Patent Publication Number: US-8981930-B2

Title: Appliance monitoring systems and methods

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application entitled, “Applicant Monitoring Systems and Methods,” having Ser. No. 61/595,931, filed Feb. 7, 2012, which is entirely incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to systems, methods, and apparatus for monitoring appliances at a site, such as a household, business office, etc. 
     BACKGROUND 
     A home network connects various digital home appliances so that the user can always enjoy convenient, safe, and economic life services inside or outside the house. Refrigerators or washing machines called “white home” appliances have been gradually digitalized due to the development of digital signal processing techniques, home appliance operating system techniques, and high speed multimedia communication techniques integrated on the digital home appliances. Furthermore, new information home appliances have been developed, to improve the home network. 
     Home networks can take many forms and can be classified as follows, by types of services they provide: a data network, an entertainment network, and a living network. The data network connects computers and peripherals, and typically provides Internet service. The entertainment network connects A/V (audio/video) devices, such as televisions, audio equipment, etc. The living network connects and controls home appliances, such as an electric oven, dishwasher, refrigerator, laundry washer, freezer, lights, etc. In the past, systems have been invented for recording diagnostic and statistical information associated with household appliances. This information is recorded and can be used by a service person to monitor functionality and the wear status of such appliances. An example of such a system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,853,291, which is incorporated herein by reference. Another example of such a system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,336,192, which is also incorporated herein by reference. 
     A conventional home network system includes a master device which is an electric device for controlling an operation of the other electric devices or monitoring a status thereof, and a slave device which is an electric device having a function of responding to the request of the master device and a function of notifying a status change according to characteristics of the electric devices or other factors. Exemplary electric devices include home appliances for the living network service, such as a washing machine and a refrigerator, home appliances for the data network service and the entertainment network service, and products such as a gas valve control device, an automatic door device and an electric lamp. 
     However, the conventional arts do not suggest a general communication standard for providing functions of controlling and monitoring electric devices in a home network system. Also, a network protocol in the conventional art home network system does not suggest an effective method for receiving and transmitting a packet. However, U.S. patent application no. 2008/0164980, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a control protocol that can be used to communicate among the various electric appliances associated with the data network, the entertainment network, and the living network. 
     Although significant strides have been made to fully automatic the home network, the foregoing prior art systems are not user friendly, and the art remains in a state of infancy. Better, more intelligent, monitoring systems and systems for taking automatic action, perhaps based on user preferences, are needed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing an example of an appliance monitoring system in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing an example of the host computer system of  FIG. 1  in which the appliance monitoring system is implemented. 
         FIG. 3A  is a flow chart of a first set of embodiments of the appliance monitoring system of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 3B  is a flow chart of a second set of embodiments of the appliance monitoring system of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 3C  is a flow chart of a third set of embodiments of the appliance monitoring system of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 3D  is a flow chart of a fourth set of embodiments of the appliance monitoring system of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 3E  is a flow chart of a fifth set of embodiments of the appliance monitoring system of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram of an example of a database that can be employed in the appliance monitoring system of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5  is a flow chart of an insurance business method that can be employed in connection with the appliance monitoring system of  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram of an example of an event detection engine that can be employed in the appliance monitoring system of  FIG. 2  for identifying events (changes in environmental conditions) at the site of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 7  is a flow chart of an embodiment of the appliance monitoring system of  FIG. 2  that utilizes the event detection engine of  FIG. 6 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present invention provides systems, methods, and apparatus for monitoring appliances at a site, such as a household, business office, etc. The appliances can include, for example but not limited to, an electric oven, dishwasher, refrigerator, laundry washer, freezer, pool controller, light bulb, microwave oven, computer, television, telephone, etc. The appliance can be anything that electronically monitored in connection with the various embodiments that will be described hereafter. In many of the embodiments, the appliance has a computer based architecture or a controller that enables communication of data concerning the electronic appliance. In some embodiments the appliance is an apparatus with a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag or other passive device that can be interrogated for information concerning the appliance. The appliance can even be a nonelectrical apparatus that has an RFID tag or other passive device. 
     A. Host Computer System 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing an example of an appliance monitoring system  10  in a host computer system  12  for monitoring one or more appliances  11  situated at or near a site  14 , such as a household, business office, etc. The appliance monitoring system  10  can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. In the preferred embodiments, the appliance monitoring system  10  is implemented as software that is executed by a host computer system  12  situated at or near the site  14 . 
