WO2016079634A1 - Remote diagnostic system and method for diagnosing electric appliances - Google Patents

Remote diagnostic system and method for diagnosing electric appliances Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2016079634A1
WO2016079634A1 PCT/IB2015/058661 IB2015058661W WO2016079634A1 WO 2016079634 A1 WO2016079634 A1 WO 2016079634A1 IB 2015058661 W IB2015058661 W IB 2015058661W WO 2016079634 A1 WO2016079634 A1 WO 2016079634A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
electric appliance
information
fault
sound signal
service center
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IB2015/058661
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Vijayendra Kumar
Original Assignee
Lg Electronics Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Lg Electronics Inc. filed Critical Lg Electronics Inc.
Publication of WO2016079634A1 publication Critical patent/WO2016079634A1/en

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q50/00—Information and communication technology [ICT] specially adapted for implementation of business processes of specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism
    • G06Q50/10—Services

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to electrical appliances, and more particularly, to a remote diagnostic system for electrical appliances and the method for using the same.
  • Malfunction reporting is mostly performed manually. Specifically, to report an appliance malfunction a consumer generally contacts the seller or service center by phone or via the Internet. Malfunction reports include information about the appliance and information about the owner of the appliance. Information about the appliance includes a serial number, a model number, the store from where it has been purchased and a date of purchase. Information about the owner includes name and contact details.
  • SDS smart diagnosis system
  • the control unit generates a control signal including product information when the selection unit receives the diagnosis performance command.
  • the modulator generates a frequency signal according to the control signal generated by the control unit.
  • the sound output unit outputs a sound signal including the product information according to the frequency signal generated by the modulator.
  • a terminal receives the sound signal outputted from the electric appliance by the medium of air and transmits said sound signal over a telephone network to the service center forfault diagnoses of the electric appliance.
  • the service center may connect with the user through the communication network to provide the diagnosis result to the user in the form of voice through a customer service agent or in the form of certain data.
  • the diagnosis result may be transmitted to the user's email address or mobile phone.
  • the communication network at times is unreliable and can affect the accuracy of the smart diagnosis system.
  • the smart diagnosis system is a sound based system, the noise in the surroundings is likely to affect its accuracy.
  • most of the service centers use a soft phone which is a software program for making telephone calls over the Internet that does not support the smart diagnosis system.
  • this system requires the use of an IP phone and a sound recording bridge at the service center for the conversion of sound into digital format which further adds up cost to the system.
  • an object of the present invention is to provide a remote diagnostic system for an electric appliance that is convenient to use and reduces the severity of malfunction of said appliance in an effective way.
  • Another object of the present invention is to assist the service center in identifying the precise problem of the electric appliance and instruct the customers over the phone on how to fix the problem remotely.
  • a remote diagnostic system for an electric appliancecapable of outputting fault information for diagnosis as a sound signal comprising:
  • a communication device comprising a program code for recording the sound signal generated by the electric appliance, converting said sound signal to an encodedmessage and transmittingsaid message to a service center server over
  • diagnosing faults by analyzing extracted information and providing solutions to the diagnosed faults thereafter.
  • a sensing unit for sensing the state of the electric appliance and producing output voltage or other electrical outputs
  • a control unit wherein the control unit controls the operation of the electric appliance, interprets the output signals from the sensing unitand generates a control signal including fault information when the appliance enters the diagnosis mode
  • the modulator generates a frequency signal according to the control signal generated by the control unit
  • a sound output unit for outputting sound signal including the fault information according to the frequency signal generated by the modulator.
  • the electric appliance can be any home appliance such as television, refrigerator, a microwave oven, a stove, a washing machine, an entertainment device, a play station, a multimedia player etc.
  • the fault information comprises product information (serial number, model number,store and date of purchase), customer information (name and contact details), frequency of usage of the electric appliance, optional setting information, error codes, operation information of the electric appliance, user setting information and or operation state information.
  • the communication device can be selected from a group consisting of portable hand held devices, mobile phone, tablet, computer, multiprocessor system, microprocessor system or any other data processing device wherein the program code can be installed
  • the service center server can a group of computers, servers, multiprocessor system or any other data processing device.
  • the service center server comprises a diagnostic module, comprising:
  • the diagnostic module can be a software code installed in the storage device of the service center server or hardware or a combination of both. In the present case the diagnostic module is a software code installed in the storage device of the service center server.
  • a diagnostic method for diagnosing the electric appliance using the remote diagnostic system comprising steps of:
  • a diagnostic method for diagnosing the electric appliance using the remote diagnostic system wherein the communication device via program codeprovides optional channels for transmitting the encoded message to the service center server.
  • the communication device using the program code transmits the encoded message as a SMSif mobile network is working fine, else the encoded message may be transmitted using internet as an internet message.
  • the communication device using the program code may store the encoded text (S2) for later use if none of the communication channels are available.
  • Figure V shows the schematic view of the configuration of the remote diagnostic system.
  • Figure 1(a) shows the block diagram of the electric appliance enabled for use with the remote diagnostic system.
  • Figure 2 shows the flow chart of the method used for converting the sound signal to an encoded message in the communication device.
  • Figure 2(a) shows a plot of amplitude of the sound signal(Sl) with respect to time taken to record the sound signal (SI) in the communication device.
  • Figure 2(b) shows the plot of sliding window Fast Fourier transform for analyzing frequency of the sound signal (SI)
  • Figure 2(c) illustrates noise filtration of the sound signal (SI) as a plot of frequency vs time.
  • Figure 2(d) Illustrates the plot of data extraction from the fault information contained by the sound signal (SI).
