HK1122370B - Method and system to automatically purge serial-use devices - Google Patents

Description

Method and system for automatically clearing serial-use devices

Technical Field

The present application relates generally to serial-use devices.

Background

In some areas of technology, one or more different devices are typically maintained within a single individual domain and/or control. For example, the one or more different devices may comprise a still image device having a memory, a moving image device having a memory, a text data device having a memory, or an audio device having a memory.

Disclosure of Invention

In one aspect, the method includes, but is not limited to, detecting that a cessation of serial-use device control is likely to occur; and responsive to detecting, clearing memory of the serial-use device. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the text, claims, and drawings that form a part of this application.

In one or more various aspects, the related systems include, but are not limited to, circuitry and/or programming for implementing the method aspects referenced herein; the circuitry and/or programming can be virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware configured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending upon the design choices of the system designer.

In one or more various aspects, related systems include, but are not limited to: a detection circuit for detecting that a stop of serial-use device control is likely to occur; and a clear circuit for clearing the memory of the serial-use device in response to the detection. In addition to the foregoing, other system aspects are described in the text, claims, and drawings that form a part of this application.

In one aspect, the system includes, but is not limited to: a serial-use device operably connectable to serial-user detection logic; and clear logic operably connected to the memory device of the serial-use device. In addition to the foregoing, other system aspects are described in the text, claims, and drawings that form a part of this application.

In addition to the foregoing, various other method and/or system aspects are set forth and described in the text (e.g., claims and/or detailed description) and/or drawings of the present application.

The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity, simplifications, generalizations, and omissions of detail; thus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other aspects, inventive features, and advantages of the devices and/or processes described herein, as defined solely by the claims, will become apparent in the detailed description set forth herein.

Drawings

FIG. 1 shows a high level block diagram of one implementation of a serial-use device 100;

FIG. 2 illustrates a high level block diagram of another implementation of serial-use device 100;

FIG. 3 shows a high level block diagram of yet another implementation of serial-use device 100;

FIG. 4 depicts a high level logic flowchart of a process;

FIG. 5 depicts a high level logic flowchart that illustrates an alternative implementation of the high level logic flowchart of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 illustrates a high-level logic flowchart showing an alternative implementation of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 4;

the use of the same symbols in different drawings typically indicates similar or identical items.

Detailed Description

Referring to the drawings, and now to FIG. 1, which shows a high level block diagram of one implementation of serial-use device 100. Serial-use device 100 is depicted as including memory device logic 104, serial user detection logic 102, and clear logic 106. In one implementation, series user detection logic 102, memory device logic 104, and clear logic 106 are formed at least in part from integrated circuitry and are electrically interconnected (e.g., by conductors such as wires).

Referring now to FIG. 2, a high level block diagram of another implementation of serial-use device 100 is depicted. In the implementation depicted, serial-user detection logic 102 is no longer in serial-use device 100, but rather is located remotely from serial-use device 100. For example, at a rented camera stand position, such as may be employed in an implementation in which serial-use device 100 supports a digital camera (e.g., stationary or in motion). Serial-use device 100 and serial user detection logic 102 are described as communicating by exchanging information over a distance. In one implementation, such information may be exchanged wirelessly (e.g., via electromagnetic radiation). In another implementation, such information may be exchanged optically (e.g., by electromagnetic radiation in the spectrum).

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is illustrated a high level block diagram of yet another implementation of serial-use device 100. In the illustrated implementation, serial-user detection logic 102 and purge logic 106 are located remotely from serial-use device 100. For example, at a rental station, for example, may be employed in an implementation in which serial-use device 100 supports a computing device (e.g., a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), blackberry, or cell phone). Serial-use device 100 communicates with serial-user detection logic 102 and purge logic 106 by exchanging information over a distance. In one implementation, such information may be exchanged wirelessly (e.g., via electromagnetic radiation). In another implementation, such information may be exchanged optically (e.g., by electromagnetic radiation in the spectrum).

