System and method for remote diagnosis and repair of a plant malfunction with software agents

Abstract

A system and method for the remote diagnosis and repair of a plant malfunction in an automotive vehicle. The method includes the step of sending a plant malfunction diagnostic request to the remote station. Thereafter, the remote station transmits a software agent selected as a function of the nature of the malfunction from the remote station and to the vehicle. Upon execution, the software agent collects plant data relevant to the malfunction and transmits that collected data from the vehicle and to the remote station. The remote station analyzes the data to diagnose the cause of the plant malfunction and, if necessary, transmits additional diagnostic software agents to the vehicle to complete the diagnosis and then generates an output signal as a result of that analysis. If the malfunction is repairable at the plant, such as a software malfunction, the remote station transmits a software agent to the vehicle to perform the repair.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.