System to assist a mobile device subscriber to perform self-diagnosis of the mobile device

• US 8,934,866 B2
• Filed: 05/04/2012
• Issued: 01/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vmware LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AetherPal, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Parmar, Ramesh, Gonsalves, Deepak, Jagannatha, Deepa, Ayyalasomayajula, Subramanyam
• Primary Examiner(s): Iqbal, Khawar
• Application Number:
  US13/464,038
• Publication Number:
  US 20120282899A1
• Time in Patent Office: 984 Days
• Field of Search: 455/411, 4554141-4144, 455419-420, 455/410, 709/227, 345/173
• US Class Current: 455/411
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

The instant invention is a process for a Self-Care system that allows mobile device subscribers to manage their own devices without making a trip or a phone call to the customer care center. Subscribers can view service issues and repair and update settings, check the status of their devices, and manage device security minimizing customer service calls. Dynamic workflow navigates the subscriber to easily find a solution to their problem which will substantially reduce frequent calls to customer care. Dynamic menus avoid the unnecessary information that the subscriber might enter about the device and leads the subscriber towards the path of solving the issue. The system is scalable to include diagnostics tools as part of self-care and customer care, where the subscribers can benefit from these tools to reset their device to a normal state.

Claims

1. A method for assisting a subscriber to perform self-care diagnostics and correction on a mobile device for troubleshooting and correcting the mobile device issue, the method comprising:

accessing a self-care diagnostic and corrective application on the mobile device in response to an action from the subscriber;

displaying a menu option upon accessing the self-care diagnostic and corrective application;

communicating a selected menu option to a communication endpoint server;

receiving diagnostic dynamic workflow in response to the selected menu, wherein the diagnostic dynamic workflow guides the subscriber through a series of tasks on the mobile device;

executing the diagnostic dynamic workflow on the mobile device;

transmitting a result of the executed diagnostic dynamic workflow to the communication endpoint server;

receiving at least one corrective action script in response to the result; and

translating the at least one corrective action script into a set of the mobile device specific get/set/exec commands.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the diagnostic dynamic workflow depends on sensitivity of the information that is managed.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one corrective action script is a collection of get/set/exec commands.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

connecting to the communication endpoint server in accordance with accessing the self-care diagnostic and corrective application.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein usage information and statistics are accessible by the subscriber through the self-care diagnostic and corrective application.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein diagnostic tools are provided upon accessing the self-care diagnostic and corrective application.

7. A method for assisting a subscriber to perform self-care diagnostics and correction on a mobile device for troubleshooting and correcting the mobile device issue, the method comprising:

receiving a selected menu option from a self-care diagnostic and corrective application accessed by the subscriber on the mobile device;

transmitting diagnostic dynamic workflow to the mobile device based on features supported by the mobile device and the selected menu option, wherein the diagnostic dynamic workflow assists in troubleshooting the mobile device;

determining a corrective action based on a result received from the mobile device, wherein the result is based on execution of the diagnostic dynamic workflow; and

transmitting at least one corrective action script in accordance with the determined corrective action, wherein the at least one corrective action script results in the mobile device specific get/set/exec commands being applied on the mobile device, wherein the at least one corrective action script is a collection of get/set/exec commands.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising:

connecting to a client on the mobile device in accordance with accessing the self-care diagnostics and correction application on the mobile device for troubleshooting and correcting mobile device issue.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the diagnostic dynamic workflow is a series of tasks culminating in the at least one corrective action script.

10. The method according to claim 7, wherein the at least one corrective action script is generated by a scripting engine having a database and an execution engine for a collection of scripts.

11. A system for assisting a subscriber to perform self-care diagnostics and correction on a mobile device for troubleshooting and correcting the mobile device issue, comprising:

a communication endpoint server including at least a communication module;

the communication module configured to receive a menu option from a self-care diagnostic and corrective application accessed by the subscriber on the mobile device;

a workflow manager and the communication module configured to transmit diagnostic dynamic workflow to the mobile device based on features supported by the mobile device and the selected menu option, wherein the diagnostic dynamic workflow assists in troubleshooting the mobile device and is a series of tasks for guiding the subscriber to determine corrective action;

the workflow manager configured to determine the corrective action based on a result received from the mobile device, wherein the result is based on execution of the diagnostic dynamic workflow; and

the communication module configured to transmit at least one corrective action script to the mobile device, wherein the at least one corrective action script results in the mobile device specific get/set/exec commands being applied on the mobile device.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

a scripting engine configured to generate the at least one corrective action script.

13. The system according to claim 12, further comprising:

the scripting engine configured to generate the at least one corrective action script from a collection of scripts.

14. The system according to claim 11, wherein the at least one corrective action script is a collection of get/set/exec commands.

15. The system according to claim 11, further comprising:

the communication module automatically connecting to a client in the mobile device in accordance with accessing the self-care diagnostic and correction application.

16. A mobile device, comprising:

a user interface configured to access a self-care diagnostic and corrective application on the mobile device in response to an action from a subscriber;

the mobile device configured to display a menu option upon accessing the self-care diagnostic and corrective application;

a communication module configured to communicate a selected menu option to a communication endpoint server;

the communication module configured to receive diagnostic dynamic workflow in response to the selected menu, wherein the mobile device and the communication module is configured to receive the diagnostic dynamic workflow to guide the subscriber through a series of tasks on the mobile device culminating in at least one corrective action script;

the mobile device configured to execute the diagnostic dynamic workflow on the mobile device;

the communication module configured to transmit a result of the executed diagnostic dynamic workflow to the communication endpoint server;

the communication module configured to receive the at least one corrective action script in response to the result; and

a command processing entity configured to translate the at least one corrective action script into at least one mobile device specific get/set/exec command.