DIAGNOSTIC TESTING BASED ON INFORMATION HANDLING SYSTEM VARIABLES

• US 20150331734A1
• Filed: 05/15/2014
• Published: 11/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Anand Prakash Joshi, Bryan James Thornley, Claude Lano Cox, Nikhil Manohar Vichare, Vinod Makhija
• Inventors: COX, CLAUDE LANO, JOSHI, ANAND PRAKASH, THORNLEY, BRYAN JAMES, VICHARE, NIKHIL MANOHAR, MAKHIJA, VINOD
• Granted Patent: US 9,329,923 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0709 in a distributed system consisting of a plurality of standalone computer nodes, e.g. clusters, client-server systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0766 Error or fault reporting or storing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0787 Storage of error reports, e.g. persistent data storage, storage using memory protection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/079 Root cause analysis, i.e. error or fault diagnosis in a hardware test environment G06F11/22; in a software test environment G06F11/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/263 Generation of test inputs, e.g. test vectors, patterns or sequences ; with adaptation of the tested hardware for testability with external testers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/30 Monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3409 for performance assessment

Abstract

Methods and systems for performing diagnostic testing based on information handling system variables include receiving a first indication specifying diagnostic tests to be performed on an information handling system, receiving a second indication specifying diagnostic test conditions respectively associated with the diagnostic tests, receiving a third indication specifying health condition severity of the information handling system, and receiving a fourth indication specifying a user profile including user usage patterns. Based on the first indication, the second indication, the third indication, and the fourth indication, a schedule for executing diagnostic tests is generated.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a first indication specifying diagnostic tests to be performed on an information handling system, wherein the first indication is based on results of health condition monitoring of the information handling system;

receiving a second indication specifying diagnostic test conditions respectively associated with the diagnostic tests specified by the first indication, wherein the second indication includes operational states of the information handling system corresponding to the diagnostic tests;

receiving a third indication specifying health condition severity of the information handling system, wherein the third indication is based on results of the health condition monitoring;

receiving a fourth indication specifying a user profile, wherein the fourth indication includes usage information for a user of the information handling system; and

based on the first indication, the second indication, the third indication, and the fourth indication, generating a schedule for executing a first diagnostic test specified by the first indication.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

executing the schedule, including;

performing the first diagnostic test on the information handling system; and

recording the results of the first diagnostic test.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the schedule is for executing a plurality of diagnostic tests specified by the first indication, the plurality of diagnostic tests including the first diagnostic test.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second indication includes operational states of the information handling system selected from at least one of:

an operating system executing on the information handling system;

a power source supplied to the information handling system;

a standby mode of the information handling system;

an audio output by the information handling system;

a screen display of the information handling system;

a network connection of the information handling system; and

user operation of the information handling system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the third indication specifies health condition severity of the information handling system selected from at least one of:

a high severity, indicating at least one of;

imminent failure of the information handling system, a data loss from the information handling system, and a security breach of the information handling system;

a low severity, indicating at least one of;

a spurious fault detected in the information handling system, an unconfirmed error detected in the information handling system, a first time error detected in the information handling system, and a low-impact error detected in the information handling system; and

an intermittent severity, indicating at least one of;

an unconfirmed fault indicating further diagnostic tests, and a reboot error indicating a reboot of the information handling system.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the fourth indication includes usage information selected from at least one of:

a sleep/wake pattern for the user;

a power management setting for the information handling system;

a battery charging pattern for the information handling system;

a network usage pattern for the user; and

a docked state of the information handling system.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the schedule specifies when to execute the first diagnostic test according to at least one of:

immediate execution;

execution when the user operates the information handling system;

execution when the information handling system is idle;

execution upon reboot of the information handling system;

execution according to a service level agreement for the user; and

one-time execution; and

multiple-time execution.

8. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

receive a first indication specifying diagnostic tests to be performed on an information handling system, wherein the first indication is based on results of health condition monitoring of the information handling system;

receive a second indication specifying diagnostic test conditions respectively associated with the diagnostic tests specified by the first indication, wherein the second indication includes operational states of the information handling system corresponding to the diagnostic tests;

receive a third indication specifying health condition severity of the information handling system, wherein the third indication is based on results of the health condition monitoring;

receive a fourth indication specifying a user profile, wherein the fourth indication includes usage information for a user of the information handling system; and

based on the first indication, the second indication, the third indication, and the fourth indication, generate a schedule for executing a first diagnostic test specified by the first indication; and

execute the schedule, including instructions to;

perform the first diagnostic test on the information handling system; and

record the results of the first diagnostic test.

9. The article of manufacture of claim 8, wherein the schedule is for executing a plurality of diagnostic tests specified by the first indication, the plurality of diagnostic tests including the first diagnostic test.

10. The article of manufacture of claim 8, wherein the second indication includes operational states of the information handling system selected from at least one of:

an operating system executing on the information handling system;

a power source supplied to the information handling system;

a standby mode of the information handling system;

an audio output by the information handling system;

a screen display of the information handling system;

a network connection of the information handling system; and

user operation the information handling system.

11. The article of manufacture of claim 8, wherein the third indication specifies health condition severity of the information handling system selected from at least one of:

a high severity, indicating at least one of;

imminent failure of the information handling system, a data loss from the information handling system, and a security breach of the information handling system;

a low severity, indicating at least one of;

a spurious fault detected in the information handling system, an unconfirmed error detected in the information handling system, a first time error detected in the information handling system, and a low-impact error detected in the information handling system; and

an intermittent severity, indicating at least one of;

an unconfirmed fault indicating further diagnostic tests, and a reboot error indicating a reboot of the information handling system.

12. The article of manufacture of claim 8, wherein the fourth indication includes usage information selected from at least one of:

a sleep/wake pattern for the user;

a power management setting for the information handling system;

a battery charging pattern for the information handling system;

a network usage pattern for the user; and

a docked state of the information handling system.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 8, wherein the schedule specifies when to execute the first diagnostic test according to at least one of:

immediate execution;

execution when the user operates the information handling system;

execution when the information handling system is idle;

execution upon reboot of the information handling system;

execution according to a service level agreement for the user; and

one-time execution; and

multiple-time execution.

14. An information handling system, comprising:

a processor subsystem having access to a memory, wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed by the processor subsystem, cause the processor subsystem to;

receive a first indication specifying diagnostic tests to be performed on an information handling system, wherein the first indication is based on results of health condition monitoring of the information handling system;

receive a second indication specifying diagnostic test conditions respectively associated with the diagnostic tests specified by the first indication, wherein the second indication includes operational states of the information handling system corresponding to the diagnostic tests;

receive a third indication specifying health condition severity of the information handling system, wherein the third indication is based on results of the health condition monitoring;

receive a fourth indication specifying a user profile, wherein the fourth indication includes usage information for a user of the information handling system; and

based on the first indication, the second indication, the third indication, and the fourth indication, generate a schedule for executing a first diagnostic test specified by the first indication.

15. The information handling system of claim 14, further comprising instructions to:

execute the schedule, including instructions to;

perform the first diagnostic test on the information handling system; and

record the results of the first diagnostic test.

16. The information handling system of claim 14, wherein the schedule is for executing a plurality of diagnostic tests specified by the first indication, the plurality of diagnostic tests including the first diagnostic test.

17. The information handling system of claim 14, wherein the second indication includes operational states of the information handling system selected from at least one of:

an operating system executing on the information handling system;

a power source supplied to the information handling system;

a standby mode of the information handling system;

an audio output by the information handling system;

a screen display of the information handling system;

a network connection of the information handling system; and

user operation the information handling system.

18. The information handling system of claim 14, wherein the third indication specifies health condition severity of the information handling system selected from at least one of:

a high severity, indicating at least one of;

imminent failure of the information handling system, a data loss from the information handling system, and a security breach of the information handling system;

a low severity, indicating at least one of;

a spurious fault detected in the information handling system, an unconfirmed error detected in the information handling system, a first time error detected in the information handling system, and a low-impact error detected in the information handling system; and

an intermittent severity, indicating at least one of;

an unconfirmed fault indicating further diagnostic tests, and a reboot error indicating a reboot of the information handling system.

19. The information handling system of claim 14, wherein the fourth indication includes usage information selected from at least one of:

a sleep/wake pattern for the user;

a power management setting for the information handling system;

a battery charging pattern for the information handling system;

a network usage pattern for the user; and

a docked state of the information handling system.

20. The information handling system of claim 14, wherein the schedule specifies when to execute the first diagnostic test according to at least one of:

immediate execution;

execution when the user operates the information handling system;

execution when the information handling system is idle;

execution upon reboot of the information handling system;

execution according to a service level agreement for the user; and

one-time execution; and

multiple-time execution.