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System and method for automated printer diagnostics

1. Log 261 Engine Error Count 0 262 Engine Error Log sO 263 Engine Error Page 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 264 Engine Error Date Log 265 Jam Error Count 10 266 Jam Error Log y 22 705 07 22 024 01 22 024 01 22 024 01 22 500 00 267 Jam Error Page 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2164 2199 2614 2826 3001 Jun 12 2003 US 2003 0110412 A1 Token 268 271 272 273 274 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 291 292 293 294 295 296 301 302 303 304 305 307 331 332 333 334 335 Token Description Jam Error Date Log PostScript Error Count PostScript Error Log PostScript Error PostScript Error Date Log Print Head Auto Clean Source PrintHead Clean Count PrintHead Clean Source PrintHead Clean PrintHead Clean Date Log PrintHead Installation Page PrintHead Installation Date Log PrintHead Purge Count last Jam Location Last Jam Media Tray Last Jam Media Last Jam Page Last Jam Date Log Last Jam Transfix Speed Jam A Upper Tray Jam B Middle Lower Trays Jam C Exit Cover Jam D Front Cover Jam E Exit Tray Jam Manual Feed JetStack PF Count JetStack PF Hours JetStack PF Log JetStack PF Date Log JetStack PF Page Diagnostic Resu
2. 261 Engine Error Count 0 262 Engine Error Log 263 Engine Error Page 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 264 Engine Error Date Loge 265 Jam Error Count 10 266 Jam Error Log 22 705 07 22 024 01 22 024 01 22 024 01 22 500 00 267 Jam Error Page 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2164 2199 2614 2826 3001 268 Jam Error Date Log2 Thu Oct 12 11 45 36 2000 Thu Oct 12 13 42 32 2000 Wed Oct 18 12 04 43 2000 Fri Oct 20 09 31 24 2000 Tue Oct 24 18 34 47 2000 271 PostScript Error Count 0 272 PostScript Error Log 0 0 0 0 0 273 PostScript Error Page 0 0 0 0 0 274 PostScript Error Date Log 280 Print Head Auto Clean Source PowerUp 0 EnergyStar 0 281 PrintHead Clean Count Automatic 0 Manual 0 282 PrintHead Clean Source2 283 PrintHead Clean 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 p 284 PrintHead Clean Date Loge 285 PrintHead Installation Page 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2038 286 PrintHead Installation Date Log Mon Oct 23 23 25 59 2000 287 PrintHead Purge Count Cold Purge 0 Warm Purge 0 High Voltage Cold Purge 0 High Voltage Warm Purge 0
3. 291 Last Jam Location Jam D 292 Last Jam Media Tray Upper Tray 293 Last Jam Media Upper Paper Letter 294 Last Jam Page 0 0 0 0 3001 295 Last Jam Date Log Tue Oct 24 18 35 06 2000 296 Last Jam Transfix Speed SIPS 301 Jam A Upper Tray Upper Paper Letter 0 Upper Paper Legal 0 Upper Paper A4 0 Upper Transparency Letter 0 Upper Transparency A4 0 302 Jam B Middle Lower Trays Middle Paper Letter 0 Middle Paper A4 0 Lower Paper Letter 0 Lower Paper A4 0 303 Jam C Exit Cover Paper Letter 0 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 304 Jam D Front Cover Paper Letter 1 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 305 Jam E Exit Tray Paper Letter 0 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 307 Jam Manual Feed Paper Letter 0 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 331 JetStack PF Count 7 332 JetStack PF Hours 267 97 333 JetStack PF Log 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 35 77 78 21 14 59 17 16 19 02 83 11 20 09 334 JetStack PF Date Log Fri Oct 27 15 09 57 2000 Tue Oct 31 09 02 49 2000 Mon Nov 06 09 02 29 2000 Wed Nov 08 09 03 55 2000 10 09 04 32 2000 Tue Nov 14 09 25 16 2000 Thu Nov 16 09 25 54 2000 33
4. 3 2 2 1 3 3 3 2 2 418 Adaptive Data Sat 419 Warmup Setting Sun 1 Mon gt gt END Usage Profile Report For User 001 Profile Error Count 3 002 Profile Error Log 0 0 127 101 117 003 Profile Error Page 0 0 3001 3001 3415 011 Page Count Trigger 500 012 Time Trigger hours 84 013 Jam Count Trigger 5 021 Polling Interval 2 022 Email on First Jam 0 023 Restart Count Trigger 5 031 Pages From Engine Usage Profile 970 Total Pages 3908 033 Verification State 0xc0 034 Recent Coverage Page Setting 1000 035 Supplies Replaceable Interval 2 60 99 94 200 0 END Usage Profile Report gt 1 Tue 1 Wed 1 Thu 1 Fri 1 Sat 1 420 Standby Setting Sun 1 Mon 1 Tue 1 Wed 1 Thu 1 Fri 1 Sat 1 gt gt gt gt gt gt gt gt gt 036 Total Percent Coverage pages 0 9 512 10 24 303 25 49 44 50 99 27 100 0030 The first action upon receipt of the support request 108 at the support server 110 is to validate that the Usage Profile information has been received Support server 110 has an Oracle based Rules Engine 111 which parses the Usage Profile information into a readily accessible format and stores the information in the Usage Profile database 116 and starts a user session in the Customer Session database 118 The fields of interest from the Usage Profile informa tion for the Session dat
5. ErrorLevel Error codes for solutions other to help determine how processing should continue Lookup Type Lookup Code Description RuleAction NextLine Go to next line within same rule RuleAction NextRule Go to next rule RuleAction Solution Return the Solution RuleAction SkipToLine Skip to Rule Line number indicated within the same rule RuleAction SkipToRule Skip to Rule Header number indicated for same printer type RuleAction RuleStop Stop processing further rules RuleAction RuleError LineNotFound Action was NextLine but no more lines available RuleError RuleNotFound Action was NextRule but no more Rules available RuleError EvalFailure Unable to evaluate Usage Profile Parameter s RuleError HeaderLoop Encountered endless loop through rule headers due to rule misconfiguration RuleError LineLoop Encountered endless loop through rule lines due to rule misconfiguration RuleError TimedOut Time limit exceeded possible endless loop or system failure RuleError TokenNotFound A rule line asked for a token number that could not be found in the current UP record RuleError SolutionNotFound rule line asked for a solution id that doesn t exist in the solutions table RuleError RuleOperator DateAfter Date occurs on or after comparison value RuleOperator DateBefore Date occurs on or before comparison value RuleOperator DateBetween Date occurs between comparison value list of 2 RuleOperator DateEquals Date equals c
6. US 2003 0110412 A1 rule header id 262 262 262 262 262 262 262 262 263 263 263 263 263 264 264 264 264 265 266 266 266 267 267 267 268 268 268 269 270 rule line id 2072 2073 2074 2075 2076 2077 2078 2079 2080 2081 2082 2083 2084 2085 2086 2087 2088 2089 2090 2091 2092 2093 2094 2095 2096 2097 2098 2099 2100 rule line value num type 1 TokenValue 2 TokenValue 3 TokenValue 4 TokenValue 5 TokenValue 6 TokenValue 7 TokenValue 8 TokenValue 1 TokenValue 2 TokenValue 3 TokenValue 4 TokenValue 5 NameValue 1 TokenValue 2 TokenValue 3 TokenValue 4 NamedValue 1 TokenValue 2 TokenValue 3 TokenValue 1 TokenValue 2 TokenValue 3 TokenValue 1 TokenValue 2 TokenValue 3 TokenValue 1 TokenValue token num 268 266 266 266 266 266 266 266 237 282 284 284 280 282 284 284 280 237 262 262 264 262 262 264 262 262 237 continued token name Jam Error Date Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Printer Status PrintHead Clean Source PrintHead Clean Date Log PrintHead Clean Date Log Print Head Auto Clean Source PrintHead Clean Source PrintHead Clean Date Log PrintHead Clean Date Log Print
7. 0 94 EnergyStar Time Distribution mins 0 14 0 15 29 0 30 119 0 120 299 0 300 599 0 600 0 201 JetStack StandBy Time hours 28 202 JetStack StandBy Time Distribution mins 0 14 5 15 29 0 30 119 30 120 299 0 300 599 0 600 0 203 StandBy Time hours 373 204 StandBy Time Distribution mins 0 14 3 15 29 1 30 119 3 120 299 0 300 599 1 600 17 221 Maintenance Kit Installation Date Wed Aug 09 07 39 13 2000 222 Maintenance Kit Remaining 59 223 MKIC 4354 224 Maintenance Kit Consumption Rate Low 0 Medium 0 High 980 231 Doors Open Front Cover 6 Exit Cover 0 Top Cover 2 Jun 12 2003 US 2003 0110412 A1 Jun 12 2003 continued Sample Usage Profile Record 232 Supplies Replaced Ink Low 0 Ink Empty 0 Maintenance Kit Low 0 Maintenance Kit Empty 0 Other 0 233 Paper Out Upper Tray 2 Middle Tray 0 Lower Tray 10 234 Button Presses 328 235 Feature Info Button 4 Supplies Info Menu 1 Network Setup Menu 0 Printer Setup Menu 0 Job Defaults Menu 0 Printable Pages Menu 10 Service Pages Menu 0 Support Menu 3 Printer Identification 6 Improve Print Quality 1 Network Questions 0 Resolve Paper Jams 0 Service Tools Menu 0 TroubleShoot Jams 0 237 Printer Status 0 10 0 6 9 6 10 0 10 0 10 0 10 0 18 251 System Reset Count 0 252 System Reset Log 0 0 0 0 0 253 System Reset Page 0 0 0 0 0 254 System Reset Date Loge
8. 0 Diagnostic Resu 1 Diagnostic 2 Diagnostic Resu 3 Diagnostic Resul 4 Diagnostic 5 16 continued Token Payload gt gt Thu Oct 12 11 45 36 2000 Thu Oct 12 13 42 32 2000 Wed Oct 18 12 04 43 2000 Fri Oct 20 09 31 24 2000 Tue Oct 24 18 34 47 2000 PowerUp 0 EnergyStar 0 Automatic 0 Manual 0 Cold Purge 0 Warm Purge 0 High Voltage Cold Purge 0 High Voltage Warm Purge 0 Jam D Upper Tray Upper Paper Letter 0 0 0 0 3001 Tue Oct 24 18 35 06 2000 SIPS Upper Paper Letter 0 Upper Paper Legal 0 Upper Paper A4 0 Upper Transparency Letter 0 Upper Transparency A4 0 Middle Paper Letter 0 Middle Paper A4 0 Lower Paper Letter 0 Lower Paper A4 0 Paper Letter 0 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 Paper Letter 1 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 Paper Letter 0 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 Paper Letter 0 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 7 267 97 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 35 77 78 21 14 59 17 16 19 02 83 11 20 09 y Fri Oct 27 15 09 57 2000 Tue Oct 31 09 02
9. 12 2003 wherein the rules engine parses and analyzes the printer diagnostic data and generates a suggested solution and the support server transmits the suggested solution to the printer 18 A method of remotely diagnosing printer problems in support system having a support server and at least one printer located remote from the support server comprising sending a request for support from the printer to the support server transmitting printer diagnostic data to the support server using a rules engine to parse the printer diagnostic data into components and to analyze the components generating a suggested solution based on combinations of printer diagnostic data and error conditions and transmitting the suggested solution to the printer 19 The method of claim 18 wherein the support server and the printer communicate over the Internet 20 The method of claim 19 wherein the printer includes a printer driver having a web browser for pointing to a web page at the support server and wherein the step of sending a request for support from the printer to the support server comprises accessing the web browser 21 The method of claim 18 wherein prior to sending a request for support generating printer diagnostic data at the printer during operation of the printer and storing the user profile information and printer status information at the printer 22 The method of claim 21 wherein the printer diagnos tic data compr
