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US-12628013-B2 - Identifying data assets needed in a wireless dead zone

US12628013B2US 12628013 B2US12628013 B2US 12628013B2US-12628013-B2

Abstract

Identifying assets needed in a dead zone include determining that a mobile device communicating with a server system via a wireless communication service is destined for a wireless communication dead zone; predicting at least one data asset that will be needed by the mobile device for working offline in the wireless communication dead zone based on at least one of work planned, work history, worker history, or worker skills; and transmitting the at least one data asset from the server system to the mobile device prior to the mobile device entering the wireless communication dead zone.

Inventors

  • Javier Buzzalino
  • Julio P. Roque
  • PENG TANG

Assignees

  • INTERGRAPH CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20221220

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A data asset management method comprising: determining that a mobile device communicating with a server system via a wireless communication service is destined for a wireless communication dead zone; predicting at least one data asset that will be needed by the mobile device for working offline in the wireless communication dead zone based on work that is planned to be done in the wireless communication dead zone by a worker associated with the mobile device; and transmitting the at least one data asset from the server system to the mobile device prior to the mobile device entering the wireless communication dead zone.
  2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication dead zone relates to at least one of a cellular wireless communication service or a WiFi wireless communication service.
  3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein predicting the at least one data asset is further based on at least one of worker history or worker skills of the worker.
  4. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the server system comprises an enterprise asset management system.
  5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the at least one data asset from the server system to the mobile device prior to the mobile device entering the wireless communication dead zone comprises: determining an amount of data to be transmitted; determining an amount of transmission time based on the amount of data and a data rate available from the wireless communication service; determining an amount of time for the mobile device to enter the wireless communication dead zone; and beginning transmission of the at least one data asset such that transmitting the at least one data asset from the server system to the mobile device completes before the mobile device enters the wireless communication dead zone.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one data asset is predicted using AI/ML.
  7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication dead zone is a three-dimensional volume.
  8. 8 . A data asset management system comprising: at least one processor coupled to at least one memory containing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the system to perform processes comprising: determining that a mobile device communicating with a server system via a wireless communication service is destined for a wireless communication dead zone; predicting at least one data asset that will be needed by the mobile device for working offline in the wireless communication dead zone based on work that is planned to be done in the wireless communication dead zone by a worker associated with the mobile device; and transmitting the at least one data asset from the server system to the mobile device prior to the mobile device entering the wireless communication dead zone.
  9. 9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication dead zone relates to at least one of a cellular wireless communication service or a WiFi wireless communication service.
  10. 10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein predicting the at least one data asset is further based on at least one of worker history or worker skills of the worker.
  11. 11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the server system comprises an enterprise asset management system.
  12. 12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the at least one data asset from the server system to the mobile device prior to the mobile device entering the wireless communication dead zone comprises: determining an amount of data to be transmitted; determining an amount of transmission time based on the amount of data and a data rate available from the wireless communication service; determining an amount of time for the mobile device to enter the wireless communication dead zone; and beginning transmission of the at least one data asset such that transmitting the at least one data asset from the server system to the mobile device completes before the mobile device enters the wireless communication dead zone.
  13. 13 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one data asset is predicted using AI/ML.
  14. 14 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication dead zone is a three-dimensional volume.
  15. 15 . A computer program product comprising at least one tangible, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having embodied therein computer program instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of a system, cause the system to perform computer processes comprising: determining that a mobile device communicating with a server system via a wireless communication service is destined for a wireless communication dead zone; predicting at least one data asset that will be needed by the mobile device for working offline in the wireless communication dead zone based on work that is planned to be done in the wireless communication dead zone by a worker associated with the mobile device; and transmitting the at least one data asset from the server system to the mobile device prior to the mobile device entering the wireless communication dead zone.
  16. 16 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the wireless communication dead zone relates to at least one of a cellular wireless communication service or a WiFi wireless communication service.
