Patent ID: 7117239
Filing Date: 2006-10-03
Classification: G06F,H04L

Abstract:
1. A method performed 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 method comprising: detecting 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; generating 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 sending 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.