10. 34 35 41 43 44 51 52 61 63 64 65 71 Token Description Xerox Firmware Installed RAM MBs Installed Trays incl Manual Accessories Current Media Report Intervals Total Pages amp Sheets Total Pixels Printed K Average Coverage Coverage Last 1000 Pages 90 Ink Consumed Sticks Pixels Printed Cyan Pixels Printed Magenta 1K Pixels Printed Yellow Pixels Printed Black Paper vs Transparency pages Pixels Printed Paper Coverage Paper Pixels Printed Transparency 1K Coverage Transparency 76 Color vs Black amp White pages Pixels Printed Black amp White 1K Coverage Black amp White 90 Pixels Printed Color 1K Coverage Color 76 1 Sided vs 2 Sided sheets Manual Feed Media sheets Cassette Tray Media sheets Print Quality pages Color Correction pages Sets Printed pages Jobs By Document Length Jobs By Number of Sets Pages By Document Length Pages By Number of Sets Job Source Jun 14 continued Token Payload VxWorks 3 18 Engine 14 20 PostScript 14 18 Network 12 48 10 18 2000 128 3 Duplexer Upper Tray Transparency Letter Middle Tray Lower Tray Paper Letter Manual Feed Other Other Pages 1000 Hours 168 Pages 980 Sheets 924 Cyan 889005 Magenta 1089088 Yellow 475571 Black 1029656 Cyan 6 Magenta 7 Yellow 3 Black 8 Cyan 6 M
11. US 2003 0110412 A1 generated and transmitted back to the printer 14 Any other data stored in the printer memory 40 may also be sent to the support server for analysis by the rules engine 0025 more detailed example of a printer diagnostic system and method will be described with respect to a system and method to be used with Xerox solid ink printers called PhaserSMART PhaserSMART is a web based appli cation that analyses information from a user s printer and returns web based self support solutions to the user In addition to providing printer information analysis Phaser SMART can be used to combine other systems such as infoSMART an interactive online support module and OpenUPTIME a worldwide customer management system which maintains inventory and manufacturing data Phaser SMART for purposes of this example is used with printers that have a Usage Profile utility resident in the printer firmware The Usage Profile utility gathers usage informa tion and printer status information during operation of the printer and stores it in a local memory 0026 block diagram of the architecture of the Phaser SMART system is shown in FIGS 3 4 5 and 8 Several methods of accessing the printer 14 in order to request support from support server 110 are shown in FIG 8 First the printer 14 may be connected to a personal computer wireless telephone personal digital assistant or any device that can accept an IP address Typically
12. there is a list of printer rules 202 Each rule includes a header 204 which is used to access the rule lines 206 Rule lines 206 are operated on by actions operators value types and time units 212 reference lookup codes 216 which reference lookup types 214 to generate solutions 210 Solutions 210 reference text link 218 0048 The overall process flow of the Rules Engine is shown in FIG 7 Upon receipt of a support request the Rules Engine sets up a Session id and stores the received Usage Profile text in memory step 220 The run status is initialized to normal step 222 The Rules Engine then parses the Usage Profile record such as the one shown in Table 1 into a format shown in Table 3 and stores the tokenized result in Usage Profile database 116 step 224 0049 Table 4 shows a the User Profile of Table 1 after it has been parsed into individual components or tokens a token value or payload assigned to each component and the components stored in the User Profile database 116 Token Token Description Date of Report Activation Date 3 Printer IDs Token Payload Thu Nov 16 17 43 47 2000 Mon Oct 23 23 25 59 2000 Serial BCLP356 Ethernet 08 00 11 0F 01 33 13 62 70 236 xxxxxx Printer Name 5 Printer Type Adobe Firmware Steffen s BC Model Phaser 860DP Printer Class Solid Ink 3010 108 11 US 2003 0110412 A1 Token 118 119 121 122 123 124 25 31 32 33
13. this means that the device 81 including the printer itself through a front panel input device includes a memory and processor running a web browser or application for communicating over the Internet 0027 In this embodiment the user accesses printer 14 through a personal computer with a web browser PhaserS MART presents all information to the user via a web browser 83 which may be any available web browser such as Netscape 4 x and IE 4 x or greater browsers or other such browsers that are JavaScript 1 1 compatible and support Jun 12 2003 standard frames tables and other common HTML elements The web browser 83 used should have cookies enabled and the web based user interface may be 640 pixels wide by 480 pixels high excluding the browser window The web browser 83 provides exclusive navigation for the user in this embodiment The user would open the printer driver appli cation on his personal computer 50 and select technical support link on the troubleshooting tab This action causes a dialog box 52 to be displayed for the user A form call 54 is made to the printer 14 which directs that any stored usage profile information 56 be sent to the support server 110 Usage profile information 56 in the form of a single field Updata is appended to a support request 108 in the form of an HTTP post which is sent via the Internet to support server 110 Updata contains Usage Profile information generated by the usage profile utility
14. 0 Fuji Press 0 Newsprint 0 Non PostScript 0 Undefined 0 First Set Pages 951 Subsequent Set Pages 19 0 1 132 2 4 77 5 9 14 10 19 8 20 29 2 30 49 4 50 74 2 75 99 11 100 249 0 250 0 0 1 233 2 4 7 5 9 0 10 19 0 20 29 0 30 49 0 50 74 0 75 99 0 100 249 0 250 0 0 1 141 2 4 233 5 9 77 10 19 112 20 29 48 30 49 159 50 74 120 75 99 80 100 249 0 250 0 0 1 940 2 4 30 5 9 0 10 19 0 20 29 0 30 49 0 50 74 0 75 99 0 100 249 0 250 0 Internal 5 EtherTalk 0 Parallel 14 USB 0 FrontPanelJobInput 7 AppSocket 220 FTP 0 LPR 0 Remote Internet Printing 0 TokenTalk 0 PrintServer 0 IPP 3 Other 0 12 2003 US 2003 0110412 A1 15 continued Token Token Description Token Payload 72 Job Language PostScript 241 PCL 0 AutoSelect 0 Scanner 0 0 Other 0 73 Jobs Collated No 241 Yes 0 74 Time Per Job mins 0 1 217 2 3 13 4 9 10 10 29 0 30 59 0 60 0 75 Total Jobs Printing Jobs 241 Non Printing Jobs 8 76 Cancelled Jobs 3 81 Days Printed 24 82 Pages Per Day 0 1 7 2 4 1 5 9 1 10 24 2 25 49 7 50 99 3 100 249 3 250 499 0 500 999 0 1000 0 83 Power On Count 6 84 Time On Distribution 0 1 1 2 3 0 4 9 0 10 23 3 24 167 0 16841 hours 85 Days Since 23 Activation 86 Hours Since Last 345 Power On 87 Total Time On 569 hours 88 Power Off Page 0 0 3141 3142 3366 89 Power Off Date Log Wed Oct 25 15 05 34 2000 Wed Oc
15. 49 2000 Mon Nov 06 09 02 29 2000 Wed Nov 08 09 03 55 2000 Fri Nov 10 09 04 32 2000 Tue Nov 14 09 25 16 2000 Thu Nov 16 09 25 54 2000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3198 3243 3463 3490 3591 3671 3880 ID 23 TS 6 PC 3806 Thu Nov 02 2000 08 21 28 R0 180 0000 R1 180 0000 R2 180 0000 R3 0 0 000 R4 180 000 ID 23 TS 6 PC 2663 Thu Oct 12 2000 16 32 57 180 0000 R1 180 0000 R2 180 0000 R3 0 0 000 R4 180 000 ID 23 TS 6 PC 2635 Thu Oct 12 2000 13 42 02 R0 180 0000 R1 180 0000 R2 180 0000 R3 0 0 000 R4 180 000 ID 23 TS 6 PC 2635 Thu Oct 12 2000 13 39 10 R0 180 0000 R1 180 0000 R2 180 0000 R3 0 0 000 R4 180 000 gt Jun 12 2003 US 2003 0110412 A1 17 Jun 12 2003 continued Token Token Description Token Payload 411 WarmUp Mode Intelligent Ready 412 Adaptive Data Sun 6 M M o o 413 Adaptive Data Mon 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 2 3 3 414 Adaptive Data Tue 3 6 2 2 3 2 3 3 1 415 Adaptive Data Wed 2 113 3 3 32 416 Adaptive Data Thu 2 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 417 Adaptive Data Fri 3 2 2 1 3 3 3 2 2 418 Adaptive Data Sat m m M T 8 419 Warmup Setting Sun 1 Mon 1 Tue 1 Wed 1 Thu 1 Fri 1 Sat 1
16. PayloadSum The sum of all values from that name value pairs in a token payload RuleValueType TokenValue A value from the token payload where name value pairs are not a factor RuleValueType RunningTotal The accumulated sum of several token values gathered in prior rules RuleValueType Ignore Ignore this value used to skip evaluating a primary or secondary value when incrementing the other in a series of rule lines Units Seconds Units Minutes Units Hours Units Days Units Weeks Units Months Units Years Units SolutionStatus Positive Solution represents certain diagnosis of problem from Usage Profile data SolutionStatus Indeterminate Unable to determine with certainty the nature of the problem from the Usage Profile data SolutionStatus RuleFailure A failed and this solution came from the Rule Recovery table SolutionStatus SolutionStatus UPInterface Error Error processing for interface UPInterface Loading Records are still loading don t post yet UPInterface Posted Records are posted to UP database UPInterface Purge Records can be purged UPInterface Ready Indicates records are ready to post UPInterface ErrorLevel Normal Processing ended normally ErrorLevel Warning Processing ended with warning level errors ErrorLevel Fatal Processing ended with fatal errors ErrorLevel 0047 Referring to FIG 6 the relationships between the various entities in the Rules Engine is described For each printer model 200
17. VARCHAR2 20 description true VARCHAR2 240 action false VARCHAR2 25 NOT NULL target false VARCHAR2 20 description false VARCHAR2 240 created by NUMBER 15 NOT NULL creation date DATE NOT NULL last updated by NUMBER 15 NOT NULL last update date DATE NOT NULL Jun 12 2003 US 2003 0110412 A1 rule recovery rule recovery id NUMBER 15 rule header id rule line id error code solution 14 description created by creation date last updated by last update date printer models printer model id model description created by creation date last updated by last update date printers to rules printer model id rule header id sequence num active flag description created by creation date last updated by last update date link text link text id link text description NUMBER 15 NUMBER 15 VARCHAR2 25 NUMBER 15 VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 20 DATE VARCHAR2 20 DATE NUMBER 15 VARCHAR2 25 VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 20 DATE VARCHAR2 20 DATE NUMBER 15 NUMBER 15 POSITIVE VARCHAR2 1 VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 20 DATE VARCHAR2 20 DATE NUMBER 15 VARCHAR2 100 VARCHAR2 240 continued Table Definitions NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT N
