Method and apparatus for identifying an electronic appliance

• US 8,094,037 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2007
• Issued: 01/10/2012
• 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.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehmood, Jennifer
• Assistant Examiner(s): BEE, ANDREW W.
• Application Number:
  US11/694,818
• Publication Number:
  US 20080238653A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,747 Days
• Field of Search: 340/686.1, 340/687, 709/223, 709/224, 705/317, 705/318
• US Class Current: 340/686.1
• 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;

issuing, over the communication network and to a plurality of appliances accessible over the communication network, a request that identification information from a specific type of appliance be returned over the communication network;

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

validating the appliance using the first identification, wherein the validating comprises comparing the first identification having been retrieved to a database comprising valid manufacturer assigned serial numbers; and

determining a status of the appliance when the appliance has been validated, wherein determining the status of the appliance comprises accessing a database comprising a registration status of the appliance corresponding to the first identification, and determining whether the appliance is unregistered; and

registering the appliance when it is determined that the appliance is unregistered.

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

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

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

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

instructing, via the communication network, the appliance to identify one or more related appliances connected to the appliance;

retrieving, over the communication network and through the appliance in response to the instruction to identify one or more related appliances, a second identification of a related appliance connected to the appliance.

18. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

where the retrieving the first identification comprises obtaining, from the remote appliance and from over the communication network, the identification of the appliance and a serial number of the appliance;

obtaining attributes of the appliance, where the attributes comprising current hardware revision, software revisions, and firmware revisions of the appliance;

obtaining code from the appliance over the communication network, the code defining self diagnostic information from the appliance identifying a malfunction of the appliance;

determining one or more advantages of upgrading the appliance based on the self diagnostic information, the topology and usage;

determining whether to upgrade the appliance based on the determined one or more advantages;

identifying, through the appliance, two or more additional appliances attached to the appliance, wherein the retrieving the second identification comprises instructing the appliance to retrieve a second serial number of the related appliance connected to the appliance from related appliance connected to the appliance; and

maintaining a database corresponding a device identification for a plurality of appliances comprising the appliance, further associating the device identifications for each of the plurality of appliances with a corresponding hardware revision, an appliance software revision, an appliance location, an appliance owner name and contact information.

19. The method of claim 18, 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 the database comprising a registered location of the appliance corresponding to the first identification having been retrieved;

comparing the current location to the registered location; and

recording in the database reported stolen appliance identifications.

7. An apparatus comprising:

a communication interface coupled to a communication network;

a database coupled to the communication interface;

the communication interface configured to issue, over the communication network and to a plurality of appliances accessible over the communication network, a request that identification information from a specific type of appliance be returned over the communication network;

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 by comparing the received identification of the appliance to the valid manufacturing assigned appliance identifications;

the database further comprising a registration status of the appliance, and further configured to be accessed for determining the registration status of the appliance; and

the apparatus being configured to determine the registration status of the appliance when it is determined that the appliance has been validated and further configured to register the appliance when it is determined that the appliance is unregistered.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, 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 the appliance to the database for storage.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, 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.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, 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.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, 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 current revision level to determine if the appliance needs an update.

12. An electronic appliance comprising:

a memory module;

an identification assigned by a manufacturer 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 in response to receiving a request, issued over the communication network and to a plurality of appliances accessible over the communication network, requesting that identification information from a specific type of appliance be returned over the communication network; and

wherein the identification is used to validate the electronic appliance, wherein the validating comprises comparing the identification to a database comprising valid manufacturer assigned serial numbers; and

wherein the identification is further used to determine a registration status of the appliance when the appliance has been validated and to register the appliance when it is determined that the appliance is unregistered.

13. The electronic appliance of claim 12, 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.

14. The electronic appliance of claim 12, 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.

15. The electronic appliance of claim 12, wherein the server is further configured to track the appliance as a service to the owner of the appliance.

16. The electronic appliance of claim 12, 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.

17. The electronic appliance of claim 16, 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.