Method and system for handling a defective electronic user terminal

• US 10,042,696 B2
• Filed: 08/06/2014
• Issued: 08/07/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dr. Hans-Peter Dietz Gbr Oliver Oechsle
• Original Assignee: Dr. Hans-Peter Dietz Gbr Oliver Oechsle
• Inventors: Oechsle, Oliver, Dietz, Hans-Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Kamini B
• Application Number:
  US14/910,041
• Publication Number:
  US 20160170826A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,462 Days
• Field of Search: 714 3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0721 within a central processing unit [CPU]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0796 Safety measures, i.e. ensuring safe condition in the event of error, e.g. for controlling element
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/88 Detecting or preventing theft or loss

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for handling an at least supposedly partially defective electronic user terminal, wherein the electronic user terminal, after being successfully identified by a server, is automatically and irreversibly put into an irreparable state if a performed diagnosis of functionally relevant circuits of the user terminal indicates that said functionally relevant circuits are impaired in the functional capability thereof or have failed.

Claims

1. A system for handling an at least supposedly partially defective electronic user terminal comprising functionally-relevant circuits and at least one security-relevant circuit located within or connected to the electronic user terminal, wherein the security-relevant circuit is electronically connected to the electronic user terminal, wherein the electronic user terminal, after being successfully identified by a server, is automatically and irreversibly put into an irreparable state by way of an irreversible manipulation of at least one component of the user terminal, if a performed diagnosis of the functionally-relevant circuits of the user terminal indicates that these functionally-relevant circuits are impaired in terms of their functionality or have failed,

the electronic user terminal establishes directly or indirectly a data connection between the user terminal and the server and the security-relevant circuit transmits a unique identifier of the user terminal for the identification thereof to the server, even if a power supply of the electronic user terminal or functionally-relevant circuits of the user terminal fail, and wherein, after receipt of a confirmation to render the user terminal unusable, the server causes the security-relevant circuit of the user terminal to effect the irreversible manipulation of at least one component of the user terminal by sending a control command to the security-relevant circuit to put the user terminal into an irreparable state.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the server is a server of a device manufacturer or a server of a device retailer which is connected to the user terminal via an external interface of the user terminal.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the unique identifier of the user terminal is a device code which is stored in a memory of the user terminal and is derived from a serial number of the user terminal.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electronic user terminal is automatically put into the irreparable state only after a user has transmitted a confirmation in this regard to the server.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the irreversible manipulation includes the destruction of an electronic component, in particular a fuse, or the overwriting of stored configuration data of the user terminal.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein, with respect to the at least partially defective user terminal, after establishing a connection between the affected user terminal and the server, a dataset is transmitted to the server for performing data synchronisation in relation to the presence of a warranty,

wherein the dataset transmitted to the server comprises:

user-specific data of the user,

device-specific data of the user terminal, in particular the unique identifier of the user terminal,

error-specific data indicating the technical malfunctions which have occurred on the user terminal and the circumstances surrounding the malfunctions, and

sales-specific data indicating a purchasing process when the user bought the user terminal from a device retailer or the device manufacturer.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein sensors provided on the user terminal provide sensor data to the server indicating external impacts which have occurred on the user terminal, in particular undue mechanical force and ingress of moisture.

8. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the error-specific data contained in the dataset and the sensor data obtained by the sensors on the user terminal are evaluated by the server in order to establish whether these items of data are compatible with each other.

9. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the functionally-relevant circuits within the user terminal are diagnosed in relation to their functionality by the server and/or by the security-relevant circuit of the user terminal.

10. The system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the functionally-relevant circuits of the user terminal are diagnosed interactively with the user in that the user performs particular actions, on request, on the user terminal.

11. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the security relevant circuit is integrated in the user terminal itself or in a component connected to the user terminal, in particular a mains plug, an adapter or a connecting cable.

12. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user manually actuates at least one button provided on the user terminal in order to confirm putting the user terminal into the irreparable state.

13. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electronic user terminal is a portable user terminal which is connected to a computer via an interface, which computer is connected to the server via a network, in particular a data or telephone network.

14. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the security-relevant circuit of the user terminal, after the user terminal has been put into the irreparable state, transmits a corresponding acknowledgement to the server,

wherein, after receipt of the acknowledgement, the server initiates the dispatching of a replacement user terminal to the user to replace the user terminal put into the irreparable state.

18. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the security-relevant circuit is supplied with power via the external interface or a separate battery.

19. The system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the security-relevant circuit draws the energy required to destroy the electric fuse from the outside via the external interface.

15. A method for handling an at least partially defective electronic user terminal comprising functionally-relevant circuits and at least one security-relevant circuit located within or connected to the electronic user terminal, wherein the security-relevant circuit is electronically connected to the electronic user terminal,

wherein the electronic user terminal, after being successfully identified by a server, is automatically and irreversibly put into an irreparable state by way of an irreversible manipulation of at least one component of the user terminal, if a performed diagnosis of functionally-relevant circuits of the user terminal indicates that these functionally-relevant circuits are impaired in terms of their functionality or have failed,

the electronic user terminal establishes directly or indirectly a data connection between the user terminal and the server and the security-relevant circuit transmits a unique identifier of the user terminal for the identification thereof to the server, even if a power supply of the electronic user terminal or functionally-relevant circuits of the user terminal fail, and wherein, after receipt of a confirmation to render the user terminal unusable, the server causes the security-relevant circuit of the user terminal to effect the irreversible manipulation of at least one component of the user terminal by sending a control command to the security-relevant circuit to put the user terminal into an irreparable state.

16. An electronic user terminal having functionally-relevant circuits and having at least one security-relevant circuit located within or connected to the electronic user terminal, wherein the security-relevant circuit is electronically connected to the electronic user terminal,

wherein the electronic user terminal, after being successfully identified to a server is automatically put into an irreparable state by the server by way of an irreversible manipulation of at least one component of the user terminal, if a performed diagnosis of functionally-relevant circuits of the user terminal indicates that these functionally-relevant circuits are impaired in terms of their functionality or have failed, the electronic user terminal establishes directly or indirectly a data connection between the user terminal and the server and the security-relevant circuit transmits a unique identifier of the user terminal for the identification thereof to the server, even if a power supply of the electronic user terminal or functionally-relevant circuits of the user terminal fail, and wherein, after receipt of a confirmation to render the user terminal unusable, the server causes the security-relevant circuit of the user terminal to effect the irreversible manipulation of at least one component of the user terminal.

17. A server for handling an at least partially defective electronic user terminal,

wherein after the electronic user terminal has established directly or indirectly a data connection between the user terminal and the server and after the user terminal has been successfully identified by the server by examining an identifier received from a security-relevant circuit of the user terminal via the established data connection, wherein the security-relevant circuit is electronically connected to the electronic user terminal, the server initiates the process of putting the electronic user terminal into an irreparable state by way of an irreversible manipulation of at least one component of the user terminal by sending a control command, if a performed diagnosis of functionally-relevant circuits of the user terminal indicates that these functionally-relevant circuits are impaired in terms of their functionality or have failed.