(12) United States Patent (10) Patent N0.: US 8,458,384 B2
Contents
1. Signed and Sealed this Sixth Day of August 2013 Teresa Stanek Rea Acting Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office2. 777027 2 7 77 y7 vaem C Ye FH mM SRI WU ADAC BEN PUND p HA uno X Kot US 8 458 384 B2 Sheet 6 of 7 Jun 4 2013 U S Patent AA GG Old te TA 1 W A A4 1 W A A4 a IIAJ IVJ IIUJ ueuing cem Eier GOOG ES US 8 458 384 B2 HJT uconeimnbguon aptdnooouieu E gta LAI TIE LUULHULTCUT IEEE LUELUTIY E LUUL HOLT HUTIU TAT NTT AT E LUULHOLEHUTUUHELEUELETIYTELUFULIULEHUTIUHELE UL IEILTFUUFULPULEHUTILTELE LUTTE TIG UHUTTVUEUUTIYTELELUIUTELEFIUFELVLUT UU FILE IELUTIETELE EOL ETOSHA PEN KE BST HE HYDE uie DID OG Sheet 7 of 7 P P F F P F F P O seede a aliti oxmexedue BERENS A ANE AEE BAL Pe BEG GANG BEDS MS E LEIL GET UN saklig amyeroduem g H 3 Jun 4 2013 S YNOLIVN Ne 021 8Sf1 IN U S Patent SHEAR PSE LSD PE P amp US 8 458 384 B2 1 AUTOMATICALLY LAUNCHING A MEASUREMENT APPLICATION IN RESPONSE TO MEASUREMENT DEVICE CONNECTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the field of measurement and more particularly to a system and method for automati cally launching a measurement program in response to mea surement device connection DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART Scientists and engineers often use test measurement or automation systems to perform a variety of functions includ ing measurement of a physical phenomenon or uni
3. 150 i e depending on the type of signal acquired and type of measurement data generated The measurement acquisition unit 155 may comprise a device of any kind or may conform to any of various instrumentation standards such as a data acquisition device with associated signal conditioning circuitry a GPIB instrument a VXI instrument a PXI instrument a video device or camera with associated image acquisition or machine vision hardware or a motion control device to name a few examples The measurement acquisition unit 155 may also be config ured to generate files based on the generated measurement data as described above In one embodiment the measure ment device 150 may include a memory 160 and the gener ated files shown as 170A 170N may be stored in the memory 160 For example FIG 3 illustrates an embodiment in which various measurement data files 84 are stored in the memory 86 However as indicated above measurement files may not be generated and may be transferred to the computer system as raw measurement data e g under the direction of the measurement program 165 which may be stored in the memory 160 and automatically executed by the computer system 100 In one embodiment the measurement device 150 may also be operable to receive files from an external source e g from the computer system 100 described above The files may be stored in the memory 160 In one embodiment the measure ment device 150 may be configured
4. computer system 100 may not need to use a mea surement device specific driver but may instead use a built in driver e g for USB devices Thus the computer system 100 may communicate with the measurement device 150 to obtain the measurement data using a generic driver without requir ing a measurement device specific driver to be installed Note that while a driver is not required in the embodiments described herein the method may be easily modified such that an installed driver may be used e g one that is automati cally installed upon connection of the measurement device 150 In some embodiments where files are generated by the measurement device 150 they may appear as files stored ona CD Alternatively the measurement device may report itself as more than one device For example the measurement device 150 may report itself as a USB hub which has two devices connected e g a CD which stores the measurement program for automatic execution and another device which is usable for obtaining measurement data In one embodiment the second device may be a storage device such as a remov able hard drive that stores the measurement files Alterna tively the second device may be a human interface device HID and the measurement program may be operable to use an HID layer to communicate with the measurement device 150 to obtain the measurement data A measurement device specific driver may not be required for either of the devices descr
5. the raw measurement data to the com puter system or may store the measurement data in measure ment data file s on the measurement device As described above the measurement data file may comprise a file of any kind such as a binary file comprising binary values repre senting the measurement data a human readable text file indicating the measurement data a spreadsheet file for a particular spreadsheet application where the spreadsheet file includes the measurement data an HTML XML or other markup language file that includes the measurement data a file including a graph or image where the graph or image visually indicates the measurement data an executable pro gram file that utilizes the measurement data etc Where pro vided as files the files may be provided on the mass storage device e g on the CD Alternatively the files may be provided via another device such as a second mass storage device e g represented as a removable hard drive in embodiments where the measure ment device is detected as more than one device In even further embodiments the measurement device may be repre sented as three devices the mass storage device for launching the measurement program e g the CD described above a 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 65 10 second device for controlling the measurement device e g the HID described above and a third device for storing generated measurement data e g a remov