  • Figure 2(e) illustrates quantization and text generation.
  • Figure 3 shows the flow chart of the method of diagnosing the electric appliance using the remote diagnostic system.
  • radio frequency network refers to the communication network using radio frequency such as mobile network, internet network etc.
  • radio frequency network and “communication channel” may be used interchangeably.
  • encoded message refers to a secure text based data which can be in the form of SMS, internet message, email, chat message etc.
  • module refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, written in a programming language, such as, for example, Java, C, python, visual basic, Perl or assembly.
  • One or more software instructions may be embedded in firmware, such as in an erasable- programmable read-only memory (EPROM).
  • EPROM erasable- programmable read-only memory
  • the modules may comprise connected logic units, such as programmable gate arrays or processors.
  • the modules described herein may be implemented as either software and/ or hardware and may be stored in any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or computer storage device.
  • smart phone refers to a mobile device that performs many of the functions of a computer, typically having a touchscreen interface, internet access, and an operating system capable of running downloaded apps.
  • the remote diagnostic system (lOO) comprises a communication device (300) and a service center server (400).
  • the electric appliance (200) can be any appliance such as a television, a refrigerator, a microwave oven, a stove, a washing machine, an entertainment device, a play station, a multimedia player etc. capable of outputting fault information for diagnosis as a sound signal (SI). As shown in figure 1(a) the electric appliance (200) comprises:
  • sensing unit (202) for sensing the state of the electric appliance (200) and producing output voltage or other electrical outputs
  • control unit configured to control the operation of the electric appliance (200), interpret the output signals from the sensing unit (202) and generate a control signal including fault information when the appliance enters the diagnosis mode;
  • the modulator (204) generates a frequency signal according to the control signal generated by the control unit (203);
  • a sound output unit (205) for outputting sound signal (SI) including the fault information according to the frequency signal generated by the modulator (204).
  • the sensing unit (202) of the electric appliance (200) may comprise at least one sensor,selected from a variety of sensors such as thermal sensors, electro-magnetic sensors, mechanical sensors, chemical sensors, optical radiation sensor, ionizing radiation sensors and acoustic sensors.
  • the fault information comprises product information (serial number, model number, store and date of purchase), customer information (name and contact details), frequency of usage of the electric appliance (200), optional setting information, error codes, operation information of the electric appliance (200), user setting information and or operation state information, data calculated and monitored by control unit(203) such as time of usage of particular operation of the electric appliance (200).
  • the communication device (300) can be selected froma group consisting of portable hand held devices, mobile phone, tablet, computer, multiprocessor system, microprocessor system or any other data processing devicepreferably a smart phone wherein a program code (301 not shown) can be installed.
  • the communication device (300) records the sound signal (SI) generated by the electric appliance (200) using the program code (301 not shown).
  • the program code (301 not shown) receives the sound signal (SI) generated by the electric appliance (200), and converts it into an encoded message (S2) comprising fault information using a predefined algorithm which will be explained later.
  • the encoded message (S2) is transmitted to the service center server (400) over a radio frequency network (101).
  • the program code (301) further provides optional channels for transmitting the encoded message (S2) to the service center server (400). If the mobile network is working fine the encoded message (S2) can be transmitted as an SMS, else the encoded message (S2)may be transmitted using internet as an internet message.
  • the program code (301) further enables the communication device (300) to store the encoded text (S2) for later use if none of the communication channels are available.
  • the service center server (400) may be selected from a group of computers, servers,portable hand held devices, multiprocessor system or any other data processing device.
  • the service center server (400) is a computer, comprising a central processing unit (CPU) as the processor, a monitor as the display device, a mouse as the input device and a storage device.
  • the storage device may be any optical or magnetic drive known in the art, such as a hard disk drive, a compact disk, a floppy drive or any suitable storage medium.
  • the storage device can also be any type of non- transitory computer-readable medium. In this particular aspect the storage device is the hard disk drive of the computer.
  • the service center server (400) comprises a diagnostic module (401 not shown) furthercomprising a decoder (401' not shown) and an analyzer (401" not shown) for receiving the encoded message (S2), extracting the information of the electric appliance (200), diagnosing fault (S3) by analyzing extracted information and providing solution (S4) to the diagnosed fault (S3) thereafter.
  • a diagnostic module (401 not shown) furthercomprising a decoder (401' not shown) and an analyzer (401" not shown) for receiving the encoded message (S2), extracting the information of the electric appliance (200), diagnosing fault (S3) by analyzing extracted information and providing solution (S4) to the diagnosed fault (S3) thereafter.
  • the diagnostic module (401 not shown) can be a software code installed in the storage device of the service center server (400) or a hardware or a combination of both. In the present case the diagnostic module (401) is a software code installed in the storage device of the service center server (400).
  • the decoder (401' not shown) of the diagnostic module (401 not shown) receives the encoded message (S2) transmitted by the communication device (300) and extracts the information of the electric appliance (200) from said encoded message (S2).
  • the analyzer (401" not shown) of the diagnostic module (401) diagnosesthe fault (S3) by analyzing the information of the electric appliance (200) as extracted by the decoder (401' not shown) from the encoded message (S2). Based on the severity of thedetected fault (S3) a solution (S4) is outputted by the analyzer (401"). If the detected fault (S3) is minor and can be solved easily, the customer care executive may communicate the solution (S4) and said fault (S3) over the phone or text. If the detected fault (S3) is severe and requires attention the service center executive may dispatch technical assistance (S5) to the users address after communicating the detected fault (S3).
  • FIG 2 aflow chart of the method used for converting the sound signal (SI) to the encoded message (S2)in the communication device(300) via the program code (301 not shown) is illustrated.
  • additional blocks may be added, others may be removed and the ordering of the blocks may be changed.
  • the method starts at step 101 when the sound signal (SI) is fed into the communication device (300) by placing the communication device (300) near the electric appliance (200), wherein the program code (301 not shown) records the sound signal (SI) and places said signal (SI) as an input to a predefined algorithm.
