Patent ID: 6959263
Filing Date: 2005-10-25
Classification: G06N

Abstract:
1. A system for troubleshooting of networked electronic devices, comprising: an input responsive to verbal or text commands from an operator; said operator not being required to have any specialized knowledge; an inference engine computer program; a data storage for containing a knowledge base for use by said inference engine; and a plurality of peripheral devices suitable for gathering information about, sending information to, or gathering operational data from said networked electronic devices; wherein said operator provides text or verbal commands to said input to notify the system of a fault in said networked electronic devices, and said input asserts a fact to said inference engine, said fact corresponding to said text or verbal commands, and said inference engine adds said fact to said knowledge base, and said inference engine applies rules from said knowledge base which are triggered by said fact in conjunction with a plurality of previously asserted facts contained in said knowledge base, said rules including one or a plurality of rules requiring said inference engine to send commands to one or a plurality of said peripheral devices or to said input, said commands from said inference engine being for the purpose of gathering data about said networked electronic devices, and said peripheral devices and said input provide responses to said commands from said inference engine, which said responses in turn trigger said inference engine to assert new facts into said knowledge base, which said new facts may trigger new rules to be executed by said inference engine, said inference engine thus gathering data and following rules to troubleshoot said networked electronic devices.