6. 5C are exemplary screen shots corresponding to an embodiment of the method of FIG 4 While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail It should be understood however that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed but on the contrary the intention is to cover all modifications equiva lents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Incorporation by Reference The following references are hereby incorporated by ref erence in their entirety as though fully and completely set forth herein U S Pat No 7 184 922 titled Measurement Device that Appears as a USB Mass Storage Device issued on Feb 2 2007 Terms The following is a glossary of terms used in the present application Memory Medium Any of various types of memory devices or storage devices The term memory medium is intended to include an installation medium e g a CD ROM floppy disks or tape device a computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM DDR RAM SRAM EDO RAM Rambus RAM etc or a non volatile memory such as a magnetic media e g a hard drive or optical storage The memory medium may comprise other types o
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the first device is con figured to appear as a CD ROM device with a CD loaded into the CD ROM device to the host device 5 The method of claim 1 further comprising the host device initiating a generic driver to communicate with the measurement device 6 The method of claim 1 wherein the measurement device comprises a universal serial bus USB device 7 A measurement device comprising one or more inputs for acquiring data a port for coupling to a host device wherein the port is coupled to the one or more inputs and a memory coupled to the port which stores a measurement program wherein the measurement device is configured to couple to the host device via the port identify itself to the host device as a plurality of devices wherein a measurement device specific driver is not required for communication between the host device and the measurement device operate as the plurality of devices simultaneously wherein a first device if the plurality of devices appears to store the measurement program wherein after coupling the measurement program is config ured for automatic execution by the host device wherein the automatic execution is performed with out user input requesting execution of the measure ment program acquire data from the one or more inputs based on execu tion of the measurement program wherein said acquir ing data is performed in response to input to the mea surem
8. US008458384B2 a2 United States Patent 10 Patent No US 8 458 384 B2 Johnson et al 45 Date of Patent Jun 4 2013 54 AUTOMATICALLY LAUNCHING A Mo e 20002 Kibgawa et al 0 ih et al MEASUREMENT APPLICATION IN 6 412 028 Bl 6 2002 Steed et al RESPONSE TO MEASUREMENT DEVICE 6 430 000 BI 8 2002 Rent CONNECTION 6 470 399 B1 10 2002 Tasler 6 561 428 B2 5 2003 Meier et al 75 Inventors Brian M Johnson Austin TX US sen i in ae Seg s n A 832 van tale 55 edes David E Wilson Austin TX US 7 184 922 B2 2 2007 Ousley et al James G Smith Cedar Park TX US 7 636 799 B2 12 2009 Yang et al Michael C Jagen Cedar Park TX US 7 805 720 B2 9 2010 Chang et al Reid K H Lee Cedar Park TX US 2005 0055690 Al 3 2005 Cornillon et al 717 74 Stefanie F Breyer Austin TX US 2006 0047465 Al 3 2006 Ousley et al 702 127 2008 0195768 A1 8 2008 Lowe et al we 710 14 R 4 A 2008 0244619 A1 10 2008 Jeon et al 719 321 73 Assignee National Instruments Corporation 2009 0193152 A1 7 2009 Wang et al 10 8 Austin TX US 2011 0010470 A1 1 2011 Hulbert et al 710 13 i i OTHER PUBLICATIONS Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this 1 patent is extended or adjusted under 35 Er USB 2 0 Not a Minute Too Soon PCMAG com Feb U S C 154 b by 123 days Alfred Poor Does SCSI Have a Future PCMAG com Aug 1 2001 DL1620 DL1640 DL1640L Digital Oscilloscope Us
9. able hard drive The CD and the removable hard drive may map to a same memory medium of the measurement device or separate memory mediums as desired The measurement program may be operable to process the measurement data in any way depending on the particular measurement application and the type of measurement data For example in one embodiment the measurement program may analyze the measurement data e g the data files to obtain the measurement data may display the measurement data ina GUI on a display device of the computer system 82 may utilize the measurement data to perform tests of the physical system or unit under test 150 and or may store the measurement data in persistent storage to name a few examples The measurement program may comprise any pro gram which accesses the measurement data file possibly including a spreadsheet an HTML browser a text file editor viewer or any other program which accesses the measure ment data file In one embodiment a standard program pro vided by the operating system of the computer system 82 may be used as the measurement program to access or view the measurement data file FIGS 5A 5C Exemplary Screen Shots Corresponding to the Method of FIG 4 FIGS 5A 5C provide exemplary screen shots correspond ing to the method of FIG 4 after connection of the measure ment device to the computer system As shown in FIG 5A the measurement device may be detected as a CD ROM drive Similarl
10. as a plurality of devices to the host device wherein a measurement device specific driver is not required for communication between the host device and the measurement device concurrently operate as the plurality of devices wherein the measurement device stores a measurement program wherein the first device of the plurality of devices appears to store the measurement program wherein the measurement program is configured for automatic execution by the host device wherein the automatic execution is performed without user input requesting execution of the measurement program acquire data in response to commands from the measure ment program to a second device of the plurality of devices and provide acquired data to the host device based on said executing the measurement program Aes ee ee O3 r 0 jak 5 25 14 UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO 8 458 384 B2 Page I of I APPLICATION NO 12 699133 DATED June 4 2013 INVENTOR S Johnson et al It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent is hereby corrected as shown below In the Claims Claim 13 Column 12 Line 20 please delete executing commands and substitute commands Claim 22 Column 12 Line 58 please delete pluralitiy and substitute plurality Claim 22 Column 12 Line 59 please delete polurality and substitute plurality