Next, a series of flowcharts of the implementation of the processing procedure is illustrated. For ease of understanding, the flowcharts are organized such that the initial flowcharts represent implementations from an overall "big picture" viewpoint, while subsequent flowcharts represent alternative implementations and/or extensions of the "big picture" flowcharts that are sub-steps or ancillary steps built on one or more earlier steps. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the expressions employed herein (e.g., beginning with a flowchart presenting an overview of the flowchart and then providing additional and/or further detailed descriptions in subsequent flowcharts) generally render the implementation of the various processes quick and simple to understand.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is illustrated a high level logic flowchart of a process. Method step 400 shows the start of the process. Method 402 illustrates detecting that a cessation of serial-use device control may occur (e.g., via serial user detection logic 102 and/or its supporting components). Method step 404 shows clearing memory of the series of user devices (e.g., by clearing logic 106) in response to the detecting. Method step 406 shows the termination of the process.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is illustrated a high level logic flowchart depicting an alternative implementation of the high level logic flowchart of FIG. 4. In various alternative implementations, method step 402 includes method step 500, and/or method step 502, and/or method step 504, and/or method step 506. Method step 500 illustrates detecting a transfer of permission (e.g., by serial user detection logic 102(a) communicating with a beacon in a returner (return bin) that may be used, for example, at a rental device to infer the proximity of a returner, and/or (b) detecting a different user that currently has serial-use device 100, and/or (c) detecting at least one instance of unauthorized use). Method step 502 illustrates detecting proximity of a number of authorized uses (e.g., detecting a number of authorized uses that have been and are about to be performed by serial-user detection logic 102 tracking a number of uses of serial-use device 100 and comparing such number of uses to a known number of authorized uses). Method step 504 illustrates detecting the proximity of a term of authorized use (e.g., by serial-user detection logic 102 tracking the elapsed time since serial-use device 100 left the rental device and comparing the tracked elapsed time to a known authorized term to detect a term of authorized use that has and/or will expire). Method step 506 illustrates detecting proximity of an end of a rental parameter (e.g., detecting that one or more of any number of rental parameters are at or near their respective ends by serial user detection logic 102 tracking one or more rental parameters in an appropriate manner).

Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown a high level logic flowchart depicting an alternative implementation of the high level logic flowchart of FIG. 4. In various alternative implementations, method step 404 includes method step 600, and/or method step 602, and/or method step 604. Method step 600 describes rewriting (overwriting) at least a portion of the memory (e.g., by the purging device 106 rewriting all or a portion of the memory storage available in the memory device logic 104, such as by replacing data with pseudorandom bits and/or token patterns, which indicate that deleted data appears at a point (e.g., deleted data is present in a photograph taken 4/2004)). Method step 602 depicts erasing at least a portion of the memory (e.g., erasing all or a portion of the memory storage available in the memory device logic 104 by the clear logic 106). Method step 604 depicts corrupting at least a portion of the memory (e.g., by clearing logic 106 to burn (burn) all or a portion of the memory device logic 104). Method step 606 illustrates presenting at least one destruction option (e.g., via a device accessible to a human/machine user, such as a radio frequency identification (DFID) tracking tag, a swinging Bluetooth badge (Bluetooth badge), a watch, a presentation device (e.g., a liquid crystal display, a text output, a sound output, etc.) of serial-use device 100, clear logic 106 presents one or more clear options to the user (e.g., clear all or only a portion of memory content, such as a selected digital photograph, and/or digital video, and/or digital audio)). Method step 608 describes selectively clearing at least a portion of the contents of the memory in response to at least one selection of the at least one breach option being presented (e.g., clearing logic 106 from transmitting the selected contents in response to a manual/machine selection of the breach option, by methods described/illustrated in other sections herein, and/or using some suitable technique such as ultra-wideband (UWB) over a Personal Area Network (PAN)).

Those of skill in the art will recognize that the foregoing specific illustrative processes and/or devices and/or techniques are representative of more general processes and/or devices and/or techniques described in other sections herein, e.g., in the claims of this application and/or elsewhere in this application.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the art has evolved to a state where there is little distinction left between hardware and software implementations of aspects of the system; hardware or software applications are often (but not always, in some cases, the choice between hardware and software may become important) design choices that represent cost versus efficiency tradeoffs. Those skilled in the art will recognize that there are various vehicles by which processes and/or apparatus and/or other technologies described herein can be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and/or firmware), and that the preferred vehicle will vary with the configuration of the processes and/or systems and/or other technologies. For example, if the implementer determines that speed and accuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardware and/or firmware vehicle; alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, the implementer may opt for a primary software tool; alternatively, or in addition, the implementer may opt for a combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. Thus, there are several possible vehicles by which processes and/or apparatus and/or other techniques described herein can be effected, none of which is inherently superior to the other, in that any vehicle to be used is a choice dependent upon the context in which the vehicle is configured and the particular concerns (e.g., speed, flexibility, or predictability) of the implementer, any of which may vary. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the optical aspects of the implementations will require optically oriented hardware, software, or firmware.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments of the devices and/or processes via the use of structural diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples. In such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples, which include one or more functions and/or operations, it will be understood by those within the art that each function and/or operation within the block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be performed, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment, portions of the subject matter described herein may be implemented by Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), or other integrated forms. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that some features of the embodiments disclosed herein, in whole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in standard integrated circuits, e.g., as one or more computer programs running in one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running in one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running in one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running in one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as a combination thereof, and that designing the circuits and/or writing the code in hardware and/or firmware would be well within the skill of one of ordinary skill in the art in light of this disclosure. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described herein applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of signal bearing media include, but are not limited to, the following: recordable type media such as floppy disks, hard disk drives, CD ROMs, digital magnetic tape, and computer memory; and transmission type media such as digital and analog communication links using TDM and IP based communication connections (e.g., packet links).

In a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize that the various aspects described herein can be viewed as various types of combinations of "electronic circuitry", which can be individually and/or collectively implemented by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or possible combinations thereof. Thus, as used herein, "electronic circuitry" includes, but is not limited to, electronic circuitry having at least one discrete electronic circuit, electronic circuitry having at least one integrated circuit, electronic circuitry having at least one application specific integrated circuit, electronic circuitry forming a general purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g., a general purpose computer configured by a computer program that performs, at least in part, the processes and/or methods described herein, or a microprocessor configured by a computer program that performs, at least in part, the processes and/or devices described herein), electronic circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., random access memory), and/or electronic circuitry forming a communication device (e.g., a modem, a communication switch, or an optoelectronic device).

All of the above U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applications and non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/or listed in any application data sheet, are incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety.

Aspects described herein illustrate different devices included in, or connected with, different devices. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any configuration of devices that achieves the same efficacy is effectively "associated" such that the desired efficacy is achieved. Thus, any two devices herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as "associated with" each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial devices. Likewise, any two devices so associated can also be viewed as being "operably connected" or "operably coupled" to each other to achieve a desired efficacy, and any two devices that can be associated can also be viewed as being "operably couplable" to each other to achieve a desired efficacy. Specific examples of "operatively connectable" include, but are not limited to, physically pairable and/or physically interacting devices and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting devices.

While particular aspects of the subject matter described herein have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be made without departing from this subject matter described herein and its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scope of this subject matter as described herein. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is solely defined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those within the art that terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but is not limited to," etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. To facilitate understanding, for example, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and/or "an" should typically be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more"); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to refer to the claims. Furthermore, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations," without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Further, where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B and C, etc." is used, such a construction is generally intended that one of skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B and C" would have but not be limited to A alone, B, A and B alone, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B and C together, etc.). Where a convention analogous to "A, B or at least one of C, etc." is used, such a construction is generally envisioned that one of skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B or C" would have but not be limited to A alone, B, A and B alone in combination, A and C in combination, B and C in combination, and/or A, B and C in combination, etc.).

Claims (24)

1. A method of automatically purging a serial-use device, comprising:

detecting that cessation of serial-use device control is likely to occur; and

clearing memory of the serial-use device in response to the detecting;

wherein the step of detecting that a cessation of serial-use device control is likely to occur further comprises: proximity of an authorized number of uses is detected by serial user detection logic tracking the number of uses of the serial-use device and comparing the tracked number of uses to a known authorized number of uses.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting that a cessation of serial-use device control is likely to occur further comprises:

detecting the transfer of rights.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting that a cessation of serial-use device control is likely to occur further comprises:

the proximity of the expiration of the authorized use is detected.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting that a cessation of serial-use device control is likely to occur further comprises:

detecting the proximity of the end of the rental parameter.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein clearing the memory of the serial-use device in response to the detecting further comprises:

at least a portion of the memory is rewritten.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein clearing the memory of the serial-use device in response to the detecting further comprises:

erasing at least a portion of the memory.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein clearing the memory of the serial-use device in response to the detecting further comprises:

at least a portion of the memory is destroyed.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein clearing the memory of the serial-use device in response to the detecting further comprises:

presenting at least one destruction option; and

selectively clearing at least a portion of the contents of the memory in response to at least one selection of the presented at least one destruction option.

9. A system for automatically purging serial-use devices, comprising:

means for detecting a possible cessation of serial-use device control; and

means for clearing memory of the serial-use device in response to the detecting;

wherein the means for detecting that a cessation of serial-use device control is likely to occur further comprises: means for tracking the number of uses of the serial-use device by the serial-user detection logic and comparing the tracked number of uses to a known authorized number of uses to detect proximity of the authorized number of uses.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the means for detecting that a cessation of serial-use device control is likely to occur further comprises:

means for detecting a transfer of rights.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the means for detecting that a cessation of serial-use device control is likely to occur further comprises:

means for detecting the proximity of the expiration of the authorized use.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the means for clearing memory of the serial-use device in response to the detection further comprises:

rewriting means for rewriting at least a portion of the memory.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the means for clearing memory of the serial-use device in response to the detection further comprises:

an erasing means for erasing at least a portion of the memory.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the means for clearing memory of the serial-use device in response to the detection further comprises:

a means for destroying at least a portion of the memory.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the means for clearing memory of the serial-use device in response to the detection further comprises:

presenting means for presenting at least one destruction option; and

selectively clearing means for selectively clearing at least a portion of the contents of the memory in response to at least one selection of the presented at least one destruction option.

16. A system for automatically purging serial-use devices, comprising:

a detection circuit for detecting that a stop of serial-use device control is likely to occur; and

a clear circuit for clearing a memory of the serial-use device in response to the detection;

wherein the detection circuit further comprises: circuitry for tracking the number of uses of the serial-use device by the serial-user detection logic and comparing the tracked number of uses to a known authorized number of uses to detect proximity of the authorized number of uses.

17. A system for automatically purging serial-use devices, comprising:

a serial-use device operably connectable to the serial-user detection logic; and

a clear logic circuit operably connectable with a memory device of the serial-use device;

wherein the serial-user detection logic is configured to detect a possible cessation of serial-use device control, and the serial-user detection logic is further configured to track a number of uses of the serial-use device and compare the tracked number of uses to a known authorized number of uses to detect proximity of an authorized number of uses.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the serial-use device operably connectable with serial-user detection logic further comprises:

the serial-use device electrically connectable to the serial-user detection logic.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the serial-use device operably connectable with serial-user detection logic further comprises:

said serial-use device optically connectable to said serial-user detection logic.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the serial-use device operably connectable with serial-user detection logic further comprises:

the serial-use device wirelessly connectable with the serial-user detection logic.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the clear logic operably connectable to the memory device of the serial-use device further comprises:

the memory device of the serial-use device electrically connectable to the clear logic circuit.

22. The system of claim 17, wherein the clear logic operably connectable to the memory device of the serial-use device further comprises:

the memory device of the serial-use device optically connectable to the clear logic circuit.

23. The system of claim 17, wherein the clear logic operably connectable to the memory device of the serial-use device further comprises:

the memory device of the serial-use device wirelessly connectable with the clear logic circuit.

24. The system of claim 17, wherein the serial-use device further comprises:

at least one of a still image device, a moving image device, a text data device, or an audio device.