)
- G06Q 10/20: Administration of product repair or maintenance
- H04L 63/102: {Entity profiles}
- H04L 63/107: {wherein the security policies are location-dependent, e.g. entities privileges depend on current location or allowing specific operations only from locally connected terminals}
- H04L 67/06: specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
- H04L 67/12: specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
- H04L 67/34: {involving the movement of software or configuration parameters (network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416)}
- G05B 2219/23406: Programmer device, portable, handheld detachable programmer
- G05B 2219/33192: Radio link, wireless
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G05B: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables G05D; systems for regulating electric or magnetic variables G05F; control devices or systems insofar as characterised by mechanical features only G05G)
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)

## Abstract

An industrial service device fleet management system implements an organized and easy to use methodology to manage the digital content stored on each of a plurality of portable or stationary devices used in a plant, such as portable maintenance devices, to assure that each of the portable devices receives or implements only the content that it is supposed to have and is upgraded at the appropriate time to include new content, features, etc. The fleet management system includes a memory for storing information related to the fleet of portable or stationary devices including device identifications, device descriptions, end user names and privileges, the current content of each of the portable devices, and templates defining configuration parameters for the portable or stationary devices. The system also includes a content downloader that obtains, stores, and downloads content (such as software and firmware upgrades, additional features, applications, drivers, knowledge articles, etc.) for execution or display in various ones of the portable or stationary devices, includes a content decider module that analyzes when and if various ones of the portable or stationary devices should be provided additional or new content, and includes a notification system that notifies users of the portable or stationary devices of the need to upgrade or provide new content to the portable or stationary devices.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices, comprising:
a portable device content information repository that stores indications of the current content within each of the plurality of industrial portable devices;
a content repository that stores content to be stored in and executed by various ones of the industrial portable devices;
a fleet management station communicatively connected to the content repository via a secured communication connection to receive content for various ones of the plurality of industrial portable devices and communicatively connected to the portable device content information repository to provide information to the portable device content information repository about the current content within one or more of the industrial portable devices; and
a content manager, coupled to the portable device content information repository and to the content repository, that executes via a computer processor to determine, based on the indications of the current content within one or more of the plurality of industrial portable devices and based on the available content in the content repository, content to be provided to one or more of the industrial portable devices, and that executes to provide a notification of the determined content to the fleet management station.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 1, wherein the content repository stores content including one or more of software applications, field device drivers, user assistance information, technical support information, and firmware features.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 1, wherein the content repository stores content comprising versions of software applications.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 1, wherein the content repository stores content comprising upgrades of software applications.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 1, further comprising a notification unit communicatively coupled to the content manager and to the fleet management station, wherein the notification unit sends, via an electronic communication, a notification to the fleet management station when the content manager determines that new content is available for one of the plurality of industrial portable devices.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 1, wherein the content manager is communicatively coupled to a business computer to receive an indication of an acquisition of new content via a purchase or license and wherein the content manager executes via a computer processor to determine, based on the indications of the current content within one or more of the plurality of industrial portable devices and based on the indication of an acquisition of new content, whether the new content is to be provided to one or more of the industrial portable devices.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 1, wherein the portable device content information repository stores portable device configuration information and wherein the content manager executes via a computer processor to determine based on the indications of the current content within one or more of the plurality of industrial portable devices and based on the portable device configuration information whether content is to be provided to one or more of the industrial portable devices.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 7, wherein the fleet management station includes a configuration module that executes on a processor to enable a user at the fleet management station to provide the portable device configuration information and to send the portable device configuration information to the portable device content information repository.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 8, wherein the configuration module enables a user at the fleet management station to provide the portable device configuration information via one or more stored configuration forms.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 8, wherein the configuration module enables a user at the fleet management station to provide the portable device configuration information for multiple ones of the plurality of industrial portable devices via a single configuration form.

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 8, wherein the configuration module enables a user at the fleet management station to provide the portable device configuration information for groups of the plurality of industrial portable device using a common configuration form.

### Claim 12 (depends on 8)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 8, wherein the configuration module enables a user at the fleet management station to provide portable device configuration information in the form of indications of authorized users of one or more of the industrial portable devices.

### Claim 13 (depends on 8)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 8, wherein the configuration module enables a user at the fleet management station to provide portable device configuration information in the form of indications of authorized uses to which one or more of the industrial portable devices is limited.