11. ce may be configured to appear as a CD ROM device with a CD loaded into the CD ROM device to the host device Additionally the measurement program may be configured to appear as an autorun program of the CD Accordingly the host device may automatically execute the measurement program stored on the measurement device in response to the connection and detection During execution of the measurement program the mea surement device may acquire data and provide the acquired data to the host device e g based on user input to the mea surement program However in further embodiments the measurement program may be configured to acquire the data automatically e g without the user specifically providing input to acquire the data BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when the following detailed description of the pre ferred embodiment is considered in conjunction with the following drawings in which FIG 1 illustrates a computer system coupled to a measure ment device according to an embodiment of the present invention FIG 2 illustrates a measurement system according to one embodiment of the invention FIG 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary measurement device according to one embodiment FIG 4 is a flowchart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method for automatically launching a measurement pro gram in response to measurement device connection and FIGS 5A
12. claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications We claim 1 A method of using a measurement device comprising detecting by a host device connection of the measurement device to the host device wherein the measurement device stores a measurement program wherein a mea surement device specific driver is not required for com munication between the host device and the measure ment device wherein said detecting comprises detecting US 8 458 384 B2 11 the measurement device as a plurality of devices wherein the measurement device is configured to oper ate as the plurality of devices simultaneously wherein a first device of the plurality of devices appears to store the measurement program the host device automatically executing the measurement program stored on the measurement device in response to said detecting wherein said automatically executing is performed without user input requesting execution of the measurement program wherein the host device automatically executing the mea surement program comprises providing commands to a second device of the plurality of devices to cause the measurement device to acquire data and provide the acquired data to the host device 2 The method of claim 1 wherein the first device is con figured to appear as a CD to the host device 3 The method of claim 2 wherein the measurement pro gram is configured to appear as an autorun program of the CD 4
13. details that the com puter system 82 needs to know to communicate with the measurement device 80 Accordingly the computer system 100 may configure itself to communicate with the measurement device as a USB Mass Storage device As described above the computer sys tem may execute an operating system that provides built in support for USB devices including USB Mass Storage devices Thus 404 may involve the computer system config uring itself to communicate with the measurement device using its standard driver for USB Mass Storage devices This may be advantageous to the user in that he can easily and quickly set up the measurement device on any computer system with an operating system that supports USB devices without needing to possess or install specialized drivers for the measurement device 150 In more detail in one particular embodiment the measure ment device may announce itself as a mass storage device using SCSI style commands e g SCSI INQUIRY In one embodiment the measurement device may identify itself as a peripheral device type 0x05 CD ROM device with remov able media From there the OS class driver for mass storage on the computer system may issue a plurality of CD ROM specific commands that inquire about the capacity of the drive and which sectors represent data Additionally the computer system may query the measurement device for data from specific sectors of interest The measurement device may map sectors to
14. device 150 may couple to the com puter system 100 in ways other than as a CD ROM device FIG 4 Automatically Launching a Measurement Program Based on Connection FIG 4 illustrates a method for automatically launching a measurement program in response to measurement device connection The method shown in FIG 4 may be used in conjunction with any of the computer systems or devices shown in the above Figures among other devices In various embodiments some of the method elements shown may be performed concurrently in a different order than shown or may be omitted For example while the method of FIG 4 is described with respect to USB devices the method may be applied to classes of devices other than USB e g firewire or other communication protocols Additional method elements may also be performed as desired As shown this method may operate as follows In 402 the measurement device may be connected to the computer system For example the measurement device may be connected to a USB port or hub of the computer system 40 45 50 55 65 8 In 404 in response to the measurement device being con nected the computer system may detect the measurement device and initiate a query response protocol with the mea surement device to obtain information about the measure ment device The measurement device may inform the com puter system that it belongs to the USB Mass Storage device class as well as providing other