     The appliance  11  is communicatively coupled to the host computer system  12  via one or more networks  16 , which are wired, wireless, or a combination, depending upon the implementation. Nonlimiting examples are IEEE 802.11, Ethernet, infrared (IR), short distance wireless radio, CEBus, Lonworks, and X10 (over power lines). 
     U.S. Pat. No. 7,127,734, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a system for home network communications over existing cable TV wires that can be employed in embodiments of the present disclosure, if desired, as the network(s)  16 . 
     U.S. patent application no. 2008/0164980, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a control protocol that can be used to communicate among the various electric appliances associated with a data network(s), an entertainment network(s), and a living network(s), all of the foregoing of which would constitute the network(s)  16 . 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,947,736, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a home network that can be employed by various embodiments of the present disclosure as the network(s)  16 . This home network is based on the IEEE 802.11 networking standard expanded to encompass home phone line media communications and/or home power line media communications. 
     The host computer system  12  is equipped with a suitable transceiver(s) (TX/RX) for enabling communication via the network(s)  16 . The specific design of the TX/RX(s) depends upon the network design. 
     The overall system may be designed so that the one or more appliances  11  push data to the host computer system  12 , intermittently or on a periodic basis. The overall system may be designed so that the host computer system  12  solicits, or pulls, the data from the appliances  12 . 
     Optionally, the host computer system  12  may be designed to enable it to communicate with one or more remote computer systems  18  and/or personal communications devices (PCDs)  19  via one or more networks  20 . The PCDs  19  may be a smartphone, etc. During these communication sessions, the host computer system  12  may, for example, request health data pertaining to an appliance  11 , advise a service provider of a maintenance issue, etc. 
     An example of the architecture of the host computer system  12  is shown in  FIG. 2  and will be described immediately hereafter. Generally, in terms of hardware architecture, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the host computer system  12  includes a processor  30 , a memory  32 , and input and/or output (I/O) devices  34  (or peripherals) that are communicatively coupled via a local interface  36 . The local interface  36  can be, for example but not limited to, one or more buses or other wired or wireless connections, as is known in the art. The local interface  36  may have additional elements, which are omitted for simplicity, such as controllers, buffers (caches), drivers, repeaters, and receivers, to enable communications. Further, the local interface may include address, control, and/or data connections to enable appropriate communications among the aforementioned components. 
     The processor  30  is a hardware device for executing software, particularly that stored in memory  32 . The processor  30  can be any custom made or commercially available processor, a central processing unit (CPU), an auxiliary processor among several processors associated with the host computer system  12 , a semiconductor based microprocessor (in the form of a microchip or chip set), a macroprocessor, or generally any device for executing software instructions. 
     The memory  32  can include any one or combination of volatile memory elements (e.g., random access memory (RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, etc.)) and nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., ROM, hard drive, tape, CDROM, etc.). Moreover, the memory  102  may incorporate electronic, magnetic, optical, and/or other types of storage media. Note that the memory  32  can have a distributed architecture, where various components are situated remote from one another, but can be accessed by the processor  30 . 
     The software in memory  32  may include one or more separate programs, each of which comprises an ordered listing of executable instructions for implementing logical functions. In the example of  FIG. 2 , the software in the memory  32  includes, among other things, a graphical user interface (GUI)  38  for generating and driving display screens and exchanging other information with a display  34 , the appliance monitoring system  10 , algorithms  40  situated in the appliance monitoring system  10  for use in connection with triggering events, and a suitable operating system (O/S)  42 . The O/S  42  essentially controls the execution of other computer programs, such as the appliance monitoring system  10 , and provides scheduling, input-output control, file and data management, memory management, and communication control and related services. 
     The I/O devices  34  may include input devices, for example but not limited to, a keypad, keyboard, finger pad, mouse, scanner, microphone, transducers (sensors), etc. Furthermore, the I/O devices  34  may also include output devices, for example but not limited to, a printer, display, speaker, etc. Finally, the I/O devices  34  may further include devices that communicate both inputs and outputs, for instance but not limited to, a modulator/demodulator (modem; for accessing another device, system, or network), a radio frequency (RF) or other transceiver (TX/RX), a telephonic interface, a bridge, a router, etc. 
     A TX/RX  46  is provided in the host compute system  12  to enable the system  12  to communicate to the one or more remote computer systems  18  ( FIG. 1 ). The specific design of the TX/RX  46  to be utilized depends upon the type of network(s)  20  that is utilized. The network(s)  20  can include one or more of any suitable networks, for example but not limited to, a wireless, wired, analog, digital, packetized, nonpacketized, cellular, Internet, etc. 