18. reference D A1151 describes a method of diag nosing a printer where the printer is one of a particular type includes performing a series of parametric tests on the printer at the time of manufacture to generate a set of baseline values for the printer and storing the baseline results The baseline results may be stored remotely or with the printer or both A set of maximum parametric test variations for the printer type is generated such that each maximum parametric test variation is associated with a particular printer fault event At the time of a suspected printer fault the same parametric tests are performed and a set of suspected fault values generated The difference between the suspected fault value and the baseline value is calculated for each parametric test If the difference for a particular parametric test is greater than the maximum parametric test variation for that particular parametric test the particular print fault event associated with the parametric test value may be indicated This information could be stored within a separate manufacturing database for access by the Rules Engine in diagnosing printer problems US 2003 0110412 A1 0042 Usage Profile database 116 is used to store the Usage Profile information submitted from the user s printer In addition to PhaserSMART submitted Usage Profile infor mation this database may also contain the Usage Profile information submitted via email from printers The Rules Engi
19. 08 11 7 Xerox Firmware VxWorks 3 18 Engine 14 20 PostScript 14 18 Network 12 48 10 18 2000 8 Installed RAM MBs 128 9 Installed Trays incl Manual 3 O Accessories Duplexer Letter Manual Feed Other Other ack 1029656 01 Report Intervals Pages 1000 Hours 168 1 Total Pages amp Sheets Pages 980 Sheets 924 2 Total Pixels Printed 1K Cyan 889005 Magenta 1089088 Yellow 475571 Current Media Upper Tray Transparency Letter Middle Tray Lower Tray Paper 3 Average Coverage Cyan 6 Magenta 7 Yellow 3 Black 8 4 Coverage Last 1000 Pages Cyan 6 Magenta 7 Yellow 3 Black 8 5 Ink Consumed Sticks Cyan 0 90481 Magenta 1 08198 Yellow 0 50879 Black 1 15476 6 Pixels Printed Cyan 1K Fast Color 10453 Standard 588447 Enhanced 2436 High Resolution Photo 287669 7 Pixels Printed Magenta 1K Fast Color 13880 Standard 651569 Enhanced 3615 High Resolution Photo 420024 US 2003 0110412 A1 continued Sample Usage Profile Record 8 Pixels Printed Yellow 1K Fast Color 10831 Standard 371417 Enhanced 2694 High Resolution Photo 90629 9 Pixels Printed Black 1K Fast Color 22223 Standard 944578 Enhanced 2454 High Resolution Photo 60401 21 vs Transparency pages Paper 939 Transparency 41 Other 0 22 Pixels Printed Paper 1K Cyan 798613 Magenta 974505 Yellow 425226 Black 708775 23 Coverage Paper Cyan 5 Magenta 6 Yellow 3 Black 5 24 Pixels Pr
20. 420 Standby Setting Sun 1 Mon 1 Tue 1 Wed 1 Thu 1 Fri 1 Sat 1 1001 Profile Error Count 3 1002 Profile Error Log 0 0 127 101 117 1003 Profile Error Page 0 0 3001 3001 3415 1011 Page Count Trigger 500 1012 Time Trigger 84 hours 1013 Jam Count Trigger 5 1021 Polling Interval 2 1022 Email on First Jam 0 1023 Restart Count 5 Trigger 1031 Pages From Engine Usage Profile 970 Total Pages 3908 1033 Verification State Oxc0 1034 Recent Coverage 1000 Page Setting 1035 Supplies 2 60 Replaceable Interval 1036 Total Percent 0 9 512 10 24 303 25 49 44 50 99 27 100 199 94 200 0 Coverage pages 0050 The Rules Engine identifies the model of printer from the value in token 5 which in this case is a Phase Model 860 step 226 To facilitate operation on the various token values the usage profile records table 4 are written to an interface table stored in memory step 228 Next all continued rule header id name symptom 263 Ink Use Message and Energy Star 33329 The Printer rules in the rules database are analyzed sequentially using ir Cons mes more Ink data from the usage profile record Each rule is retrieved than Anticipated based on its particular rules header step 230 264 Frequent Recent Auto Cleans 33329 The Printer Consumes more Ink than Anticipated 0051 Table 5 lists the Data Rule Headers for the exem 265 5 Rules Engine 266 Cu
21. 5 JetStack PF Page 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3198 3243 3463 3490 3591 3671 3880 401 Diagnostic Result 40 ID 23 TS 6 PC 3806 Thu Nov 02 2000 08 21 28 R0 180 0000 R1 180 0000 R2 180 0000 R3 0 0000 R4 180 000 402 Diagnostic Result 1 ID 23 TS 6 PC 2663 Thu Oct 12 2000 16 32 5 7 R0 180 0000 R1 180 0000 R2 180 0000 R3 0 0000 R4 180 000 403 Diagnostic Result 2 ID 23 TS 6 PC 2635 Thu Oct 12 2000 13 42 02 R0 180 0000 R1 180 0000 R2 180 0000 R3 0 0000 R4 180 000 404 Diagnostic Result 3 ID 23 TS 6 PC 2635 Thu Oct 12 2000 13 39 10 R0 180 0000 R1 180 0000 R2 180 0000 R3 0 0000 R4 180 000 405 Diagnostic Result 4 406 Diagnostic Result 5 US 2003 0110412 A1 continued Sample Usage Profile Record 411 WarmUp Mode Intelligent Ready Jun 12 2003 412 Adaptive Data Sun 2 gt gt gt gt gt gt gt gt gt gt 413 Adaptive Data Mon 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 2 3 3 414 Adaptive Data Tue 2 2 2 3 2 3 3 1 415 Adaptive Data Wed 2 1 3 3 3 3 2 416 Adaptive Data Thu 2 2 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 417 Adaptive Data Fri
22. 50 74 2 75 99 1 100 249 0 250 0 163 Jobs By Number of Sets 0 1 233 2 4 7 5 9 0 10 19 0 20 29 0 30 49 0 50 74 0 75 99 0 100 249 0 250 0 164 Pages By Document Length 0 1 141 2 4 233 5 9 77 10 19 112 20 29 48 30 49 159 50 74 120 75 99 80 100 249 0 250 0 165 By Number of Sets 0 1 940 2 4 30 5 9 0 10 19 0 20 29 0 30 49 0 50 74 0 75 99 0 100 249 0 250 0 171 Job Source Internal 5 EtherTalk 0 Parallel 14 USB 0 FrontPanelJobInput 7 AppSocket 220 0 LPR 0 Remote Internet Printing 0 TokenTalk 0 PrintServer 0 IPP 3 Other 0 72 Job Language PostScript 241 PCL 0 AutoSelect 0 Scanner 0 PDF 0 Other 0 73 Jobs Collated No 241 Yes 0 74 Time Per Job 0 1 217 2 3 13 4 9 10 10 29 0 30 59 0 60 0 75 Total Jobs Printing Jobs 241 Non Printing Jobs 8 76 Cancelled Jobs 3 81 Days Printed 24 82 Pages Per 0 1 7 2 4 1 5 9 1 10 24 2 25 49 7 50 99 3 100 249 3 250 499 0 500 999 0 1000 0 83 Power On Count 6 84 Time On Distribution hours 0 1 1 2 3 0 4 9 0 10 23 3 24 167 0 168 1 85 Days Since Activation 23 86 Since Last Power On 345 87 Total Time On hours 569 88 Power Off Page 0 0 3141 3142 3366 89 Power Off Date Log Wed Oct 25 15 05 34 2000 Wed Oct 25 15 08 26 2000 Wed Nov 01 17 55 55 2000 91 Total Warmup Time hours 1 92 Total Offline Time hours 0 93 Total EnergyStar Time hours
23. ATE NUMBER 15 VARCHAR2 100 VARCHAR2 25 VARCHAR2 25 NUMBER 15 VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 20 DATE VARCHAR2 20 DATE NUMBER 15 VARCHAR2 100 VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 20 DATE VARCHAR2 20 DATE NUMBER 15 NUMBER 15 POSITIVE VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 25 VARCHAR2 10 VARCHAR2 100 continued Table Definitions NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL Foreign key ss lookup codes lookup code lookup type SolutionStatus Foreign key ss lookup codes lookup code lookup type ErrorLevel Foreign key Primary Key Foreign key rule headers rule header id Primary key unique rule line id rule line num Foreign key ss lookup codes LOOkup code lookup type RuleValueType created by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL creation date DATE NOT NULL last updated by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL last update date DATE NOT NULL create table solutions solution id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL name VARCHAR2 100 NOT NULL status code VARCHAR2 25 NOT NULL error level VARCHAR2 25 NOT NULL link text id NUMBER 15 solution content VARCHAR2 240 NOT NULL description VARCHAR2 240 created by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL creation date DATE NOT NULL last updated VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL last
24. ATE NOT NULL NUMBER 15 NOT NULL DATE NOT NULL for values gt 1 count from first for values lt 1 count from last 0 or blank first parm identify particular name value pairs in payloads for values 1 search through specified number of parameters 0 or blank 1 Foreign key ss lookup codes lookup code lookup type RuleOperator Foreign key ss lookup codes lookup code lookup type RuleValueType for values gt 1 count from first for values lt 1 count from last 0 or blank first parm identify particular name value pairs in payloads Foreign key ss lookup codes lookup code lookup type Units Must be gt 1 or NULL Foreign key ss Lookup codes lookup code lookup type RuleAction A solution_id other tule_id rule etc or blank Foreign key ss lookup codes lookup code lookup type RuleAction A solution 14 other rule id rule 8 etc or blank 10 primary parm num BINARY INTEGER primary payload key VARCHAR2 100 parms search POSITIVE operator VARCHAR2 25 NOT NULL comparison value VARCHAR2 240 secondary value type VARCHAR2 25 NOT NULL secondary token num VARCHAR2 10 secondary token name VARCHAR2 100 secondary parm num BINARY INTEGER secondary payload key VARCHAR2 100 comparison units VARCHAR2 25 comparison count POSITIVE action true VARCHAR2 25 NOT NULL target true
25. Head Auto Clean Source Printer Status Engine Error Log Engine Error Log Engine Error Date Log Engine Error Log Engine Error Log Engine Error Date Log Engine Error Log Engine Error Log Printer Status pay parm load num key 3 Energy Star Energy Star 19 parms to search operator TimeLessThan ItemEquals ItemEquals ItemEqua ItemEquals ItemEqua ItemEqua ItemEquals WithinVa s 8 8 ue MatchCourt TimeLessThan TimeLessThan NumGrea ter MatchCourt TimeLessThan TimeLessThan NumGrea Than ter ItemEquals ItemEquals ItemEquals TimeLessThan ItemEquals ItemEquals TimeLessThan ItemEquals ItemEquals ItemEquals action true NextLine Solution Solution Solution Solution Solution Solution Solution NextLine NextLine NextLine NextLine Solution NextLine NextLine NextLine Solution NextLine Field Escalate Field Escalate NextLine Field Escalate Field Escalate NextLine Field Escalate Field Escalate NextLine action false NextRule NextLine NextLine NextLine NextLine NextLine NextLine Solution NextRule NextRule NextRule NextRule Solution NextRule NextRule NextRule Solution NextRule NextLine Solution NextRule NextLine Solution NextRule NextLine Solution NextR
26. ND OF THE INVENTION 0002 When a user has a problem with a printer typically the user will first attempt to ascertain and fix the problem using whatever built in diagnosis tools were provided with the printer if any For some printers the built in diagnostic tools may be in the form of a user manual or diagrams on the user interface showing possible locations of printer jams and out of supply notices For printers linked to a personal computer the install disk of the printer may include diag nostics in the form of a utility program to be run on the user s personal computer Utility programs may offer sug gestions for relatively minor problems such as cleaning inkjets to improve print quality or how to ascertain a printer jam When the local diagnostic aids are insufficient to solve the user s printing problem the user is faced with the decision of taking the printer to a service center which usually only occurs if the printer is small enough for the user to transport or requesting a service call from a service technician 0003 Diagnosing and fixing problems in larger more complex printers in the field of necessity requires a tele phone call to the service center or call center Depending on the protocol at the particular service center a product support representative will log in the user s printer com plaint issue a Request ID RID to identify the service request and then attempt to solve the problem over the phone To attempt
