Author: claimsbot

1. An advanced communication controller unit comprising:
a protocol event recording circuit comprising:
a monitoring input connected to at least one internal protocol event data transmission path of said advanced communication controller unit, wherein the protocol event recording circuit is configured to communicate with a protocol engine and a host interface of the advanced communication controller via the at least one internal protocol event data transmission path, wherein the monitoring input is to monitor status information of registers of the host interface; and
a debug output connected to a memory device, wherein

the advanced communication controller unit is coupled to a communication medium and is adapted to communicate with another communication controller over the communication medium using a communication protocol, is to filter protocol event data, received from said monitoring input via the at least one internal protocol event data transmission path, depending on at least one configuration parameter, and is to provide filtered protocol event data to said debug output.
2. The advanced communication controller unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said communication protocol is a real time communication protocol.
3. The advanced communication controller unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said communication protocol is a time-triggered communication protocol.
4. The advanced communication controller unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said communication protocol comprises the FlexRay (trademark) protocol.
5. The advanced communication controller unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said protocol event recording circuit is adapted to non-intrusively record said filtered protocol event data.
6. The advanced communication controller unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said protocol event recording circuit is adapted to record said protocol event data during a startup phase of a distributed communication system comprising the advanced communication controller unit and one or more other communication controller units.
7. The advanced communication controller unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said memory device is a first in, first out buffer device.
8. The advanced communication controller unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said memory device is a generic buffering sub-system.
9. The advanced communication controller unit as claimed in claim 1 further comprising:
a configuration user interface adapted to provide said at least one configuration parameter to said protocol event recording circuit.
10. The advanced communication controller unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said memory device is adapted to buffer an amount of said filtered protocol event data depending on a configurable buffer size parameter.
11. The advanced communication controller unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said protocol event recording circuit is adapted to provide said filtered protocol event data to said memory device in a protocol event frame format.
12. A vehicle, comprising at least one advanced communication controller unit as claimed in claim 1.
13. A method comprising:
communicating between an advanced communication controller unit and another communication controller unit over a communication medium, wherein a distributed communication system comprises a plurality of communication controller units, at least one being the advanced communication controller unit, wherein each communication controller unit is coupled to the communication medium, and each communication controller unit is adapted to communicate using a communication protocol;
receiving protocol event data transmitted on at least one internal protocol event data transmission path of the advanced communication controller unit via a monitoring input of the protocol event recording circuit, the at least one internal protocol event data transmission path connected between a protocol engine and a host interface of the advanced communication controller, wherein the monitoring input is to monitor status information of registers of the host interface;
filtering said protocol event data, received via the at least one internal protocol event data transmission path, depending on at least one configuration parameter; and
providing filtered protocol event data to a memory device.
14. The method as claimed in claim 13, comprising
providing said at least one configuration parameter to said protocol event recording circuit using a configuration user interface.
15. The method as claimed in claim 13, comprising
processing said filtered protocol event data using a debugging unit.
16. The method as claimed in claim 13 further comprising:
non-intrusively recording said filtered protocol event data.
17. The method as claimed in claim 13 further comprising:
recording said protocol event data during a startup phase of said distributed communication system.
18. The method as claimed in claim 13 further comprising:
buffering, by the memory device, an amount of said filtered protocol event data depending on a configurable buffer size parameter.
19. A method comprising:
communicating between an advanced communication controller unit and another communication controller unit over a communication medium, wherein a distributed communication system comprises a plurality of communication controller units, at least one being the advanced communication controller unit, wherein each communication controller unit is coupled to the communication medium, and each communication controller unit is adapted to communicate using a communication protocol;
receiving protocol event data transmitted on at least one internal protocol event data transmission path of the advanced communication controller unit via a monitoring input of the protocol event recording circuit, the at least one internal protocol event data transmission path connected between a protocol engine and a host interface of the advanced communication controller, wherein the monitoring input is to monitor status information of registers of the host interface;
filtering said protocol event data, received via the at least one internal protocol event data transmission path, depending on at least one configuration parameter;
providing filtered protocol event data to a memory device;
providing a write pointer to a debugger unit of the advanced communication controller unit in response to the filtered protocol event data being stored in the memory device, wherein the write pointer identifies a location of the filtered protocol event data in the memory device.