15. dows operating systems may display a message box which requests that the user confirm automatic execution of the measurement program where the user can then confirm the execution or cancel the execution of the measurement program However it is noted that this con firmation is distinct from the user provided input to specifi cally execute the measurement program e g by browsing to US 8 458 384 B2 9 the directory where the program is stored and then providing user input to execute that program e g by double clicking the program icon Thus automatic execution may require a confirmation of the execution but does not require user input to invoke or cause the initial execution of the measure ment program e g suchas double clicking the program icon as mentioned above In the embodiment described above where the measure ment device appears as a CD ROM device with an inserted CD the CD may include an autorun inf file in the root directory which identifies the measurement program on the CD Accordingly the OS of the computer system e g Windows may automatically execute the measurement program Thus by pretending to be a CD the measurement device may store a measurement program that may be auto matically executed in 406 However it should be noted that the automatic execution may be initiated and or performed in any of a variety of methods other than the CD embodiment described above Additionally t
16. e as a human interface device HID 22 A non transitory computer accessible memory medium storing program instructions executable by a proces sor of a host device to detect connection of a measurement device to the host device wherein the measurement device stores a mea surement program wherein a measurement device spe cific driver is not required for communication between the host device and the measurement device wherein said detecting comprises detecting the measurement device as a pluralitiy of devices wherein the measure ment device is configured to operate as the polurality of devices simultaneously wherein a first device of the plurality of devices appears to store the measurement program automatically execute the measurement program stored on the measurement device in response to said detecting wherein said automatically executing is performed with out user input requesting execution of the measurement program US 8 458 384 B2 13 wherein the host device automatically executing the mea surement program comprises providing commands to a second device of the plurality of devices to cause the measurement device to acquire data and provide the acquired data to the host device 23 non transitory computer accessible memory medium storing program instructions executable by a proces sor of a measurement device to in response to the measurement device coupling to a host device identify the measurement device
17. ent device For example the measurement device may receive a signal from a unit under test or a physical system and may generate measurement data based on the signal The measure ment device may be coupled to another device e g a com puter system that receives the measurement data generated by the measurement device Live measurement data measurement data that is gener ated continuously or quasi continuously by a measurement device For example live measurement data may comprise a stream of data elements e g floating point numbers or other elements generated in rapid succession by the measurement device Examples of live measurement data include data that is generated in real time based on a physical signal e g where data values are generated in a live or streaming manner 25 35 40 45 55 65 4 One specific example of live measurement data is data that represents a continuous waveform FIGS 1 and 2 Computer System Coupled to a Measure ment Device FIG 1 illustrates a computer system 100 operable to execute a program that performs a measurement function This program is also referred to herein as a measurement program As shown a measurement device 150 may be coupled to the computer system 100 The measurement device 150 may perform any of various types of measure ments For example as shown in FIG 2 the measurement device 150 may receive a signal from a physical system or unit under test 175 a
18. ent device via a second device of the plurality of devices and provide the acquired data to the host device via the port 8 The measurement device of claim 7 wherein the first device is configured to appear as a CD to the host device 9 The measurement device of claim 8 wherein the mea surement program is configured to appear as an autorun pro gram of the CD 10 The measurement device of claim 7 wherein the first device is configured to appear as a CD ROM device witha CD loaded into the CD ROM device to the host device 11 The measurement device of claim 7 wherein a generic driver is used by the host device to communicate with the measurement device 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 12 12 The measurement device of claim 7 wherein the mea surement device comprises a universal serial bus USB device 13 A method of using a measurement device comprising the measurement device coupling to a host device the measurement device identifying itself as a plurality of devices to the host device wherein a measurement device specific driver is not required for communication between the host device and the measurement device concurrently operate as the plurality of devices wherein the measurement device stores a measurement program wherein the first device of the plurality of devices appears to store the measurement program wherein the measurement program is configured for automatic execution by the