  • the sound signal (SI) is stored, read, and plotted with respect to time using the predefined algorithm by the program code (301 not shown).
  • time taken to record the tune is around 22 ⁇ 25 seconds, this would include time required in all intermediate steps such as placing the communication device(300) near the electric appliance(200) and recording the sound signal(Sl).
  • Said sound signal (SI) is saved as a wave file.
  • the amplitude of sound signal (SI) is plotted with the time taken to record the tune(i.e. 22 ⁇ 25) as shown in figure 2(a), wherein amplitude is represented on the Y- axis and the time is represented on the X-axis. It is done to locate the actual diagnosis data in the overall recorded sound signal (SI).
  • the number of rows in the output table (Tl) depends upon the number of 20 ms windows in the datai.e. duration of sound signal (SI). From the table 100 Hz is the dominant frequency for time 0-10 ms, 1002 is the dominant frequency for time 10-20 ms and so on. After the frequency analysis, at step 104 the sound signal (SI) is filteredto remove the background noise that was present at the time of recording. Frequencies in the range of 1350 Hz TO 2050 Hz are maintained for further use and rest of the frequencies are treated as noise and discarded.
  • the output table and graph representing noise filtration has been illustrated in figure 2(c), wherein the X- axis represents time duration of the sound signal (SI) (i.e.
  • Y-axis represents frequency of sound signal (SI).
  • Graph 1 represents a plot of time and frequency before noise filtration and graph 2 represents a plot of time and frequency without noise after noise filtration.
  • the output table (Tl) represents time and duration of occurrence of the dominant frequency.
  • the data is extracted from the filtered sound signal (SI).
  • the filtered sound signal (SI) has frequencies in the range of 1350 Hz to 2050 Hz. Duration of each individual clusters in the aforementioned frequency range is evaluated. The cluster with longest duration is selected as the diagnosis data. If the longest duration cluster is not the diagnosis data then it may be concluded that the recording has been performed in extremely noisy conditions and the sound signal (SI) should be rerecorded.
  • the output table and graph representing data extraction has been illustrated in figure 2(d). Graph 2 of figure 2(c) is shown, wherein the X-axis represents time and Y-axis represents frequency without noise of sound signal (SI).
  • the cluster from 1.65s to 2s is the cluster of longest duration and hence is selected as the diagnosis data referred to as(Cl).
  • Graph 3 represents the plot of frequency and duration of the diagnosis data (CI).
  • the table (T2) may comprise upto 320 rows as per 20ms window, wherein the time duration of diagnosis data(Cl) with a gap of 10 ms and its corresponding frequency is represented. For e.g. at time 16650 ms the frequency is 1437.5, at 16660ms the frequency is 1406.25 and so on till 20000ms.
  • the extracted diagnosis data (CI) is quantized to predefined frequency levels i.e. 1390 Hz, 1570 Hz, 1760 Hz, 1980 Hz.
  • Figure 2(e) represents the quantization of the frequencies using minimum distance algorithm.
  • quantization means approximating a continuously varying signal by one whose amplitude is restricted to a predefined set of values.
  • the frequency of the extracted data (CI) is quantized to predefined frequency levels 1390 Hz, 1570 Hz, 1760 Hz, and 1980 Hz.
  • Graph 3 represents the plot of frequency and duration of the diagnosis data (CI) before quantization.
  • Graph 4 represents the plot of frequency and duration of the diagnosis data (CI) after quantization.
  • the table T2 may comprise upto 320 rows as per 20ms window, wherein the time duration of diagnosis data (CI) with a gap of 10 ms and its corresponding frequency is represented.
  • the table (T3) represents the frequency values of the table (T2) after quantization. For e.g. at time duration 16650 ms the frequency of the extracted diagnosis data(Cl) is 1437.5 Hz in table T2, 1437.5 Hz is nearest to 1390 and hence is quantized to 1390. Similarly at 16660 ms the frequency of the extracted diagnosis data (CI) is 1406.25 Hz, which is quantized to 1390. This continues till the end of the table.
  • a message of 130 characters encodes the data comprising fault information.
  • FIG 3 the flow chart of the method of diagnosing the electric appliance (200) using the remote diagnostic system (100) of the present invention is shown.
  • the diagnosis mode may also be set to automatic for continuous diagnosis of the electric appliance (200) after predefined time intervals using a preset program.
  • the control unit (203) fetches fault information ofthe electric appliance (200) from its inbuilt memory and the sensing unit (202) and generates a control signal of a certain format and applies it to the modulator (204).
  • the modulator (204) generates a frequency signal according to the control signal generated by the control unit (203) and sends it to the sound output unit (205).
  • the sound output unit uses said frequency signal to output a sound signal (SI) including fault information.
  • This sound signal (SI) comprising fault information is transmitted from theelectric appliance (200) to a communication device (300), whereinthe communication device (300) using the program code (301 not shown) records the sound signal (SI) and converts it into an encoded message (S2) comprising fault information using the method of figure 2. (S 602)
  • the program code (301 not shown) further provides optional channels for transmitting the encoded message to the service center server (400).
  • the program code (301 not shown) checks if the communication channel is available for transmission(S 603), if no channel is available the encoded message (S2) is saved for later use, else the availability of mobile network is checked (S 604 and S605)
  • the encoded message may be transmitted as an SMS(S 606), else the encoded message (S2) may be transmitted overthe internet as an internet message (S 607).
  • the encoded message (S2) is received and stored in the service center server (400), wherein diagnostic module (401 not shown) extracts information of the electric appliance (200) from the encoded message (S2) using the decoder (401' not shown).
  • the decoder (401' not shown) using a predefined algorithm arranges the extracted information in an orderly manner such as user information, product information, error codes, operation settings etc. and communicates said information to the analyzer (401" not shown) of the diagnostic module (401 not shown).
  • Theservice center server (400) using the analyzer (401" not shown) analyzes the extracted information and identifies the fault (S3) related to the electric appliance(200).
  • the analyzer (401" not shown) checks the error codes from the extracted information to determine the portion of the electric appliance (200) which has been affected. Using the error code, the analyzer (401" not shown) performs fault diagnosis on the data related to effected portion of the electric appliance (200).
  • the fault (S3) is diagnosed and displayed to the service center executive along with a solution.
  • the service center executive may eitherremotely instruct the customer over the phone or via text on how to fix the fault (S3) (S 611),or may schedulean appointment with the customer for a technical visit at the customer's address.
  • the diagnosis result may also be transmitted to the customer's email address or mobile phone (S 612).