27. NOT NULL creation date DATE NOT NULL last updated by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL last update date DATE NOT NULL create table link text link text id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL link text VARCHAR2 100 NOT NULL description VARCHAR2 240 US 2003 0110412 A1 created by VARCHAR2 20 creation date DATE last updated VARCHAR2 20 last update date DATE NEW created by VARCHAR2 20 creation date DATE last updated VARCHAR2 20 last update date DATE Jun 12 2003 continued Table Definitions NOT created by VARCHAR2 20 NULL NOT NULL NOT creation date DATE NOT NULL NULL NOT last updated by NULL VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL NOT last update date DATE NOT NULL NULL create table NEW NOT created by VARCHAR2 20 NULL NOT NULL NOT creation date DATE NOT NULL NULL NOT last updated by NULL VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL NOT last update date DATE NOT NULL NULL 0046 Table 3 shows the data lookup types and codes for the exemplary Rules Engine Data Lookup Type Description RuleAction Action types for rules RuleError Error types when rules don t work as expected RuleOperator Instructions for comparing usage profile parameters RuleValueType Instructions for determining what aspects of a UP parameter to evaluate SolutionStatus Status codes for solutions returned to calling modules Units Measurements day month year etc UPInterface Status codes for the UP Interface table
28. Sheet 6 of 7 Patent Application Publication 2 snyojs und 01 4511 p suolinjos 901415 Nmi 135 Nani 9 5 0 OL 511415 135 534 31001415 31031X3N ONINSYM NOIL TIOS 33014155 INITLXIN 13111 30333 TWWHON 092 11010 INIT JINA NOIL TIOS 031441 NOLDV 1084 NOLDV 15114 139 111 139 042 NOIL TIOS 30333 dn3001 INTIMIS ON q30V3H 3102 411 331410 0 TIVI JDV3NALNI 01 5030333 S NIXOL WO 114011 040333 111034 OL 1 034 19951 19151 3suvd 822 922 122 a 1x31 11084 39 50 ravas 04 511416 NAY 3ZITVIIINI 00154 S4313WVaVd 022 US 2003 0110412 A1 Jun 12 2003 Sheet 7 of 7 Patent Application Publication 33A33S 1404405 8 19 4 1804405 5394 83M 01003813 34VM341N3 4154048 5 4350 51914 83M 01401813 5 431 4 83435 83M 030038 13 BNYd 104 331184 01440 5531331 21508990 18 US 2003 0110412 A1 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATED PRINTER DIAGNOSTICS FIELD OF THE INVENTION 0001 This invention relates generally to a system and method for automated printer diagnostics and more particu larly to a system and method which relies primarily on printer generated diagnostic information BACKGROU
29. ULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL Primary key Foreign key rule headers rule header id Note only header OR line id should be specified NOT both Foreign key rule lines rule line id Foreign key ss lookup codes lookup code lookup type RuleError Foreign key solutions solution 14 Primary key unique by printer type id rule id sequence num Foreign key printer models printer model id Foreign key rule headers rule header id Can be or N primary key Jun 12 2003 11 create table rule_recovery rule recovery id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL rule header id NUMBER 15 rule line id NUMBER 15 error code VARCHAR2 25 NOT NULL solution id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL description VARCHAR2 240 created by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL creation date DATE NOT NULL last updated VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL last update date DATE NOT NULL create table printer models printer model id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL model VARCHAR2 25 NOT NULL description VARCHAR2 240 created by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL creation date DATE NOT NULL last updated VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL last update date DATE NULL create table printers to rules printer model id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL rule header id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL sequence num POSITIVE NOT NULL active flag VARCHAR2 1 NOT NULL description VARCHAR2 240 created by VARCHAR2 20
30. US 20030110412A1 a2 Patent Application Publication Pub No US 2003 0110412 Al United States Neville 43 Pub Date Jun 12 2003 54 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATED PRINTER DIAGNOSTICS 75 Inventor Russell S Neville Wilsonville OR US Correspondence Address Patent Documentation Center Xerox Corporation Xerox Square 20th Floor 100 Clinton Ave S Rochester NY 14644 US 73 Assignee Xerox Corporation 21 Appl No 09 886 325 22 Filed Jun 19 2001 Publication Classification 51 Int aen H04B 1 74 PRINTER PRINTER PRINTER 14 52 US CL 714 25 57 ABSTRACT A support system for diagnosing printer problems includes support server and a printer located remote from the support server The support server includes a rules engine for parsing printer diagnostic data into components for analyz ing the components and for generating a suggested solution based on combinations of printer diagnostic data and error conditions The printer includes a printer driver responsive to a user request for support for communicating with the support server Printer diagnostic data may be generated by a usage profile utility resident at the printer or by down loading a printer diagnostic utility from the support server or a combination of both Generated printer diagnostic data is sent to the support server where the rules engine parses and an
31. abase 118 include serial number of printer 14 model number Usage Profile timestamp and printer IP address The user s usage profile data are submit ted to the Oracle stored procedure created for the Rules Engine The Rules Engine parses the Usage Profile data performs an analysis and returns an error status an error message possibly null and a record set of solutions The error status describes the relative success of the analysis and may be one of normal warning or fatal 0031 On a normal or warning condition the Rules Engine will return a record set The record set contains Column Name Description Status code error level link text id solution content description name One of three values see table below The error level returned by the Rules Engine The Link text for the URL The solution URL The solution description The name of this solution 0032 Each row in this record set represents one of three conditions The solution id table documents those condi tions Status Message Action RuleFailure An error occurred within the Rules Engine while processing rules Contact Rules admin Positive A dead ringer solution was discovered for the user s problem The user can fix the problem with parts Display these first Indeterminate The solution was uncertain Display these next 0033 If the problem is Positive and a solution 68 is available within the infoSMART database 124 the solutio
32. ace notes and customer notes 0043 The Report interface 114 allows internal users to measure overall traffic solution delivery success and prod uct trending It matches the serial numbers in against the PhaserSMART session database to determine how many of the PhaserSMART sessions were successful Predefined or ad hoc reports may be generated 0044 The Rules Engine 111 parse all incoming user information such as usage profile information or data generated as a result of a downloaded printer diagnostics utility An example of a Rules Engine used in the PhaserS MART system is described below and with reference to FIGS 6 and 7 0045 Table 2 is a table of definitions used in the exem plary rule engine Table Definitions create table ss up interface session id NUMBER 15 NOT Primary key session id NUMBER 15 NULL NOT NULL token num VARCHAR2 10 NOT token_num VARCHAR2 10 NULL NOT NULL token desc VARCHAR2 100 token desc VARCHAR2 100 NULL NOT NULL token payload 202000 token payload VARCHAR2 2000 status VARCHAR2 20 NOT Indicates status of status VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL records posted to UP NULL database created by VARCHAR2 20 NOT created by VARCHAR2 20 NULL NOT NULL creation date DATE NOT creation date DATE NOT NULL NULL last updated by VARCHAR2 20 NOT last updated by NULL VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL last update date DATE NOT last update date DATE NOT NULL NULL ss look
33. agenta 7 Yellow 3 Black 8 Cyan 0 9048 Black 1 1547 Fast Color 10453 Standard 588447 Enhanced 2436 High Resolution Photo 287669 Fast Color 13880 Standard 651569 Enhanced 3615 High Resolution Photo 420024 Fast Color 10831 Standard 371417 Enhanced 2694 High Resolution Photo 90629 Fast Color 22223 Standard 944578 Enhanced 2454 High Resolution Photo 60401 Paper 939 Transparency 41 Other 0 Magenta 1 08198 Yellow 0 50879 8 Cyan 798613 Magenta 974505 Yellow 425226 Black 708775 Cyan 5 Magenta 6 Yellow 3 Black 5 Cyan 90392 Magenta 114583 Yellow 50345 Black 320881 Cyan 16 Magenta 20 Yellow 9 Black 56 Color 821 Black amp White 156 Blank 3 Cyan 0 Magenta 0 Yellow 0 Black 85608 Cyan 0 Magenta 0 Yellow 0 Black 4 Cyan 889005 Magenta 1089088 Yellow 475571 Black 944048 Cyan 7 Magenta 8 Yellow 4 Black 8 1 Sided 868 2 Sided 56 Paper Letter 0 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 Upper Paper Letter 0 Upper Paper Legal 0 Upper Paper A4 0 Upper Transparency Letter 41 Upper Transparency A4 0 Middle Paper Letter 0 Middle Paper A4 0 Lower Paper Letter 883 Lower Paper A4 0 Fast Color 46 Standard 903 Enhanced 3 High Resolution Photo 28 None 1 Vivid Color 0 Simulate Display 2 SWOP Press 0 Euroscale Press 0 Commercial Press 0 Black and White 0 Raw CMYK 20 Raw RGB 0 Automatic 957 Toyo Press 0 Dai Nippon Press
34. alyzes the received data and generates a suggested solution for transmission to the printer SUPPORT SERVER 15 DIAGNOSTICS UTILITY M oc ee ee Patent Application Publication Jun 12 2003 Sheet 1 of 7 US 2003 0110412 A1 DIAGNOSTICS UTILITY 1 US 2003 0110412 A1 Jun 12 2003 Sheet 2 of 7 Patent Application Publication 105532044 Patent Application Publication Jun 12 2003 Sheet 3 of 7 US 2003 0110412 A1 USER SELECTS SUPPORT SUPPORT SERVER 108 110 112 SUPPORT G SERVER SUPPORT REQUEST RULES ENGINE CUSTOMER SESSION ENGINE DATABASE DATABASE 116 118 122 FIG 4 USAGE RULES PROFILE DATABASE INFOSMART DATABASE 24 US 2003 0110412 A1 Jun 12 2003 Sheet 4 of 7 Patent Application Publication S100029 1 01551815 HI Jsvaviva TUVWS 03NI 51101 1904415 JALDVAILNI 1E Hi LEO NOIL TIOS 01548 83M M qN3 US 2003 0110412 A1 Jun 12 2003 Sheet 5 of 7 Patent Application Publication ANIT 9 Sid 300 411001 912 5341 413001 blc elc 58011105 JNO 03931 SLINN IWIL S3dAL INTIVA 54014340 SNOIDV S3NI1310 S33G0V3H IINA 002 S3103 01 58311184 513004 331134 US 2003 0110412 A1 Jun 12 2003