19. er s Manual 21 Appl No 12 699 133 3rd Edition Feb 2003 Yokogawa Manual 22 Filed Feb 3 2010 cited by examiner 65 Prior Publication Data Primary Examiner Henry Tsai Assistant Examiner Titus Wong US OOS Rug 4201 74 Attorney Agent or Firm Meyertons Hood Kivlin 51 Int Cl Kowert amp Goetzel P C Jeffrey C Hood Joel L Stevens GOGF 13 38 2006 01 57 ABSTRACT G06M 11 04 2006 01 Automatically launching a measurement program in response 52 U S Cl to measurement device connection The measurement device USPE access 710 62 702 1 27 may be connected toa host device The measurement device 58 Field of Classification Search may store a measurement program The host device may USPE Arda av ona a ce Bee KEN 710 62 automatically detect the measurement device However a See application file for complete search history measurement device specific driver may not be required for communication between the host device and the measure 56 References Cited ment device The host device may automatically execute the U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 5 987 530 A 11 1999 Thomson 6 067 584 A 5 2000 Hayles et al 6 073 205 A 6 2000 Thomson 6 282 710 Bl 8 2001 Boehler measurement program stored on the measurement device in response to the connecting During execution the measure ment device may acquire data and provide the acquired data to the host device 23 Claims 7 Drawing Sheets connect measurement device to c
20. f memory US 8 458 384 B2 3 as well or combinations thereof In addition the memory medium may be located in a first computer in which the programs are executed and or may be located in a second different computer which connects to the first computer over a network such as the Internet In the latter instance the second computer may provide program instructions to the first computer for execution The term memory medium may include two or more memory mediums which may reside in different locations e g in different computers that are connected over a network Carrier Medium a memory medium as described above as well as a physical transmission medium such as a bus network and or other physical transmission medium that conveys signals such as electrical electromagnetic or digital signals Computer System any of various types of computing or processing systems including a personal computer system PC mainframe computer system workstation network appliance Internet appliance personal digital assistant PDA television system grid computing system or other device or combinations of devices In general the term com puter system can be broadly defined to encompass any device or combination of devices having at least one pro cessor that executes instructions from a memory medium Measurement Device includes instruments data acqui sition devices smart sensors and any of various types of devices that are con
21. figured to acquire and or store data A measurement device may also optionally be further config ured to analyze or process the acquired or stored data Examples of a measurement device include an instrument such as a traditional stand alone box instrument a com puter based instrument instrument on a card or external instrument a data acquisition card a device external to a computer that operates similarly to a data acquisition card a smart sensor one or more DAQ or measurement cards or modules in a chassis an image acquisition device such as an image acquisition or machine vision card also called a video capture board or smart camera a motion control device a robot having machine vision and other similartypes of devices Exemplary stand alone instruments include oscilloscopes multimeters signal analyzers arbitrary wave form generators spectroscopes and similar measurement test or automation instruments A measurement device may be further configured to per form control functions e g in response to analysis of the acquired or stored data For example the measurement device may send a control signal to an external system such as a motion control system or to a sensor in response to particular data A measurement device may also be configured to per form automation functions i e may receive and analyze data and issue automation control signals in response Measurement Data data generated by a measurem
22. his automatic execution may occur without requiring the user to install measurement device specific drivers thus saving the user typical installa tion and configuration time In 408 during the execution of the measurement program the measurement device may generate measurement data e g based on one or more signals received from a physical system or unit under test The measurement data may be generated based on the execution of the measurement pro gram For example the measurement program may receive user input to begin test of the unit under test or perform whatever desired measurement procedure and correspond ingly the measurement device may begin acquiring and or generating the measurement data In one embodiment the measurement program may inter act with the measurement device by using commands pro vided to the detected mass storage device such as the CD However where the measurement device is also detected as another device e g an HID the measurement program may interact with the measurement device through that device For example in the case of an HID the measurement program may provide commands to the measurement device via the HID layer of the OS Accordingly the measurement program may control the measurement device e g based on com mands received to the measurement program by the user In 410 the measurement data may be provided to the computer system As indicated above the measurement device may provide
23. host device wherein the automatic execution is performed without user input requesting execution of the measurement program the measurement device acquiring data in response to said executing commands from the measurement program to a second device of the plurality of devices and the measurement device providing acquired data to the host device based on said executing the measurement pro gram 14 The method of claim 13 wherein the first device is configured to appear as a CD to the host device 15 The method of claim 14 wherein the measurement program is configured to appear as an autorun program of the CD 16 The method of claim 13 wherein the first device is configured to appear as a CD ROM device with a CD loaded into the CD ROM device to the host device 17 The method of claim 13 wherein a generic driver is used by the host device to communicate with the measure ment device 18 The method of claim 13 wherein the measurement device comprises a universal serial bus USB device 19 The method of claim 1 wherein the second device is detected as a human interface device HID to the host com puter 20 The measurement device of claim 7 wherein the mea surement device is configured to identify the second device as a human interface device HID 21 The method of claim 13 wherein the measurement device identifying itself as a plurality of devices comprises the measurement device identifying itself as the second devic
24. ibed above In another embodiment the measurement device 150 may not appear to the computer system 100 as a CD but may appear as another type of file storage device e g a file storage device that uses communication standards other than USB As used herein a file storage device may comprise a device that appears to a computer system as a device on which files can be stored and or from which files can be received For some types of file storage devices the computer system may be able to automatically detect connection of the file storage device to the computer system and may be operable to auto matically configure itself to communicate with the file stor age device e g by using a standard file storage device driver provided by or built in to the operating system of the computer system Referring again to FIGS 1 and 2 the computer system 100 may include a display device For example a GUI of the 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 measurement program may be displayed on the display device of the computer system 100 The computer system 100 may also include a memory medium s on which programs or software components may be stored For example the memory medium may store the measurement program executed by the computer system 100 The memory medium may also store operating system software For example the operating system may provide support for automatically detecting and communicating with USB devices and
25. nd may generate measurement data based on the signal However according to various embodiments the measurement device 150 may generate measurement data based on any of various kinds of signals received from any of various kinds of physical systems or units under test 175 As described below the measurement device 150 may store the measurement program As also described below the computer system 100 may automatically execute the mea surement program in response to being connected and or coupled to the measurement device 150 The measurement program executing on the computer sys tem 100 may receive the measurement data generated by the measurement device 150 and may utilize the measurement data to perform the measurement function The measurement data may be utilized to perform any of various kinds of measurement functions such as test and or analysis of the physical system or unit under test 175 simulation hardware in the loop testing process monitoring and control control of mechanical or electrical machinery data logging labora tory research etc The measurement data may be provided from the measure ment device 150 to the computer system 100 by any of various methods For example in one embodiment when executing the measurement program raw data e g live measurement data may be provided from the measurement device 150 to the computer system 100 Alternatively the measurement device 150 may be operable to generate one or mo
26. omputer the computer system defects the measurement the computer system automatically pxecutos a measurement program tored on the measurement device 406 the measurement device generates measurement the measurement device provides the measurement data to the computer system U S Patent Jun 4 2013 Sheet 1 of 7 US 8 458 384 B2 100 Pa measurement device U S Patent Jun 4 2013 Sheet 2 of 7 US 8 458 384 B2 100 73 computer system FIG 2 measurement device unit under test US 8 458 384 B2 Sheet 3 of 7 Jun 4 2013 U S Patent 9H eL ojy UONEJNBYUOD NOLL 9 4 amp jep juoweinseaul SOL Jun uonisinboe juowainseaw VOLL off amp jep juowainseoul OSL e2i op JUSWSJNSBIW SOL uiejboud juowesnseow CSL 40j280uuoo 9SN U S Patent Jun 4 2013 Sheet 4 of 7 US 8 458 384 B2 connect measurement device to computer system 402 the computer system detects the measurement device 404 the computer system automatically executes a measurement program stored on the measurement device the measurement device generates measurement data 408 the measurement device provides the measurement data to the computer system FIG 4 US 8 458 384 B2 Sheet 5 of 7 Jun 4 2013 U S Patent sv PRADA A 1X 2 4 4 bette pot dd dd ASA ASA AA AA TATRA a ua ua a d a a a a VS DH A Z Z Z Z Z G A
27. or CD ROM devices or other kinds of devices In particular the operating system may include software e g a driver for communicating with USB Mass Storage devices or other file storage devices Thus in an embodiment in which the mea surement device 150 conforms to USB Mass Storage speci fications or other standard file storage device specifications the measurement device 150 may advantageously be installed onthe computer system 100 without requiring a special driver for the measurement device 150 to be installed Additionally the measurement device 150 may store the measurement program and the computer system 100 may automatically execute the measurement program in response to a connec tion to the measurement device 150 as described below FIG 3 Measurement Device Block Diagram FIG 3 is a block diagram representing one embodiment of the measurement device 150 It is noted that FIG 3 represents an exemplary embodiment and alternative architectures are contemplated As shown the measurement device 150 may include a measurement acquisition unit 155 The measure ment acquisition unit 155 may couple to a physical system or unit under test 175 to receive signals typically generated by transducers and may generate measurement data based on the signals as described above with reference to FIG 2 In various embodiments the measurement acquisition unit 155 may comprise hardware of any kind depending on the kind of measurement device