     U.S. patent application no. 2002/0021465, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a home network gateway that can be used in connection with many embodiments of the present disclosure as an interface between the networks  16 ,  20 , where the network  20  is a hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) network. 
     When the host computer system  12  is in operation, the processor  30  is configured to execute software stored within the memory  32 , to communicate data to and from the memory  32 , and to generally control operations of the host computer system  12  pursuant to the software. The appliance monitoring system  10  and the O/S  42 , in whole or in part, but typically the latter, are read by the processor  30 , perhaps buffered within the processor  30 , and then executed. 
     The appliance monitoring system  10  (as well as any other software of the present disclosure) can be stored on any non-transitory computer readable medium for use by or in connection with any computer related system or method. In the context of this document, a computer readable medium is an electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical device or means that can contain or store a computer program for use by or in connection with a computer related system or method. The appliance monitoring system  10  can be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In the context of this document, a “computer-readable medium” can be anything that can store the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer readable medium can be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a nonexhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: a portable computer diskette (magnetic), a random access memory (RAM) (electronic), a read-only memory (ROM) (electronic), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM, EEPROM, or Flash memory) (electronic), an optical fiber (optical), and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM) (optical). 
     Optionally, the host computer system  12  may be equipped with a global positioning system (GPS) receiver  48  for producing and updating GPS data  204  ( FIG. 4 ) that is stored in memory  32 . Optionally, the host computer system  12  may also be provided with map data  205  ( FIG. 4 ), which can be stored in memory  32  and/or downloaded and updated via a remote computer system  18 . The GPS data  204  can be used to determine the location of the host computer system  12 , and generally, the location of the site  14 , and the location can be correlated with the map data  205 . Thus, the location data and/or map data  205  can be used by the appliance monitoring system  10  to, among other things, assist with diagnosing and repairing an appliance. As an example, if it is known that the site  14  is an outdoor but at a ski resort, then an algorithm(s)  201  ( FIG. 4 ) associated with the appliance monitoring system  10  may reduce the lifespan of the appliance because of the extra wear that the appliance would bear due to the harsh weather conditions. 
     Optionally, a user preferences database  203  ( FIG. 4 ) for storing preferences that are input, selected, or otherwise preset by a party may be associated with the appliance monitoring system  10  of the host computer system  12 . This database  203  will be described in more detail later in this disclosure. The user can store the user preferences, for example, by interacting with the host computer system  12  via the GUI  38 . 
     B. Appliance Monitoring System 
     1. First Set of Embodiments 
     A first set of embodiments of the appliance monitoring system  10  ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ) will now be described with reference to  FIG. 3A . In this first set, denoted by reference numeral  100 , the appliance monitoring system  10  includes at least the following program code (or logic): program code  101  for monitoring health data concerning an appliance  11 , program code  102  for determining that the appliance  11  exhibits a maintenance issue based upon the health data, and program code  103  for producing a notification regarding the maintenance issue. As nonlimiting examples, the maintenance issue can be any one or more of the following: a need for replacement of the appliance  11  or a component thereof, a need for repair of the appliance  11  or a component thereof, a need for battery recharging, lifespan expired, lifespan below a predefined threshold, power inadequacy, appliance inoperability for intended purpose, inoperability of one or more functions (electrical and/or mechanical), network connectivity failure, the appliance  11  or a part thereof poses a hazard, etc. The health data can be any type of data for enabling assessment of the health, or proper functioning, of the appliance  11 , for example but not limited to, statistical information, an indication that one or more parts are nonfunctioning, diagnostic information, electrical information (e.g., power, voltage, current, and/or impedance of or at appliance circuit elements, etc.), length of service of the appliance  11  or parts thereof, age of the appliance  11  or parts thereof, an event that is detected by the event detection engine  215  ( FIG. 6 ), etc. Furthermore, the notification can be anything that advises a person, device, or computer system of the maintenance issue, including but not limited to, a display of text on a local display screen, a message in an email sent to a local or remote computer, a text message, a local flashing light, a communication to a remote computer system  18  or PCD  19 , a sound, etc. 