35. b browser for connecting to the Internet and the printer contains a usage utility and an embedded web server The user requests support by access ing the printer driver which will contain a link for support printer driver invokes the user s default browser with a URL argument The URL is the IP address of the printer e g http 13 62 154 233 xerox upr tech post and the web server displays a web page in the web browser The printer s web server calls postscript functions which extract diagnostic data generated from the usage utility resident on the printer and package them in an HTML form variable Immediately US 2003 0110412 A1 after the page loads in the user s browser it automatically submits the HTML form via HTTP to the support server The support server calls the rules engine the rules engine parses and returns a record set of solution links The support server constructs a web page and returns it to the user s browser 0009 system may also store historical information such as a record of the service request the printer diagnostic data and the suggested solution at the support server Warranty information may be stored in the support server and the warranty entitlement information may be checked at the time of the initial request Any stored historical infor mation may be provided to the user along with the suggested solution to the current problem Thus the user sees a very simple elegant interface with all t
36. d 2 NumLessThan Solution NextRule vs 2 Sided Sided sheets 0054 Referring back to FIG 7 suppose a particular rule returned a solution instead of a next line indication Table 7 lists the solutions by solution id Referring to Table 7 and with reference to step 232 the error level in column 4 of table 7 is checked first The lookup error recovery solution is determined step 242 and the solution is then appended to the list of information to be sent to the user in response to his service request step 250 In step 260 the error level is checked to see if it is either normal warning or fatal If fatal the rules engine sets the status to fatal step 266 and solution id 100 Default LineNotFound 101 Default RuleNotFound adds the parameters to the solution id list and run status step 268 and the rule engine analysis ends step 270 If the solution is normal the rules engine checks to see if more rules have to be evaluated step 264 If not the rules engine adds the parameters to the solution id list and run status step 268 and the rule engine analysis ends step 270 If more rules are to be run it returns to step 230 If the error is a warning the rules engine sets the run status to warning step 262 and goes to step 264 TABLE 7 Data Solution status code error level description RuleFailure Warming Default solution for rule failure Line Not Found RuleFailure Warming Default solution for rule
37. e for collecting usage profile information including supplies usage infor mation and printer status information such information can also be transmitted to the support server for use in analysis by the rules engine The system and method of the invention automates the service call handling process and reduces the cost of support while also allowing a 24 hr day by 7 days week support coverage for the customer BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0013 FIG 1 is a block diagram of a support system for diagnosing printer problems 0014 FIG 1 0015 FIG 3 is a block diagram illustrating the architec ture for a service request in the support system 0016 FIG 4 is another block diagram of an architecture for a support system 0017 FIG 5 is another block diagram of an architecture for a service request and result in a support session 0018 FIG 6 is a block diagram of the entity relation ships between the elements in the rule engine FIG 2 is a block diagram of a printer shown in Jun 12 2003 0019 FIG 7 is a block diagram of the process flow in the rules engine and 0020 FIG 8 is a block diagram illustrating several ways of communication between the printer and the support server DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 0021 Referring to FIG 1 a system for providing support 10 includes a support server 12 and one or more printers 14 located remote from the support server 12 Communica
38. e system and a solution to the identified problem is immediately displayed The system runs its pattern matching algorithm against the Usage Profile information and system rules The system finds a high probability solution match The system finds an associated solution ID in the solution lookup table The system displays the infoSMART solution 68 on the Rules Engine Resolution page The user attempts the fix provided by the solution and it is successful The user clicks an appropriate link on the dialog box 52 to indicate that the problem has been resolved The system writes the session record including infoSMART solution ID resolution status timestamp 0038 In the second scenario the user obtains an inter active self support solution In this case the information submitted to the Rules Engine does not contain a dead ringer Further information is needed from the user to diagnose the issue The system runs its pattern matching algorithm against the Usage Profile information and system rules The system does not find a match The system displays User Choice page with links to interactive diagnostics and other support links The user chooses the interactive diag nostic link The system does an analysis of the Usage Profile information to assess where in the infoSMART decision trees to place the user The system loads the infoSMART decision tree in the main display frame The user navigates the decision tree answering questions tha
39. ed by a solution ID The solution ID will be shown in the action true or action false columns in Table 5 For example rule header id 266 current fault code has a symptom of any service fault Rule 266 in Table 6 has a value type of token which rule rule header line line value token id id num type num 257 2046 1 TokenValue 237 257 2047 2 TokenValue 237 257 2048 3 TokenValue 282 257 2049 4 TokenValue 284 258 2050 1 Token Value 282 258 2051 2 Token Value 284 259 2052 1 282 259 2053 2 Token Value 284 259 2054 3 Token Value 282 259 2055 4 Token Value 284 260 2056 1 Token Value 237 260 2057 2 Token Value 266 260 2058 3 TokenValue 266 260 2059 4 TokenValue 266 260 2060 5 TokenValue 266 260 2061 6 TokenValue 266 260 2062 7 TokenValue 266 260 2063 8 TokenValue 266 26 2064 1 TokenValue 268 26 2065 2 266 26 2066 3 TokenValue 266 26 2067 4 TokenValue 266 26 2068 5 TokenValue 266 26 2069 6 TokenValue 266 26 2070 7 266 26 2071 8 TokenValue 266 Jun 12 2003 18 means a token value from the usage profile data must be obtained The token number is 262 and the name is engine error log which has a parametric value of 1 The operator is itemequals and the action if true is to escalate to a field call If false go to the next line of the rule 0053 Table 6 lists the rule lines for the exemplary rules engine pay parms tok
40. eeds printer diagnostic data in order to suggest a solution Printer diagnostic data may be obtained by one or a combination of methods The support server may cause a printer diagnostics utility to be sent to the printer The printer runs the printer diagnostics utility which generates a set of printer diagnostic data and transmits the data to the support server An advantage of using downloaded printer diagnostics utilities is that the utility can be updated from time to time to retrieve or generate different types of data If the printer includes a utility which generates and stores printer usage information and printer status information during operation of the printer that information may be transmitted to the support server instead of the printer diagnostic data generated by the printer diagnostics utility or in addition to the printer diag nostic data Indeed printer diagnostic data may include any data stored in the printer memory 0007 The rules engine then parses the printer diagnostic data into components and analyzes the components in order to determine a cause for the printer problem The rules engine then determines a suggested solution set for the problem and transmits the suggested solution to the printer suggested solution set is typically determined from a database of solutions based on printer diagnostic data and error conditions 0008 In one particular embodiment the printer is coupled to a computer having a we
41. en parm load to action action name num key search operator true false Printer 1 ItemEquals NextLine NextRule Status Printer 3 ItemEquals NextLine Solution Status PrintHead 1 ItemEquals NextLine NextRule Clean Source PrintHead 1 TimeLessThan Solution NextRule Clean Date Log PrintHead 1 ItemEquals NextLine NextRule Clean Source PrintHead 1 TimelessThan Solution NextRule Clean Date Log PrintHead 1 ItemEquals NextLine NextRule Clean Source PrintHead 1 TimelessThan Solution NextRule Clean Date Log PrintHead 2 ItemEquals NextLine NextRule Clean Source PrintHead 2 TimelessThan Solution NextRule Clean Date Log Printer 1 Within Value Solution NextRule Status Jam 1 ItemEquals Solution NextRule Error Log Jam 1 ItemEquals Solution NextRule Error Log Jam 1 ItemEquals Solution NextRule Error Log Jam 1 ItemEquals Solution NextLine Error Log Jam 1 ItemEquals Solution NextLine Error Log Jam 1 ItemEquals Solution NextLine Error Log Jam 1 ItemEquals Solution Solution Error Log Jam 1 TimeLessThan NextLine NextRule Error DateLog Jam 1 ItemEquals Solution NextLine Error Log Jam 1 ItemEquals Solution NextLine Error Log Jam 1 ItemEquals Solution NextLine Error Log Jam 1 ItemEquals Solution NextLine Error Log Jam 1 ItemEquals Solution NextLine Error Log Jam 1 ItemEquals Solution NextLine Error Log Jam 1 ItemEquals Solution Solution Error Log
