Apparatus for low cost embedded platform for device-side, distributed services enablement
First Claim
1. A diagnostic system for at least one document processing device, the diagnostic system comprising:
- a connection to at least one input-output terminal (IOT) of at least one document processing device through at least one existing device interface to provide a common device model, common information management (CIM) application programming interface (API), and an environment in which device services can run;
data collection and display functionality;
a user interface (UI) accessible by a user and in communication with an operating system of the at least one document processing device, the UI including at least one UI element representing at least one diagnostic routine for the at least one document processing device;
a services platform;
at least one application programming interface (API) for remote connectivity and device-centric services; and
at least one device model agent (DMA) representing the at least one document processing device to a remote services host that provides services to which the at least one document processing device can subscribe and to a remote asset management system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A class of add-on system components providing functionality of devices, management of self-help, customization and enhancement of services for devices, and remote monitoring at significantly reduced cost. It reduces the cost of UI and greatly enhances ease-of-use by realizing that the networked system can be headless and use a browser-based UI for its platform. It embeds a Device Model Agent (DMA) and connects to the Device-Centric Services platform to offer services. Additionally, it offers customized diagnostic access for customer representatives to enable self-help service actions to be performed, unifies and manages multiple access needs to several disparate data access mechanisms, and uses largely COTS PC hardware rather than customized PWBs.
114 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A diagnostic system for at least one document processing device, the diagnostic system comprising:
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a connection to at least one input-output terminal (IOT) of at least one document processing device through at least one existing device interface to provide a common device model, common information management (CIM) application programming interface (API), and an environment in which device services can run; data collection and display functionality; a user interface (UI) accessible by a user and in communication with an operating system of the at least one document processing device, the UI including at least one UI element representing at least one diagnostic routine for the at least one document processing device; a services platform; at least one application programming interface (API) for remote connectivity and device-centric services; and at least one device model agent (DMA) representing the at least one document processing device to a remote services host that provides services to which the at least one document processing device can subscribe and to a remote asset management system. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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2. The diagnostic system of claim, wherein the at least one DMA is operative to:
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communicate a status of the document processing device, a configuration of the document processing device, and services offered by the at least one document processing device to the remote services host and to the remote asset management system using a common transaction language, provide a services environment that is a runtime environment for the services on the at least one document processing device to provide device-independence for the services offered by the remote services host; actively and dynamically monitor information about the at least one document processing device including at least one of device configuration, device status, and one or more device supply levels, dynamically provision the at least one document processing device to automatically download software as needed to add, delete, update, and customize the services offered by the at least one document processing device which are determined by the remote services host and the remote asset management system, and to communicate, through the local UI, services to be selectively added to or performed on the at least one document processing device.
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3. The diagnostic system of claim, wherein the at least one DMA comprises:
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a DMA core including; a common information model (CIM) API, a common information model object manager (CIMOM), and a service manager; and a common provider API operative to; communicate with at least one device-specific provider API to retrieve information about the at least one document processing device including at least one of device configuration, device status, and one or more device supply levels, and make the retrieved information about the at least one document processing device available to the CIMOM, the service manager, and to the services running in the services environment. - View Dependent Claims (4)
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Specification