     The program code  102  for determining that the appliance  11  exhibits a maintenance issue may be designed with logic that, among other things, compares the health data that is detected/received from the appliance  11  with stored health data (reference), and then determines that the maintenance issue exists based upon the comparison. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the detected health data  202 A and reference health data  202 B are stored in a database  200 . In some implementations, the reference health data  202 B is obtained from a remote computer system  18  or PCD  19 . One or more algorithms  201   FIG. 4  can be implemented for assisting in the determination, and they can be simple or complex. As an example of a simple algorithm  201 , the reference health data  202 B could be lifespan expectancy data for the appliance  11  and the detected health data received from the appliance  11  could be indicative of a length of time in which the appliance  11  has been in service or in use, or when it was manufactured. The algorithm  201  could be implemented to compare the received health data with the lifespan expectancy data, and when the received health data exceeds the lifespan expectancy, then the algorithm  201  would signal a maintenance issue. 
     Another example of an algorithm  201 , which is more complex, performs the foregoing steps but performs the additional step of averaging lifespan expectancy data pertaining to several appliance brands in order to produce a resultant reference health data for the aforementioned comparisons. The appliance monitoring system  10  may be further designed with program code for engaging in a communication session over the Internet with one or more remote computer systems  18  ( FIG. 1 ) for obtaining the brand data or reference data. 
     Yet another example, of an algorithm  201  involves using local weather data  206  measured with a local transducer (sensor) situated at or near the site  14  for affecting the maintenance issue determination. The weather data  206  may be indicative of temperature, humidity, pressure, averages of the foregoing measurements over a time period, etc. More specifically, the algorithm  201  may be designed to adjust the reference health data  202 B to compensate for harsh conditions. For instance, if the reference health data  202 B is a lifespan expectancy, then the algorithm  201  may be designed to perform the comparison(s) mentioned previously but, in addition, lower the reference health data  202 B by twenty five percent (25%) when the average temperature has been over ninety (90) degrees Fahrenheit for the last 8 months. 
     The appliance monitoring system  10  may be further designed with program code for initiating a notification communication session with a PCD  19  ( FIG. 1 ) and for communicating a report during the notification communication session indicative of the maintenance issue. The PCD  19  can be associated with any of the following (all of which are denoted by reference numeral  17  in  FIG. 1  for simplicity): an appliance manufacturer, an appliance vendor, a repair service entity, an appliance replacement service, an appliance information provider, etc. 
     The appliance monitoring system  10  can be designed with program code to engage in a communication session over the Internet with a remote computer system  18  ( FIG. 1 ) associated with an appliance manufacturer, an appliance vendor, a repair service entity, a replacement service entity, or an appliance information provider, and during the communication session, to request service, replacement, information, etc., in connection with the appliance  11 . 
     The appliance monitoring system  10  can be designed with program code to store, maintain, update, and monitor the health data  202  ( FIG. 4 ) for a plurality of different appliances  11 . In this case, the system  10  can store different types of maintenance information pertaining to the different types of appliances  11 . For example, the health data that is monitored in connection with a light bulb might be its life (which is compared with its expected lifespan or a percentage thereof to determine if a maintenance issue exists), whereas the health data that is monitored in connection with an appliance battery might be a power level when current is sourced from the battery (which is compared with a minimum threshold to determine if a maintenance issue exists). 
     The appliance monitoring system  10  can be designed with program code to turn off an appliance  11  with electronic functionality or disable one or more electrical functions associated with an appliance  11  based upon health data  202 . This may be desirable, for example, in cases where the appliance  11  may be a hazard if not turned off or disabled in some manner. 
     The appliance monitoring system  10  can be designed with program code to provide a user interface to enable a party to input maintenance information (stored in user preferences database  203  of  FIG. 4 ) pertaining to the appliance  11 . This maintenance information can be used, at least in part, in determining when the appliance  11  exhibits a maintenance issue. 
     2. Second Set of Embodiments 
     A second set of embodiments of the appliance monitoring system  10  ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ), denoted by reference numeral  110 , will now be described with reference to  FIG. 3B . In this second set, the appliance monitoring system  10  includes at least the following program code (or logic): program code  111  for monitoring health data concerning an appliance  11 ; program code  112  for comparing the health data with stored health data; program code  113  for determining that the appliance  11  exhibits a maintenance issue based upon the comparison; and program code  114  for requesting service in connection with the appliance  11 . 