42. es are compared in step 240 If the match is true the true action line from the rule line step 246 is selected If the match is false the false action line from the rule line is selected step 248 If there is an error in the match the rules engine goes to step 242 In step 252 the action type is determined If it is a solution the rules engine goes to step 250 If it says to go to the next line or skip to a particular line it goes to that line and returns to step 234 If the action type is next rule or skip to rule it goes to step 230 0056 The invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment Modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding this speci fication taken together with the drawings The embodiments are but examples and various alternatives modifications variations or improvements may be made by those skilled in the art from this teaching which are intended to be encom passed by the following claims What is claimed is 1 A support system for diagnosing printer problems comprising support server having a rules engine for parsing printer diagnostic data into components for analyzing the components and for generating a suggested solution based on combinations of printer diagnostic data and error conditions and at least one printer located remote from the support server wherein the printer includes a printer driver responsive to a request for support fo
43. failure Rule Not Found US 2003 0110412 A1 TABLE 7 continued Data Solution 21 Jun 12 2003 Default solution for rule failure Evaluation Default solution for rule failure Header loop Default solution for rule failure Line loop Default solution for rule failure Time out Specific solution for light strips rule failure solution id name status code error level description 02 Default EvalFailure RuleFailure Warning Failure 03 Default HeaderLoop RuleFailure Fatal 04 Default LineLoop RuleFailure Fatal 05 Default TimedOut RuleFailure Fatal 06 LightStripes Failure RuleFailure Warning 07 Critical NextLine RuleFailure Fatal For critical nextline failures Failure 08 Field Escalate Positive Normal General field escalation solution General 09 Printer jam general Positive Normal Printer jam solution 860 01 10 Printer jam general Indeterminate Normal Printer jam solution 860 02 11 Printer jam general Positive Normal Printer jam solution 860 03 12 Printer jam general Indeterminate Normal Printer jam solution 860 04 13 Printer jam general Indeterminate Normal Printer jam solution 860 05 0055 If the result of step 232 indicates there is no error the rules engine retrieves the next rule line step 234 and checks for an error at step 236 If yes it continues to step 242 If not at step 238 usage profile token value from table 4 is compared with the token value for the rule The two valu
44. he complex data interac tions done behind the scenes of the information sent to the support server is collected without requiring the user to perform any diagnostic tests directly or to answer questions or to interact with the support server or a service technician 0010 In the event the suggested solution does not fix the printer problem the user can access a phone support system The phone support system can access all printer diagnostic data received at the support server during the automated process and use that data to facilitate telephone support or for a service representative call 0011 The system may be used on any network whether intranet or extranet e g the Internet although it is expected that most users would contact the support server over the Internet The printer driver may include a web browser for pointing to a web page at the support server 0012 The system and method of the invention offer many advantages For example the system enables use of printer generated status data to enable a diagnosis as opposed to customer entered information alone A centralized support server implementing a rules engine enables the support center to have the latest diagnostics utilities as well as the latest solutions to errors Use of the Internet as a medium to allow data transfers to take place enables a large number of users to communicate quickly and efficiently with the sup port server If the printer includes softwar
45. im 12 wherein the input output device comprises a wireless device 15 The system of claim 12 wherein the input output device comprises a processor a memory and a front panel display in the printer 16 The system of claim 1 wherein on receipt of the suggested solution the printer executes the suggested solu tion 17 A support system for diagnosing printer problems comprising a support server having a rules engine for parsing printer diagnostic data into components for analyzing the components and for generating a suggested solution based on combinations of printer diagnostic data and error conditions and at least one printer located remote from the support server wherein the printer includes a printer driver responsive to a request for support for communicating with the support server a usage utility for generating and storing printer diagnostic data during operation of the printer wherein printer diagnostic data comprises usage profile information and printer status informa tion and a web server for generating web pages per taining to the printer wherein responsive to a request for support the printer driver loads a web browser the web browser accesses web address associated with the printer and invokes the web server the web server generates a web page containing any stored usage profile information and printer status information and transmits the stored printer diagnostic data to the support server Jun
46. im 6 wherein the printer and the support server communicate over the Internet via a web browser wherein the printer driver further includes a usage profile utility for generating and storing usage information and printer status information during operation of the printer and wherein responsive to the request for support from the printer the web server attaches the usage profile infor mation and printer status information to a web page for the printer and transmits the web page to the support server US 2003 0110412 A1 8 The system of claim 1 wherein the printer has a unique identifier and wherein the support server further comprises a memory for storing historical information pertaining to the printer comprising a record of the request for support the printer diagnostic data and the suggested solution 9 The system of claim 8 wherein the support server transmits historical information to the printer 10 The system of claim 8 wherein the support server verifies warranty information for the printer 11 The system of claim 2 wherein the printer further comprises a processor a memory storing a web browser and an input output device having a display 12 The system of claim 1 wherein the printer is coupled to an input output device for receiving user requests for support and for displaying received solutions 13 The system of claim 12 wherein the input output device comprises a personal computer 14 The system of cla
47. inted Transparency 1K Cyan 90392 Magenta 114583 Yellow 50345 Black 320881 25 Coverage Transparency Cyan 16 Magenta 20 Yellow 9 Black 56 31 Color vs Black amp White pages Color 821 Black amp White 156 Blank 3 32 Pixels Printed Black amp White 1K Cyan 0 Magenta 0 Yellow 0 Black 85608 33 Coverage Black amp White Cyan 0 Magenta 0 Yellow 0 Black 4 34 Pixels Printed Color 1K Cyan 889005 Magenta 1089088 Yellow 475571 Black 944048 35 Coverage Color Cyan 7 Magenta 8 Yellow 4 Black 8 41 1 Sided vs 2 Sided sheets 1 Sided 868 2 Sided 56 43 Manual Feed Media sheets Paper Letter 0 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 44 Cassette Tray Media sheets Upper Paper Letter 0 Upper Paper Legal 0 Upper Paper A4 0 Upper Transparency Letter 41 Upper Transparency A4 0 Middle Paper Letter 0 Middle Paper A4 0 Lower Paper Letter 883 Lower Paper A4 0 151 Print Quality pages Fast Color 46 Standard 903 Enhanced 3 High Resolution Photo 28 152 Color Correction pages None 1 Vivid Color 0 Simulate Display 2 SWOP Press 0 Euroscale Press 0 Commercial Press 0 Black and White 0 Raw CMYK 20 Raw RGB 0 Automatic 957 Toyo Press 0 Dai Nippon Press 0 Fuji Press 0 Newsprint 0 Non PostScript 0 Undefined 0 161 Sets Printed pages First Set Pages 951 Subsequent Set Pages 19 162 Jobs By Document Length 0 1 132 2 4 77 5 9 14 10 19 8 20 29 2 30 49 4
48. ises usage profile information and printer status information 23 The method of claim 18 wherein subsequent to transmitting the request for support transmitting a printer diagnostic utility from the support server to the printer and using the printer diagnostic utility to generate printer diag nostic data 24 The method of claim 18 further comprising storing historical information pertaining to the printer comprising a record of the request for support the printer diagnostic data and the suggested solution at the support server 25 The method of claim 24 further comprising transmit ting stored historical information to the printer 26 The method of claim 18 further comprising verifying warranty information for the printer
49. les Engine As result they were assigned a Request ID and have called support The Customer Support Agent needs to access the user s information The Customer Support Agent takes a call from an PhaserSMART escalation customer The Customer Support Agent gets the Request ID RID from the customer and opens the support session The Customer Support Agent launches a web browser from a URL within the OpenUP TIME system with RID included The system queries the PhaserSMART database for the most recent user session The Customer Support Agent uses the session history and standard troubleshooting techniques to verify problem The problem is fixed escalated or dispatched to field service following standard OPB Customer Support practices Addi tional contingent Use Cases are also possible to implement with the PhaserSMART system 0041 On completion the first three scenarios automati cally open a service request through a PL SQL package interface to special interface tables the OpenUPTIME Tables This integration automates much of the manual information collection into an existing customer support system and automates the routing of requests This also enables updating of databases The invention may be used alone or in combination with the methods described in co pending co assigned patent application D A1151 Printer Diagnostics Method David I Bernklau Halvor filed the same date as this application which is incorporated herein by
50. lines with solution Ids which reference solutions stored within the infoSMART database 124 The Rules Engine 122 returns a solution list and a status message 68 which is transmitted by the support server 110 to the printer via the web browser The web application may transmit the solution list and status message in the form of a URL uniform resource locator which the user can access via the web browser The URL directs the user to an infoSMART solution in the infoS MART data base 124 No solutions returned by the Rules Engine require display of an interactive diagnostic session 0036 Referring to FIG 4 an optional web based Cus tomer Support interface 112 permits call center agents to view user session information and submission history 62 An optional reports module 114 generates reports 64 of service active for administrative and other purposes Some of these reports may include a record of each discrete activity or event and the calculated proficiency of events the percent age of events that result in a fix relative to total events The reports can be used to measure the Rules Engine s sessions solved and sessions which result in a call to the Support Center 0037 The PhaserSMART system of this embodiment generates four use scenarios In the first scenario the user obtains an instant self support solution In this case the information submitted to the Rules Engine contains a dead ringer This information is identified by th
