Secure Locator Device for IT Asset Tracking in Shielded Facilities
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Solution Overview
Problem
The industry faces challenges in accurately tracking and locating IT assets due to incorrect database entries and missing updates during inventory processes, leading to lost revenue, compliance issues, and inefficiencies in locating misplaced assets, especially in secure facilities where RF and GPS signals are blocked.
Innovation Solution
A secure locator device with a connector to transmit and receive data from IT resources, a receiver for wireless signals, and processing logic to determine spatial coordinates, which uses triangulation methods to accurately locate assets within secure facilities by storing data in nonvolatile memory and emitting optical radiation for distance calculation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If RFID tags and standard locating methods are used, then asset tracking capability is improved, but reliability deteriorates in secure facilities where RF signals are blocked
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces optical transmitters and receivers as intermediary devices that convert RF-based location data into optical signals. These optical intermediaries penetrate secure facilities where RF signals are blocked, carrying location information without being affected by electromagnetic shielding. The optical transmitters/receivers act as a bridge between the external asset management system and the internal secure environment.
2Measurement precision
If manual asset location verification is performed by engineers, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time and productivity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service asset location verification by equipping assets with embedded transmitters that automatically provide location data. The optical receivers passively receive this data without requiring manual intervention. When an asset is moved or added, the system automatically updates its location information through the optical communication channel, eliminating the need for engineers to physically verify each asset's position.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-equipping all assets with transmitters and establishing optical communication channels before asset movement occurs. The system continuously maintains up-to-date location information in advance, so when an asset needs to be located, the data is already available without requiring reactive manual search efforts.
3Ease of operation
If remote logging is used to obtain asset information, then ease of operation is improved, but loss of information deteriorates because physical location coordinates are not captured
Solution Approach 1:
The optical transmitter/receiver system performs multiple functions simultaneously: it transmits location data, provides spatial coordinates, and maintains communication with secured assets. This universal optical communication infrastructure serves both remote information retrieval and precise physical location tracking, eliminating the deficiency of traditional remote logging that only captures logical but not physical location data.
4Loss of information
If wall-to-wall inventory processes are conducted, then completeness of asset accounting is improved, but productivity and loss of time deteriorate due to the labor-intensive nature of the process
Solution Approach 1:
The system transforms the periodic, discontinuous wall-to-wall inventory process into a continuous automatic monitoring system. Optical receivers continuously receive location data from asset transmitters, maintaining perpetual awareness of asset positions. This continuous action eliminates the need for repeated manual inventory cycles while maintaining complete asset accounting, thereby dramatically improving productivity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables precise location of IT assets within secure facilities, improving inventory management, compliance, and reducing the time and cost associated with finding missing assets, while maintaining security by avoiding external signal interference.
Implementation Method 1
an optical transmitter and receiver to emit radiation and receive reflected radiation from a reference and store the distance from the secure device to the reference
Implementation Method 2
a receiver to receive wireless signals; processing logic to determine spatial coordinates of the electronic resource from the signals received by the wireless receiver
Data Source
AI summary
A method to identify information technology resources whereby a locator device is inserted into a communication port of each information technology resource, such as a computers, router, cable endpoints, etc. When activated, the device passively receives wireless RF transmissions from broadcast units in the vicinity while actively receiving and storing configuration and other predetermined information from the resource. The device can calculate the exact position of the information technology resource and store the location in memory. The location and the identifying data of the information technology resource can be used in an asset management database, to locate a lost or missing resource, or can be used for billing for service level agreements. The method and device herein is particularly useful in secure facilities.