     3. Third Set of Embodiments 
     A third set of embodiments of the appliance monitoring system  10  ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ) will now be described with reference to  FIG. 3C  and is denoted by reference numeral  120 . In this third set, the appliance monitoring system  10  includes at least the following program code (or logic): program code  121  for identifying a plurality of appliances  11  that are connected to a network  16 , such as a wireless network  16 ; program code  122  for storing an identity  207  for each of the appliances  11 ; program code  123  for receiving health data concerning an appliance  11  of the plurality; and program code  124  for determining that the appliance  11  exhibits a maintenance issue based upon the health data. 
     In some embodiments, the appliance monitoring system  10  may be designed with program code to pull appliance identities by broadcasting a registration request to the appliances  11  via the network, receiving a response communication from one or more of the appliances, and determining, or detecting, the identity of the one or more appliances  11  based upon the response. The program code may further be designed to assign an ID to an appliance  11  that is different than the ID information pulled from the appliance  11 . 
     The appliance monitoring system  10  can be designed with program code to receive a registration request that has been pushed to it from one or more of the appliances  11 , and to determine the identity of the one or more appliances  11  based upon the registration request. Again, the program code may further be designed to assign an ID to an appliance  11  that is different than the ID information pulled from the appliance  11 . A nonlimiting example of such registration scheme that can be employed is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,372,004, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     U.S. patent application no. 2003/0149757, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes an identification (ID) code management system for a home network that can be implemented by various embodiments of the present disclosure in order to manage various appliances  11 . The ID codes can be assigned during the appliance registration process. 
     Once the appliance IDs are assigned and/or identified, the appliance monitoring system  10  has program code for storing the appliance ID data  207  ( FIG. 4 ) in a database  200  in memory  32  ( FIG. 2 ). This ID data  207  is used to manage and track information associated with the appliance(s)  11 . 
     In some embodiments, the appliance monitoring system  10  can have program code to engage in a communication session over the Internet  20  with a remote computer system  18 , to receive appliance information from the computer system  18 , and to determine that the appliance exhibits the maintenance issue based at least in part on the information. The information may include the expected life of the appliance or parts thereof, etc. 
     In some embodiments, after appliances  11  have been identified, the appliance monitoring system  10  can have program code to engage in an initial communication session over the Internet  20  with a remote computer system  18 , and to provide registration information to the computer system  18  during the initial communication session. The registration information could be for the purpose of applying for or perfecting a warranty or insurance policy on the appliance, registering for future assistance with analyzing health data, etc. The program code may be further designed to receive and store warranty or insurance confirmation information (warranty data  209  or insurance data  210  in  FIG. 4 ) from the computer system  18  after the registration information is provided. Further note that the communication session can be initiated at the request of the host computer system  12  or the computer system  18 . 
     The appliance monitoring system  10  may be further designed with program code to engage in a communication session over the Internet  20  with a remote computer system  18  associated with a manufacturer or vendor (manufacturer data  211  or vendor data  212  in  FIG. 4 ) in order to make a claim against an insurance policy or warranty based upon the maintenance issue. 
     4. Fourth Set of Embodiments 
     A fourth set of embodiments of the appliance monitoring system  10  ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ) will now be described with reference to  FIG. 3D  and is denoted by reference numeral  130 . In this third set, the appliance monitoring system  10  includes at least the following program code (or logic): program code  131  for engaging in a communication session with an appliance  11 ; program code  132  for monitoring battery information concerning an appliance  11 ; and program code  133  for determining that the appliance  11  exhibits a problematic battery condition based upon the battery information. 
     The appliance monitoring system  10  can be designed with program code that identifies one or more, but oftentimes a plurality, of appliances  11  that are connected to the network  16 , such as a wireless network  16  at the site  14 , that stores an identity for each of the appliances  11  in a database  200  (appliance ID data  207  in  FIG. 4 ), and that stores the battery information in the database  200  (battery data  208  in  FIG. 4 ) in relation to the identity corresponding to the appliance  11 . 
     The appliance monitoring system  10  may be designed with program code that pulls the appliance identity information from the appliances  11  by broadcasting a registration request to the appliances  11  via the network  16 , receiving a response communication from one or more of the appliances  11 , and determining the identity of the one or more appliances  11  based upon the response. 
     The appliance monitoring system  10  may also be designed with program code to receive a registration request from one or more of the appliances  11  that are pushed to it from the appliances  11 . The program code determines the identity of the one or more appliances  11  based upon the registration request. 
     Once the appliances are identified, the appliance monitoring system  10  stores an identity for each of the appliances  11  in the database  200  (appliance ID data  207  in  FIG. 4 ). 
