Remote maintenance system

• US 6,772,096 B2
• Filed: 03/06/2002
• Issued: 08/03/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Shintani, Yasuyuki, Murakami, Takashi, Nagamitsu, Sachio
• Primary Examiner(s): Barlow, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Taylor, Victor J.
• Application Number:
  US10/090,779
• Publication Number:
  US 20020128728A1
• Time in Patent Office: 881 Days
• Field of Search: 702/184, 702/188, 702/16, 340/539, 340/3.1, 340/825, 340/506, 700/17, 700/16, 700/10, 714/4, 714/25, 703/27, 705/54, 705/14
• US Class Current: 702/184
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25168 Domotique, access through internet protocols
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0245 based on a qualitative model, e.g. rule based; if-then decisions
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0297 Reconfiguration of monitoring system, e.g. use of virtual sensors; change monitoring method as a response to monitoring results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2825 Reporting to a device located outside the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with telemetering systems H04M11/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2845 Telephone line
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2849 Audio/video appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/00 Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0677 Localisation of faults

Abstract

A remote maintenance system has a center server that is located in a service center for performing maintenance of an electrical appliance and a home server that is located in a house and monitors a status of the electrical appliance 102 in the house which are connected via a communication network. The home server includes an electrical appliance management unit that acquires a status value of the electrical appliance, a communication unit that receives from the center server a failure model which is information defining a method of deriving a decision whether the electrical appliance has failed or not from the status value, and a failure deciding unit that decides whether the electrical appliance has failed or not based on the acquired status value and the received failure model using qualitative reasoning. The center server includes a failure model updating unit that updates a failure model and sends the updated failure model to the home server via a communication unit.

Claims

1. A remote maintenance system comprising:

a center server located in a service center for performing maintenance of an electrical appliance; and

a home server located in a house for monitoring a status of an electrical appliance in the house,

wherein the center server and the home server are connected via a communication line, the home server includes;

a status value acquiring unit operable to acquire a status value of the electrical appliance;

a failure model receiving unit operable to receive from the center server a failure model for deriving a decision as to whether or not the electrical appliance has failed from the status value; and

a failure deciding unit operable to decide whether or not the electrical appliance has failed based on the acquired status value and the received failure model, and

the center server includes a failure model updating unit operable to update the failure model and send the updated failure model to the home server.

2. The remote maintenance system according to claim 1,

wherein the home server further includes:

a status value storing unit operable to store the status value at a time when the failure deciding unit decides that the electrical appliance has failed or not failed; and

a status value sending unit operable to send the stored status value to the center server, the center server further includes a status value receiving unit operable to receive the status value from the home server, and

the failure model updating unit updates the failure model based on the received status value of the electrical appliance.

3. The remote maintenance system according to claim 2,

wherein the failure model includes a standard value indicating a decision basis for the failure deciding unit to make the decision.

4. The remote maintenance system according to claim 3,

wherein the failure model includes a program, and

the failure deciding unit uses the program to decide whether or not the electrical appliance has failed using the standard value and the status value.

5. The remote maintenance system according to claim 4,

wherein the failure model updating unit updates the standard value using a vector quantization method based on the status value.

6. The remote maintenance system according to claim 5,

wherein the standard value indicates a normal range of a relationship between the status value stored in the status value storing unit and a preset condition of the electrical appliance at the time when the status value is acquired.

7. The remote maintenance system according to claim 6,

wherein when the electrical appliance is an air conditioner, the standard value of the failure model for the air conditioner includes an upper limit value of a compressor rotational frequency during a cooling operation and a heating operation of the air conditioner, and

the failure deciding unit decides that the air conditioner has failed when the compressor rotational frequency during the cooling operation or the heating operation of the air conditioner exceeds the upper limit value.

8. The remote maintenance system according to claim 6,

wherein the standard value includes a coefficient of a curve indicating a boundary between a normal range and an abnormal range when a pair of the status value and the preset condition is plotted on a multi-dimensional coordinate.

9. The remote maintenance system according to claim 8,

wherein the failure model updating unit updates the coefficient of the curve by a least squares method based on a plurality of points indicating pairs of status values and preset conditions on the multi-dimensional coordinate.

10. The remote maintenance system according to claim 8,

wherein when the electrical appliance is an air conditioner, the preset condition is a temperature difference between a preset temperature and a room temperature during a cooling operation or a heating operation of the air conditioner, and the status value is a lapsed time until the room temperature reaches the preset temperature.

11. The remote maintenance system according to claim 8,

wherein the the failure deciding unit uses the program to decide whether or not the electrical appliance has failed by deciding whether a point indicating the pair of the preset condition and the status value on the multi-dimensional coordinate is located within the normal range of the curve.

12. The remote maintenance system according to claim 11, wherein the failure model includes another program, and

the status value acquiring unit uses the other program to acquire a predetermined status value at a predetermined timing.

