Inventory determination for facilitating commercial transactions during diagnostic tests
View Patent ↗The invention provides for facilitating e-commerce transactions between a client and a server over a network. In particular, a client, such as a client computing device, can perform a diagnostic test, such as a power-on self-test, and determine during the test any goods requiring replacement (e.g., acquiring a substitute good, repair, or upgrade). The client may then contact a server, such as a vendor or a technical support department, for procuring such replacement. In one embodiment, the server sends the client diagnostic commands so as to allow remote diagnosis of operability of the client.
1. A method for procuring goods or services during a test of a client, comprising:
loading, during a power-on self-test, a sentinel on the client computing device;
inspecting, during a power-on self-test, the client for goods requiring replacement, wherein the goods comprise hardware or software, wherein the inspecting comprises the sentinel identifying hardware or software installed on the client and identifying any failed goods;
preparing, during a power-on self-test, a configuration log of inspection results;
storing the configuration log at the client;
submitting, during a power-on self-test, the configuration log to a server in response to identifying a failed good;
receiving, during a power-on self-test, a response from the server based on the configuration log, the response comprising available sales options for the failed good; and
instructing, during a power-on self-test, the server to ship goods replacing or repairing the failed good, wherein the instructing is performed by the sentinel.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
exiting an operating system for the client before loading the sentinel.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising;
using an expert system for said submitting, receiving, and instructing;
wherein the expert system is configured to communicate with the server over the network for said instructing.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein said inspecting includes identifying a duty cycle for the good requiring replacement, such that the good requires replacement when at the end of its duty cycle.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said inspecting includes identifying a duty cycle for the good requiring replacement, such that the good requires replacement when at the end of its duty cycle.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving one or more remote diagnostic commands; and
executing said remote diagnostic commands so as to allow the server to analyze operability of the client.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein said remote diagnostic commands are requests to run diagnostic systems embedded within the computing device.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
using an expert system configured to utilize hypertext markup language (HTML) to communicate with the server over the network for said instructing.
9. A readable medium having instructions encoded thereon executed by a processor to:
load, during a power-on self-test, a sentinel on the client computing device;
inspect, during a power-on self-test, the client for goods requiring replacement, wherein the goods comprise hardware or software, wherein the inspecting comprises the sentinel identifying hardware or software installed on the client and identifying any failed goods;
prepare, during a power-on self-test, a configuration log of inspection results;
store the configuration log at the client;
submit, during a power-on self-test, the configuration log to a server in response to identifying a failed good;
receive, during a power-on self-test, a response from the server based on the configuration log, the response comprising available sales options for the failed good; and
instruct, during a power-on self-test, the server to ship goods replacing or repairing the failed good.
10. The readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the test is performed while an operating system for the client computing device is inactive.
11. The readable medium of claim 9 , said instructions including further instructions for an expert system configured to inspect operability of the client computing device and communicate over the network to instruct the server to ship the good.
12. The readable medium of claim 11 , said expert system instructions including further instructions for identifying a duty cycle for the good requiring replacement, so that the expert system instructs the server to ship the good if it is at the end of its duty cycle.
13. The readable medium of claim 9 , said instructions including further instructions for identifying a duty cycle for the good requiring replacement, such that the server is instructed to ship the good if it is at the end of its duty cycle.
14. The readable medium of claim 9 , said instructions including further instructions executed by the processor to:
receive one or more remote diagnostic commands; and
execute said remote diagnostic commands so as to allow the server to analyze operability of the client computing device.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein said remote diagnostic commands are requests to run diagnostic systems embedded within the computing device.
16. The readable medium of claim 9 , said instructions including further instructions executed by the processor to:
execute an expert system configured to utilize hypertext markup language (HTML) to communicate with the server over the network to instruct the server to ship said good.