Patent ID: 7757015

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for determining component identification, comprising: linking a computer system to a device having a group of components comprising an identifiable first component having a first identifier and a plurality of second components having respective second identifiers; storing the first identifier and the second identifier of each respective component in a local storage unit; executing with the computer system distinct software modules that include a component characteristic determiner, thereby causing the computer system to perform the steps of: receiving in the component characteristic determiner, identification information relating to an identity of at least one of the components; automatically establishing, responsively to the identification information, a determination policy among multiple determination policies for selection of configuration data relating to the components; determining whether the first identifier indicating the identifiable first component is defective; with the component characteristic determiner, automatically applying the determination policy to correlate selected configuration data of the second components in the storage unit to thereby determine at least one characteristic that is representative of an identity of the identifiable first component in response to the received identification information; and thereafter performing an operation comprising instigating a procedure selected from a group consisting of requesting a replacement for the identifiable first component, providing an alert describing a status of the device, storing the first identifier, and updating an attribute associated with the first identifier, responsively to the at least one characteristic.