20. The method of claim 19 further comprising:
providing additional filtered protocol event data to the memory device; and
incrementing the write pointer in response to the additional filtered protocol event data being stored in the memory device, wherein the incremented write pointer identifies a location of the additional filtered protocol event data in the memory device.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A method comprising:
receiving a signal from a sensor, the signal indicating a physical change detected by the sensor;
determining at least one condition for producing an output signal; and
in response to receiving the signal indicating the detected physical change, producing by a transducer of a transaction card an output signal prompting use of a financial account.
2. The method of claim 1, in which the produced output signal is based on at least one of:
sports information,
market information,
sales information,
lottery information,
schedule information,
travel information,
a joke,
an image,
a video,
a quotation,
a display pattern,
a song,
a horoscope,
exchange rate information, and
weather information.
3. The transaction card of claim 1, further comprising:
deactivating the transducer.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving content via a receiver of the transaction card.
5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:
storing the received content in a memory of the transaction card.
6. The method of claim 4, in which the content is received from a transmitting source.
7. The method of claim 4, in which the content is received from a transmitter associated with a merchant.
8. The method of claim 4, in which the content is received from a user of the transaction card.
9. The method of claim 4, in which the content is received from a second transaction card.
10. The method of claim 4, in which the content is received from a content provider.
11. The method of claim 4, in which the produced output signal comprises at least a portion of the received content.
12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
selecting content stored in a memory of the transaction card; and
in which the produced output signal comprises the selected content.
13. The method of claim 1, in which the detected physical change comprises a change in ambient light.
14. The method of claim 1, in which the detected physical change comprises a change in pressure applied to the transaction card.
15. The method of claim 1, in which the detected physical change comprises use of the transaction card at a card reader.
16. The method of claim 1, in which the detected physical change comprises use of the transaction card at a point of sale terminal.
17. The method of claim 1, in which the detected physical change comprises a location of the device.
18. The method of claim 1, in which the detected physical change comprises a change in orientation of the transaction card.
19. The method of claim 1, in which the detected physical change comprises a change in ambient sound.
20. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
determining that the at least one condition has been satisfied; and
unlocking content stored in a memory of the transaction card in response to determining that the at least one condition has been satisfied,
in which the produced output signal comprises the unlocked content.
21. The method of claim 1, in which the at least one condition comprises at least one of:
use of the transaction card for a transaction,
activation of the financial account associated with the transaction card,
a minimum amount charged by a user to the financial account using the transaction card,
use of the financial account associated with the transaction card by a user with a predetermined frequency,
use of the transaction card by a user at a predetermined time,
use of the transaction card by a user at a predetermined location, and
detecting of a predetermined minimum number of physical changes.

1. An image forming apparatus monitoring system configured to monitor at least one image forming apparatus, comprising:
a reception unit configured to receive first operation information and second operation information concerning the image forming apparatus;
a storage unit configured to store the first operation information and the second operation information received by the reception unit;
a first detection unit configured to detect a frequent occurrence of failures in the image forming apparatus based on the first operation information;
a second detection unit configured to detect a resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures based on the second operation information as a trigger of detecting the resolution; and
an output unit configured to output information that explicitly indicates the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures in response to the detection of the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures.
2. The image forming apparatus monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein first operation information and second operation information are notified from the image forming apparatus or from a station monitoring apparatus adapted to intermediate between the image forming apparatus and the image forming apparatus monitoring system.
3. The image forming apparatus monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the output unit includes a notification unit configured to notify the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures through a communication line, in a case where the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures is detected by the second detection unit.
4. The image forming apparatus monitoring system according to claim 1, which further comprises:
a third detection unit configured to detect a component replaced in the image forming apparatus according to third information;
a storage control unit configured to cause a database to store information about the replaced component in an explicit form according to detection thereof by the third detection unit.
