Automated searching for solutions to support self-diagnostic operations of web-enabled devices

• US 8,799,258 B2
• Filed: 08/28/2013
• Issued: 08/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dish Network Technologies India Private Limited
• Original Assignee: Sling Media Pvt Ltd. (Dish Network Corporation)
• Inventors: Mule, Sachin D.
• Primary Examiner(s): PYO, MONICA M
• Application Number:
  US14/012,004
• Publication Number:
  US 20130346384A1
• Time in Patent Office: 342 Days
• Field of Search: 707705-707
• US Class Current: 707/706
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/434 using image data, e.g. images, photos, pictures taken by a user

Abstract

An automated diagnostic system is presented here. The system includes a network-enabled device, a remote network-based search engine, and a data communication network to facilitate data communication between the network-enabled device and the remote network-based search engine. The device automatically detects a problem, error, or failure associated with its operation, and automatically sends a corresponding search query to the remote network-based search engine. The search engine receives the search query and, in response to the search query, searches for relevant information pertaining to the problem, error, or failure, and sends a corresponding response to the network-enabled device. The response includes response data having some contextual association with the solution. The device receives the response, processes at least some of the response data to determine a course of action, and initiates that course of action.

Claims

1. A self-diagnostic device comprising:

a processor;

at least one sensor coupled to the processor;

a network interface coupled to the processor and configured to establish data connectivity to a remote network-based search engine, wherein the processor, the at least one sensor, and the network interface are configured to perform an automated self-diagnostic method comprising;

determining that the device requires a solution to a problem related to an environment surrounding the device, wherein the determining is performed by the device using its native functionality and processing capabilities, and is performed automatically and autonomously by the device without any human involvement;

automatically capturing, by the at least one sensor, information related to the environment surrounding the device;

generating a search query intended to find information related to the solution, wherein the generating is performed by the device in response to the determining, the search query is generated in compliance with a format supported by the network-based search engine, and the generating appends the captured information related to the environment surrounding the device to the search query;

sending, by the device, the search query including the captured information related to the environment surrounding the device to the remote network-based search engine;

after sending the search query, receiving a response that includes response data having a contextual association with the solution, the problem, or both, wherein the response data includes one or more descriptors of the captured information related to the environment surrounding the device;

processing, by the device, at least some of the response data to determine a course of action; and

initiating the course of action at the device to thereby solve the problem.

2. The self-diagnostic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a camera configured to obtain a digital picture file corresponding to an image of an object, wherein:

the device obtains the digital picture file using the camera;

the generating appends the digital picture file to the search query; and

the search query includes a request to identify the object.

3. The self-diagnostic device of claim 1, wherein the response data includes one or more descriptors of the object.

4. The self-diagnostic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a microphone configured to obtain a digital audio file, wherein:

the device obtains the digital audio file using the microphone;

the generating appends the digital audio file to the search query; and

the search query includes a request to identify at least one characteristic of sound conveyed by the digital audio file.

5. The self-diagnostic device of claim 1, wherein the response data includes at least one potential source of the sound conveyed by the digital audio file.

6. The self-diagnostic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a camera configured to obtain a digital video file, wherein:

the device obtains the digital video file using the camera;

the generating appends the digital video file to the search query; and

the search query includes a request for information related to subject matter conveyed by the digital video file.

7. The self-diagnostic device of claim 1, wherein the response data includes one or more descriptors of the subject matter.

8. The self-diagnostic device of claim 1, wherein:

the determining acquires a self-diagnostic error code associated with the problem;

the generating appends the error code to the search query; and

the response data includes instructions that, when executed by the device, address the error code.

9. The self-diagnostic device of claim 1, wherein:

the remote network-based search engine has a uniform resource identifier (URI) associated therewith; and

the search query includes the URI of the remote network-based search engine.

10. An automated diagnostic system comprising:

a network-enabled device configured to communicate with a remote network-based search engine using a data communication network;

wherein;

the network-enabled device automatically and autonomously detects an issue associated with its operation in the context of an environment surrounding the network-enabled device using its native functionality and processing capabilities, and without any human involvement, automatically captures, by one or more sensors onboard the network-enabled device, information related to the environment surrounding the device, and automatically sends a corresponding search query to the remote network-based search engine using its native functionality and processing capabilities, and without any human involvement, the search query intended to find information related to a solution to the issue, wherein the network-enabled device appends the captured information related to the environment surrounding the device to the search query for sending to the remote network-based search engine;

the network-enabled device receives a response from the remote network-based search engine, the response including response data that is associated with the solution to the issue, wherein the response data includes one or more descriptors of the captured information related to the environment surrounding the device; and

the network-enabled device processes at least some of the response data to determine a course of action, and initiates the determined course of action.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein:

the network-enabled device generates the search query in accordance with a protocol used by the remote network-based search engine; and

the remote network-based search engine generates the response in accordance with the protocol.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the network-enabled device processes the response data to identify relevant information to be used with the course of action, and to identify irrelevant information that can be disregarded.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the search query comprises search parameters that are extractable by the remote network-based search engine.

14. A self-diagnostic device comprising:

a processor;

at least one sensor coupled to the processor; and

a network interface coupled to the processor and configured to establish data connectivity to a remote network-based search engine, wherein the processor, the at least one sensor, and the network interface are configured to perform a method comprising;

determining that the device requires a solution to a problem related to an environment surrounding the device, wherein the determining is performed by the device using its native functionality and processing capabilities, and is performed automatically and autonomously by the device without any human involvement;

automatically capturing, by the at least one sensor, information related to the environment surrounding the device;

sending a generated search query that is intended to find information related to the solution, wherein the search query complies with a format supported by the remote network-based search engine, and wherein the captured information is appended to the search query;

after sending the search query, receiving response data having a contextual association with the solution, the problem, or both, wherein the response data includes one or more descriptors of the captured information; and

initiating a course of action at the device, wherein the course of action is determined by at least some of the response data.

15. The self-diagnostic device of claim 14, wherein:

the search query includes a digital picture file corresponding to an image of an object as observed by the device; and

the response data includes one or more descriptors of the object.

16. The self-diagnostic device of claim 14, wherein:

the search query includes a digital audio file that conveys sound captured by the device; and

the response data includes at least one potential source of the sound conveyed by the digital audio file.

17. The self-diagnostic device of claim 14, wherein:

the search query includes a digital video file that conveys video content captured by the device; and

the response data includes one or more descriptors of the video content.

18. The self-diagnostic device of claim 14, wherein:

the search query includes an error code associated with the problem, the error code being automatically generated by the device; and

the response data includes instructions that, when executed by the device, address the error code.