28. pecific drivers for measurement devices is the cost of developing the drivers Measurement device vendors may have to develop and test drivers for mul tiple operating systems and may also have to maintain the drivers or develop new ones as the operating systems evolve Improvements in the configuration and installation of mea surement devices are therefore desirable SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Various embodiments are presented of a system and method for automatically launching a measurement program in response to measurement device connection The measure ment device may store a measurement program The mea surement device may be configured to connect to a host device The host device may automatically detect the measurement device and may initiate a driver to communicate with the measurement device However a measurement device spe cific driver may not be required for communication between the host device and the measurement device Instead the host device may use a generic driver to communicate with the measurement device For example the measurement device may be a universal serial bus USB device and the host device may use a built in e g built in to the operating system 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 USB driver to communicate with the measurement device In some embodiments the measurement device may be config ured to appear as a CD to the host device For example the measurement devi
29. re files based on the measurement data it generates or receives during execution of the measurement program The files may com prise files of any kind and may be structured in any desired way In one embodiment the files may be simple files that simply represent the measurement data itself e g as binary files comprising binary values representing the measurement data values or human readable text files indicating the mea surement data values In another embodiment the files may be more structurally complex or may include elements other than the measure ment data For example the measurement device 150 may be operable to generate spreadsheet files for particular spread sheet applications where the spreadsheet files include the measurement data HTML XML or other markup language files that include the measurement data a file representing a graph where the graph visually indicates the measurement data an executable program file that utilizes the measurement data etc These files may also include elements other than the measurement data For example an HTML file generated by the measurement device 150 may not only include the mea surement data but may also include text or graphic elements e g as ina report file Thus in one embodiment the measure ment device 150 may differ from traditional measurement devices in that it not only generates the raw measurement data but also applies a higher level structuring and or interpreta tion
30. t or compartment for inserting the standard memory component Such standard memory com ponents are available in different sizes e g 128 MB 256 MB 512 MB 1 GB 2 GB 4 GB 16 GB etc Different measurement applications may require different amounts of memory e g depending on factors such as the amount of measurement data generated the rate at which the measure ment program consumes the measurement data etc Thus if the memory 160 is a detachable and commonly available memory component then the user can purchase and attach a memory component of any appropriate size to the measure ment device 150 This may also lower the device vendor s cost to produce the measurement device 150 and lower the user s cost to purchase the measurement device 150 since the user may be able to purchase the measurement device 150 without memory and re use a standard memory component already in his possession as the memory 160 As described above in one embodiment the measurement device 150 may couple to the computer system 100 and appear as a CD ROM device or other standard type of file storage device e g and possibly also as an HID device As shown in the embodiment of FIG 3 the measurement device 150 may include a USB connector 152 by which the mea surement device 150 can connect to the computer system 100 e g via a cable connecting the USB connector 152 to a USB port or hub of the computer system 100 In other embodi ments the measurement
31. t under test UUT test and analysis of physical phenomena simulation hardware in the loop testing process monitoring and con trol control of mechanical or electrical machinery data log ging and laboratory research to name a few examples The devices that interact with the physical systems under analysis may be collectively referred to as measurement devices Measurement devices are often used in conjunction with computer systems The computer system receives measure ment data from the measurement device and performs much of the processing analysis or control for the application Some configuration is usually necessary to make the mea surement device work together correctly with the computer system For example many measurement devices require specific drivers to be installed on the computer system to enable communication with the measurement device However scientists and engineers are often not highly trained in the art of computer system configuration Installing the measurement device and associated drivers on the com puter system can be a difficult and time consuming task Also the necessary drivers for the measurement device are some times not readily available e g when the measurement device is moved to a location in the field and the driver installation CD becomes lost or damaged which can result in downtime of the measurement system Another disadvantage associated with the traditional approach of requiring s