13. The remote maintenance system according to claim 12,

wherein the home server further includes a customer display unit operable to display customer failure information of the electrical appliance,

the failure deciding unit sends information specifying contents of a failure of the electrical appliance to the center server when the failure deciding unit decides that the electrical appliance has failed, and

the center server further includes:

a holding unit operable to hold different contents of failure information which are prepared beforehand for a customer and a serviceman separately corresponding to a failure which can occur per model of electrical appliance;

failure information sending unit operable to receive the information specifying contents of the failure of the electrical appliance, specify failure information for a customer among the contents of failure information held in the holding unit, and send the specified customer failure information to the home server; and

a serviceman display unit operable to receive the information specifying contents of the failure of the electrical appliance, specify failure information for a serviceman among the contents of failure information held in the holding unit, and display the specified serviceman failure information for a serviceman.

14. The remote maintenance system according to claim 13,

wherein the failure model receiving unit receives the failure model corresponding to the electrical appliance from the center server,

the failure deciding unit decides a failure of the electrical appliance according to the failure model corresponding to the electrical appliance, and

the failure model updating unit sends to the home server the updated failure model with an indication of the corresponding electrical appliance which has been decided as having failed.

15. The remote maintenance system according to claim 14,

wherein the home server further includes:

a new electrical appliance detecting unit operable to detect an electrical appliance which is newly connected to the home server; and

a failure model requesting unit operable to request the center server to send a failure model corresponding to the new electrical appliance when the new electrical appliance is detected,

the failure model receiving unit receives the requested failure model, and

the failure deciding unit decides whether or not the new electrical appliance has failed using the received failure model.

16. The remote maintenance system according to claim 13,

wherein the home server further includes a failure model holding unit operable to hold a failure model for each model of electrical appliance located in the house, and

the failure deciding unit decides whether or not an electrical appliance has failed using a corresponding failure model.

17. The remote maintenance system according to claim 16,

wherein the center server further includes:

an appliance information holding unit operable to hold information regarding each house of one or more customers having a maintenance contract with the service centerfor an electric appliance in which the electrical appliance is located; and

a failure model distributing unit operable to specify each house having the electrical appliance corresponding to the updated failure model by referring to the information held in the appliance information holding unit, and distribute the updated failure model to the home server of each specified house.

18. A remote maintenance system comprising:

a center server located in a service center for performing maintenance of an electrical appliance; and

a home server located in a house for monitoring a status of an electrical appliance in the house,

wherein the center server and the home server are connected via a communication line, the home server includes;

a status value acquiring unit operable to acquire a status value of the electrical appliance;

a failure model receiving unit operable to receive from the center server a failure model for deriving a decision as to whether or not the electrical appliance has failed from the status value;

a failure deciding unit operable to decide whether or not the electrical appliance has failed based on the acquired status value and the received failure model; and

a failure model updating unit operable to update the failure model based on the status value of the electrical appliance,

wherein the failure deciding unit further decides whether or not the electrical appliance has failed based on the acquired status value and the updated failure model.

19. The remote maintenance system according to claim 18,

wherein the failure model includes a standard value indicating a decision basis for the failure deciding unit to make the decision.

20. The remote maintenance system according to claim 19,

wherein the failure model includes a program;

and

the failure deciding unit uses the program to decide whether or not the electrical appliance has failed using the status value and the standard value.

21. The remote maintenance system according to claim 20,

wherein the failure model updating unit updates the standard value based on the status value using a vector quantization method.

22. The remote maintenance system according to claim 21,

wherein the home server further includes a status value storing unit operable to store the status value at a time when the failure deciding unit decides that the electrical appliance has not failed,

the standard value is a coefficient of a primary curve indicating a standard of a normal range when a pair of the status value stored in the status value storing unit and a preset condition at the time when the status value is acquired is plotted on a two-dimensional coordinate, and

the failure model updating unit updates the coefficient of the primary curve by a least squares method based on a point indicating the status value and the preset condition on the two-dimensional coordinate.

23. The remote maintenance system according to claim 22,

wherein the failure model includes another program, and

the status value acquiring unit uses the other program to acquire a predetermined status value at a predetermined timing.

24. The remote maintenance system according to claim 23,

wherein the home server further includes a customer display unit operable to display customer failure information of the electrical appliance,

the failure deciding unit sends information specifying contents of a failure of the electrical appliance to the center server when the failure deciding unit decides that the electrical appliance has failed, and

the center server further includes:

a holding unit operable to hold different contents of failure information which are prepared beforehand for a customer and a serviceman separately corresponding to a failure which can occur per model of electrical appliance;

a failure information sending unit operable to receive the information specifying contents of the failure of the electrical appliance, specify failure information for a customer among the contents of failure information held in the holding unit, and send the specified customer failure information to the home server; and

a serviceman display unit operable to receive the information specifying contents of the failure ofthe electrical appliance, specify failure information for a serviceman among the contents of failure information held in the holding unit, and display the specified serviceman failure information for a serviceman.

25. A remote maintenance method for a remote maintenance system having a center server located in a service center for performing maintenance of an electrical appliance, and a home server located in a house for monitoring a status of an electrical appliance in the house, wherein the center server and the home server are connected via a communication line, the remote maintenance method comprising:

receiving, at the home server from the center server, a failure model for deriving a decision as to whether or not an electrical appliance has failed from a status value of the electrical appliance;

acquiring, at the home server, the status value;

deciding, at the home server, a failure of the electrical appliance based on the acquired status value and the received failure model

sending, from the home server, the acquired status value to the center server;

receiving, at the center server, the status value from the home server; and

updating, at the center server, the failure model based on the received status value of the electrical appliance, and sending the updated failure model to the home server.

