METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING AN ELECTRONIC APPLIANCE

• US 20080238653A1
• Filed: 03/30/2007
• Published: 10/02/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Unger, Robert A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,094,037 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/531
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0185 Product, service or business identity fraud
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 3/00 Registering or indicating the condition or the working of machines or other apparatus, other than vehicles

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.

Claims

1. A method of identifying an appliance comprising:

receiving indication of an appliance coupling to a communication port on a communication network;

retrieving, over the communication network, a first identification assigned to the appliance during manufacturing of the appliance;

validating the appliance using the first identification; and

determining a status of the appliance.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the validating further comprises comparing the first identification having been retrieved to a database comprising valid manufacturer assigned serial numbers.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the status further comprises:

accessing a database comprising a registration status of the appliance corresponding to the first identification having been retrieved; and

registering the first identification corresponding to the appliance having been determined unregistered.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the status further comprises accessing a database comprising reported stolen appliance identifications.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the status further comprising:

determining, over the communication network, a current location of the communication port to which the appliance is coupled;

accessing a database comprising a registered location of the appliance corresponding to the first identification having been retrieved; and

comparing the current location to the registered location.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the status further comprises:

determining, over the communication network, an attribute of the appliance comprising a revision level of at least one of hardware, software and firmware.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving, over the communication network, diagnostic information of the appliance.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving, over the communication network and through the appliance, a second identification of a related appliance connected to the appliance.

9. An apparatus comprising:

a communication interface coupled to a communication network;

a database coupled the communication interface;

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 using the identification of the appliance.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the communication interface is further configured to receive registration information from an owner of the appliance and transmit the registration information and the identification corresponding to the appliance to the database for storage.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the communication interface is further configured to determine, over the communication network, the location of the communication port to which the appliance is coupled.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, further configured to track the location of the appliance comprising:

the communication interface determining a first location of the communication port to which the appliance is initially coupled and storing the first location in the database; and

the communication interface determining a new location of a new communication port to which the appliance is subsequently coupled.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the communication interface is further configured to retrieve a current revision level of at least one of the hardware, software and firmware of the appliance, and wherein the communication interface is configured to use the attribute to determine if the appliance needs an update.

14. An electronic appliance comprising:

a memory module;

an identification assigned by a manufactured 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; and

wherein the identification is used to validate the electronic appliance.

15. The electronic appliance of claim 14, further comprising:

a user interface coupled to the communication interface;

the user interface configured to receive registration information from an owner, wherein the communication interface is configured to transmit the registration information over the communication network to a database for storage in connection with the identification of the electronic appliance.

16. The electronic appliance of claim 14, wherein a physical location of the communication port, to which the electronic appliance is coupled, is registered with a service provider of the communication network.

17. The electronic appliance of claim 14, wherein the communication network further comprises the Internet and the electronic appliance is at least one of a point of decision television (POD TV) and an Internet protocol television (IPTV)

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the server is further configured to track the appliance as a service to the owner of the appliance.

19. The electronic appliance of claim 14, further comprising:

an external connector coupled to the communication interface;

the external connector configured to couple to a related appliance, and wherein the communication interface is further configured to transmit, over the communication network, an identification of the related appliance.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the related appliance is at least one of a set top box, a television, a cable box, a video player, a video recorder, a music player, a music recorder, a video game console and a personal computer.