32. the contents of the memory medium of the mea surement device which contains an ISO 9660 like image Since the layout of the image format is well defined the computer system may not know that the data is being served from a memory medium other than a CD Thus the computer system may not be aware that firmware of the measurement device is simply pretending to be a physical CD In further embodiments the measurement device may also inform the computer system that it is another device such as an HID For example the measurement device may report itself as a USB hub which includes a mass storage device e g a CD ROM device with an inserted CD as well as another device which may be used to interact with the mea surement features of the measurement device or to retrieve measurement data Similar to the mass storage device described above a driver may not be necessary for the second device In 406 the computer system may automatically execute the measurement program stored on the measurement device As used herein this automatic execution means that the user does not specifically request execution of the measurement program Instead merely by connecting the measurement device the measurement program is automatically executed without any user input requesting the specific execution of the program However it is noted that some operating systems may require confirmation of the automatic execution For example some Microsoft Win
33. to the measurement data and generates a file based on the measurement data US 8 458 384 B2 5 The measurement program executing on the computer sys tem 100 may receive the one or more files generated by the measurement device 150 and may read or analyze the files to perform the desired measurement function The measure ment program may possess knowledge of what kind of files are generated by the measurement device 150 and may be operable to utilize these files accordingly e g to obtain process display and or store the included measurement data However as described above the computer system 100 may receive raw measurement data from the measurement device 150 rather than the described files In various embodiments the measurement device 150 may be coupled to the computer system 100 in any of various ways and the computer system 100 may communicate with the measurement device 150 using any technique to receive the measurement data generated by the measurement device 150 According to one embodiment the measurement device 150 may comprise a USB device coupled to a USB bus of the computer system 100 As used herein the term USB is intended to include prior current and future versions of the Universal Serial Bus USB standard and similar standards In one embodiment the measurement device 150 may appear to the computer system 100 as a USB device of a first type e g as a USB CD ROM device which includes a CD Accord ingly the
34. via a configuration file 172 stored in the memory 160 For example a user or appli cation on the computer system 100 may create a configuration file 172 that includes various commands settings or attributes related to the configuration of the measurement device 150 In response to the configuration file 172 being sent from the computer 100 to the measurement device 150 US 8 458 384 B2 7 the measurement device 100 e g the measurement acquisi tion unit 155 may be operable to analyze the configuration file 172 and configure or control itself according to the com mands settings or attributes therein In various embodiments the memory 160 may comprise a memory medium of any kind In one embodiment the memory 160 may comprise flash memory In other embodi ments the memory 160 may comprise any other type of memory suitable for storing files such as RAM magnetic media etc In one embodiment the measurement device 160 may be engineered so that the memory 160 is detachable from the measurement device 150 Detaching the memory 86 may enable users to replace the memory 160 with another memory 160 This may provide various advantages to users For example in one embodiment the memory 160 may comprise a standard and commonly available memory component such as a Compact Flash component a Memory Stick component a Smart Media component an SDCard a microdrive a USB memory key etc The measurement device 150 may include a slo
35. y following embodiments where the measurement device is detected as two distinct devices the measurement device may also be detected as a human interface device is FIG 5B Thus in the embodiment of FIG 5 the measure ment device may be detected as a USB CD ROM device including a CD and a USB HID After completing enumeration and initial communication FIG 5C illustrates a measurement program that is automati cally executed after connection of the measurement device As shown the program is provided by National Instruments and is for controlling a thermocouple measurement device The measurement program has identified that there is no thermocouple connected to the measurement device and therefore data is being acquired through the internal tempera ture sensor The user may also see the current reading and type record data via the temperature logger view a LabVIEW example temperature logger and do more with your NI USB TCO1 Thus FIGS 5A 5C provide exemplary screen shots corre sponding to the method described above Note that these are exemplary only and further modifications and embodiments are envisioned such as the numerous other embodiments described herein among others Although the embodiments above have been described in considerable detail numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated It is intended that the follow ing
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