Method, system, and computer readable medium for remote assistance, support, and troubleshooting

• US 8,924,461 B2
• Filed: 02/03/2011
• Issued: 12/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/03/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Symantec Corporation (NortonLifeLock Inc.)
• Inventors: Gentile, Mark, Sullivan, Jim, Hanson, Mark, Wade, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Taylor, Nicholas
• Assistant Examiner(s): MUNDUR, PADMAVATHI V
• Application Number:
  US13/020,424
• Publication Number:
  US 20110213821A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,426 Days
• US Class Current: 709/202
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0246 Exchanging or transporting network management information using the Internet; Embedding network management web servers in network elements; Web-services-based protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0266 using meta-data, objects or commands for formatting management information, e.g. using eXtensible markup language [XML]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0273 using web services for network management, e.g. simple object access protocol [SOAP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/168 above the transport layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

The present disclosure enables remote device management. A programmatic interface is associated with each application plug-in A web server included with the on-device agent provides access to the programmatic interfaces according to open standards such as HTML or XML. The present disclosure enables access to remote devices through existing infrastructure without the need for proprietary systems. An IT administrator or other administrator may remotely access and update software and hardware, track device data plan usage statistics, provide live support, and track current and historical device locations. Through the support features of the present disclosure an IT administrator or other support operator may remotely operate a device as if they were actually holding the device. This feature provides direct access to device files and software while also showing the IT administrator screen views of the remote device. Thus, the IT administrator actually sees what the remote user also sees.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions thereon, the instructions being executable by a processor to:

determine, by a remote device, that an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the remote device is unreachable;

initiate, by an on-device agent encoded on the remote device, a connection from the remote device to a support computer upon determining that the IP address of the remote device is unreachable, the on-device agent comprising a tunnel client and a service host, the service host comprising an application plug-in and a web server, wherein the application plug-in comprises an extensible markup language based (XML-based) client to provide a first mode of accessing the plug-in, a hypertext markup language (HTML) interface to provide a second mode of accessing the plug-in, and an XML-based remote procedure call (RPC) interface to process a request to use the plug-in;

establish, by the on-device agent via the tunnel client, a secure tunnel to the support computer via the connection;

provide, by the on-device agent, a screen view interface of the remote device to the support computer; and

receive, from the support computer via the on-device agent, a plurality of control signals, the plurality of control signals corresponding to remote device actions occurring in essentially real time.

2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to:

provide file system information to the support computer; and

accept file system changes from the support computer.

3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to:

provide a mouse-based interface to the support computer, the mouse-based interface corresponding to a touchscreen-based interface on the remote device.

4. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to:

provide a keyboard-mapping-based interface to the support computer, the keyboard-mapping-based interface corresponding to a physical button-based interface on the remote device.

5. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to:

determine whether the connection from the remote device to the support computer is lost; and

upon determining that the connection is lost, the instructions are executable by the processor to re-establish, by the remote device, the connection and the secure tunnel.

6. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5, wherein the instructions to re-establish the connection are executable by the processor to:

re-establish the connection based at least in part on a re-try cycle.

7. A computer-implemented method for supporting a remote device, comprising:

determining, by a processor of the remote device, that an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the remote device is unreachable;

upon determining that the IP address of the remote device is unreachable, initiating, by an on-device agent encoded on the remote device, a connection from the remote device to a support computer, the on-device agent comprising a tunnel client and a service host, the service host comprising an application plug-in and a web server, wherein the application plug-in comprises an extensible markup language based (XML-based) client to provide a first mode of accessing the plug-in, a hypertext markup language (HTML) interface to provide a second mode of accessing the plug-in, and an XML-based remote procedure call (RPC) interface to process a request to use the plug-in;

establishing, by the on-device agent via the tunnel client, a secure tunnel to the support computer via the connection;

providing, by the on-device agent, a screen view interface of the remote device to the support computer; and

receiving, from the support computer via the on-device agent, a plurality of control signals, the plurality of control signals corresponding to remote device actions occurring in essentially real time.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

providing file system information to the support computer; and

accepting file system changes from the support computer.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

providing a mouse-based interface to the support computer, the mouse-based interface corresponding to a touchscreen-based interface on the remote device.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising

providing a keyboard-mapping-based interface to the support computer, the keyboard-mapping-based interface corresponding to a physical button-based interface on the remote device.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining whether the connection from the remote device to the support computer is lost; and

upon determining that the connection is lost, re-establishing, by the remote device, the connection and the secure tunnel.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein re-establishing the connection comprises re-establishing the connection based at least in part on a re-try cycle.

13. A remote device, comprising:

a processor;

memory in electronic communication with the processor; and

instructions stored in the memory, the instructions being executable by the processor to;

determine, by the remote device, that an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the remote device is unreachable;

initiate, by an on-device agent encoded on the remote device, a connection from the remote device to a support computer upon determining that the IP address of the remote device is unreachable, the on-device agent comprising a tunnel client and a service host, the service host comprising an application plug-in and a web server, wherein the application plug-in comprises an extensible markup language based (XML-based) client to provide a first mode of accessing the plug-in, a hypertext markup language (HTML) interface to provide a second mode of accessing the plug-in, and an XML-based remote procedure call (RPC) interface to process a request to use the plug-in;

establish, by the on-device agent via the tunnel client, a secure tunnel to the support computer via the connection;

provide, by the on-device agent, a screen view interface of the remote device to the support computer; and

receive, from the support computer via the on-device agent, a plurality of control signals, the plurality of control signals corresponding to remote device actions occurring in essentially real time.

14. The remote device of claim 13, wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to:

provide file system information to the support computer; and

accept file system changes from the support computer.

15. The remote device of claim 13, wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to:

provide a mouse-based interface to the support computer, the mouse-based interface corresponding to a touchscreen-based interface on the remote device.

16. The remote device of claim 13, wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to:

provide a keyboard-mapping-based interface to the support computer, the keyboard-mapping-based interface corresponding to a physical button-based interface on the remote device.

17. The remote device of claim 13, wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to:

determine whether the connection from the remote device to the support computer is lost; and

upon determining that the connection is lost, re-establish, by the remote device, the connection and the secure tunnel.

18. The remote device of claim 17, wherein the instructions to re-establish the connection are executable by the processor to re-establish the connection based at least in part on a re-try cycle.