  17. 17 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein predicting the at least one data asset is further based on at least one of worker history or worker skills of the worker.
  18. 18 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the server system comprises an enterprise asset management system.
  19. 19 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein transmitting the at least one data asset from the server system to the mobile device prior to the mobile device entering the wireless communication dead zone comprises: determining an amount of data to be transmitted; determining an amount of transmission time based on the amount of data and a data rate available from the wireless communication service; determining an amount of time for the mobile device to enter the wireless communication dead zone; and beginning transmission of the at least one data asset such that transmitting the at least one data asset from the server system to the mobile device completes before the mobile device enters the wireless communication dead zone.
  20. 20 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the at least one data asset is predicted using AI/ML.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) Certain embodiments may incorporate or utilize problem solving systems of the types described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/675,439 entitled CLOUD-BASED SYSTEMS FOR OPTIMIZED MULTI-DOMAIN PROCESSING OF INPUT PROBLEMS USING MULTIPLE SOLVER TYPES filed Feb. 18, 2022 (Docket No. 37411-18701); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/675,454 entitled CLOUD-BASED SYSTEMS FOR OPTIMIZED MULTI-DOMAIN PROCESSING OF INPUT PROBLEMS USING A SERVERLESS REQUEST MANAGEMENT ENGINE NATIVE TO A SERVER CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE filed Feb. 18, 2022 (Docket No. 37411-18801); and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/675,471 entitled CLOUD-BASED SYSTEMS FOR OPTIMIZED MULTI-DOMAIN PROCESSING OF INPUT PROBLEMS USING MACHINE LEARNING SOLVER TYPE SELECTION filed Feb. 18, 2022 (Docket No. 37411-18901), each of which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/231,997 entitled CLOUD-BASED SYSTEMS FOR OPTIMIZED MULTI-DOMAIN PROCESSING OF INPUT PROBLEMS filed Aug. 11, 2021. Each of these patent applications is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention generally relates to identification and tracking of data communication dead zones such as for continuation of services in an enterprise asset management (EAM) system. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In today's “connected” world, mobile computing devices are almost ubiquitous. Such mobile computing devices can include devices that are carried or worn by users (e.g., smartphones, tablet computers, laptop computers, smart watches and other wearables, smart fabrics, etc.) as well as other types of mobile computing devices that are disposed in a wide range of products (e.g., vehicles, IoT devices, etc.). Such mobile computing devices can use any of a wide variety of wireless communication technologies (e.g., cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, satellite, etc.) in order to provide connectivity for a particular computing purpose (e.g., downloading data, uploading data, Internet access, client-server communication, etc.). Each type of wireless communication technology generally has a particular effective coverage area. For example, cellular service companies often post maps of their coverage areas, and Wi-Fi is generally operable only within a certain distance from a “hotspot” or network extender. Within a particular coverage area, there could be different zones having different levels of service. For example, a cellular service might have zones that support 5G service, zones that support 4G/LTE service, zones that support 3G service, etc. Of course, wireless communications can be affected by numerous factors, e.g., location and movement of the mobile communication device, weather, network usage and congestion, electromagnetic interference, intervening materials (e.g., walls, pipes, wires, metal, etc.), power and network outages, remaining battery power of the mobile communication device, etc. Thus, there can be “dead zones” where connectivity using a particular wireless data communication technology is unavailable or diminished (e.g., available but at a reduced data rate). Such dead zones may change over time, and a mobile computing device may physically or virtually move into and out of dead zones as it is being moved or as the dead zones change (e.g., even a stationary mobile communication device could experience a dead zone change). Some mobile computing devices can switch, or be switched, between different wireless communication technologies in an attempt to maintain connectivity in the presence of dead zones (e.g., a device may switch to cellular service when Wi-Fi connectivity is lost or falls below an acceptable service level). Under some conditions, a device may lose all wireless communication connectivity for some amount of time. And, of course, mobile communication devices can be subjected to other types of outages, e.g., losing Internet or other connectivity unrelated to the wireless communication technology per se. When in a dead zone, users often will work “offline,” e.g., using locally-stored applications and data that either happens to be on the mobile computing device or may have been intentionally downloaded in advance, e.g., for the purpose of working offline (e.g., on a airplane) or to “hedge” against possible loss of connectivity. Once connectivity is restored, the user often must manually “synchronize” work that was done offline with work on a remote system or in some cases can use tools that automatically perform such synchronization. In any case, it is usually less desirable to work offline than to work online. And if the required applications and data are not on the mobile computing device, then the user has limited if any ability to even do the offline work. SUMMARY OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a method, system, and computer program product for identifying assets needed in a dead zone include determining that a mobile devic