System and method for tracking engineering changes relating to a circuit card

Abstract

The invention provides a system and a method of electronically tracking a history of engineering change orders (ECOs) associated with a manufactured device. The device has at least one electronic component thereon. The method comprises, generally, storing in an electronic storage device associated with the device, the history of ECOs and updating the history of ECOs when a new ECO is associated with the device to indicate whether the new ECO was implemented on the device. The system utilizes the method and has an electronic storage device associated with the device and a data element stored therein. The contents thereof indicate the history of ECOs for the device and allow modification thereto to indicate whether a new ECO was implemented thereon. An ECO history enables a determination to be made of compatibilities between hardware and software elements and between hardware and firmware elements.

We claim:  
     
         1 . A method of electronically tracking a history of engineering change orders (ECOs) associated with a manufactured device having at least one electronic component thereon, comprising: 
 storing in an electronic storage device associated with the manufactured device, the history of ECOs; and    updating the history of ECOs stored in the electronic storage device when a new ECO is implemented on the manufactured device to indicate that the new ECO was implemented on the manufactured device.    
     
     
         2 . The method of electronically tracking a history of ECOs associated with a manufactured device, as claimed in  claim 1  wherein: 
 the history of ECOs is stored as a series of bits in the electronic storage device.  
 
     
     
         3 . The method of electronically tracking a history of ECOs associated with a manufactured device, as claimed in  claim 2  wherein: 
 the electronic storage device is mounted on the manufactured device.  
 
     
     
         4 . The method of electronically tracking a history of ECOs associated with a manufactured device, as claimed in  claim 3  wherein: 
 the history of ECOs is accessible by an analysis device connectable to the manufactured device when the manufactured device is being examined.  
 
     
     
         5 . The method of electronically tracking a history of ECOs associated with a manufactured device, as claimed in  claim 4  wherein: 
 the manufacturing device utilizes a programmable element which is installed on the manufactured device; and  
 the history of ECOs of the manufactured device is compared against a version of the programmable element to determine a compatibility level between the version of the programmable element and the manufactured device.  
 
     
     
         6 . The method of electronically tracking a history of ECOs associated with a manufactured device, as claimed in  claim 5  wherein 
 the history of ECOs of the manufactured device is used to identify compatible versions of the programmable element which may be installed on the manufactured device.  
 
     
     
         7 . The method of electronically tracking a history of ECOs associated with a manufactured device, as claimed in  claim 6  wherein: 
 for the version of the programmable element, an ECO mask is accessed to identify only the ECOs in the ECO history which affect the compatibility level of the version of the programmable element.  
 
     
     
         8 . The method of electronically tracking a history of ECOs associated with a manufactured device, as claimed in  claim 7  wherein: 
 the compatibility level indicates one of at least the following conditions: 
 (i) whether the version of the programmable element is compatible with the manufactured device;  
 (ii) whether the version of the programmable element is backwards compatible with the manufactured device; and  
 (iii) whether the version of the programmable element is not compatible with the manufactured device.  
 
 
     
     
         9 . The method of electronically tracking a history of ECOs associated with a manufactured device, as claimed in  claim 8  wherein: 
 the programmable element is a software element;  
 the manufacturing device further utilizes a firmware element which is installed on the manufactured device; and  
 the history of ECOs of the manufactured device is further compared against a version of the firmware element to determine whether the version of the firmware element is compatible with the manufactured device.  
 
     
     
         10 . The method of electronically tracking a history of ECOs associated with a manufactured device, as claimed in  claim 9  wherein: 
 versions of the software element and versions of the firmware element are provided in a bundle of installable elements, the bundle being accessible by the manufactured device.  
 
     
     
         11 . The method of electronically tracking a history of ECOs associated with a manufactured device as claimed in  claim 10  wherein the analysis device is remotely connectable to the manufactured device through a communication network.  
     
     
         12 . A system for electronically tracking a history of engineering change orders (ECOs) associated with a manufactured device having at least one electronic component thereon, comprising: 
 an electronic storage device associated with the manufactured device; and    ECO information associated with the electronic storage device, indicating the history of ECOs associated with the manufactured device and allowing modification thereto to indicate when a new ECO was implemented on the manufactured device.    
     
     
         13 . The system for electronically tracking a history of ECOs associated with a manufactured device, as claimed in  claim 12 , further comprising: 
 comparison information relating ECOs to versions of a programmable element installable on the manufactured device, indicating the compatibility of the versions with the ECOs and the manufactured device;    ECO mask information to identify the ECOs which affect the operation of the versions of the programmable element for the manufactured device; and    an analysis device having access to the ECO information, the comparison information and the ECO mask information and adapted to determine whether a version of the programmable element may operate on the manufactured device.    
     
     
         14 . The system for electronically tracking a history of ECOs associated with a manufactured device, as claimed in  claim 13 , further comprising: 
 second comparison information relating ECOs to versions of a firmware element which are installable on the manufactured device, indicating the compatibility of the versions of the firmware element with the ECOs and the manufactured device;    second ECO mask information to identify the ECOs which affect the operation of the versions of the firmware element for the manufactured device; and    the analysis device further utilizes the second comparison information and the second ECO mask information to determine whether a version of the firmware element may operate on the manufactured device.    
     
     
         15 . The system for electronically tracking a history of ECOs associated with a manufactured device, as claimed in  claim 14 , further comprising 
 a bundle of versions of the programmable element and versions of the firmware element, the bundle being accessible by the manufactured device,    wherein    the programmable element is a software element and the analysis device utilizes the comparison information, the second comparison information, the ECO mask information, the second ECO mask information and the ECO information to select a compatible version of the software element and the firmware element in the bundle to install into the manufacturing device.