### Claim 14 (depends on 8)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 8, wherein the configuration module enables a user at the fleet management station to provide portable device configuration information in the form of indications of one or more security procedures to implement for use of one or more of the industrial portable devices.

### Claim 15 (depends on 8)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 8, wherein the configuration module enables a user at the fleet management station to provide portable device configuration information in the form of indications of one or more levels of configurations to be associated with an industrial portable device, each level of configuration having different configuration parameters.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 1, wherein the portable device content information repository, the content repository, and the content manager are located in a first communication network and the fleet management station is located in a second communication network coupled to the first communication network via a secured communication link.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 16, wherein the secured communication link includes a firewall device that enables secured communications between the fleet management station and the content repository.

### Claim 18 (depends on 1)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 1, wherein the content manager is located in a first communication network and the fleet management station is located in a second communication network coupled to the first communication network via a secured communication link.

### Claim 19 (depends on 1)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 1, wherein the content manager and the content repository are located in a first communication network and the fleet management station is located in a second communication network coupled to the first communication network via a secured communication link, and further including a secondary content repository located in the second communication network and coupled to the fleet management station, wherein the fleet management station downloads new content from the content repository in the first communication network to the secondary content repository, and the secondary content repository downloads the new content to one or more of the industrial portable devices.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 19, further including a wireless communication access point on the second communication network, and wherein the one or more of the industrial portable devices connect to the secondary content repository via the wireless access point on the second communication network to download new content.

### Claim 21 (depends on 1)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 1, wherein the fleet management station receives an authorization from the content manager to download particular content to a particular industrial portable device and can only download the content to the particular industrial portable device using the authorization.

### Claim 22 (depends on 1)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 1, wherein the fleet of industrial portable devices is in a first industrial location and the fleet management station is located in a second remote location from the industrial location and wherein the fleet of industrial portable device communicatively connect with the fleet management station via an external public communication network.

### Claim 23 (depends on 1)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 1, wherein the content repository receives and stores configuration information for one or more of the industrial portable devices.

### Claim 24 (depends on 23)

The system for managing a plurality of industrial portable devices of claim 23, wherein the content manager provides the stored configuration information within the content repository to one or more of the industrial portable devices as new content.

### Claim 25

A method of managing content that is provided on a plurality of industrial devices in a distributed manner, comprising:
storing indications of the current content within each of the plurality of industrial devices in a device content information repository at a first location;
storing content to be stored in and executed by different ones of the industrial devices in a content repository at the first location;
determining, via a processor at the first location, indications of content to be provided to one or more of the industrial devices for use at a second location remote from the first location based on the indications of the current content within one or more of the plurality of industrial devices and based on the available content in the content repository; and
using the determined indications of content to be provided to one or more of the industrial devices to send content from the content repository at the first location to a fleet management station via a secure communication connection, the content to be provided to one or more of the plurality of industrial devices at the second location.

### Claim 26 (depends on 25)

The method of claim 25, wherein storing content in a content repository at the first location includes storing one or more of software applications, field device drivers, user assistance information, technical support information, and firmware features.

### Claim 27 (depends on 25)

The method of claim 25, wherein storing content in a content repository at the first location includes storing upgrades of software applications.

### Claim 28 (depends on 25)

The method of claim 25, further comprising generating a notification to the fleet management station and sending the notification to the fleet management station via an electronic communication when new content is determined to be available for one of the plurality of industrial devices.

### Claim 29 (depends on 25)

The method of claim 25, further including receiving an indication of an acquisition of new content via a purchase or license at the first location and determining indications of content to be provided to one or more of the industrial devices based on the acquisition of new content.

### Claim 30 (depends on 25)

The method of claim 25, further including storing device configuration information at the first location and wherein determining indications of content to be provided to one or more of the industrial devices includes determining indications of content to be provided to one or more of the industrial devices based on the device configuration information.

### Claim 31 (depends on 30)

The method of claim 30, further including enabling a user to specify the device configuration information at the second location and to send the device configuration information to the first location for storage.

### Claim 32 (depends on 30)

The method of claim 30, further including enabling a user at the second location to provide the device configuration information electronically via one or more configuration forms.

### Claim 33 (depends on 30)

The method of claim 30, further including enabling a user at the second location to provide the device configuration information electronically in the form of indications of authorized users of one or more of the industrial devices, indications of authorized uses to which one or more of the industrial devices is limited, indications of security procedures to implement for use of one or more of the industrial devices, or indications of one or more levels of configurations to be associated with an industrial device, each level of configuration having different configuration parameters.