     In some embodiments, the appliance monitoring system  10  can have program code to engage in a communication session over the Internet  20  with a remote computer system  18 , to receive battery information from the computer system  18 , and to determine that the appliance  11  exhibits the problematic battery condition based at least in part on the information. The information may include the expected life of the battery, acceptable voltage level when a certain amount of current is sourced to a load, etc. 
     In some embodiments, after appliances  11  have been identified, the appliance monitoring system  10  can have program code to engage in an initial communication session over the Internet  20  with a remote computer system  18 , and to provide registration information to the computer system  18  during the initial communication session. The registration information could be for the purpose of applying for or perfecting a warranty or insurance policy on the battery, registering for future assistance with analyzing battery data, etc. The program code may be further designed to receive and store warranty or insurance confirmation information from the computer system  18  after the registration information is provided. Further note that the communication session can be initiated at the request of the host computer system  12  or the computer system  18 . 
     The appliance monitoring system  10  may be further designed with program code to engage in a communication session over the Internet  20  with a remote computer system  18  in order to make a claim against an insurance policy or warranty based upon the problematic battery condition. 
     C. Appliance Monitoring System Database 
     An example of a database  200  that can be maintained and updated by the appliance monitoring system  10  in the memory  32  ( FIG. 2 ) is illustrated in  FIG. 4 . Although not limited to this configuration, the database  200  is preferably a relational database. As shown, this example database  200  can include, as applicable, depending upon the embodiment to be practiced: one or more algorithms  201  that are used for analyzing health data, battery data, and/or other data; health data  202  (which includes detected health data  202 A and reference health data  202 B); user preferences data  203 ; GPS data  204 ; map data  205 ; weather data  206 , appliance ID data  207 , battery data  208 , warranty data  209 , insurance data  210 , manufacturer data  211 , vendor data  212 , event data  213  (which includes detected event data  213 A and reference event data  213 B), etc. 
     D. Insurance Business Method 
     A method of doing business in connection with insurance is also provided by this disclosure. The method can be practiced by an insurance seller in connection with appliances  11  that are monitored by the appliance monitoring system  10 . The steps of the method can be performed by a person or can be performed, in whole or in part, by remote computer system  18  ( FIG. 1 ) associated with an insurance seller. When implemented with a computer system  18 , the steps can be performed by corresponding program code (logic). 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the insurance business method  300  comprises the steps of: at step  301 , determining a predicted longevity of an appliance  11 , which could optionally be based at least in part upon monitored health data; at step  302 , offering for sale insurance based upon the predicted longevity; at step  303  receiving money as payment for the insurance from a payee; and at step  304 , issuing an insurance policy to the payee. As an example, the predicted longevity can be an average life expectancy of the appliance  11 . 
     The method may further comprise the steps of receiving an insurance claim based upon a failure of the appliance  11  and determining whether payment on the claim should occur based upon the predicted longevity and a time associated with the failure. 
     The method may further comprise the steps of determining a plurality of predicted longevities based upon the monitored health data; associating a different monetary purchase amount for insurance for each of the plurality; and offering for sale a plurality of insurance options for the electronic appliance, each having a respective monetary purchase amount. 
     The method may further comprise considering geographical location of purchase of the insurance or of a location of use of the appliance  11  when determining the longevity or purchase price of the insurance. 
     The method may further comprise considering the type of use of the appliance  11  when determining the longevity or purchase price of the insurance. The type could be residential, commercial, hazardous use or area, etc. 
     E. Determination of Appliance Maintenance Issue Based on Detected Event 
     The appliance monitoring system  10  can be designed to determine that a maintenance issue exists with respect to an appliance  11  based upon an event that is detected in the local environment of the site  14  with an event detection engine  215 , an example of which is illustrated in  FIG. 6 . In these possible embodiments, as shown in  FIG. 7 , the appliance monitoring system  10  ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ) implements logic  400  in connection with the event detection engine  215 . More specifically, the appliance monitoring system  10  has logic  401  designed to sense a signal in a local environment associated with the site  4  using one or more transducers  34  ( FIG. 2 ); logic  402  designed to convert the sensed signal to detected health data  201 A ( FIG. 4 ); logic  403  designed to detect that an event has occurred with the event detection engine  215  ( FIG. 6 ) by comparing the sensed data  202 A with reference health data  202 B that corresponds to the event; and logic  404  designed to determine whether or not a maintenance issue exists in connection with an appliance  11  based upon the detected event. 