51. n is sent to the user If the problem is Positive and the user needs service the URL points to a separate template path 66 within the application The user is prompted for contact information and the service request is assigned for process ing by the field service teams if the printer is under warranty or contract If the service job is billable the user is directed to contact customer support In all cases the exit page updates the session record to capture the end timestamp the exit route if the problem was solved the solution type and the infoSMART ID and key if any 0034 The Rules Engine provides mechanisms to tie the information received from a user to the appropriate self support solution A function of the Rules Engine is to interface with the support server to deliver a solution to the user via the user s browser The rules that the Rules Engine relies on are stored in the Rules Engine database 122 These rules are stored in a database for easy addition modification and maintenance As new printers are developed to use PhaserSMART Rules Administrators must be able to define and add rule sets rapidly and easily 0035 The Rules Engine contains a set of Rules stored in Rules Engine database 122 for each printer type These US 2003 0110412 A1 Rules consist of analysis of combinations of Usage Profile tokens that represent error conditions or symptoms within a printer The Rules Engine database 122 associates Rule
52. ne 111 first parses the incoming Usage Profile informa tion and then formats it for insertion into the Usage Profile database 116 The Customer Session Database 118 contains the records of the users interactions with the PhaserSMART system To provide tracking information the session data base 118 contains a log of any support requests opened and infoSMART session IDs In addition to tracking informa tion the database captures any other user input requested by the support server 110 The Rules Engine database 122 provides the location for rules and solution lookup tables The rules tables relate printers to specific rule sets to match against incoming Usage Profile information If a match is found the solution table is queried to determine which infoSMART solution stored infoSMART Database 124 should be displayed to the user The Support Agent interface 112 defines the web screens that the Call Center agents use to interact with Rules Engine and the data sources it touches ss up interface Jun 12 2003 The Support Agent screen includes of a list of recent interactions with the support server Each interaction is represented by a link that shows the session detail when clicked The screen permits several different ways to sort and filter the list of links that is displayed to the Support Agent At the top of this screen a portion may be reserved to display customer information such as model number serial number RID product pl
53. omparison value to nearest time unit specified RuleOperator ItemEquals String or number equals the comparison value RuleOperator MatchCount String or number pattern found multiple times in token payload RuleOperator NumBetween Number is between comparison values list of 2 RuleOperator NumGreaterThan Number greater than the comparison value RuleOperator NumAccumulate Add the numeric result from this token value to the running total no comparison with another value yet RuleOperator NumLessThan Number less than the comparison value RuleOperator TimeBetween Time interval between comparison value list of 2 and to nearest time unit specified US 2003 0110412 A1 Jun 12 2003 13 continued RuleOperator TimeEquals Time interval equals comparison value to nearest time unit specified RuleOperator TimeGreaterThan Time interval greater than comparison value to nearest time unit specified RuleOperator TimeLessThan Time interval less than comparison value to nearest time unit specified RuleOperator WithinPayload Comparison value string or number found within the token payload RuleOperator WithinValue String or number found within the comparison value delimited list RuleOperator RuleOperator RuleValueType Constant A fixed number or text value RuleValueType Named value Specific token payload value identified by its key name portion of the name value pair RuleValueType
54. port server 12 via the Internet printer driver 42 may include a web browser 44 Alternatively the printer driver 42 may communicate through a web browser located on the computer or network to which the printer 14 is connected Printer 14 may option ally include a usage utility 46 The usage utility 46 gathers various usage information and printer status information during operation of the printer 14 and stores a record of it usually called a usage profile or usage profile information in the memory 40 As described later when a request for service is made to the supply server 12 the support server will request any usage profile information stored about the printer be sent to it for analysis Alternatively the printer may send the usage profile information with the request for support 0024 To aid in the diagnosis of a printer problem or if the printer does not contain a usage profile utility for generating usage profile information the support server 12 may send a printer diagnostic utility 13 to the printer 14 On receipt the printer 14 runs the diagnostic utility 13 and generates a set of printer diagnostic data which is sent to the support server 12 for analysis Of course a printer with a usage utility and stored usage profile information may also download and run the printer diagnostic utility data received from the printer 14 by the support server 12 will be parsed and analyzed by the rules engine 15 and a suggested solution
55. r communicating with the support server wherein responsive to a request for support from the printer the printer transmits printer diagnostic data to the support server wherein the rules engine parses and analyzes the printer diagnostic data and generates a suggested solution and the support server transmits the suggested solution to the printer 2 The system of claim 1 wherein the support server and the printer communicate over the Internet 3 The system of claim 1 wherein the support server further includes a printer diagnostics utility wherein respon sive to a request for support from the printer the support server transmits the printer diagnostics utility to the printer and wherein upon receipt of the printer diagnostics utility the printer generates printer diagnostic data 4 The system of claim 1 wherein the printer driver further includes a usage profile utility for generating and storing usage information and printer status information during operation of the printer and wherein responsive to the request for support from the printer the printer transmits the usage profile information and printer status information to the support server 5 The system of claim 2 wherein the printer further comprises a web browser for pointing to a web page at the support server 6 The system of claim 2 wherein the printer further comprises a web server for generating web pages pertaining to the printer 7 The system of cla
56. resident on the printer 0028 Alternatively in the case where the printer 14 includes an embedded web server 45 when the user opens the printer driver application on his personal computer 50 and selects technical support link on the troubleshooting tab this action causes the user s web browser 45 to display invoking a form call 54 to the printer s embedded web server 45 which returns a web page 82 with an HTML form to be sent to the support server 110 Usage profile information 56 in the form of a single field Updata comprises the support request 108 in the form of an HTTP post which is sent via the Internet to support server 110 This form is automatically submitted when the user s browser loads the web page 82 returned by the printer s embedded web server Updata contains Usage Profile information generated by the usage profile utility resident on the printer An alternative web page generated by the printer s embedded web server is the CenterWare Support page 84 which is displayed in the user s browser 83 0029 Table 1 shows a sample usage profile record that might be collected for a particular user s printer Sample Usage Profile Record 1 Date of Report Thu Nov 16 17 43 47 2000 2 Activation Date Mon Oct 23 23 25 59 2000 3 Printer Ds Serial BCLP356 Ethernet 08 00 11 0F 01 33 IP 13 62 70 236 xxxxxx 4 Printer Name Steffen s BC 5 Printer Type Model Phaser 860DP Printer Class Solid Ink 6 Adobe Firmware 3010 1
57. rrent Fault Code Any Service Fault 267 Fault in Last 15 Minutes Any Service Fault 268 Fault in Last 4 Days Any Service Fault 269 270 Currently Cleaning for 28297 Marks Smudges mle Ink Smears or Scratches header id name symptom 271 Recent Cleaning for 28297 Marks Smudges Ink Smears or Scratches 257 Currently Cleaning for Light 28128 Light Stripes 272 stripes maybe for Ink Smears Faded or White Lines 273 Hasn t Used Driver 26085 Cannot get the but unlikely or Streaks Features Printer to do Automatic 258 Light Stripes in Last 15 Minutes 28128 Light Stripes Duplex or Two Sided Faded or White Lines Printing or Streaks 259 Light Stripes in Last 4 Days 28128 Light Stripes Without an automatic dean Faded or White Lines s 0052 Each rule header identifies a particular rule line following it or Streaks 9 3 260 Current Jam Message Any Jam which contains the ruler header id the rule line id rule line 261 in Last 15 Minutes Any Jam number value type token number token name parameter 262 Jams in Last 4 Days Any Jam number payload key parameters to search operator com parison value action true what to do if the action is true US 2003 0110412 A1 go to a solution or the next rule and action false go to the next rule or in some cases a solution Each rule tells the rules engine how to process particular values of user profile information to determine a solution which is identifi
