Remote manual, maintenance, and diagnostic services for networked electronic devices

A service management software system for execution by a gateway device communicatively coupled with at least one electronic device via a home network, the software system for identifying and managing interactive support service applications associated with each of the electronic devices, the gateway device being operative to access the Internet, comprising:

• an input for initiating a remote interactive diagnostic process for automatically diagnosing problems with a selected one of the electronic devices;
• a home network bridge supported by a platform for receiving device identification information associated with the selected one of the electronic devices for which a service application is required;
• a service manager supported by the platform and being operative to form a uniform resource locator based at least in part on said device identification information;
• and
• an internet bridge supported by the platform and being responsive to receive said uniform resource locator from said service manager via the platform, and being operative to access a selected server computing system via the Internet using said uniform resource locator, and to download an interactive support service application associated with said selected device, wherein the platform is operative to dynamically load and unload support service applications and further wherein said interactive support application comprises a diagnostic application including instructions executable by said gateway device to determine a current functional state of said selected device and determine diagnostic information based on said current functional state of said selected device, said diagnostic information indicating a problem associated with said selected device.

A process of identifying and providing interactive support service applications associated with consumer electronic devices, the process for execution by a server computing system that is communicatively coupled with at least one client computing system via the Internet, the process initiated at a client computing system for diagnosing problems with a particular consumer electronics device, comprising:

• receiving device identification information from the client computing system, the device identification information indicating the particular consumer electronic device;
• accessing a selected interactive support service application associated with the particular device based on said device identification information;
• and
• providing said selected interactive support service application associated with the particular device to the client computing system, said selected interactive support application including instructions executable by the client computing system for providing an interactive support service process associated with the particular device, wherein said selected interactive support application comprises a diagnostic application including instructions executable by said client computing system to determine a current functional state of said particular device and determine diagnostic information based on said current functional state of said particular device, said diagnostic information indicating a problem associated with said selected device.

A process of identifying and providing interactive support service applications associated with consumer electronic devices, the process for execution by a server computing system that is communicatively coupled with at least one client computing system via the Internet, the client computing system being communicatively coupled with at least one electronic device, the process initiated at the client computing system for diagnosing problems with a particular consumer electronic device comprising:

• receiving device identification information from the client computing system, the device identification information indicating the particular consumer electronic device that is communicatively coupled with the client computing system;
• providing an interactive support service application associated with the particular device to the client computing system via the Internet, the application including instructions executable by the client computing system for providing an interactive support service process including determining a current functional state of said selected device and a problem associated with the particular device;
• receiving diagnosis information from the client computing system, said diagnosis information indicating a diagnosed problem associated with the particular device that is determined as a result of execution of said instructions by the client computing system;
• and
• creating a database record based on said diagnosis information and said device identification information, said record indicating said diagnosed problem associated with the particular device.

A process of identifying and managing interactive support service applications associated with consumer electronic devices, the consumer electronic devices coupled together within a home network including a gateway device coupled to access the Internet and coupled to a display unit, the process executed by the gateway device comprising:

• initiating a remote interactive diagnostic process at the gateway device, for automatically diagnosing problems with a selected one of the electronic devices, the remote interactive diagnostic process comprising:
• determining device identification information associated with the selected one of the electronic devices for which a support service application is required;
• providing the device identification information to a support server computing system via the Internet;
• downloading an interactive support service application associated with the selected device from the support server computing system, the interactive support service application comprising a diagnostic application including instructions executable by the gateway device to determine a current functional state of the selected device and determine diagnostic information indicating a problem associated with the selected device based on the current functional state of the selected device;
• and
• executing the downloaded interactive support service application at the gateway device to provide a remote interactive support service process for the selected device.

A process of identifying and managing interactive support service applications associated with consumer electronic devices, the consumer electronic devices coupled together within a home network including a gateway device coupled to access the Internet and coupled to a display unit, the process executed by the gateway device comprising:

• initiating a remote interactive diagnostic process at the gateway device, for automatically diagnosing problems with a selected one of the electronic devices, the remote interactive diagnostic process comprising:
• determining device identification information associated with the selected one of the electronic devices for which a support service application is required;
• providing the device identification information to a support server computing system via the Internet;
• downloading an interactive support service application associated with the selected device from the support server computing system, the interactive support service application comprising one or more of a remote support service application regarding use of the selected device, a remote interactive diagnosis support service application enabling remote and interactive determination of a current functional state of the selected device and diagnostic information indicating a problem associated with the selected device based on the current functional state of the selected device, and a remote maintenance support service application providing for performance of remote maintenance functions on the selected device;
• executing the downloaded interactive support service application at the gateway device to provide a remote interactive support service process for the selected device and to determine the current functional state of the selected device;
• and
• displaying information indicative of the current functional state of the selected device and user instructional information corresponding to the current functional state on the display unit.