Remote anomaly diagnosis and reconfiguration of an automatic data collection device platform over a telecommunications network

A system for diagnosing anomalies in an automatic data collection (“ADC”) device platform having a reportedly anomalous element, comprising:

• a remote computing system that sends a diagnostic query over a communications network to the ADC device platform;
• a Simple Network Management Protocol (“SNMP”) master agent in the ADC device platform that receives the diagnostic query, sends the diagnostic query to the reportedly anomalous element, receives a response to diagnostic query, and sends the response to the remote computing system;
• a diagnostic analysis unit in the remote computing system that analyzes the response and identifies an anomaly associated with the reportedly anomalous element;
• a first translator in the ADC device platform that translates the diagnostic query into an appropriate format for retrieving performance data associated with the reportedly anomalous element;
• and
• a second translator in the ADC device platform that translates retrieved performance data associated with the reportedly anomalous element into an appropriate communications format for transmission as the response to the remote computing system.

A system for identifying anomalies in an automatic data collection (“ADC”) device platform having a plurality of elements, comprising:

• at least one remote computing system that receives anomaly data over at least one communications network from the ADC device platform, where the anomaly data is unrelated to a switching performance of the communications network;
• at least one communications unit in the ADC device platform that formats the anomaly data for transmission over the at least one communications network and sends the anomaly data to the at least one remote computing system;
• and
• at least one anomaly report generator that collects anomaly reporting data and forwards the anomaly reporting data as anomaly data to the at least one communications unit, wherein in response to receiving the anomaly data, the remote computing system sends at least one diagnostic query over the at least one communications network to the ADC device platform, the system further comprising:
• at least one first translator in the ADC device platform that translates the at least one diagnostic query into an appropriate format for retrieving performance data associated with the reportedly anomalous element;
• at least one second translator in the ADC device platform that translates retrieved performance data associated with the reportedly anomalous element into an appropriate communications format for transmission to the remote computing system;
• and
• at least one diagnostic analysis unit in the remote computing system that analyzes the retrieved performance data associated with the reportedly anomalous element and identifies an anomaly associated with the reportedly anomalous element.

A system for identifying anomalies in an automatic data collection (“ADC”) device platform having a plurality of elements, comprising:

• at least one remote computing system that receives anomaly data over at least one communications network from the ADC device platform, where the anomaly data is unrelated to a switching performance of the communications network;
• at least one communications unit in the ADC device platform that formats the anomaly data for transmission over the at least one communications network and sends the anomaly data to the at least one remote computing system;
• and
• at least one anomaly report generator that collects anomaly reporting data and forwards the anomaly reporting data as anomaly data to the at least one communications unit;
• at least one web browser in the remote computing system that communicates with the ADC device platform;
• at least one diagnostic analysis server containing Hypertext Markup Language (“HTML”) documents, Dynamic Hypertext Mark-Up Language (“DHTML”) documents, and Extensible Mark Up Language (“XML”) documents wherein the HTML documents, DHTML documents, and XML documents contain diagnostic application programs suitable for use with the ADC device platform;
• and
• at least one diagnostic selector in the remote computing system that uses received anomaly data to select an appropriate document from the at least one diagnostic analysis server and directs the at least one web browser to load a diagnostic application program from the document wherein the diagnostic application program allows a diagnostic query to be sent over the communications network to the ADC device platform.

A method for diagnosing anomalies in an automatic data collection (“ADC”) device platform having a reportedly anomalous element, comprising:

• sending a diagnostic query over a communications network to the ADC device platform from a remote computing system, where the diagnostic query is unrelated to a switching performance of the communications network;
• receiving the diagnostic query at a simple network management protocol (“SNMP”) master agent in the ADC device platform;
• sending the diagnostic query from the SNMP master agent to the reportedly anomalous element;
• receiving a response to the diagnostic query;
• sending the response to the remote computing system;
• and
• analyzing the response in a diagnostic analysis unit in the remote computing system to identify an anomaly associated with the reportedly anomalous element.

A method of configuring an automatic data collection device, comprising:

• receiving a replacement SNMP subagent to an SNMP system management support unit on the automatic data collection device;
• storing the received replacement SNMP subagent to a memory in the automatic data collection device;
• and
• performing diagnostic testing on the replacement SNMP subagent.

A system for identifying anomalies in a printer having a plurality of elements, comprising:

• at least one remote computing system that receives anomaly data over at least one communications network from the printer;
• at least one communications unit in the printer that formats the anomaly data for transmission over the at least one communications network and sends the anomaly data to the at least one remote computing system;
• and
• at least one anomaly report generator that collects anomaly reporting data and forwards the anomaly reporting data as anomaly data to the at least one communications unit wherein in response to receiving the anomaly data, the remote computing system sends at least one diagnostic query over the at least one communications network to the printer, the system further comprising:
• at least one first translator in the printer that translates the at least one diagnostic query into an appropriate format for retrieving performance data associated with the reportedly anomalous element;
• at least one second translator in the printer that translates retrieved performance data associated with the reportedly anomalous element into an appropriate communications format for transmission to the remote computing system;
• and
• at least one diagnostic analysis unit in the remote computing system that analyzes the retrieved performance data associated with the reportedly anomalous element and identifies an anomaly associated with the reportedly anomalous element.

A system for identifying anomalies in a printer having a plurality of elements, comprising:

• at least one remote computing system that receives anomaly data over at least one communications network from the printer;
• at least one communications unit in the printer that formats the anomaly data for transmission over the at least one communications network and sends the anomaly data to the at least one remote computing system;
• at least one anomaly report generator that collects anomaly reporting data and forwards the anomaly reporting data as anomaly data to the at least one communications unit;
• at least one web browser in the remote computing system that communicates with the ADC device platform;
• at least one diagnostic analysis server containing Hypertext Markup Language (“HTML”) documents, Dynamic Hypertext Mark-Up Language (“DHTML”) documents, and Extensible Mark Up Language (“XML”) documents wherein the HTML documents, DHTML documents, and XML documents contain diagnostic application programs suitable for use with the printer;
• and
• at least one diagnostic selector in the remote computing system that uses received anomaly data to select an appropriate document from the at least one diagnostic analysis server and directs the at least one web browser to load a diagnostic application program from the document wherein the diagnostic application program allows a diagnostic query to be sent over the communications network to the printer.

A method for diagnosing anomalies in a printer having a reportedly anomalous element, comprising:

• sending a diagnostic query over a communications network to the printer from a remote computing system;
• receiving the diagnostic query at a simple network management protocol (“SNMP”) master agent in the printer;
• sending the diagnostic query from the SNMP master agent to the reportedly anomalous element;
• receiving a response to the diagnostic query;
• sending the response to the remote computing system;
• and
• analyzing the response in a diagnostic analysis unit in the remote computing system to identify an anomaly associated with the reportedly anomalous element.

A method for diagnosing anomalies in a machine-readable symbol reader having a reportedly anomalous element, comprising:

• sending a diagnostic query over a communications network to the machine-readable symbol reader platform from a remote computing system;
• receiving the diagnostic query at a simple network management protocol (“SNMP”) master agent in the machine-readable symbol reader platform;
• sending the diagnostic query from the SNMP master agent to the reportedly anomalous element;
• receiving a response to the diagnostic query;
• sending the response to the remote computing system;
• and
• analyzing the response in a diagnostic analysis unit in the remote computing system to identify an anomaly associated with the reportedly anomalous element.