Landscapes

  • Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • Tourism & Hospitality (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Economics (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Human Resources & Organizations (AREA)
  • Marketing (AREA)
  • Primary Health Care (AREA)
  • Strategic Management (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)

Abstract

A remote diagnostic system (100) for an electrical appliance (200) and the method for using same is provided, wherein a sound signal (S1) comprising fault information is outputted by the electric appliance (200), said sound signal (S1) is transmitted to a communication device (300) for conversion into an encoded message (S2). The encoded message (S2)is received by a service center server (400) over the radio frequency network (101), wherein the encoded message is stored, data is extracted and fault diagnosis is performed. Diagnosed fault (S3) along with a solution (S4) is reported tothe customer over text/ phone and if required technical assistance (S5) is dispatched to the customer's address.

Description

REMOTE DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DIAGNOSING ELECTRIC
APPLIANCES"
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to electrical appliances, and more particularly, to a remote diagnostic system for electrical appliances and the method for using the same.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Consumers who buy electrical appliances generally contact the seller or the brand's service center when the appliance malfunctions, to report a problem and to have the appliance fixed.
Malfunction reporting is mostly performed manually. Specifically, to report an appliance malfunction a consumer generally contacts the seller or service center by phone or via the Internet. Malfunction reports include information about the appliance and information about the owner of the appliance. Information about the appliance includes a serial number, a model number, the store from where it has been purchased and a date of purchase. Information about the owner includes name and contact details.
Consumer appliances are notusually examined periodically on a regular maintenance schedule. When malfunctions do occur they may be severe and costly. Reporting malfunction of an appliance is often time consuming and cumbersome. In recent years the electric appliances that provide automated diagnostic testing and malfunction reporting have been explored. The existing art technology is able to deliver the failure information of the electric appliance to a service center as a sound signal. One such system is disclosed in US Patent No. 8,717,188, wherein the electric appliances output product information as a sound signaland a service center remotely performs fault diagnosis on the received sound signal. In these appliances a smart diagnosis system (SDS) is utilized that includes a selection unit, a control unit, a modulator, and a sound output unit. The selection unit receives a diagnosis performance command from the user. The control unit generates a control signal including product information when the selection unit receives the diagnosis performance command. The modulator generates a frequency signal according to the control signal generated by the control unit. The sound output unit outputs a sound signal including the product information according to the frequency signal generated by the modulator. A terminal receives the sound signal outputted from the electric appliance by the medium of air and transmits said sound signal over a telephone network to the service center forfault diagnoses of the electric appliance.
According to the circumstances, the service center may connect with the user through the communication network to provide the diagnosis result to the user in the form of voice through a customer service agent or in the form of certain data. Also, the diagnosis result may be transmitted to the user's email address or mobile phone.
However, the communication network at times is unreliable and can affect the accuracy of the smart diagnosis system. Also, since the smart diagnosis system is a sound based system, the noise in the surroundings is likely to affect its accuracy. Moreover, most of the service centers use a soft phone which is a software program for making telephone calls over the Internet that does not support the smart diagnosis system. Hence, this system requires the use of an IP phone and a sound recording bridge at the service center for the conversion of sound into digital format which further adds up cost to the system.
Thus there is a need to provide a diagnosis system and a method to monitor an electric appliance that can automatically send fault information to the service center in the form of a secure text based data using a general purpose communication device such as a smartphone. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly an object of the present invention is to provide a remote diagnostic system for an electric appliance that is convenient to use and reduces the severity of malfunction of said appliance in an effective way.
Another object of the present invention is to assist the service center in identifying the precise problem of the electric appliance and instruct the customers over the phone on how to fix the problem remotely.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance withan embodiment of the invention there is provided a remote diagnostic system for an electric appliancecapable of outputting fault information for diagnosis as a sound signal, said system comprising:
- a communication device,further comprising a program code for recording the sound signal generated by the electric appliance, converting said sound signal to an encodedmessage and transmittingsaid message to a service center server over
Radio frequency network; and
- the service center serverfor
receiving the encodedmessage, storing it and extracting the information of the electric appliance; and
diagnosing faults by analyzing extracted information and providing solutions to the diagnosed faults thereafter.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention the electric appliance comprises:
- an input unit for enabling the diagnosis mode;
- a sensing unit for sensing the state of the electric appliance and producing output voltage or other electrical outputs; - a control unit, wherein the control unit controls the operation of the electric appliance, interprets the output signals from the sensing unitand generates a control signal including fault information when the appliance enters the diagnosis mode;
- a modulator, wherein the modulator generates a frequency signal according to the control signal generated by the control unit; and
- a sound output unit for outputting sound signal including the fault information according to the frequency signal generated by the modulator.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the electric appliance can be any home appliance such as television, refrigerator, a microwave oven, a stove, a washing machine, an entertainment device, a play station, a multimedia player etc.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the fault information comprises product information (serial number, model number,store and date of purchase), customer information (name and contact details), frequency of usage of the electric appliance, optional setting information, error codes, operation information of the electric appliance, user setting information and or operation state information.
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the invention, the communication device can be selected froma group consisting of portable hand held devices, mobile phone, tablet, computer, multiprocessor system, microprocessor system or any other data processing device wherein the program code can be installed
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the invention the service center server can a group of computers, servers, multiprocessor system or any other data processing device. The service center server comprises a diagnostic module, comprising:
- a decoder for receiving the encoded messageand extracting the information of the electric appliance; and
- an analyzer for diagnosing faults by analyzing extracted information and providing solutions to the diagnosed faults thereafter. The diagnostic modulecan be a software code installed in the storage device of the service center server or hardware or a combination of both. In the present case the diagnostic module is a software code installed in the storage device of the service center server. In another embodiment of the invention there is provided a diagnostic method for diagnosing the electric appliance using the remote diagnostic system, said method comprising steps of:
- generating a sound signal comprising fault informationby theelectric appliance and transmitting said sound signal to a communication device by placing said communication device near the electric appliance;
- converting said sound signal to an encodedmessage and transmitting said message to the service center server over the radio frequency network by the communication device via program code;
- receiving the encoded message and extracting the fault information of the appliance by the service center server using the diagnostic module;
- analyzing the extracted information and identifying the fault related to the electric appliance by service center server via diagnostic module; and
- providing solutions for resolving the diagnosed fault by the service center server via the diagnostic module, wherein the diagnosed fault and the solution is reported to the customer over text/phone oran appointment is fixed for a technician visitin accordance with the severity of said fault.
In another embodiment of the invention there is provided a diagnostic method for diagnosing the electric appliance using the remote diagnostic system, wherein the communication device via program codeprovides optional channels for transmitting the encoded message to the service center server.
In another embodiment of the invention the communication device using the program code transmits the encoded message as a SMSif mobile network is working fine, else the encoded message may be transmitted using internet as an internet message. In another embodiment of the invention the communication device using the program code may store the encoded text (S2) for later use if none of the communication channels are available.
Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description read in conjunction with the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The following drawings are illustrative of preferred embodiment for enabling the present invention, are descriptive of some methods, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The drawings are not to scale (unless so stated) and are intended for use in conjunction with the explanations in the following detailed description.
Figure V. shows the schematic view of the configuration of the remote diagnostic system.
Figure 1(a): shows the block diagram of the electric appliance enabled for use with the remote diagnostic system.
Figure 2: shows the flow chart of the method used for converting the sound signal to an encoded message in the communication device.
Figure 2(a):shows a plot of amplitude of the sound signal(Sl) with respect to time taken to record the sound signal (SI) in the communication device. Figure 2(b):shows the plot of sliding window Fast Fourier transform for analyzing frequency of the sound signal (SI)
Figure 2(c):illustrates noise filtration of the sound signal (SI) as a plot of frequency vs time.
Figure 2(d):illustrates the plot of data extraction from the fault information contained by the sound signal (SI). Figure 2(e):illustrates quantization and text generation.
Figure 3: shows the flow chart of the method of diagnosing the electric appliance using the remote diagnostic system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described hereinafter in reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted that, as used in the specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It should also be noted that the term "or" is generally employed in its sense including "and/ or", unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.
Hereinafter, a remote diagnostic system and the method of the present invention will be explained in more details. The same reference numerals are given to the same parts as those of the aforementioned embodiments and their minute explanation has been omitted. The term "radio frequency network" as used in the specification refers to the communication network using radio frequency such as mobile network, internet network etc. The terms "radio frequency network" and "communication channel" may be used interchangeably. The term "encoded message" refers to a secure text based data which can be in the form of SMS, internet message, email, chat message etc. The term "module" as used in the specification, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, written in a programming language, such as, for example, Java, C, python, visual basic, Perl or assembly. One or more software instructions may be embedded in firmware, such as in an erasable- programmable read-only memory (EPROM). It will be preferred that the modules may comprise connected logic units, such as programmable gate arrays or processors. The modules described herein may be implemented as either software and/ or hardware and may be stored in any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or computer storage device.
The term "smart phone" as used in the specification refers to a mobile device that performs many of the functions of a computer, typically having a touchscreen interface, internet access, and an operating system capable of running downloaded apps.
Referring to figure 1 the schematic view of the configuration of the remote diagnostic system (100) for an electric appliance (200) is shown, wherein the remote diagnostic system (lOO)comprises a communication device (300) and a service center server (400).
The electric appliance (200) can be any appliance such as a television, a refrigerator, a microwave oven, a stove, a washing machine, an entertainment device, a play station, a multimedia player etc. capable of outputting fault information for diagnosis as a sound signal (SI). As shown in figure 1(a) the electric appliance (200) comprises:
- an input unit (201) for enabling the diagnosis mode;
- a sensing unit (202) for sensing the state of the electric appliance (200) and producing output voltage or other electrical outputs;
- a control unit (203), wherein the control unit is configured to control the operation of the electric appliance (200), interpret the output signals from the sensing unit (202) and generate a control signal including fault information when the appliance enters the diagnosis mode;
- a modulator (204), wherein the modulator (204) generates a frequency signal according to the control signal generated by the control unit (203); and
- a sound output unit (205) for outputting sound signal (SI) including the fault information according to the frequency signal generated by the modulator (204).
The sensing unit (202) of the electric appliance (200) may comprise at least one sensor,selected from a variety of sensors such as thermal sensors, electro-magnetic sensors, mechanical sensors, chemical sensors, optical radiation sensor, ionizing radiation sensors and acoustic sensors. The fault information comprises product information (serial number, model number, store and date of purchase), customer information (name and contact details), frequency of usage of the electric appliance (200), optional setting information, error codes, operation information of the electric appliance (200), user setting information and or operation state information, data calculated and monitored by control unit(203) such as time of usage of particular operation of the electric appliance (200).
The communication device (300) can be selected froma group consisting of portable hand held devices, mobile phone, tablet, computer, multiprocessor system, microprocessor system or any other data processing devicepreferably a smart phone wherein a program code (301 not shown) can be installed. The communication device (300) records the sound signal (SI) generated by the electric appliance (200) using the program code (301 not shown). The program code (301 not shown) receives the sound signal (SI) generated by the electric appliance (200), and converts it into an encoded message (S2) comprising fault information using a predefined algorithm which will be explained later.
The encoded message (S2) is transmitted to the service center server (400) over a radio frequency network (101). The program code (301) further provides optional channels for transmitting the encoded message (S2) to the service center server (400). If the mobile network is working fine the encoded message (S2) can be transmitted as an SMS, else the encoded message (S2)may be transmitted using internet as an internet message. The program code (301) further enables the communication device (300) to store the encoded text (S2) for later use if none of the communication channels are available.