58. t 25 15 08 26 2000 Wed Nov 01 17 55 55 2000 91 Total Warmup Time 1 hours 192 Total Offline Time 0 hours 193 Total EnergyStar 0 Time hours 194 EnergyStar Time 0 14 0 15 29 0 30 119 0 120 299 0 300 599 0 600 0 Distribution mins 201 JetStack StandBy 28 Time hours 202 JetStack StandBy 0 14 5 15 29 0 30 119 30 120 299 0 300 599 0 600 0 Time Distribution mins 203 StandBy Time 373 hours 204 StandBy Time 0 14 3 15 29 1 30 119 3 120 299 0 300 599 1 600 17 Distribution mins 221 Maintenance Kit Wed Aug 09 07 39 13 2000 Installation Date 222 Maintenance Kit 59 Remaining 90 223 MKIC 4354 224 Maintenance Kit Low 0 Medium 0 High 980 Consumption Rate 231 Doors Open Front Cover 6 Exit Cover 0 Top Cover 2 232 Supplies Replaced Ink Low 0 Ink Empty 0 Maintenance Kit Low 0 Maintenance Kit Empty 0 Other 0 233 Paper Out Upper Tray 2 Middle Tray 0 Lower Tray 10 234 Button Presses 328 235 Feature Info Button 4 Supplies Info Menu 1 Network Setup Menu 0 Printer Setup Menu 0 Job Defaults Menu 0 Printable Pages Menu 10 Service Pages Menu 0 Support Menu 3 Printer Identification 6 Improve Print Quality 1 Network Questions 0 Resolve Paper Jams 0 Service Tools Menu 0 TroubleShoot Jams 0 237 Printer Status 0 10 0 6 9 6 10 0 10 0 10 0 10 0 18 251 System Reset Count 0 252 System Reset Log 0 0 0 0 0 253 System Reset 0 0 0 0 0 254 System Reset Date
59. t narrow the issue to a solution or set of solutions The system displays the infoSMART solution on a Resolution page The user attempts the fix provided by the solution The user clicks the button to indicate that the problem has been resolved The system writes the session record including infoSMART solution ID resolution status timestamp 0039 In the third scenario the end user needs service a service call from a service representative In this case the Jun 12 2003 information submitted to the Rules Engine or the decision tree path leads to a solution that calls for servicing the printer The system runs its pattern matching algorithm against the Usage Profile information and system rules The system finds a high probability solution match The system finds a service needed entry in the solution lookup table The system displays a page notifying end user of need for service with a send technician option The user clicks yes or no on sending a technician The system opens a request for a service technician The system checks for warranty or con tract If not billable system displays exit page with request ID and assigns the job If billable the system displays a Call Choice page The user chooses to contact a service center or have a service center contact them 0040 In the fourth scenario the Customer Support Agent views a user s Rules Engine session In this case the user was not able to resolve their issue via the Ru
60. tion between support server 12 and printer 14 is made via the Internet 16 or such other communications channel as may be available The Internet is particularly useful because it provides a ubiquitous connection for large numbers of individuals and businesses 0022 A typical printer 14 is shown in FIG 2 Printer 14 includes printer hardware 20 for receiving a print medium transferring ink or toner in the form of an image onto the print medium and exiting the printed print medium Printer controller 22 controls operation of the printer hardware The functions contained with box 28 may be located within the printer 14 in the case of larger or production type printers or they may be located on an external computer such as a personal computer or a network server to which the printer is connected in the case of smaller or simpler printers Functions 28 include a user interface 24 for receiving a print job 30 processor 26 and memory 40 Processor 26 executes the printer driver 42 stored in memory 40 After the print job 30 is interpreted by processor 26 and stored as yellow cyan magenta and or black image data in memory 40 printer controller 22 causes the printer 20 to feed a print medium from a media tray not shown and be processed through the printer 20 such that a full color and or black and white image is transferred onto the print medium which is then fed by means of an exit path from the printer 0023 communicate with sup
61. to automatically check their system for com Jun 12 2003 ponents search for answers that match a system configura tion connect to a support specialist send a detailed report to support specialist and ask questions This type of support is reportedly being extended to the printer industry in that Hewlett Packard offers an automated Web based diagnostic and resolution support service for embedded Web server enabled EWS printers which is intended to help users anticipate address and resolve printer specific problems The intent of such systems is aimed at facilitating the use of phone support as an alternative to on site service 0005 While improved use of phone support is helpful to users and reduces costs to manufacturers there is a need for a remote diagnostic system and method which minimizes or does not require human intervention SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 0006 support system for diagnosing printer problems according to the invention includes a support server a rules engine for parsing printer diagnostic data into components for analyzing the components and for generating a suggested solution based on combinations of printer diagnostic data and error conditions and at least one printer located remote from the support server and which includes a printer driver When a user encounters a printer problem the user selects the printer driver which sends a request for support to the support server The rules engine n
62. to solve the problem over the phone the support representative will make suggestions to the user which the user will perform on the printer and report back the result if any If the problem is resolved the service call is closed Otherwise the service call goes through an escalation process This may include transferring the call to a different service representative who may be more skilled or skilled in different problem area who asks different questions and makes different suggestions If the escalated phone process is not successful a field technician is dis patched While all human assisted calls not including the cost of maintaining a service staff at a particular staffing level are more expensive than automated response systems dispatching a field technician to the printer is the most expensive 0004 With the advent of the Internet many companies have established web sites to market their products enable users to download upgrades to various software products and drivers and provide online service Some computer manufacturers offer a special technical service software package which a user downloads to his her computer enabling the user to connect directly to the computer manu facturer service site for support Compaq for example has dial up remote diagnostic system for personal computer customers Hewlett Packard offers a service called Instant Support primarily intended for personal computers which enables users
63. ule Jun 12 2003 US 2003 0110412 A1 Jun 12 2003 20 continued rule rule parms header line line value token token parm load to action action id id num type num name num key search operator true false 270 2101 2 TokenValue 237 Printer 3 3 MatchCount NextLine NextRule Status 270 2102 3 TokenValue 284 PrintHead 1 TimeLessThan NextRule Solution Clean Date Log 271 2103 1 TokenValue 237 Printer 1 ItemEquals NextLine NextRule Status 271 2104 2 TokenValue 237 Printer 3 ItemEquals NextLine NextRule Status 271 2105 3 TokenValue 284 PrintHead 1 TimeLessThan NextRule Solution Clean Date Log 272 2106 273 2107 1 NamedValue 51 Print Fast NumIncrement NextLine NextLine Quality Color pages 273 2108 2 NamedValue 51 Print En NumIncrement NextLine NextLine Quality hanced pages 273 2109 3 NamedValue 51 Print Photo NumIncrement NextLine NextLine Quality pages 273 2110 4 RunningTotal NumLessThan Solution NextLine 273 2111 5 NamedValue 43 Manual Transparency NumIncrement NextLine NextLine Feed Letter Media sheets 273 211 6 NamedValue 43 Manual Transparency NumIncrement NextLine NextLine Feed A4 Media sheets 273 211 7 RunningTotal NumGreater Solution NextLine Than 273 2112 8 NamedValue 152 Color Auto NumLessThan Solution NextLine Correction matic pages 273 2113 9 TokenValue 10 Acces WithinPayload NextLine NextRule sories 273 2114 10 NamedValue 141 1 Side
64. up types types lookup type VARCHAR2 25 NOT primary key lookup type VARCHAR2 25 NULL NOT NULL description VARCHAR2 240 description VARCHAR2 240 created by VARCHAR2 20 NOT created by VARCHAR2 20 NULL NOT NULL creation date DATE NOT creation date DATE NOT NULL NULL last updated VARCHAR2 20 NOT last updated by NULL VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL last update date DATE NOT last update date DATE NOT NULL NULL ss lookup codes create table ss lookup codes lookup type VARCHAR2 25 NOT foreign key lookup type VARCHAR2 25 NULL NOT NULL lookup code VARCHAR2 25 NOT primary key lookup code VARCHAR2 25 NULL reflected in program NULL code for logic breaks description VARCHAR2 240 description VARCHAR2 240 active flag 2 1 NOT Can be or N active flag 2 1 NULL NOT NUIL start date date end date date US 2003 0110412 A1 created by creation date last updated by last update date solutions solution id name status code error level link text id solution content description created by creation date last updated by last update date rule headers rule header id name symptom description created by creation date last updated by last update date rule lines rule header id rule line id rule line num description primary value type primary token num primary token name VARCHAR2 20 DATE VARCHAR2 20 D
65. update date DATE NOT NULL create table rule headers rule header id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL name VARCHAR2 100 NOT NULL symptom VARCHAR2 240 description VARCHAR2 240 created by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL creation date DATE NOT NULL last updated by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL last update date DATE NOT NULL create table rule lines rule header id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL rule line id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL rule line num POSITIVE NOT NULL description VARCHAR2 240 primary value type VARCHAR2 25 NOT NULL primary token num VARCHAR 10 primary token name VARCHAR2 100 Jun 12 2003 US 2003 0110412 A1 primary num primary payload parms to search operator comparison value secondary value type secondary token num secondary token name secondary parm num secondary payload key comparison units comparison count action true target true description true action false target false description false created by creation date last updated by last update date continued Table Definitions BINARY IN TEGER VARCHAR2 100 POSITIVE VARCHAR2 25 NULL VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 25 NULL VARCHAR2 10 VARCHAR2 100 BINARY IN TEGER VARCHAR2 100 VARCHAR2 25 POSITIVE VARCHAR2 25 NULL VARCHAR2 20 VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 5 NULL VARCHAR2 20 VARCHAR2 240 NUMBER 15 NOT NULL D

System and method for automated printer diagnostics

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