Method of capturing information about a rack and equipment installed therein

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9824474-B2
Application number	US-201313939779-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 11, 2013
Priority date	Jul 11, 2012
Publication date	Nov 21, 2017
Grant date	Nov 21, 2017

Abstract

One embodiment is directed to a method comprising obtaining, using a portable device, identifier information about one or more identifiers associated with one or more of a rack and equipment installed in the rack and displaying on the portable device a picture of the rack captured and displaying on the portable device an overlay that includes markings that define a perimeter of the rack and a plurality of equipment positions within the rack. The method further comprises receiving, by the portable device, an alignment of the overlay on the picture of the rack and the equipment positions and receiving location information for the rack. The method further comprises storing the picture of the rack, the alignment of the overlay on the picture of the rack, the identifier location, and the location information by a management application. Other embodiments are disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
obtaining, using a portable device, identifier information about one or more identifiers associated with one or more of a rack and equipment installed in the rack, wherein the rack comprises a plurality of equipment positions into which one or more items of equipment can be inserted and wherein the portable device comprises a camera and a screen;
displaying on the screen of the portable device a picture of the rack captured using the camera;
displaying on the screen of the portable device an overlay that includes markings that define on the screen a perimeter of the rack and the plurality of equipment positions within the rack;
receiving, by the portable device based on input from a user, an alignment of the overlay relative to the rack and the equipment positions shown in the picture resulting from the user interacting with the overlay displayed on the screen of the portable device to interactively adjust and align the overlay relative to the rack and the equipment positions shown in the picture;
receiving location information for the rack;
storing the picture of the rack, the alignment of the overlay relative to the rack and equipment positions shown in the picture, the identifier location, and the location information by a management application, wherein the picture of the rack, the alignment of the overlay relative to the rack and the equipment positions shown in the picture, the identifier information, and the location information are associated with one another; and
in connection with a user entering data into a model for the rack that is stored in a database, displaying a user interface including user interface elements configured to display a view of the model for the user to enter data into the model, wherein the user interface is further configured to, while displaying the view of the model for the user to enter data into the model, also display the picture of the rack with the associated overlay visually aligned on the picture of the rack in accordance with the associated alignment along with at least some of the identifier information about the one or more identifiers associated with one or more of the rack and any equipment installed in the rack, the associated overlay visually identifying the equipment positions for the rack and the picture showing any equipment installed in the one or more corresponding equipment positions in the rack.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining size information for the rack.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining size information for the rack comprises:
when the portable device is communicatively coupled to the management application:
communicating the identifier information to the management application; and
determining, by the management application, the size information for the rack based on the identifier information; and
when the portable device is not communicatively coupled to the management application or when the management application is not able to successfully determine the size information for the rack based on the identifier information, prompt the user, via the screen on the portable device, to define the size information for the rack manually using the portable device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user interface is displayed on at least one of the portable device and a client computer coupled to the management application over a network.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the equipment installed in the rack comprises one or more of: a patch panel, a switch, and a server.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least some the equipment installed in the rack comprises managed equipment that is configured to automatically obtain information about cabling that is attached to the managed equipment.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the managed equipment is configured to use at least one of the following to automatically obtain information about cabling that is attached to the managed equipment: EEPROM-based physical layer management technology, RFID-based physical layer management technology, inference-based physical layer management technology, and ninth-wire physical layer management technology.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the equipment installed in the rack comprises unmanaged equipment that is not configured to automatically obtain information about cabling that is attached to the unmanaged equipment.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the identifier information comprises at least one of:
scanning one or more codes associated with the identifier information using the camera of the portable device;
manually entering the identifier information using the portable device; and
assigning the identifier information using the portable device.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the portable device comprises at least one of a smartphone and a portable computer.

11. A portable device comprising:
a programmable processor configured to execute software;
a screen coupled to the programmable processor; and
a camera;
wherein the portable device is configured to do the following:
obtain identifier information about one or more identifiers associated with one or more of a rack and equipment installed in the rack, wherein the rack comprises a plurality of equipment positions into which one or more items of equipment can be inserted;
display on the screen a picture of the rack captured using the camera;
display on the screen an overlay that includes markings that define on the screen a perimeter of the rack and the plurality of equipment positions within the rack; and
receive, based on input from a user, an alignment of the overlay relative to the rack and the equipment positions shown in the picture resulting from the user interacting with the overlay displayed on the screen of the portable device to interactively adjust and align the overlay relative to the rack and the equipment positions shown in the picture;
receive location information for the rack;
communicate the picture of the rack, the alignment of the overlay relative to the rack and the equipment positions shown in the picture, the identifier information, and the location information to a management application for storage thereby, wherein the picture of the rack, the alignment of the overlay relative to the rack and the equipment positions shown in the picture, the identifier information, and the location information are associated with one another; and
in connection with a user entering data into a model for the rack that is stored in a database, display a user interface including user interface elements configured to display a view of the model for the user to enter data into the model, wherein the user interface is further configured to, while displaying the view of the model for the user to enter data into the model, also display the picture of the rack with the associated overlay visually aligned on the picture of the rack in accordance with the associated alignment along with at least some of the identifier information about the one or more identifiers associated with one or more of the rack and any equipment installed in the rack, the associated overlay visually identifying the equipment positions for the rack and the picture showing any equipment installed in the one or more corresponding equipment positions in the rack.

12. The portable device of claim 11 , wherein the portable device comprises at least one of a smartphone and a portable computer.

13. The portable device of claim 11 , wherein the portable device is further configured to communicate the identifier information to the management application so that

Assignees

• Commscope Technologies Llc
• Commscope Connectivity Uk Ltd

Inventors

• Smith Peter
• Chirgwin David John
• Marshall Owen
• Butler Ian
• Colley Simon
• Patel Kamlesh G
• Sybesma Eric W
• Bautista Jason

Classifications

• G06T11/00 Primary

  Two-dimensional [2D] image generation · CPC title

• G06T2207/20212

  Image combination · CPC title

• G09G2340/12

  Overlay of images, i.e. displayed pixel being the result of switching between the corresponding input pixels · CPC title

• G06T11/60 Primary

  Creating or editing images; Combining images with text · CPC title

• G06F3/048

  Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] · CPC title