26. The remote maintenance method according to claim 25,

wherein the deciding of the failure further includes sending information specifying contents of the failure of the electrical appliance to the center server when decided that the electrical appliance has failed, and

the remote maintenance method further comprises:

receiving at the center server, the information specifying contents of the failure of the electrical appliance, and specifying failure information for a customer and a serviceman in the holding unit;

reading out, at the center server, the specified customer failure information for a customer from the holding unit that holds different contents of failure information which are prepared beforehand for a customer and a serviceman separately corresponding to a failure which can occur per model of electrical appliance, and sending the specified customer failure information for a customer to the home server;

reading out, at the center server, the specified serviceman failure information for a serviceman from the holding unit, and displaying the read-out serviceman failure information for a serviceman; and

displaying, at the home server, the received customer failure information for a customer.

27. The remote maintenance method according to claim 25, further comprising:

detecting, at the home server, an electrical appliance which is newly connected to the home server; and

requesting, at the home server, the center server to send a failure model corresponding to the new electrical appliance when the new electrical appliance is detected, wherein

the failure model requested in the requesting of the failure model corresponding to the new electrical appliance is received in the receiving of the failure model.

28. A home server for connection via a communication line with a center server which is located in a service center for performing maintenance ofan electrical appliance, and for monitoring a status of an electrical appliance in a house, the home server comprising:

a status value acquiring unit operable to acquire a status value of an electrical appliance;

a failure model receiving unit operable to receive from the center server a failure model for deriving a decision as to whether or not the electrical appliance has failed from the status value; and

a failure deciding unit operable to decide whether or not the electrical appliance has failed based on the acquired status value and the received failure model,

wherein the failure deciding unit decides whether or not the electrical appliance has failed according to an updated failure model after the failure deciding unit receives the updated failure model from the center server.

29. The home serveraccording to claim 28, further comprising:

a status value storing unit operable to store the status value at a time when the failure deciding unit decides that the electrical appliance has failed or not failed; and

a status value sending unit operable to send the stored status value to the center server,

wherein the failure deciding unit makes the decision according to the updated failure model using the status value which is sent from the status value sending unit.

30. The home server according to claim 29,

wherein the failure model includes a standard value indicating a decision basis for the failure deciding unit to make the decision.

31. The home server according to claim 30,

wherein the failure model includes a program, and

the failure deciding unit uses the program to decide whether or not the electrical appliance has failed using the standard value and the status value.

32. The home server according to claim 31,

wherein the standard value indicates a normal range of a relationship between the status value stored in the status value storing unit and a preset condition of the electrical appliance at the time when the status value is acquired.

33. The home server according to claim 32,

wherein the standard value includes a coefficient of a curve indicating a boundary between a normal range and an abnormal range when a pair of the status value and the preset condition is plotted on a multi-dimensional coordinate.

34. The home server according to claim 33,

wherein the failure model receiving unit receives the failure model corresponding to the electrical appliance from the center server, and

the failure deciding unit decides a failure of the electrical appliance according to the failure model corresponding to the electrical appliance.

35. A center server for connection with a home server for monitoring a status of an electrical appliance in a house via a communication line, the center server being located in a service center for performing maintenance of an electrical appliance, the center server comprising:

a status value receiving unit operable to receive from the home server a status value, a value of an electrical appliance at a time when decided that the electrical appliance has failed or not failed, which is stored in the home server; and

a failure model updating unit operable to update a failure model for deriving a decision as to whether or not the electrical appliance has failed from the status value based on the received status value of the electrical appliance, and send the updated failure model to the home server.

36. A program for a home server connected with a center server which is located in a service center for performing maintenance ofan electrical appliance via a communication line, the home server for monitoring a status of an electrical appliance in a house, the program comprising:

a status value acquiring program portion operable to allow the home server to acquire a status value of an electrical appliance;

a failure model receiving program portion operable to allow the home server to receive from the center server a failure model for deriving a decision as to whether or not the electrical appliance has failed from the status value; and

a failure deciding program portion operable to allow the home server to decide whether or not the electrical appliance has failed based on the acquired status value and the received failure model,

wherein the failure deciding program portion allows the home server to decide whether or not the electrical appliance has failed according to the updated failure model after the failure deciding program portion allows the home server to receive the updated failure model from the center server.

37. A program for a center server which is connected with a home server for monitoring a status of an electrical appliance in a house via a communication line, the center server being located in a service center for performing maintenance of an electrical appliance, the program comprising:

a status value receiving program portion operable to allow the center server to receive from the home server a status value, a value of an electrical appliance at a time when decided that the electrical appliance has failed or not failed, which is stored in the home server; and

a failure model updating program portion operable to allow the center server to update a failure model for deriving a decision as to whether or not the electrical appliance has failed from the status value based on the received status value of the electrical appliance, and send the updated failure model to the home server.