Reporting the state of an apparatus to a remote computer

One or more machine-readable media comprising instructions for execution by a device associated with an apparatus to report a state of the apparatus to a remote computer, the device having a local network address that is unknown to the remote computer, the instructions for causing the device to:

• detect the state of the apparatus, wherein detecting is performed by monitoring variables associated with the apparatus, wherein monitoring comprises (a) obtaining identifiers for variables associated with the apparatus, the identifiers corresponding to storage locations for the apparatus, and (b) reading the variables from the storage locations;
• generate a message that reports the state of the apparatus to the remote computer, the message comprising a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) command, the message using eXtensible Markup Language (XML) to report the state, the message containing a code that is unique to the device or apparatus, wherein generating is performed periodically or in response to a deviation in the state, and wherein generating comprises obtaining XML tags using the identifiers and incorporating the variables into fields delimited by XML tags that correspond to the variables;
• and
• send the message comprising the HTTP command to the remote computer, the message comprising a one-way communication to the remote computer, wherein sending comprises sending the message once the message is generated or queuing the message and sending the message at a later time.

A device associated with an apparatus for reporting a state of the apparatus to a remote computer, the device having a local network address that is unknown to the remote computer, the device comprising circuitry configured to:

• detect the state of the apparatus, wherein detecting is performed by monitoring variables associated with the apparatus, wherein monitoring comprises (a) obtaining identifiers for variables associated with the apparatus, the identifiers corresponding to storage locations for the apparatus, and (b) reading the variables from the storage locations;
• generate a message that reports the state of the apparatus to the remote computer, the message comprising a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) command, the message using eXtensible Markup Language (XML) to report the state, and the message containing a code that is unique to the device or apparatus, wherein generating is performed periodically or in response to a deviation in the state, and wherein generating comprises obtaining XML tags using the identifiers and incorporating the variables into fields delimited by XML tags that correspond to the variables;
• and
• send the message comprising the HTTP command to the remote computer, the message comprising a one-way communication to the remote computer, wherein sending comprises sending the message once the message is generated or queuing the message and sending the message at a later time.

A system comprising:

• a first device comprising circuitry to generate a message reporting a state of an apparatus,
• the message comprising a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) command, the message using eXtensible Markup Language (XML) to report the state, and the message containing an identifier that is unique to the apparatus,
• the first device having a local network address that is unknown to a second device,
• wherein reporting is performed following monitoring of variables associated with the apparatus,
• wherein monitoring comprises (a) obtaining identifiers for variables associated with the apparatus, the identifiers corresponding to storage locations for the apparatus, and (b) reading the variables from the storage locations,
• wherein generating is performed periodically or in response to a deviation in the state, and wherein generating comprises obtaining XML tags using the identifiers and incorporating the variables into fields delimited by XML tags that correspond to the variables, and
• the message comprising a one-way communication to the remote computer, the first device sending the message once the message is generated or queuing the message and sending the message at a later time;
• and
• the second device comprising circuitry to receive the message from the first device and to relay content from the message to an external system.