Remote maintenance system and operation method thereof
By designing a remote maintenance system and using the connection between electronic devices and remote devices, managers can remotely repair laptops or personal computers that do not have a substrate management controller, solving the problem of remote maintenance in the existing technology and reducing the problem of Repair cost and time.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202311340549.0
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2023-08-02
- Filing Date
- 2023-10-17
- Publication Date
- 2025-02-14
AI Technical Summary
In the prior art, consumer laptops or personal computers that do not have substrate management controllers cannot perform remote repairs when an abnormality occurs, resulting in users having to send the equipment back to the repair station, consuming a lot of cost and time.
A remote maintenance system is designed. Through the connection between electronic devices and remote devices, managers can perform maintenance applications through remote devices and perform remote maintenance operations on the repair device.
It realizes rapid repair through the remote maintenance system when an abnormality occurs in the device to be repaired, which reduces the maintenance cost and time and improves the maintenance efficiency.
Smart Images
Figure CN119444162A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present invention relates to a remote maintenance technology, and in particular to a remote maintenance system and an operation method thereof which can reduce maintenance costs. Background Art
[0002] The Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) can be used for the management and remote monitoring of the server host system. When an abnormality occurs in the server host, the BMC can send abnormal information to the management personnel, who can perform remote maintenance based on the abnormal information. Thus, the management personnel can perform maintenance operations without physically connecting to the server, which can save manpower and time.
[0003] However, consumer laptops or PCs on the market that do not have a baseboard management server can only be remotely repaired if the operating system (processor) is operational. Otherwise, users must send the consumer laptops or PCs back to the repair station, which consumes a lot of cost and time. Summary of the invention
[0004] The present invention is directed to a remote maintenance system and an operation method thereof, which can reduce the maintenance cost of a device to be repaired that does not have a baseboard management controller (ie, a consumer notebook computer or a personal computer).
[0005] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a remote maintenance system includes a device to be repaired and an electronic device. The electronic device is coupled to the device to be repaired. The device to be repaired has a communication interface. When an abnormality occurs in the device to be repaired, the electronic device connects to the remote device by executing an application program, and the remote device performs a remote maintenance operation on the device to be repaired by executing a maintenance application program.
[0006] In an embodiment of the present invention, the operation method of the remote maintenance system includes: when an abnormality occurs in the device to be repaired, connecting with the remote device by executing an application program, and performing a remote maintenance operation on the device to be repaired by executing a maintenance application program.
[0007] According to the above, the remote maintenance system and operation method provided by the present invention, when an abnormality occurs in the device to be repaired, is connected to the remote device through an electronic device, so that the management personnel can perform remote maintenance operations on the device to be repaired through the remote device, thereby reducing the maintenance cost of the device to be repaired.
[0008] In order to make the above features and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, embodiments are given below with reference to the accompanying drawings for detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] Figure 1A schematic diagram showing a remote maintenance system and a remote device according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0010] Figure 2 A schematic diagram showing a remote maintenance system and a remote device according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0011] Figure 3 A schematic diagram showing a remote maintenance system and a remote device according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0012] Figure 4 A flow chart showing an operating method of a remote maintenance system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0013] Description of Reference Numerals
[0014] 100, 200, 300: Remote maintenance system
[0015] 110, 210, 310: Devices to be repaired
[0016] 111, 211, 311: Communication interface
[0017] 120, 220, 320: Electronic devices
[0018] 121, 221, 321: Applications
[0019] 130, 230, 330: Remote devices
[0020] 212, 312, 314-n: Memory
[0021] 213, 313: Processor
[0022] 214-1, 214-2, 214-n: Peripheral components
[0023] 215, 314-2: Power sensor
[0024] 216, 314-3: Temperature sensor
[0025] 240: External database
[0026] 314-1: Fan
[0027] EC: Embedded Controller
[0028] Mexp: Exception information
[0029] Mhis: Historical status information
[0030] S410, S420: Steps DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0031] Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Whenever possible, the same reference numerals are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.
[0032] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a remote maintenance system according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. Figure 1 . The remote maintenance system 100 includes a device to be repaired 110 and an electronic device 120. The electronic device 120 is coupled to the device to be repaired 110. The device to be repaired 110 has a communication interface 111. When an abnormality occurs in the device to be repaired 110, the electronic device 120 can connect to the remote device 130 by executing the application 121. Specifically, the device to be repaired 110 can be connected to other external devices, such as the electronic device 120, through the communication interface 111. When an abnormality occurs in the device to be repaired 110 (for example, it cannot be turned on or there is no screen), the user can connect the electronic device 120 to the device to be repaired 110, and start the application 121 in the electronic device 120 to connect to the remote device 130 of the administrator to notify the administrator that the abnormality occurs in the device to be repaired 110.
[0033] The remote device 130 can perform remote maintenance operations on the device to be repaired 110 by executing the maintenance application 131. Specifically, the administrator can learn through the maintenance application 131 that the device to be repaired 110 has an abnormality and connect to the application 121. Accordingly, the user can learn from the application 121 that the administrator is connected. Next, the administrator can perform remote maintenance operations on the device to be repaired 110 through the maintenance application 131, and the user can learn the current maintenance status through the application 121. If the abnormal problem of the device to be repaired 110 is only a software or firmware problem, the administrator can repair the device to be repaired 110 through remote maintenance operations. On the other hand, if the abnormal problem of the device to be repaired 110 is a hardware failure or other problems that cannot be repaired through remote maintenance operations, the administrator can provide further instructions to the user, such as: informing the location of a nearby maintenance station or reporting the problem online, and providing a maintenance record of the remote maintenance operation.
[0034] In one embodiment, the administrator can obtain the product information or hardware serial number of the device to be repaired 110 through the application 121. Specifically, after the administrator obtains the product information or hardware serial number, he can obtain the corresponding warranty information and purchaser information through a sales database, and perform an identity authentication operation to ensure that the person making the connection is the user himself, which can improve the safety of maintenance.
[0035] In this way, when an abnormality occurs in the device 110 to be repaired, the user can connect to the remote device 130 via the electronic device 120 , so that the administrator can remotely repair the device 110 via the remote device 130 , thereby reducing the repair cost of the device 110 to be repaired.
[0036] Figure 2 A schematic diagram showing a remote maintenance system and a remote device according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. Figure 2 . The remote maintenance system 200 includes a device to be repaired 210, an electronic device 220 and an external database 240. The electronic device 220 is coupled to the device to be repaired 210. The device to be repaired 210 includes an embedded controller EC, a processor 213, peripheral components 214-1 to 214-n, a power sensor 215 and a temperature sensor 216. The processor 213 is coupled to the embedded controller EC. The embedded controller EC includes a communication interface 211 and a memory 212. The power sensor 215 is coupled to the peripheral components 214-1 to 214-n and the embedded controller EC. The temperature sensor 216 is coupled to the peripheral components 214-1 to 214-n and the embedded controller EC.
[0037] In one embodiment, the communication interface 211 is a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, such as a USB Type-C interface. The embedded controller EC is coupled to the electronic device 220 via the communication interface 211, and when an abnormality occurs in the device to be repaired 210, the abnormality information Mexp is sent to the electronic device 220. Specifically, the embedded controller EC sends the abnormality information Mexp to the electronic device 220 when an abnormality occurs in the processor 213 (for example, unable to boot or no screen). The embedded controller EC can obtain the abnormality information Mexp from the processor 213 via a Low Pin Count Bus (LPC) interface or an enhanced Serial Peripheral Interface (eSPI) interface. Accordingly, when the device to be repaired 210 cannot boot or has no screen, the embedded controller EC can be unaffected by the processor 213 and can continue to operate.
[0038] Next, the electronic device 220 can receive the abnormal information Mexp from the embedded controller EC through the Remote Network Driver Interface Specification (RNDIS). To further illustrate, the Remote Network Driver Interface Specification can use the Universal Serial Bus for network transmission to achieve the function of sharing the network. The electronic device 220 can execute the application 221, which communicates with the embedded controller EC through the Remote Network Driver Interface Specification and connects to the maintenance application 231 of the remote device 230 through the Internet. Accordingly, the electronic device 220 can serve as an intermediary router between the remote device 230 and the embedded controller EC. The embedded controller EC can be connected to the Internet through the network shared by the electronic device 220, so that the administrator can perform remote maintenance operations on the device to be repaired 210 through the maintenance application 231. If the abnormal problem of the device to be repaired 210 is only a software or firmware problem, such as updating or restoring the Basic Input / Output System (BIOS), the administrator can repair the device to be repaired 210 through remote maintenance operations. On the other hand, if the abnormal problem of the device to be repaired 210 is a hardware failure or other problems that cannot be repaired through remote maintenance operations, the administrator can provide further instructions to the user, such as: informing the location of a nearby maintenance station or reporting the problem online, and providing a maintenance record of the remote maintenance operation.
[0039] In this way, when an abnormality occurs in the processor 213, the embedded controller EC can send abnormal information Mexp to the electronic device 220 through the communication interface 211. In addition, the application 221 can communicate with the embedded controller EC through the remote network driver interface specification and connect to the remote device 230 through the Internet, so that the management personnel can perform remote maintenance operations on the device to be repaired 210 through the maintenance application 231, thereby reducing the maintenance cost of the device to be repaired 210.
[0040] In one embodiment, the external database 240 stores the abnormal information Mexp and the maintenance records of the remote maintenance operation. Specifically, the management personnel can use the data stored in the external database 240 to analyze the abnormal problems of the device to be repaired 210 to improve the reliability of the subsequent remote maintenance operation.
[0041] In one embodiment, the memory 212 stores the historical status information Mhis of the device to be repaired 210. When the device to be repaired 210 is abnormal, the electronic device 220 can receive the historical status information Mhis through the communication interface 211, and transmit the historical status information Mhis to the remote device 230. Specifically, the management personnel can trace the historical status of the device to be repaired 210 through the historical status information Mhis, so that the remote maintenance operation is more accurate and faster.
[0042] To further illustrate, the power sensor 215 can generate power status information, and the temperature sensor 216 can generate temperature status information. The embedded controller EC can receive the power status information and the temperature status information to obtain the historical status information Mhis of the device to be repaired 210. Specifically, the peripheral components 214-1 to 214-n are, for example, components such as fans, keyboards, mice, and memories. The power sensor 215 can detect the battery status of the peripheral components 214-1 to 214-n, and the temperature sensor 216 can detect the temperature status of the peripheral components 214-1 to 214-n. When an abnormality occurs in the peripheral components 214-1 to 214-n, the memory 212 of the embedded controller EC can store the power status information and the temperature status information of the peripheral components 214-1 to 214-n to obtain the historical status information Mhis of the peripheral components 214-1 to 214-n. Next, when an abnormality occurs in the processor 213, the embedded controller EC can transmit the historical status information Mhis to the electronic device 220. The electronic device 220 then transmits the historical status information Mhis to the remote device 230. Accordingly, the management personnel can trace the abnormal status of the peripheral components 214-1 to 214-n through the historical status information Mhis, making the remote maintenance operation more accurate and fast.
[0043] Figure 3 A schematic diagram showing a remote maintenance system and a remote device according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. Figure 3 The remote maintenance system 300 includes a device to be repaired 310 and an electronic device 320. The electronic device 320 is coupled to the device to be repaired 310. The device to be repaired 310 includes an embedded controller EC, a processor 313, a fan 314-1, a power sensor 314-2, a temperature sensor 314-3, and a memory 314-n. The processor 313 is coupled to the embedded controller EC. The embedded controller EC includes a communication interface 311 and a memory 312. The embedded controller EC is coupled to the fan 314-1, the power sensor 314-2, the temperature sensor 314-3, and the memory 314-n.
[0044] When an exception occurs to the processor 313 (eg, failure to boot or no screen), the embedded controller EC can obtain the exception information Mexp from the processor 313 via a low pin count bus (LPC) interface or an enhanced serial peripheral interface (eSPI) interface.
[0045] Next, the communication interface 311 (for example, a universal serial bus interface) can transmit the abnormal information Mexp to the electronic device 320 through the remote network driver interface specification. Specifically, the application 321 can communicate with the embedded controller EC through the remote network driver interface specification, and connect to the maintenance application 331 of the remote device 330 through the Internet. Accordingly, the administrator can perform remote maintenance operations on the device to be repaired 310 through the maintenance application 331. If the abnormal problem of the device to be repaired 310 is only a software or firmware problem, the administrator can repair the device to be repaired 310 through remote maintenance operations. On the other hand, if the abnormal problem of the device to be repaired 310 is a hardware failure or other problems that cannot be repaired through remote maintenance operations, the administrator can provide further instructions to the user, such as: informing the location of a nearby maintenance station or reporting the problem online, and providing a maintenance record of the remote maintenance operation.
[0046] In this way, when an abnormality occurs in the device 310 to be repaired, the user can connect to the remote device 330 via the electronic device 320, so that the administrator can perform remote repair operations on the device 310 to be repaired via the remote device 330, thereby reducing the repair cost of the device 310 to be repaired.
[0047] In one embodiment, the memory 312 stores the historical status information Mhis of the device to be repaired 310. Specifically, the embedded controller EC can connect to the power sensor 314-2 or the temperature sensor 314-3 through an Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) interface to obtain the power status information or temperature status information of the device to be repaired 310. The embedded controller EC can receive a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal for controlling the fan 314-1 to monitor the speed of the fan 314-1. The embedded controller EC can connect to the memory 314-n through a serial peripheral interface (SPI) to obtain the internal information of the memory 314-n. Accordingly, the embedded controller EC can obtain the historical status information Mhis of the fan 314-1, the power sensor 314-2, the temperature sensor 314-3 or the memory 314-n according to the power status information, the temperature status information, the pulse width modulation signal or the internal signal. When an abnormality occurs in the processor 313, the embedded controller EC can transmit the historical status information Mhis stored in the memory 312 to the electronic device 320. The electronic device 320 then transmits the historical status information Mhis to the remote device 330. Accordingly, the management personnel can trace the historical status of the fan 314-1, the power sensor 314-2, the temperature sensor 314-3 or the memory 314-n through the historical status information Mhis, making the remote maintenance operation more accurate and faster.
[0048] Figure 4 A flowchart showing an operation method of a remote maintenance system according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The operation method of this embodiment can be performed by Figure 1 Please refer to the remote maintenance system 100. Figure 1 and Figure 4 In step S410, when an abnormality occurs in the device to be repaired 110, the electronic device 120 can connect to the remote device 130 by executing the application 121. In step S420, the remote device 130 performs a remote repair operation on the device to be repaired 110 by executing the repair application 131. The implementation details of step S410 and step S420 have been described in detail in the aforementioned embodiment, and will not be repeated here.
[0049] In summary, the remote maintenance system and its operation method provided by the present invention can send abnormal information to the electronic device through the communication interface when an abnormality occurs in the processor. Next, the application can communicate with the embedded controller and the remote device, so that the management personnel can perform remote maintenance operations on the device to be repaired through the maintenance application, thereby reducing the maintenance cost of the device to be repaired. In addition, the remote device can also trace the abnormal status of the device to be repaired through historical status information, making the remote maintenance operation more accurate and rapid, and analyze the abnormal problems of the device to be repaired through the abnormal information stored in the external database and the maintenance records of the remote maintenance operation, so as to improve the reliability of subsequent remote maintenance operations.
[0050] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or replace some or all of the technical features therein with equivalents. However, these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.
Claims
1. A remote maintenance system, comprising: The device to be repaired has a communication interface; as well as an electronic device coupled to the device to be repaired, When an abnormality occurs in the device to be repaired, the electronic device connects to a remote device by executing an application program, and the remote device performs a remote repair operation on the device to be repaired by executing a repair application program.
2. The remote maintenance system according to claim 1, wherein the device to be repaired comprises: An embedded controller is coupled to the electronic device via the communication interface, and when an abnormality occurs in the device to be repaired, sends abnormality information to the electronic device; as well as A processor coupled to the embedded controller, Wherein, the embedded controller sends the abnormal information to the electronic device when the processor is abnormal. 3 . The remote maintenance system according to claim 2 , wherein the embedded controller obtains the abnormality information from the processor via one of a low pin count bus interface and an enhanced serial peripheral interface.
4. The remote maintenance system according to claim 2, wherein the embedded controller further comprises: A memory for storing historical status information of the device to be repaired, When the device to be repaired is abnormal, the electronic device further receives the historical status information through the communication interface and transmits the historical status information to the remote device.
5. The remote maintenance system according to claim 1, further comprising: The external database is used to store the abnormal information and the maintenance record of the remote maintenance operation.
6. The remote maintenance system according to claim 1, wherein the communication interface is a universal serial bus interface. 7 . The remote maintenance system according to claim 2 , wherein the electronic device receives the abnormality information from the embedded controller via a remote network driver interface specification.
8. The remote maintenance system according to claim 2, wherein the device to be repaired further comprises: Multiple peripheral components; A power sensor coupled to the plurality of peripheral components and the embedded controller for generating power status information; as well as A temperature sensor coupled to the plurality of peripheral components and the embedded controller for generating temperature status information, The embedded controller receives the power status information and the temperature status information to obtain the historical status information of the device to be repaired.
9. A method for operating a remote maintenance system, comprising: When an abnormality occurs in the device to be repaired, the application program is executed to connect with the remote device, and a remote repair operation is performed on the device to be repaired by executing the repair application program.
10. The operating method according to claim 9, comprising: When the device to be repaired has an abnormality, the abnormality information is sent to the electronic device through the communication interface. Wherein, when an exception occurs in the processor, the exception information is sent to the electronic device.
11. The operating method according to claim 10, further comprising: The exception information is obtained from the processor via one of a low pin count bus interface and an enhanced serial peripheral interface.
12. The operating method according to claim 10, further comprising: When the device to be repaired is abnormal, historical status information is received from the memory through the communication interface, and the historical status information is transmitted to the remote device.
13. The operating method according to claim 9, further comprising: The abnormal information and the maintenance record of the remote maintenance operation are stored in an external database.
14. The operating method according to claim 10, wherein the communication interface is a universal serial bus interface. 15 . The operating method according to claim 10 , wherein the electronic device receives the abnormal information through a remote network driver interface specification.
16. The operating method according to claim 10, further comprising: generating power status information corresponding to a plurality of peripheral components through a power sensor; generating temperature status information corresponding to the plurality of peripheral components by a temperature sensor; as well as The power supply status information and the temperature status information are received to obtain historical status information of the device to be repaired.