     As an example, the detected event could be a mechanical problem associated with a dishwasher. In this scenario, the transducer  34  could be a microphone, as shown in  FIG. 6 , for monitoring the sound associated with the dishwasher. When the sound changes substantially from the norm, the event detection engine  215  can detect this occurrence and cause logic  404  to determine that a maintenance issue exists in connection with the dishwasher. The sound change can be detected by comparing current detected sound data with reference sound data that corresponds with normal operation, and when they do not match, within predefined limits, abnormal operation can be concluded. 
     In some embodiments, the appliance monitoring system  10  may be designed with logic for storing identification information relating to a plurality of events and with logic for enabling the user to select which of the events will be detected. 
       FIG. 6  shows the one or more input devices  34 , such as but not limited to, an audio microphone, etc., for receiving one or more event signatures (could be detected event data  213 A or reference event data  213 B of  FIG. 4 , depending upon the mode of operation) that are used to identify environmental events. The input devices  34  can include any transducer for sensing acoustic, thermal, optical, electromagnetic, chemical, dynamic, wireless, or atmospheric conditions, for example but not limited to, an audio microphone, video camera, Hall Effect magnetic field detector, flux gate compass, electromagnetic field detector, barometric pressure sensor, thermometer, ionization detector, smoke detector, gaseous detector, radiation detector, etc. The detection engine  215  may also receive reference event signatures from a remote computer  18  via the Internet  20 . 
     The detection engine  215  stores the one or more reference signatures in memory  110  (reference event data  213 B of  FIG. 4 ) that are used to identify environmental events, that correlates sensed environmental signals with the reference signatures, and that detects occurrences of the environmental events. A nonlimiting example of such a detection engine  215  is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,872,574, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The discussion hereafter will describe incorporation of the latter detection engine  215  in the architecture of the present invention. 
     The event detection engine  215  is designed to be operated in several modes. The architecture of the event detection engine  215  will be described as each of these modes is described in detail hereafter. 
     First Mode 
     In a first mode, the remote computer  18  is connected to a reference memory array  260  by a switch  250 . One or more reference signatures can be collected by the remote computer  18  and loaded into the reference memory array  260 . 
     In this example, when an audio event is being detected, the event detection engine  215  is designed to transform audio recordings into suitable numerical arrays to create the reference signatures for recognition. The frequency range of 0.2 Hz to 20 KHz is sufficient for many applications. Furthermore, a time interval of several seconds is normally sufficient. 
     The preprocessor  270  extracts the reference signals from the reference memory array  260  and reformats them to facilitate rapid correlation. The frequency domain is a preferred format for sonograms. The preprocessor  270  analyzes each signature by a sequence of Fourier transforms taken repeatedly over a period of time corresponding to the duration of the signature. The Fourier transform is preferably a two-dimensional vector, but a single measure of amplitude versus frequency is sufficient. In the preferred embodiment, among many possible embodiments, the event detection engine  215  processes a 3-dimensional array of amplitude, frequency, and time. The transformed signature arrays are stored back into a reference memory array  260  for subsequent rapid correlation. Preferably, each reference signature array includes an identifier field associated with the signature. As an example, this may be the name and picture/image of an appliance  11  associated with the signature. 
     Second Mode 
     In a second mode of operation, event detection engine  215  can acquire the reference signature signal directly from the local environment via an input device  34 , for example, the audio microphone  34 , as shown in  FIG. 6 . Audio signals from the microphone  34  are amplified and converted to digital signals by amplifier and analog-to-digital converter (ADC)  240 . The digital signal from amplifier and ADC  240  is selected by the user via the switch  250  and loaded directly into the reference memory array  260 . Preferably, several seconds of signal are collected in this particular application. Then, the preprocessor  270  reformats the reference signal for rapid correlation, preferably by Fourier transform. 
     A gain control  241  associated with the ADC  240  can be controlled by the user to control the range of the microphone  34  (or another input device, if applicable, and depending upon the application). 
     Third Mode 
     In a third mode of operation, the event detection engine  215  monitors the environment continuously (at discrete successive short time intervals due to the computer-based architecture) for signals that match those stored in the reference memory array  260 . To reduce computational burden, the preprocessor  270  is designed to monitor the microphone  230  for a preset threshold level of signal before beginning the correlation process. When the signal exceeds the preset threshold level, the preprocessor  270  begins executing a Fourier transform. After several seconds or a period equal to the period of the reference signatures, the transformed active signal is stored at the output of the preprocessor  270 . Then, array addressing logic  280  begins selecting one reference signature at a time for correlation. Each reference signature is correlated by a correlator  290  with the active signal to determine if the reference signature matches the active signal from the environment. 
     The comparator  300  compares the magnitude of the output of the correlator  290  with a threshold to determine a match. When searching for events in the active signal, such as emergency signals, the correlator  290  is compared with a fixed threshold. In this case, the switch  310  selects a fixed threshold  311  for comparison. If the correlation magnitude exceeds the fixed threshold  311 , then the comparator  300  has detected a match. The comparator  300  then activates the correlation identifier register  320  and the correlation magnitude register  330 . The magnitude of the comparison result is stored in the correlation magnitude register  330 , and the identity of the source is stored in the correlation identifier register  320 . The fixed threshold  311  can be predefined by a programmer or the user. 
     After event detection by the event detection engine  215 , the process is stopped and the array addressing logic  280  is reset. A search for new active signals then resumes. 
     Fourth Mode 
     In a fourth mode of operation, the event detection engine  215  searches for the best match for the sensed signal. In this case, the correlation magnitude register  330  is first cleared. Then, the switch  310  selects the output  312  of the correlation magnitude register  330  as the threshold input to the comparator  300 . The array addressing logic  280  then sequentially selects all stored references of a set for correlation. After each reference in the set is correlated, the comparator  300  compares the result with previous correlations stored in the correlation magnitude register  330 . If the new correlation magnitude is higher, then the new correlation magnitude is loaded into the correlation magnitude register  330 , and the respective identifier is loaded into the correlation identifier register  320 . 
     In an alternative embodiment, the correlation process can be performed by an associative process, where the active reference is associated directly with the stored references in a parallel operation that is faster than the sequential operation. New device technologies may enable associative processing. For example, reference memory array  260  can utilize content addressable memory devices for associative processing. ASIC devices and devices, such as the Texas Instruments TNETX3151 Ethernet switch incorporate content addressable memory. U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,541, entitled “Optical Associative Identifier with Joint Transform Correlator,” which is incorporated herein by reference, describes optical associative correlation. 
     This correlation process continues until all stored reference signatures in the set under analysis have been correlated. When the correlation process is completed, the correlation identifier register  320  holds the best match of the identity of the source of the active signal. The appliance monitoring system  10  reads the event detection data  321  from this register  320  and then determines whether or not a maintenance issue exists. In addition, the identity of the event can also be displayed as a photo or text description in a display  34 , if desired. If the final correlation magnitude is lower than a predetermined threshold, then the active signature can be loaded into the reference memory array  260  as a new unknown source. 
     F. Other Variations and Modifications 
     It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present invention, particularly, any “preferred” embodiments, are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the invention. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) of the invention without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present inventions. 
     With respect to variations, note that although not specifically described for simplicity, any combination of the various systems/methods that have been described under headings above may be employed in connection with battery remediation. 
     As another example of a variation, note that the comparing process that is performed by the detection engine  215  in order to detect an environmental event associated with an appliance  11  can be performed in the time domain as opposed to the frequency domain, and in some cases, this may be the preferred methodology. 
     As yet another example of a variation, many of the embodiments of the present disclosure can be practiced in the architecture described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,496,575, which is incorporated herein by reference. The foregoing patent describes a server platform server that communicates with various appliances as well as various remote computers. This server platform server with associated software could be employed as the host computer system  12  ( FIG. 1 ) of the present disclosure. 
     As yet another example of a variation, many of the embodiments of the present disclosure can be practiced in the architecture described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,853,291, which is incorporated herein by reference. The foregoing patent describes a device F with a microcontroller that is designed to capture statistical and diagnostic information regarding various appliances. This device F with support circuitry and/or software can be utilized as the host computer system  12  ( FIG. 1 ) of the present disclosure. 
     As yet another example of a variation, many of the embodiments of the present disclosure can be practiced in the architecture described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,336,192, which is incorporated herein by reference. The foregoing patent describes a monitoring device that communicates with appliances through the power lines that and also tracks work cycles of appliances, so that wear status of an appliance can be estimated. The communication method can be employed in connection with many embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     As yet another example of a variation, the host computer system  12  can be implemented remotely of the site  14  by utilizing the Open Service Gateway Initiative (OSGI) specification. The OSGI provides technology to allow management of localized electronics equipment (such as appliances) by use of an external service server. The server, located on a wide area network, such as the Internet, provides management services for the localized electronics equipment through a gateway into the home or workplace where the equipment is located.