Consumer abuse detection system and method
First Claim
1. A system for detecting consumer abuse in an electronic device, the system comprising:
- one or more sensors configured to detect an occurrence of an abuse event;
abuse detection circuitry configured to receive indication of the occurrence of the abuse event from the one or more sensors and to generate a record corresponding to the occurrence of the abuse event upon receiving the indication;
a memory device configured to store the record; and
an interface configured to facilitate communication between the electronic device and an external device;
wherein the abuse detection circuitry is further configured to, upon receiving the indication of the occurrence of the abuse event, disable the electronic device and enter into a standby mode, to return from the standby mode after a predetermined amount of time and, upon returning from the standby mode, to determine if any of the one or more sensors still indicate the occurrence of the abuse event and, if any of the one or more sensors still indicate the occurrence of the abuse event, to return to the standby mode for the predetermined amount of time or else, if none of the one or more sensors indicate the occurrence of the abuse event, to re-enable the electronic device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A technique is provided for detecting whether consumer abuse has occurred in an electronic device. In accordance with this technique, a system is provided for detecting the occurrence of a consumer abuse event and storing a record thereof. In one embodiment, the system provides one or more sensors coupled to an abuse detection circuitry for detecting the occurrence of an abuse event. The system may further provide a memory, wherein upon detecting an abuse event, the abuse detection circuitry may store a record of the abuse event into the memory. The system may further provide an interface by which a diagnostic device may access the memory and analyze the abuse event records to determine if an abuse event occurred in the electronic device.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A system for detecting consumer abuse in an electronic device, the system comprising:
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one or more sensors configured to detect an occurrence of an abuse event; abuse detection circuitry configured to receive indication of the occurrence of the abuse event from the one or more sensors and to generate a record corresponding to the occurrence of the abuse event upon receiving the indication; a memory device configured to store the record; and an interface configured to facilitate communication between the electronic device and an external device; wherein the abuse detection circuitry is further configured to, upon receiving the indication of the occurrence of the abuse event, disable the electronic device and enter into a standby mode, to return from the standby mode after a predetermined amount of time and, upon returning from the standby mode, to determine if any of the one or more sensors still indicate the occurrence of the abuse event and, if any of the one or more sensors still indicate the occurrence of the abuse event, to return to the standby mode for the predetermined amount of time or else, if none of the one or more sensors indicate the occurrence of the abuse event, to re-enable the electronic device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for detecting consumer abuse in an electronic device, the system comprising:
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one or more sensors each configured to indicate a sensor state, wherein the sensor state is one of a normal state or a tripped state, wherein each of the one or more sensors is configured to indicate a normal state if no abuse event is detected and to transition to the tripped state upon detecting the occurrence of an abuse event; abuse detection circuitry configured to monitor the state of each of the one or more sensors; an interface configured to facilitate communication between the electronic device and an external device, wherein the interface is configured to provide two or more modes of communication between the electronic device and the external device, wherein the two or more modes include a first and a second communication mode; and communication selection circuitry configured to select the first communication mode if the external device is a diagnostic device and to select the second communication mode if the external device is a non-diagnostic device, wherein the diagnostic device is configured to read the state of each of the one or more sensors. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A circuit board comprising:
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one or more sensors configured to detect the occurrence of an abuse event in an electronic device; abuse detection logic configured to disable the electronic device and enter into a standby mode if any of the one or more sensors indicates the occurrence of the abuse event, each of the one or more sensors being electronically coupled to the abuse detection logic, to return from the standby mode after a predetermined amount of time and, upon returning from the standby mode, to determine if any of the one or more sensors still indicate the occurrence of the abuse event and, if any of the one or more sensors still indicate the occurrence of the abuse event, to return to the standby mode for the predetermined amount of time or else, if none of the one or more sensors indicate the occurrence of the abuse event, to re-enable the electronic device; and an input and output port configured to interface the circuit board with a diagnostic device. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. An electronic device comprising:
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a processor configured to execute instructions; a storage device configured to store data, the data at least partially comprising instructions to be executed by the processor; a user interface configured to receive data for use by the processor from a user; and an abuse detection system comprising; one or more sensors configured to detect the occurrence of an abuse event; abuse detection circuitry configured to disable the electronic device if any of the one or more sensors indicates the occurrence of the abuse event; an interface configured to facilitate communication between the electronic device and an external device, wherein the interface is configured to provide two or more modes of communication between the electronic device and the external device, wherein the two or more modes include a first and a second communication mode; and communication selection circuitry configured to select the first communication mode if the external device is a diagnostic device and to select the second communication mode if the external device is a non-diagnostic device, wherein the diagnostic device is configured to read the state of each of the one or more sensors. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. A method for operating an electronic device, the method comprising the acts of:
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detecting the occurrence of an abuse event;
generating a record of the abuse event;
storing the record;
disabling the electronic device;
determining if the abuse event is still occurring; andre-enabling the electronic device if it is determined the abuse event is no longer occurring; wherein re-enabling the electronic device includes first performing a self test to detect the presence of damage in the electronic device and, if the self test indicates the presence of damage, notifying a user to obtain service for the electronic device. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification