Systems and methods for collecting, tracking, and storing system performance and event data for computing devices

• US 10,073,754 B2
• Filed: 09/13/2013
• Issued: 09/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Assurant Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Assurant Incorporated, Mobile Defense, Inc. (Assurant Incorporated)
• Inventors: Brewer, Dustin, Saunders, Stuart, Hurst, Cameron
• Primary Examiner(s): Yi, Roy Y
• Assistant Examiner(s): Aiello, Jeffrey
• Application Number:
  US14/026,965
• Publication Number:
  US 20150082097A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,824 Days
• Field of Search: 702 1, 702 85, 702108, 709224, 709219
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/323 Visualisation of programs or trace data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3409 for performance assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3428 Benchmarking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3466 Performance evaluation by tracing or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/86 Event-based monitoring

Abstract

A system is configured to track and store system and event data for various computing devices. The system is configured to associate the various computing devices with profiles based at least in part on characteristics of the computing devices. The system is further configured to compare performance data and/or performance metrics for particular computing devices having a particular profile against all other devices that share the particular profile. The system then displays this comparison to a user of the particular computing device, substantially automatically diagnoses an issue with the particular computing device based on the performance and system event data, and/or enables the user to diagnose the problem based on the performance and system event data.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for:

(A) receiving a first performance data value for a first computing device, wherein the first computing device has a particular device profile, the device profile comprising one or more particular computing device characteristics, and wherein the first performance data value represents a performance of the first computing device after the first computing device has experienced an occurrence of a first system event;

(B) receiving second performance data for each of a plurality of other computing devices, wherein the plurality of other computing devices also have the particular device profile and that have also experienced a system event that is substantially similar to the first system event;

(C) aggregating the second performance data for each of the plurality of computing devices to produce aggregated performance data for the plurality of other computing devices that have experienced the occurrence of a system event that is substantially similar to the first system event;

(D) using the aggregated performance data to determine an average performance data value for the plurality of other computing devices having the same profile as the first computing device and having experienced the occurrence of a system event that is substantially similar to the first system event;

(E) displaying, on a display screen, both the average performance data value and the first performance data value so that a user may compare the performance of the first computing device after experiencing the first system event with the average performance of the plurality of other computing devices having the same device profile as the first computing device after having experienced the occurrence of a system event that is substantially similar to the first system event, wherein;

the first system event is an event selected from a group consisting of;

i. a change in signal strength of a wireless network to which the first computing device is connected;

ii. an installation of software onto memory associated with the first computing device;

iii. a connection to a particular computer network;

iv. a disconnection from a particular computer network;

v. a connection of the first computing device to an external power source; and

(F) automatically diagnosing, based at least in part on the average performance data value and the first performance data value, a performance state for the first computing device; and

(G) automatically performing a responsive corrective action associated with the performance state.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein displaying both the average performance data value and the first performance data value so that the user may compare the performance of the first computing device after experiencing the first system event with the average performance of the plurality of other computing devices having the same device profile as the first computing device after having experienced the occurrence of a system event that is substantially similar to the first system event comprises displaying a graphical representation of the average performance data value and the first performance data value.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the particular device profile comprises a device type of the first computing device.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein the particular device profile comprises a model of the first computing device.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the system event that is substantially similar to the first system event is the first system event.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein:

said first system event comprises a plurality of system events associated with said first computing device; and

each of said plurality of system events is associated with a particular time at which each of said plurality of system events occurred.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein:

said first system event is associated with a connection to a first wireless network; and

said system event that is substantially similar to the first system event is associated with a connection to the first wireless network.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein said first performance data is selected from a group consisting of:

(i) a battery usage of said first computing device; and

(ii) a processor usage of said first computing device.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein said device profile comprises a model of said first computing device.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 wherein said device profile comprises a connection to a particular network.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, further storing computer-executable instructions for:

(H) storing said first performance data value on a remote server from said first computing device.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein said first performance data is the number of million floating-point operations per second (MFLOPS) performed by the first computing device at a time associated with the first system event.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 2, wherein said first performance data is measurement of a data usage by the first computing device at a time associated with the first system event.

14. A computer system comprising:

at least one processor, wherein said computer system is configured for;

(A) receiving first data associated with a first mobile computing device, said first data comprising a first performance data value, wherein the first performance data value represents a performance of the first computing device after at least one first system event experienced by the first mobile computing device, and said first mobile computing device comprising at least one mobile device characteristic;

(B) receiving second data associated with one or more second mobile computing devices, wherein said second data comprises, for each of said one or more second mobile computing devices, a second performance data value, wherein the second performance data value represents a performance of the one or more second mobile computing devices after at least one second system event experienced by the one or more second computing devices;

(C) establishing at least one profile, said at least one profile being associated with said at least one mobile device characteristic;

(D) determining which of said one or more second computing devices has said at least one mobile device characteristic;

(E) determining whether said first computing device has said at least one mobile device characteristic;

(F) aggregating said second performance data associated with said one or more second computing devices that have said at least one mobile device characteristic to produce aggregated performance data for a plurality of other computing devices that have said at least one mobile device characteristic and assigning said aggregated performance data to said at least one profile;

(G) displaying, on a display screen, said aggregated performance data and said first performance data to a user of said first mobile device in response to said first mobile device experiencing said at least one first system event, wherein;

said at least one first system event is selected from a group consisting of;

(i) a change in signal strength of a wireless network to which said first mobile computing device is connected;

(ii) an installation of software onto memory associated with said first mobile computing device;

(iii) a connection to a particular network;

(iv) a disconnection from said particular network; and

(v) a connection of the first mobile computing device to an external power source;

(H) automatically diagnosing, based at least in part on the aggregated performance data and the first performance data, a performance state for the first computing device; and

(I) automatically performing a responsive corrective action associated with the performance state.

