Patent Issued for Systems and methods for collecting, tracking, and storing system performance and event data for computing devices (USPTO 11429506): Assurant Inc.

2022 SEP 19 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Brewer, Dustin (Lakewood, OH, US), Hurst, Cameron (Asheville, NC, US), Saunders, Stuart (Lakewood, OH, US), filed on November 19, 2020, was published online on August 30, 2022.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11429506 is Assurant Inc. (New York, New York, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “When diagnosing computing issues, technicians or others may only be able to ascertain information about the computing device in its current state. This can make it difficult to determine whether the device is truly performing in a sub-standard way and, if so, what is causing the sub-standard performance. Accordingly, there is a need for improved systems and methods for assisting a user in assessing and/or improving the performance of computing devices.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for: (A) storing, in memory, time stamped performance data associated with each of a plurality of computing devices taken over time; (B) storing, in memory, time stamped event data associated with each of said plurality of computing devices taken over time; and (C) using at least said time stamped performance data and/or said event data to provide an individual associated with a first of said plurality of computing devices with a comparison of a performance of said first computing device with a typical performance of other computing devices, from said plurality of computing devices, that are similar to said first computing device. This comparison may, for example, be in the form of a longitudinal display of information that displays performance and/or event data for one or more of the computing devices (or aggregated information for a plurality of the computing devices) taken over time.

“A non-transitory computer-readable medium, according to various embodiments, stores computer-executable instructions for: (A) receiving first system event data for a first computing device having a device profile, the device profile comprising one or more characteristics; (B) receiving first performance data for the first computing device; (C) receiving second system event data for at least one second computing device having the device profile; (D) receiving second performance data for the least one second computing device; and (E) enabling a user to compare the first system event data, the first performance data, the second system event data, and the second performance data.

“A computer system, according to particular embodiments, comprises at least one processor. In various embodiments, the computer system is configured for: (A) receiving first data associated with a first mobile computing device, the first data comprising first performance data and at least one first system event and the first mobile computing device comprising at least one mobile device characteristic; (B) receiving second data associated with one or more second mobile computing devices, wherein the second data comprises second performance data and at least one second system event for each of the one or more second mobile computing devices; (C) establishing at least one profile, the at least one profile being associated with the at least one mobile device characteristic; (D) determining which of the one or more second computing devices has the at least one mobile device characteristic; (E) at least partially in response to determining that the one or more second computing devices have the at least one mobile device characteristic, assigning the one or more second computing devices to the profile; (F) determining whether the first computing device has the at least one mobile device characteristic; and (G) displaying the first data and the second data of the one or more second computing devices assigned to the profile to a user of the first mobile device.

“A computer-implemented method, according to various embodiments, comprises receiving, by a processor, system event data and system performance data for a plurality of computing devices. In particular embodiments, the plurality of computing devices comprise a first computing device associated with first system event data and first system performance data and share at least one profile based at least on one or more characteristics of the plurality of computing devices. In various embodiments, the computer-implemented method further comprises: determining, by a processor, an average performance metric for the plurality of computing devices based at least in part on the system event data and the system performance data; determining, by a processor, a first performance metric for the first computing device based at least in part on the first system event data and the first system performance data; and displaying, by a processor, the average performance metric and the first performance metric to a user of the first computing device.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system comprising at least one processor and at least one memory having computer-coded instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-coded instructions, in execution with the at least one processor, configure the system to: receive, via a first application executing on a first computing device, first performance data for the first computing device, the first computing device having at least a first device profile, the first performance data associated with first system event data for the first computing device; and programmatically diagnose, based at least in part on the first performance data and aggregated performance data generated from a plurality of other performance data associated with a plurality of other computing devices and received via a plurality of other applications comprising another application executing on each other computing device of the plurality of other computing devices, a performance issue for the first computing device, each other computing device of the plurality of other computing devices associated with the first device profile and having at least one characteristic determined to be shared with at least the first computing device, wherein each other performance data of the plurality of other performance data is associated with second system event data for a respective other computing device of the plurality of other computing devices, the second system event data determined equivalent or substantially similar to the first system event data, and cause initiation of program instructions on the first computing device for automatic initiation of a responsive correction action in response to the diagnosed performance issue for the first computing device.

“2. The system according to claim 1, the system further configured to: cause rendering, via a user interface, of interface data embodying the responsive corrective action for correcting the performance issue diagnosed for the first computing device.