### Claim 34 (depends on 25)

The method of claim 25, further including storing the content provided from the content repository in a secondary content repository located at the second location and downloading the content from the secondary content repository to one or more of the industrial devices.

### Claim 35 (depends on 34)

The method of claim 34, further including downloading the content from the secondary content repository to one or more of the industrial devices via a wireless communication connection.

### Claim 36 (depends on 25)

The method of claim 25, further including providing an authorization from the first location to the second location when downloading content for a particular industrial device and downloading the content to the particular industrial device at the second location using the authorization.

### Claim 37 (depends on 25)

The method of claim 25, wherein sending content from the content repository at the first location to a fleet management station disposed within a network at the second location via a secure communication connection comprises storing the content on a portable storage medium at the first location, physically transporting the portable storage medium to the second location, and providing the content from the portable storage medium to the fleet management station at the second location.

### Claim 38 (depends on 25)

The method of claim 25, wherein storing indications of the current content within each of the plurality of industrial devices in the device content information repository at a first location includes sending indications of the current content within each of the plurality of the industrial devices from the second location to the first location.

### Claim 39

A portable device fleet management system, comprising:
a plurality of portable devices for use in a plant, each of the portable devices including a wireless communication interface;
a portable device content information repository that stores indications of the current content within each of the plurality of portable devices;
a content repository that stores content to be stored in and executed by various ones of the portable devices;
a fleet management station communicatively connected to the content repository via a secure communication connection to receive content for various ones of the plurality of portable devices and communicatively connected to the portable device content information repository to provide information to the portable device content information repository about the current content within one or more of the portable devices;
a content manager, coupled to the portable device content information repository and to the content repository, that executes via a computer processor to determine, based on the indications of the current content within one or more of the plurality of portable devices and based on the available content in the content repository, content to be provided to one or more of the portable devices, and that executes to provide a notification of the determined content to the fleet management station; and
a wireless network access point communicatively disposed between the fleet management station and one or more of the plurality of portable devices that enables communication of new content from the fleet management station to the one or more of the plurality of portable devices.

### Claim 40 (depends on 39)

The portable device fleet management system of claim 39, wherein the content repository stores content including one or more of software applications, field device drivers, user assistance information, technical support information, and firmware features.

### Claim 41 (depends on 39)

The portable device fleet management system of claim 39, further comprising a notification unit communicatively coupled to the content manager and to the fleet management station, wherein the notification unit sends, via an electronic communication, a notification to the fleet management station when the content manager determines that new content is available for one of the plurality of portable devices.

### Claim 42 (depends on 39)

The portable device fleet management system of claim 39, wherein the content manager is communicatively coupled to a business computer to receive an indication of an acquisition of new content via a purchase or license and wherein the content manager executes via a computer processor to determine, based on the indications of the current content within one or more of the plurality of portable devices and based on the indication of an acquisition of new content, whether the new content is to be provided to one or more of the portable devices.

### Claim 43 (depends on 39)

The portable device fleet management system of claim 39, wherein the portable device content information repository stores portable device configuration information and wherein the content manager executes via a computer processor to determine based on the indications of the current content within one or more of the plurality of portable devices and based on the portable device configuration information whether content is to be provided to one or more of the portable devices.

### Claim 44 (depends on 43)

The portable device fleet management system of claim 43, wherein the fleet management station includes a configuration module to enable a user at the fleet management station to provide the portable device configuration information and to send the portable device configuration information to the portable device content information repository.

### Claim 45 (depends on 39)

The portable device fleet management system of claim 39, wherein the portable device content information repository, the content repository, and the content manager are located in a first communication network and the fleet management station is located in a second communication network coupled to the first communication network via a secured communication link.

### Claim 46 (depends on 39)

The portable device fleet management system of claim 39, wherein the content manager and the content repository are located in a first communication network and the fleet management station is located in a second communication network coupled to the first communication network via a secured communication link, and further including a secondary content repository located in the second communication network and coupled to the fleet management station, wherein the fleet management station downloads new content from the content repository in the first communication network to the secondary content repository, and the secondary content repository downloads the new content to one or more of the industrial portable devices.

### Claim 47 (depends on 39)

The portable device fleet management system of claim 39, wherein the content repository receives and stores configuration information for one or more of the portable devices.

### Claim 48 (depends on 47)

The portable device fleet management system of claim 47, wherein the content manager causes the stored configuration information within the content repository to be provided to one or more of the portable devices as new content.