Adaptive device-initiated polling

• US 8,406,119 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2006
• Issued: 03/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: PTC Inc.
• Original Assignee: Axeda Acquisition Corp.
• Inventors: Taylor, John Louis, Canosa, John Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, STEVEN H D
• Application Number:
  US11/537,399
• Publication Number:
  US 20070078976A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,370 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/216
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/5075 Remote control machines, e.g. by a host
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2221 to test input/output devices or peripheral units
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/26 Functional testing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3051 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the configuration of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring the presence of processing resources, peripherals, I/O links, software programs verification or detection of system hardware configuration G06F11/2247
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/327 Alarm or error message display
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/103 with adaptive polling, i.e. dynamically adapting the polling rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0236 Filtering by address, protocol, port number or service, e.g. IP-address or URL
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00344 with a management, maintenance, service or repair apparatus monitoring H04N1/00002
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0015 Control of image communication with the connected apparatus, e.g. signalling capability

Abstract

A method includes periodically sending a polling call to an enterprise system outside the firewall at a first polling rate during normal operating conditions, monitoring for a fault condition, periodically sending polling calls to the device outside the firewall at a second polling rate when a fault condition is detected, the second polling rate being higher than the first polling rate. The second polling rate is used as result of a fault condition. The method also includes sending a problem report with the polling calls when the fault condition is detected.

Claims

1. A method performed by a processor associated with a device, the processor and the device being behind a firewall, the method comprising:

sending polling calls from the processor, through the firewall, to an enterprise system outside the firewall at a first polling rate during normal operating conditions in the device;

monitoring the device for a fault condition; and

sending polling calls from the processor, through the firewall, to the enterprise system outside the firewall at a second polling rate in response to detection of a fault condition during the monitoring, the second polling rate being higher than the first polling rate;

wherein at least some of the polling calls comprises requests for the enterprise system to return data related to the device; and

wherein the polling calls open communication channels through the firewall, through which the enterprise system can pass the data to the processor.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a problem report in response to detection of the fault condition;

wherein service is performed on the device following sending the problem report.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a problem report in response to detection of the fault condition;

receiving service instructions generated by the enterprise system in response to sending the problem report; and

performing service on the device responsive to the service instructions.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending the polling calls at the first polling rate after the fault condition has been corrected.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending the polling calls at the first polling rate after a predetermined period has elapsed, the predetermined period beginning when the fault condition is detected.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a problem report in response to detection of the fault condition, the problem report comprising an actual condition that triggered the fault condition.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a problem report in response to detection of the fault condition, the problem report comprising a screen capture of a user interface display associated with the device at a time of the fault condition.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the fault condition comprises detecting an external input.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein detecting the external input comprises at least one of:

detecting a telephone call or receiving input from a user interface associated with the device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the polling calls are sent over the Internet.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a problem report in response to detection of the fault condition;

receiving service instruction from an external source that is not the enterprise system in response to sending the problem report; and

performing service on the device in response to the service instructions.

12. A method, performed by a system, of managing a device in a network environment, the method, comprising:

receiving first polling calls from a processor associated with the device, the device and the processor being behind a firewall that separates the device and the processor from the system in the network environment;

identifying a communication from the processor associated with the device that includes a problem report;

notifying a technician that a problem report has been received; and

receiving, for a duration, second polling calls from the processor associated with the device, the second polling calls being received by the system after the communication and at a rate that is greater than a rate at which the first polling calls were received by the system;

wherein the first polling calls and the second polling calls pass from the processor associated with the device, through the firewall, to the system;

wherein at least some of the first polling calls and the second polling calls comprises requests for the system to return data related to the device; and

wherein the first polling calls and the second polling calls open communication channels through the firewall through which the system can pass requested data to the processor associated with the device.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

comparing monitored parameters included in the first polling calls to threshold parameters; and

instructing the processor associated with the device to increase its polling rate if the monitored parameters surpass the threshold parameters.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein instructing is performed via the Internet.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the polling calls are received via the Internet.