“3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the aggregated performance data comprises average performance data from the plurality of other performance data.

“4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one characteristic determined to be shared comprises a determined at least one shared software application running on each of the first computing device and the plurality of other computing devices.

“5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one characteristic determined to be shared comprises a determined shared device type or device model associated with each of the first computing device and the plurality of other computing devices.

“6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one characteristic determined to be shared comprises a determined shared hardware configuration associated with each of the first computing device and the plurality of other computing devices.

“7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first device profile further comprises at least one additional device characteristic differing from a second device profile, and wherein at least a portion of the other computing devices are also associated with the second device profile.

“8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first performance data and the plurality of other performance data each comprise battery usage data for the respective first computing device and the plurality of other computing devices, and wherein the performance issue comprises a battery-related fault.

“9. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first system event data comprises a first out-of-network indication corresponding to a first lack of wireless connectivity indicated in the first performance data, and wherein the second system event data comprises a second out-of-network indication corresponding to a second lack of wireless connectivity indicated in at least second performance data of the plurality of other performance data.

“10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the first performance data comprises battery usage data that is higher during the first out-of-network indication than during at least one period of wireless connectivity.

“11. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first performance data is received substantially at the same time as an occurrence of a first system event associated with the first system event data in response to a particular event performed by the user of the first computing device.

“12. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first performance data comprises system-level performance data for the first computing device.

“13. The system according to claim 1, the system further configured to: automatically establish the first device profile based at least in part on the characteristic determined to be shared between the first computing device and the plurality of other computing devices; and assign the first device profile to at least the first computing device and the plurality of other computing devices.

“14. The system according to claim 1, the system further configured to: establish the first device profile based at least in part on a user request indicating at least one characteristic, the at least one characteristic comprising the characteristic, wherein the plurality of other computing devices are selected from a complete set of computing devices based at least in part on the first device profile, and wherein the plurality of other performance data is selected from a complete set of performance data associated with the plurality of other computing devices.

“15. The system according to claim 1, the system further configured to: receive at least a portion of the plurality of other performance data in response to at least one of the plurality of other applications detecting the second system event or a third system event.

“16. The system according to claim 1, the system further configured to: cause storing, on the first computing device, of the first application, wherein the first application runs in the background as a user utilizes the first computing device to store the first performance data associated with at least the first system event until the first application detects a third system event, wherein the system receives the first performance data in response to the third system event.

“17. The system according to claim 1, the system further configured to: receive, from the first computing device, the characteristic in response to a user request indicating the characteristic; and cause rendering of a user interface element on a display of the first computing device indicating a comparison between the first performance data and the aggregated performance data.

“18. The system according to claim 1, wherein the system is further configured to: receive a complete set of performance data associated with a complete set of computing devices; store the complete set of performance data; identify the plurality of other performance data comprising a subset of the complete set of performance data from the complete set of performance data based at least in part on the first device profile; and aggregate the aggregated performance data in response to retrieving the plurality of other performance data.

“19. The system according to claim 1, wherein the system is further configured to: detect, via the first application operating on the first computing device, each occurrence of a particular system event; and collect at least a portion of performance data in response to the detection of an occurrence of a particular system event, wherein the first application detects the first system event data and collects at least a portion of the first performance data in response to detecting the first system event data.

“20. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, via a first application executing on a first computing device, first performance data for the first computing device, the first computing device having at least a first device profile, the first performance data associated with first system event data for the first computing device; programmatically diagnosing, based at least in part on the first performance data and aggregated performance data generated from a plurality of other performance data associated with a plurality of other computing devices and received via a plurality of other applications comprising another application executing on each other computing device of the plurality of other computing devices, a performance issue for the first computing device, each other computing device of the plurality of other computing devices associated with the first device profile having at least one characteristic determined to be shared with at least the first computing device, wherein each other performance data of the plurality of other performance data is associated with second system event data for a respective other computing device of the plurality of other computing devices, the second system event data determined equivalent or substantially similar to the first system event data; and initiating program instructions on the first computing device for automatic initiation of a responsive correction action in response to the diagnosed performance issue for the first computing device.”

There are additional claims. Please visit full patent to read further.

For additional information on this patent, see: Brewer, Dustin. Systems and methods for collecting, tracking, and storing system performance and event data for computing devices. U.S. Patent Number 11429506, filed November 19, 2020, and published online on August 30, 2022. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=11429506.PN.&OS=PN/11429506RS=PN/11429506

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