Peripheral Device Health Tracking for Secure Reuse
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge of efficiently tracking the remaining life and predicting future failures of information handling system components for reuse, while minimizing environmental impact and ensuring secure end-user input data, is not adequately addressed by existing methods.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that securely tracks information handling system component lifecycle information, utilizing geographically distributed micro manufacturing centers with robotic tools, to optimize component reuse by considering carbon footprint, cost, and delivery time, and automates the separation and remanufacture process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-generated harmful factors
If components are tracked and reused from failed information handling systems, then environmental impact is reduced and costs are lowered, but tracking remaining life and predicting failures becomes complex and requires extensive testing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by implementing health state tracking throughout the component's operational life before failure occurs. Sensors and monitoring systems continuously collect data on component conditions, usage patterns, and performance metrics, enabling proactive identification of components ready for reuse before they actually fail, thus simplifying the reuse process and reducing environmental impact.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where component health data is continuously monitored, analyzed, and fed back to the system. This feedback loop enables dynamic adjustment of component deployment, predicts future failures, and optimizes the timing of component harvesting for reuse, reducing both environmental impact and the complexity of tracking by providing real-time visibility into component status.
2Adaptability or versatility
If peripheral devices are connected to information handling systems, then functionality is enhanced, but security risks from end-user input data tracking increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and isolates health state tracking functionality into separate peripheral devices that connect to the information handling system. This extraction allows the main system to monitor component health without directly accessing or storing sensitive end-user input data, thereby maintaining enhanced functionality while reducing security risks by separating data collection from data processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces peripheral devices as intermediaries between the information handling system and the tracking/monitoring functions. These intermediary devices collect and process health data locally, then communicate only aggregated or anonymized information to the main system, enabling enhanced functionality while acting as a security buffer that prevents direct exposure to sensitive user input data.
3Reliability
If components are harvested and tested for remaining life, then reuse is improved, but the expense of breakdown, testing, and rebuilding becomes prohibitive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by continuously monitoring component health states during normal operation, identifying components that are approaching end-of-life before they fail. This allows for planned harvesting and replacement at optimal times, avoiding emergency repairs and reducing the need for extensive post-failure testing, thereby improving reuse reliability while controlling remanufacturing costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements self-service by enabling components to self-report their health status and remaining life through integrated sensors and monitoring systems. This self-service capability eliminates the need for manual testing and assessment during harvesting, significantly reducing the expense of breakdown, testing, and rebuilding while maintaining high reuse reliability through accurate, real-time component condition data.
4Reliability
If information handling systems are repaired by replacing failed components, then system availability is restored, but functional components are committed to landfills increasing environmental impact
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements discarding and recovering by continuously tracking component health states and identifying components that have reached or exceeded their useful life. Instead of replacing components indiscriminately upon failure, the system recovers and reuses components that still have remaining service life, thereby restoring system availability while minimizing component waste and reducing environmental impact from landfills.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses feedback from continuous health monitoring to make informed decisions about component replacement versus reuse. The system receives feedback on actual component conditions and usage patterns, enabling it to distinguish between components that should be replaced and those that can be safely reused, thus maintaining system availability while reducing the loss of functional components to landfills.
Data Source
AI summary
A peripheral device having one or more input devices tracks total inputs at the input devices locally and reports the total inputs to an information handling system to track health of the peripheral for reuse. Input device actuations and/or values are queued in batches of sufficient size so that communication to non-transitory memory and to the information handling system hides the values of the inputs made by an end user. The peripheral devices can include peripheral keyboards that track key inputs, peripheral mouse devices that track button presses and peripheral stylus devices that track battery charges, button presses and writing tip use.