16. A system comprising:

at least one server; and

devices configured to communicate with the at least one server, at least some of the devices each comprising a processor that is configured to periodically poll the at least one server at a first polling rate during normal conditions and to automatically poll the at least one server at an increased rate when a fault condition is detected;

wherein, in response to information contained in a polling call for at least one of the devices, the at least one server is configured to automatically notify a service technician that a fault condition has occurred in the at least one device;

wherein the devices and corresponding processors are behind firewalls that separate the at least one server from the devices and corresponding processors in a network environment, and wherein polling calls pass from processors associated with the devices, through respective firewalls, to the at least one server;

wherein at least some of the polling calls comprises requests for the at least one server to return data related to corresponding devices; and

wherein the polling calls open communication channels through respective firewalls through which data sent by the at least one server can pass.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the network environment comprises the Internet, at least some of the devices being on local network separated from the Internet via respective firewalls.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the at least one server is configured to respond to polls from devices via the Internet.

19. The device of claim 16, wherein a processor in a corresponding device is configured to detect a fault condition in the corresponding device by comparing a monitored value to a threshold value.

20. The device of claim 16, wherein a processor in a corresponding device is configured to detect a fault condition based on an external input to the corresponding device.

21. A computer-readable storage media storing instructions that are executable by a processor associated with a device, the device and the processor being behind a firewall, the instructions to:

send polling calls from the processor, through the firewall, to an enterprise system outside the firewall at a first polling rate during normal operating conditions in the device;

monitor the device for a fault condition; and

send polling calls from the processor, through the firewall, to the enterprise system outside the firewall at a second polling rate in response to detection of a fault condition during the monitoring, the second polling rate being higher than the first polling rate;

wherein at least some of the polling calls comprises requests for the enterprise system to return data related to the device; and

wherein the polling calls open communication channels through the firewall, through which the enterprise system can pass the data to the processor.

22. The computer-readable storage media of claim 21, further comprising instructions to:

send a problem report in response to detection of the fault condition;

wherein service is performed on the device following sending the problem report.

23. The computer-readable storage media of claim 21, further comprising instructions to:

send a problem report in response to detection of the fault condition;

receive service instructions generated by the enterprise system in response to sending the problem report; and

perform service on the device responsive to the service instructions.

24. The computer-readable storage media of claim 21, further comprising instructions to send the polling calls at the first polling rate after the fault condition has been corrected.

25. The computer-readable storage media of claim 21, further comprising instructions to send the polling calls at the first polling rate after a predetermined period has elapsed, the predetermined period beginning when the fault condition is detected.

26. The computer-readable storage media of claim 21, further comprising instructions to send a problem report in response to detection of the fault condition, the problem report comprising an actual condition that triggered the fault condition.

27. The computer-readable storage media of claim 21, further comprising instructions to send a problem report in response to detection of the fault condition, the problem report comprising a screen capture of a user interface display associated with the device at a time of the fault condition.

28. The computer-readable storage media of claim 21, wherein detecting the fault condition comprises detecting an external input.

29. The computer-readable storage media of claim 28, wherein detecting the external input comprises detecting at least one of:

detecting a telephone call or receiving input from a user interface associated with the device.

30. The computer-readable storage media of claim 21, wherein the polling calls are sent over the Internet.

35. The computer-readable storage media of claim 21, further comprising instructions to:

send a problem report in response to detection of the fault condition;

receive service instruction from an external source that is not the enterprise system in response to sending the problem report; and

perform service on the device in response to the service instructions.

31. A computer-readable storage device storing instructions that are executable, by a system, for managing a device in a network environment, the instructions to:

receive first polling calls from a processor associated with the device, the device and the processor being behind a firewall that separates the device and the processor from the system in the network environment;

identify a communication from the processor associated with the device that includes a problem report;

notify a technician that a problem report has been received; and

receive, for a duration, second polling calls from the processor associated with the device, the second polling calls being received by the system after the communication and at a rate that is greater than a rate at which the first polling calls were received by the system;

wherein the first polling calls and the second polling calls pass from the processor associated with the device, through the firewall, to the system;

wherein at least some of the first polling calls and the second polling calls comprises requests for the system to return data related to the device; and

wherein the first polling calls and the second polling calls open communication channels through the firewall through which the system can pass requested data to the processor associated with the device.

32. The computer-readable storage media of claim 31 further comprising instructions to:

compare monitored parameters included in the first polling calls to threshold parameters; and

instruct the processor associated with the device to increase its polling rate if the monitored parameters surpass the threshold parameters.

33. The computer-readable storage media of claim 32, wherein instructing the processor associated with the device is performed via the Internet.

34. The computer-readable storage media of claim 31, wherein the polling calls are received via the Internet.