The service center server (400) may be selected from a group of computers, servers,portable hand held devices, multiprocessor system or any other data processing device. In this particular aspect the service center server (400) is a computer, comprising a central processing unit (CPU) as the processor, a monitor as the display device, a mouse as the input device and a storage device. The storage device may be any optical or magnetic drive known in the art, such as a hard disk drive, a compact disk, a floppy drive or any suitable storage medium. The storage device can also be any type of non- transitory computer-readable medium. In this particular aspect the storage device is the hard disk drive of the computer.
The service center server (400) comprises a diagnostic module (401 not shown) furthercomprising a decoder (401' not shown) and an analyzer (401" not shown) for receiving the encoded message (S2), extracting the information of the electric appliance (200), diagnosing fault (S3) by analyzing extracted information and providing solution (S4) to the diagnosed fault (S3) thereafter.
The diagnostic module (401 not shown) can be a software code installed in the storage device of the service center server (400) or a hardware or a combination of both. In the present case the diagnostic module (401) is a software code installed in the storage device of the service center server (400).
The decoder (401' not shown) of the diagnostic module (401 not shown)receives the encoded message (S2) transmitted by the communication device (300) and extracts the information of the electric appliance (200) from said encoded message (S2).The analyzer (401" not shown) of the diagnostic module (401) diagnosesthe fault (S3) by analyzing the information of the electric appliance (200) as extracted by the decoder (401' not shown) from the encoded message (S2). Based on the severity of thedetected fault (S3) a solution (S4) is outputted by the analyzer (401"). If the detected fault (S3) is minor and can be solved easily, the customer care executive may communicate the solution (S4) and said fault (S3) over the phone or text. If the detected fault (S3) is severe and requires attention the service center executive may dispatch technical assistance (S5) to the users address after communicating the detected fault (S3).
Referring to figure 2 aflow chart of the method used for converting the sound signal (SI) to the encoded message (S2)in the communication device(300) via the program code (301 not shown) is illustrated. Depending on the embodiments of the invention, additional blocks may be added, others may be removed and the ordering of the blocks may be changed. The method starts at step 101 when the sound signal (SI) is fed into the communication device (300) by placing the communication device (300) near the electric appliance (200), wherein the program code (301 not shown) records the sound signal (SI) and places said signal (SI) as an input to a predefined algorithm. At step 102 the sound signal (SI) is stored, read, and plotted with respect to time using the predefined algorithm by the program code (301 not shown). For example time taken to record the tune is around 22~25 seconds, this would include time required in all intermediate steps such as placing the communication device(300) near the electric appliance(200) and recording the sound signal(Sl). Said sound signal (SI) is saved as a wave file. The amplitude of sound signal (SI) is plotted with the time taken to record the tune(i.e. 22~25) as shown in figure 2(a), wherein amplitude is represented on the Y- axis and the time is represented on the X-axis. It is done to locate the actual diagnosis data in the overall recorded sound signal (SI).
At step 103 the frequency of the sound signal (SI) is analyzed using sliding window Fast Fourier transform by the program code (301 not shown), wherein a window of 20 ms is selected at a sampling rate of 8000 HZ. Using 8000 HZ as the sampling rate and 20 ms window 160 data points are calculated (ls=8000, 20 ms=8*20=>160) and a 256 point FFT is implemented to calculate the dominant frequency. The window is slid by 10 ms and the steps are repeated till the end of recorded sound signal (Sl).The time and duration of occurrence of the dominant frequency can be noted as shown in figure (2b). The frequency with maximum amplitude is the dominant frequency. The number of rows in the output table (Tl) depends upon the number of 20 ms windows in the datai.e. duration of sound signal (SI). From the table 100 Hz is the dominant frequency for time 0-10 ms, 1002 is the dominant frequency for time 10-20 ms and so on. After the frequency analysis, at step 104 the sound signal (SI) is filteredto remove the background noise that was present at the time of recording. Frequencies in the range of 1350 Hz TO 2050 Hz are maintained for further use and rest of the frequencies are treated as noise and discarded. The output table and graph representing noise filtration has been illustrated in figure 2(c), wherein the X- axis represents time duration of the sound signal (SI) (i.e. 22~25) and Y-axis represents frequency of sound signal (SI). Graph 1 represents a plot of time and frequency before noise filtration and graph 2 represents a plot of time and frequency without noise after noise filtration. The output table (Tl) represents time and duration of occurrence of the dominant frequency.
At step 105, the data is extracted from the filtered sound signal (SI). The filtered sound signal (SI) has frequencies in the range of 1350 Hz to 2050 Hz. Duration of each individual clusters in the aforementioned frequency range is evaluated. The cluster with longest duration is selected as the diagnosis data. If the longest duration cluster is not the diagnosis data then it may be concluded that the recording has been performed in extremely noisy conditions and the sound signal (SI) should be rerecorded. The output table and graph representing data extraction has been illustrated in figure 2(d). Graph 2 of figure 2(c) is shown, wherein the X-axis represents time and Y-axis represents frequency without noise of sound signal (SI). The cluster from 1.65s to 2s is the cluster of longest duration and hence is selected as the diagnosis data referred to as(Cl). Graph 3 represents the plot of frequency and duration of the diagnosis data (CI). The table (T2) may comprise upto 320 rows as per 20ms window, wherein the time duration of diagnosis data(Cl) with a gap of 10 ms and its corresponding frequency is represented. For e.g. at time 16650 ms the frequency is 1437.5, at 16660ms the frequency is 1406.25 and so on till 20000ms.
At step 106 the extracted diagnosis data (CI) is quantized to predefined frequency levels i.e. 1390 Hz, 1570 Hz, 1760 Hz, 1980 Hz.Figure 2(e) represents the quantization of the frequencies using minimum distance algorithm. The term "quantization" means approximating a continuously varying signal by one whose amplitude is restricted to a predefined set of values. Hence the frequency of the extracted data (CI) is quantized to predefined frequency levels 1390 Hz, 1570 Hz, 1760 Hz, and 1980 Hz. Graph 3 represents the plot of frequency and duration of the diagnosis data (CI) before quantization. Graph 4 represents the plot of frequency and duration of the diagnosis data (CI) after quantization. The table T2 may comprise upto 320 rows as per 20ms window, wherein the time duration of diagnosis data (CI) with a gap of 10 ms and its corresponding frequency is represented. The table (T3) represents the frequency values of the table (T2) after quantization. For e.g. at time duration 16650 ms the frequency of the extracted diagnosis data(Cl) is 1437.5 Hz in table T2, 1437.5 Hz is nearest to 1390 and hence is quantized to 1390. Similarly at 16660 ms the frequency of the extracted diagnosis data (CI) is 1406.25 Hz, which is quantized to 1390. This continues till the end of the table.
The output text message is A4B5C5D5A1, wherein A=1390 Hz; B=1570 Hz; C=1760 Hz; D=1980 Hz; and the numerals represents the number of occurrences of each frequency in their respective order. Hence a message of 130 characters encodes the data comprising fault information.
Referring to figure 3the flow chart of the method of diagnosing the electric appliance (200) using the remote diagnostic system (100) of the present invention is shown.
When an error code is displayed by the electric appliance (200) or when the user feels there is a fault in the electric appliance (200), the user presses the diagnosis button on the input unit (201) of the electric appliance (200). The diagnosis mode may also be set to automatic for continuous diagnosis of the electric appliance (200) after predefined time intervals using a preset program. When the electric appliance (200) enters the smart diagnosis mode, the control unit (203) fetches fault information ofthe electric appliance (200) from its inbuilt memory and the sensing unit (202) and generates a control signal of a certain format and applies it to the modulator (204). The modulator (204) generates a frequency signal according to the control signal generated by the control unit (203) and sends it to the sound output unit (205). The sound output unit uses said frequency signal to output a sound signal (SI) including fault information. (S 601)
This sound signal (SI) comprising fault information is transmitted from theelectric appliance (200) to a communication device (300), whereinthe communication device (300) using the program code (301 not shown) records the sound signal (SI) and converts it into an encoded message (S2) comprising fault information using the method of figure 2. (S 602)
The program code (301 not shown) further provides optional channels for transmitting the encoded message to the service center server (400). The program code (301 not shown) checks if the communication channel is available for transmission(S 603), if no channel is available the encoded message (S2) is saved for later use, else the availability of mobile network is checked (S 604 and S605)
If the mobile network is available the encoded message may be transmitted as an SMS(S 606), else the encoded message (S2) may be transmitted overthe internet as an internet message (S 607).
The encoded message (S2) is received and stored in the service center server (400), wherein diagnostic module (401 not shown) extracts information of the electric appliance (200) from the encoded message (S2) using the decoder (401' not shown). The decoder (401' not shown) using a predefined algorithm arranges the extracted information in an orderly manner such as user information, product information, error codes, operation settings etc. and communicates said information to the analyzer (401" not shown) of the diagnostic module (401 not shown). (S 608)
Theservice center server (400) using the analyzer (401" not shown) analyzes the extracted information and identifies the fault (S3) related to the electric appliance(200). The analyzer (401" not shown) checks the error codes from the extracted information to determine the portion of the electric appliance (200) which has been affected. Using the error code, the analyzer (401" not shown) performs fault diagnosis on the data related to effected portion of the electric appliance (200). The fault (S3) is diagnosed and displayed to the service center executive along with a solution. (S 609) Based on the severity of fault (S3) and the proposed solution (S4) (S 610), the service center executive may eitherremotely instruct the customer over the phone or via text on how to fix the fault (S3) (S 611),or may schedulean appointment with the customer for a technical visit at the customer's address. The diagnosis result may also be transmitted to the customer's email address or mobile phone (S 612).
Although the invention has been described in detail in the foregoing embodiments for the purpose of illustration, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose and that variations can be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention except as it may be described by the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMS:
1. A remote diagnostic system (100)an electric appliance (200) capable of outputting fault information for diagnosis as a sound signal (SI), said system (100) comprising: - a communication device (300),comprising a program code (301) for recording the sound signal (SI) generated by the electric appliance (200), converting said sound signal (SI) to an encoded message (S2) and transmittingsaid message to a service center server (400) over Radio frequency network (101); and
- the service center server (400)
- receiving the encodedmessage (S2), storing it and extracting the information of the electric appliance (200); and
diagnosing faults by analyzing extracted information and providing solutions (S4) to the diagnosed fault (S3) thereafter.
2. The remote diagnostic system (100)as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electric appliance (200) comprises:
- an input unit (201) for enabling the diagnosis mode;
- a sensing unit (202) for sensing the state of the electric appliance and producing output voltage or other electrical outputs;
- a control unit (203), wherein the control unit (203) controls the operation of the electric appliance (200), interprets the output signals from the sensing unit (202) and generates a control signal including fault information when said appliance (200) enters the diagnosis mode.
- a modulator (204), wherein said modulator (204) generates a frequency signal according to the control signal generated by the control unit (203); and
- a sound output unit (205) for outputting the sound signal (SI) including the fault information according to the frequency signal generated by the modulator (204).
The remote diagnostic system (100) as claimed in claims 1 and 2, wherein the fault information comprises product information (serial number, model number, store and date of purchase), customer information (name and contact details), frequency of usage of the electric appliance (200), optional setting information, error codes, operation information of the electric appliance (200), user setting information and or operation state information.
The remote diagnostic system (100)as claimed in claims 1 to 3, wherein the communication device (300) can be selected from a group consisting ofportable hand held devices,mobile phone, tablet, computer,multiprocessor system, microprocessor system or any other data processing devicecapable of installing the program code (301).
The remote diagnostic system (100) as claimed in claims 1 to 4, wherein the service center server (400) can be selected from a group of computers, servers, multiprocessor system or any other data processing device and comprises a diagnostic module (401 not shown) further comprising:
- a decoder (401' not shown) for receiving the encoded message (S2)and extracting the information of the electric appliance (200); and
- an analyzer (401" not shown)for diagnosing faults by analyzing extracted information and providing solution (S4) to the diagnosed fault (S3) thereafter.
A method for diagnosing the electric appliance (200)using the remote diagnostic system (100) of any of the preceding claims, said method comprising steps of:
- generating a sound signal (SI) comprising fault informationby the the electric appliance (200) and transmitting said sound signal (SI) to a communication device (300) by placing said communication device (300) near the electric appliance (200);
- converting said sound signal (SI) to an encoded message (S2) and transmitting said message (S2) to the service center server (400)over the radio frequency network (101) by the communication device (300) via program code (301 not shown);
- receiving the encoded message (S2)by the service center server (400) and extracting the fault information of said appliance (200) using the diagnostic module (401 not shown);
- analyzing the extracted information and identifying the fault (S3) related to the electric appliance (200) by service center server (400) via diagnostic module (401 not shown); and
- providing solutions (S4) for resolving the diagnosed fault (S3) by the service center server (400) via the diagnostic module (401 not shown), wherein the diagnosed fault (S3) and the solution (S4) is reported to the customer over text/ phone or an appointment is fixed for technician visit.
7. The method as claimed in claim 6, whereinthe communication device (300) via program code (301 not shown) provides optional channels for transmitting the encoded message (S2) to the service center server (400).
8. The method as claimed in claims 6 and 7, wherein the communication device (300) using the program code (301 not shown) transmits the encoded message (S2) as a SMS if mobile network is working fine, else the encoded message (S2) may be transmitted using internet as an internet message.
9. The method as claimed in claims 6 to 8, wherein the communication device (300) using the program code (301 not shown) may store the encoded text (S2) for later use if none of the communication channels are available.
PCT/IB2015/058661 2014-11-20 2015-11-10 Remote diagnostic system and method for diagnosing electric appliances WO2016079634A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
IN3378/DEL/2014 2014-11-20
IN3378DE2014 2014-11-20

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2016079634A1 true WO2016079634A1 (en) 2016-05-26

Family

ID=56013359

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/IB2015/058661 WO2016079634A1 (en) 2014-11-20 2015-11-10 Remote diagnostic system and method for diagnosing electric appliances

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2016079634A1 (en)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP3657428A4 (en) * 2017-10-18 2020-06-03 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Data learning server, and method for generating and using learning model thereof

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5987105A (en) * 1997-06-25 1999-11-16 Fisher & Paykel Limited Appliance communication system
JP2005284492A (en) * 2004-03-29 2005-10-13 Mitsubishi Electric Corp Operating device using voice
KR20110010373A (en) * 2009-07-24 2011-02-01 엘지전자 주식회사 Diagnostic system and method for home appliance
US20110050441A1 (en) * 2009-07-31 2011-03-03 Lg Electronics Inc. Diagnostic system and method for home appliance
US20120303323A1 (en) * 2011-05-25 2012-11-29 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Self-diagnosis system of home appliance and operation method of the same

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5987105A (en) * 1997-06-25 1999-11-16 Fisher & Paykel Limited Appliance communication system
JP2005284492A (en) * 2004-03-29 2005-10-13 Mitsubishi Electric Corp Operating device using voice
KR20110010373A (en) * 2009-07-24 2011-02-01 엘지전자 주식회사 Diagnostic system and method for home appliance
US20110050441A1 (en) * 2009-07-31 2011-03-03 Lg Electronics Inc. Diagnostic system and method for home appliance
US20120303323A1 (en) * 2011-05-25 2012-11-29 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Self-diagnosis system of home appliance and operation method of the same

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP3657428A4 (en) * 2017-10-18 2020-06-03 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Data learning server, and method for generating and using learning model thereof
US11405231B2 (en) 2017-10-18 2022-08-02 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Data learning server, and method for generating and using learning model thereof

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
KR101252167B1 (en) Diagnostic system and method for home appliance
CN105283400B (en) Elevator noise monitoring
US20200152199A1 (en) Voice recognition system, server, display apparatus and control methods thereof
US9332362B2 (en) Acoustic diagnosis and correction system
KR101423266B1 (en) Home appliance diagnosis system and diagnosis method for same
US10878947B2 (en) Triggered sensor data capture in a mobile device environment
CN105376335B (en) Collected data uploading method and device
US20120155661A1 (en) Electronic device and method for testing an audio module
US9971667B1 (en) Equipment sound monitoring system and method
US9674638B2 (en) Dynamic mobile device feedback methods, systems, and apparatus
EP2839632A1 (en) Systems, methods, apparatuses and computer program products for providing mobile device protection
US20170337098A1 (en) Cloud device, terminal device, and method for handling abnormalities therein
US20170180219A1 (en) System and method of analyzing user skill and optimizing problem determination steps with helpdesk representatives
CN108322917B (en) Wireless network access fault positioning method, device, system and storage medium
US9769434B1 (en) Remote control of a user's wearable computing device in help desk applications
CN105046612A (en) Mobile medical system based on APP
WO2018065890A1 (en) A diagnostic system for a vehicle and a method thereof
CN105088647A (en) Washing machine and method and system for acquiring fault information thereof
US20200142770A1 (en) Internet of things appliance diagnostics
WO2016079634A1 (en) Remote diagnostic system and method for diagnosing electric appliances
JP2015064766A (en) Portable terminal and device diagnostic method
CN104983409A (en) Mobile medical system for old people
CN103986595A (en) Fault analyzing and upgrading method and server
CN114915574A (en) Method and system for automatically detecting response delay of intelligent doorbell through sound
KR20140144010A (en) Apparatus for sound wave communication and method for the same

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application

Ref document number: 15860650

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A1

NENP Non-entry into the national phase

Ref country code: DE

122 Ep: pct application non-entry in european phase

Ref document number: 15860650

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A1