In new consumer electronics devices, there are increasingly larger arrays of sensors for monitoring the performance and functionality of the device and making diagnostic decisions. Automobiles are perhaps the most advanced in this area. Though not traditionally retail consumer items, aircraft and elevators and escalators have been developed in the past decade with a substantial number of sensors built into them so as to better diagnose problems in their operation. The additional cost of manufacturing due to the added sensors is generally seen by the manufacturers as more than offset by more reliable performance (the sensors aid in anticipating problems before they become large enough to cause major failure), decreased down time due to faster and more accurate diagnostics, and a more competitive position for the original manufacturer to secure long term maintenance contracts for the equipment it originally sold.
However, this trend toward sensorification is not proceeding as quickly in lesser-value manufactured goods, and the vast majority of other consumer electronics with engines still do not have very many diagnostic sensors if any at all. Much like auto repair was routinely done a generation or two ago in what are now more developed countries, today there is a lack of highly specialized diagnostic equipment for auto repair in lesser developed countries. Sometimes even rudimentary electronic diagnostics like an engine analyzer or a timing light are unavailable. Cars being repaired are older on average than those being serviced in more developed countries, and even if they did include the inbuilt diagnostic sensors noted above there is no electronic equipment to extract and exploit that information. This less refined diagnostic process is likely to persist for some years even in the face of favorable conditions of economic growth across the local populace. The problem is not limited only to the automobile repair industry though.
Further, in more developed countries there is a concerted effort to make various devices electromagnetically compatible, such that one device does not cause electromagnetic interference EMI with other common devices. This can be seen readily in portable or auto-mounted radios. In the past EMI between an AM radio and a cellular phone was an issue, whereas largely that problem has been solved and there is no need to turn off an AM radio when communicating on a cellular phone. In less developed countries EMI has not been an historic problem and so devices there are not prone to such EMI compatibility as they are in areas where electronics have become more ubiquitous.
What is needed in the art is a way to remotely diagnose products in less developed areas of the world, as well as lower-value consumer devices that do not have in-built sensors similar to those currently used in high-cost manufactured items such as automobiles, aircraft and elevators/escalators. It would be advantageous to address this diagnostic problem in a manner that does not require a high capital investment in diagnostic equipment. The lower cost and relatively lower complexity of the vast majority of electronic devices that are directed to the retail purchaser/end user generally does not justify having such an array of sensors built into the manufactured device, yet the complexities are high enough that diagnosing a problem can be time consuming and expensive. For this reason especially in the developed world many consumer electronics are deemed more ‘disposable’ than need be, because often the cost of diagnosis is high enough to make diagnosis and repair an uneconomical option. An economical solution to the diagnostic problem would change the balance of the questions whether to repair or replace a malfunctioning device.