15. The computer system of claim 14, wherein:

said first performance data comprises a first battery life of said first computing device;

said second performance data comprises a second battery life of said one or more second computing devices; and

said at least one mobile device characteristic comprises a model of said first mobile computing device.

16. The computer system of claim 14, wherein:

said first performance data comprises a signal strength between said first computing device and a particular network; and

said second performance data comprises a signal strength between said one or more second computing devices and said particular network.

17. The computer system of claim 16, wherein said particular network is a network associated with a particular wireless telephone provider.

18. The computer system of claim 14, wherein said at least one second system event and said at least one first system event are substantially the same event, and said second performance data comprises performance data associated with said at least one second system event.

19. The computer system of claim 14, wherein said first performance data is selected form a group consisting of:

(A) a battery usage of said first mobile computing device; and

(B) a processor usage of said first mobile computing device.

20. The computer system of claim 19, wherein said second performance data includes a similar type of performance data as said first performance data for said one or more second mobile computing devices.

21. The computer system of claim 14, further configured for:

(J) aggregating said second data associated with said one or more second computing devices assigned to said profile; and

(K) displaying said aggregated data to said user of said first mobile device.

22. The computer system of claim 21, wherein said aggregating comprises averaging said second data associated with said one or more second computing devices assigned to said profile.

23. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by a processor, system performance data for a plurality of computing devices, wherein said system performance data represent a performance of each of said plurality of computing devices after experiencing an occurrence of a particular system event and wherein said plurality of computing devices;

comprise a first computing device associated with first system performance data that represents a performance of the first computing device after experiencing the particular system event; and

comprise a plurality of other computing devices that each share at least one device profile with the first computing device;

aggregating, by a processor, said performance data for said plurality of computing devices to produce aggregated performance data for said plurality of computing devices that have experienced said particular system event;

using the aggregated performance data to determine, by a processor, an average performance metric for said plurality of computing devices that share said at least one device profile and have experienced said particular system event;

determining, by a processor, a first performance metric for said first computing device based at least in part on said first system event data and said first system performance data;

displaying, by a processor, said average performance metric and said first performance metric to a user of said first computing device so that said user may compare the performance of the first computing device after experiencing said particular system event with said average performance metric for said plurality of computing devices that share said at least one device profile and have experienced said particular system event, wherein;

said particular system event is selected from a group consisting of;

(i) a change in signal strength of a wireless network to which said plurality of computing devices are connected;

(ii) an installation of software onto memory associated with said plurality of computing devices;

(iii) a connection to a particular network by said plurality of computing devices;

(iv) a disconnection from said particular network by said plurality of computing devices; and

(v) a connection of the plurality of computing devices to an external power source;

automatically diagnosing, by a processor, based at least in part on the average performance metric and the first performance metric, a performance state for the first computing device; and

automatically performing a responsive corrective action associated with the performance state.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, wherein said at least one device profile comprises a device type of said plurality of computing devices.

25. The computer-implemented method of claim 24, wherein said at least one device profile comprises a model of said plurality of computing devices.

26. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for:

(A) storing, in memory, time stamped performance data associated with each of a plurality of computing devices taken over time, wherein the time stamped performance data comprises performance data associated with time periods occurring after each of the plurality of computing devices experienced a particular system event;

(B) storing, in memory, time stamped event data associated with each of said plurality of computing devices taken over time;

(C) aggregating said time stamped performance data and said time stamped event data for each of said plurality of computing devices to determine an average performance data value for the plurality of computing devices that have experienced the particular system event;

(D) displaying, to an individual associated with a first computing device of said plurality of computing devices that has experienced said particular system event, said average performance data value for computing devices that have experienced said particular event so that said individual may compare a performance of said first computing device with a typical performance of other computing devices, from said plurality of computing devices, that are similar to said first computing device and have experienced said particular system event, wherein;

said particular system event is selected from a group consisting of;

(i) a change in signal strength of a wireless network to which said plurality of computing devices are connected;

(ii) an installation of software onto memory associated with said plurality of computing devices;

(iii) a connection to a particular network by said plurality of computing devices;

(iv) a disconnection from said particular network by said plurality of computing devices; and

(v) a connection of the plurality of computing devices to an external power source;

(E) automatically diagnosing, based at least in part on the average performance data, a performance state for the first computing device; and

(F) automatically performing a responsive corrective action associated with the performance state.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26, wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises computer-executable instructions for:

(G) storing information regarding one or more characteristics of each of said plurality of computing devices;

(H) using said information regarding said one or more characteristics of each of said plurality of computing devices to identify said similar computing devices from said plurality of computing devices.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein said step of identifying said similar computing devices comprises identifying one or more computing devices that have a same profile as said first computing device.