Method and apparatus for identifying an electronic appliance
First Claim
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1. A method of identifying an appliance comprising:
- receiving indication of an appliance coupling to a communication port on a communication network;
issuing, over the communication network and to a plurality of appliances accessible over the communication network, a request that identification information from a specific type of appliance be returned over the communication network;
retrieving, over the communication network and in response to the request, a first identification assigned to the appliance during manufacturing of the appliance;
validating the appliance using the first identification, wherein the validating comprises comparing the first identification having been retrieved to a database comprising valid manufacturer assigned serial numbers; and
determining a status of the appliance when the appliance has been validated, wherein determining the status of the appliance comprises accessing a database comprising a registration status of the appliance corresponding to the first identification, and determining whether the appliance is unregistered; and
registering the appliance when it is determined that the appliance is unregistered.
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Abstract
Methods and systems for identifying an appliance comprising receiving indication of an appliance coupling to a communication port on a communication network and retrieving, over the communication network, a first identification assigned to the appliance during manufacturing of the appliance. The appliance is validated using the first identification and a status of the appliance is determined.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method of identifying an appliance comprising:
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receiving indication of an appliance coupling to a communication port on a communication network; issuing, over the communication network and to a plurality of appliances accessible over the communication network, a request that identification information from a specific type of appliance be returned over the communication network; retrieving, over the communication network and in response to the request, a first identification assigned to the appliance during manufacturing of the appliance; validating the appliance using the first identification, wherein the validating comprises comparing the first identification having been retrieved to a database comprising valid manufacturer assigned serial numbers; and determining a status of the appliance when the appliance has been validated, wherein determining the status of the appliance comprises accessing a database comprising a registration status of the appliance corresponding to the first identification, and determining whether the appliance is unregistered; and registering the appliance when it is determined that the appliance is unregistered. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 18, 19)
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7. An apparatus comprising:
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a communication interface coupled to a communication network; a database coupled to the communication interface; the communication interface configured to issue, over the communication network and to a plurality of appliances accessible over the communication network, a request that identification information from a specific type of appliance be returned over the communication network; the communication interface configured to receive, over the communication network, an identification from an appliance coupled to a communication port on the communication network, wherein the identification is assigned to the appliance by a manufacturer and stored on the appliance during manufacturing; the database further comprising valid manufacturer assigned appliance identifications, and the database further configured to be accessed for validating the appliance by comparing the received identification of the appliance to the valid manufacturing assigned appliance identifications; the database further comprising a registration status of the appliance, and further configured to be accessed for determining the registration status of the appliance; and the apparatus being configured to determine the registration status of the appliance when it is determined that the appliance has been validated and further configured to register the appliance when it is determined that the appliance is unregistered. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An electronic appliance comprising:
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a memory module; an identification assigned by a manufacturer to the electronic appliance and stored on the memory module during manufacturing; a communication interface coupled to the memory module, the communication interface configured to couple to a communication port on a communication network; the communication interface configured to transmit, over the communication network, the identification in response to receiving a request, issued over the communication network and to a plurality of appliances accessible over the communication network, requesting that identification information from a specific type of appliance be returned over the communication network; and wherein the identification is used to validate the electronic appliance, wherein the validating comprises comparing the identification to a database comprising valid manufacturer assigned serial numbers; and wherein the identification is further used to determine a registration status of the appliance when the appliance has been validated and to register the appliance when it is determined that the appliance is unregistered. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification