Visualization of user interactions in a system of networked devices

• US 8,074,124 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2008
• Issued: 12/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: III Holdings 6, LLC
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Bouchard, Guillaume, Donini, Laurent, Valobra, Pascal, Ciriza, Victor
• Primary Examiner(s): Ehne, Charles
• Application Number:
  US12/201,093
• Publication Number:
  US 20100058121A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,194 Days
• Field of Search: 714/25, 714/47, 714/48, 714/57, 714/47.1, 714/47.2, 714/47.3, 358/1.14
• US Class Current: 714/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0733 in a data processing system embedded in an image processing device, e.g. printer, facsimile, scanner
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0751 Error or fault detection not based on redundancy power supply failures G06F1/30; network fault management H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3013 where the computing system is an embedded system, i.e. a combination of hardware and software dedicated to perform a certain function in mobile devices, printers, automotive or aircraft systems testing or monitoring of control systems or parts thereof G05B23/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3065 Monitoring arrangements determined by the means or processing involved in reporting the monitored data error or fault reporting or logging G06F11/0766
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/321 Display for diagnostics, e.g. diagnostic result display, self-test user interface

Abstract

As set forth herein, a system identifies soft failures of devices. An interface captures transactional data between one or more users and one or more devices within the system. A data log receives the transactional data from the interface and stores the data as historical data for subsequent retrieval. A warning system evaluates the historical data in the data log to identify one or more devices that have a soft failure condition, wherein an alarm is output for each soft failure identified. A display module combines the historical data from the data log and one or more alarms from the warning system into a single display for review.

Claims

1. A system that identifies soft device failures within a system, comprising:

an interface that captures transactional data between one or more users and one or more devices within the system and determines a primary device for each user based on an exclusive use of the primary device by the user for a time greater than a threshold, the interface computing a list of the one or more users sharing the primary device;

a data log that receives the transactional data from the interface and stores the data as historical data for subsequent retrieval;

a warning system that evaluates the historical data corresponding to the list and the primary device in the data log to identify a soft failure condition, wherein an alarm is output for each soft failure identified; and

a display module that combines the historical data from the data log and one or more alarms from the warning system into a single display for review,

wherein the display includes a plot of the primary device usage as a percentage of the system.

2. The system according to claim 1, further including:

a filter that eliminates data that is not relevant to a soft failure condition.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein data is reviewed by an administrator.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein a device that has a high volume of use, with a period of low use during an alarm output indicates an accurate soft failure assessment by the warning system.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein a device that has a low volume of use, with a period of low use does not indicate an accurate soft failure assessment by the warning system.

6. The system according to claim 1, further including:

at least one display that receives soft device failure data from the display module.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein data from the warning system and the log are presented via a bar graph that has a common time axis from the display module to the at least one display.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the display module is triggered by at least one of a device failure, a threshold value of the number of switches away from a device within a given time period, and non-use of a device for longer than a predetermined time period.

9. A system that identifies soft device failure candidates, comprising:

a plurality of devices in an infrastructure that are adapted to be used by one or more users, the devices further adapted to receive and process data;

a log that stores the historical use of the plurality of devices by the one or more users;

a primary device that is one of the plurality of devices;

an interface that is adapted to determine if the primary device is employed by the one or more users for a time greater than a threshold when all of the plurality of devices are available, the interface defining the device as a primary device for the one or more users;

a warning system that reviews the use of the one or more users, wherein an alarm is output when the primary device is not utilized according to a predetermined threshold;

a display module that combines the historical data from the log and one or more alarms from the warning system into a single display; and

,

at least one display that receives soft device failure data from the display module.

10. The system according to claim 9, further including:

one or more redirect candidates that have the same processing capability as the primary device and are located within a proximity to the one or more users of the primary device.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein a device is filtered out if it is not a redirect candidate.

12. The system according to claim 10, wherein a redirect device is selected by the primary device users from one or more redirect candidates.

13. The system according to claim 9, wherein a switch by a user from a primary device to a redirect device is indicated via a graphical element.

14. The system according to claim 9, wherein the display presents the historical use and alarms for a device on a single graph.

15. The system according to claim 9, wherein the display module sends information to the at least one display when triggered by at least one of a device failure, a threshold value of the number of switches away from a device within a given time period, and non-use of a device for longer than a predetermined time period can trigger an output.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the interface presents the plurality of devices on the display to the one or more users, wherein a graphical element connects each user to a respective primary device, a second graphical element further adapted to redirect candidates.

17. A method to identify soft device failures within a system, comprising:

displaying by a display use of a device in the system over a period of time;

capturing by an interface an exclusive use of the device by a user for a time greater than a threshold, the interface defining the device as primary device for the user;

receiving historical data to identify entries that include the device and the user;

displaying usage logs in a chronological order;

determining by a processing component if the device has a soft failure condition; and

displaying the volume of device use and alarm outputs for a time period on a single graph.

18. The method of claim 17, further including:

executing an algorithm that outputs an alarm if a soft failure condition is identified, wherein the alarm is associated with a level of trustworthiness.