5. The image forming apparatus monitoring system according to claim 4, wherein the third detection unit detects the component replaced in the image forming apparatus in a frequent failure occurrence time.
6. The image forming apparatus monitoring system according to claim 4, wherein the output unit also outputs information about component replacement in response to the detection of the component replacement by the third detection unit in the frequent failure occurrence time.
7. The image forming apparatus monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising a setting unit configured to set a detection sensitivity of the first detection unit which detects the frequent occurrence of failures, or to set a detection sensitivity of the second detection unit which detects the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures.
8. The image forming apparatus monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the first operation information relates to a failure of the image forming apparatus, and wherein the second operation information relates to an operating amount of the image forming apparatus.
9. The image forming apparatus monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the second operation information concerns the number of sheets printed in the image forming apparatus, or the number of print pages.
10. The image forming apparatus monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the third operation information represents a component counter value.
11. A method to monitor at least one image forming apparatus, comprising:
receiving first operation information and second operation information concerning the image forming apparatus;
storing the first operation information and the second operation information received;
detecting a frequent occurrence of failures in the image forming apparatus based on the first operation information;
detecting a resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures based on the second operation information as a trigger of detecting the resolution; and
outputting information that explicitly indicates the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures in response to the detection of the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures.
12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the first operation information and the second operation information are received from the image forming apparatus or from a station monitoring apparatus in communication with the image forming apparatus.
13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the outputting comprises:
notifying the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures through a communication line in response to the detection of the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures.
14. The method according to claim 11, further comprising:
detecting a component replaced in the image forming apparatus according to third information;
causing a database to store information about the replaced component in an explicit form in response to the detection of the replaced component.
15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising:
detecting a frequent failure occurrence time associated with the replaced component.
16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising:
outputting information explicitly indicating the detection of the replaced component and the frequent failure occurrence time associated with the replaced component.
17. The method according to claim 11, further comprising:
setting a detection sensitivity at which the frequent occurrence of failures is detected; and
setting a detection sensitivity at which the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures is detected.
18. The method according to claim 11,
wherein the first operation information relates to a failure of the image forming apparatus, and
wherein the second operation information relates to an operating amount of the image forming apparatus.
19. The method according to claim 11, wherein the second operation information concerns the number of sheets printed in the image forming apparatus, or the number of print pages.
20. The method according to claim 14, wherein the third operation information represents a component counter value.
21. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform a method comprising:
receiving first operation information and second operation information concerning an image forming apparatus;
storing the first operation information and the second operation information;
detecting a frequent failure occurrence condition in the image forming apparatus based on the first operation information;
detecting a resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures based on the second operation information as a trigger of detecting the resolution; and
outputting information that explicitly indicates the resolution of the frequent failure occurrence condition in response to the detection of the resolution of the frequent failure occurrence condition.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A method for incenting a radio frequency identification (RFID) transaction at a merchant system comprising:
receiving a transaction account number from an RFID transaction device;
identifying a transaction account number marker associated with said transaction account number; and
providing an incentive in accordance with said transaction account number marker.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
comparing said transaction account number to a plurality of distinct transaction account numbers stored on a merchant database;
retrieving a transaction history related to said transaction account number, wherein said transaction account number correlates to at least one of said plurality of distinct transaction account numbers;
providing said incentive in accordance with said transaction history; and
storing a record of said incentive in said transaction history.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
assigning a transaction history data file to said transaction account number, said transaction history data file being stored on a merchant system database; and
storing a record of said incentive in said transaction history data file.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
processing a transaction request in accordance with said incentive.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of providing an incentive comprises providing an incentive based upon at least one of prior transaction history, frequency of RFID device usage, amount of purchases using said RFID device, total amount of purchases in a given time period, geographical location of said merchant system, type of merchant, user profile, user data, user account data, merchant data, product data and service data.
6. A method for providing an incentive for completing a transaction using an RFID transaction device at a merchant system, said method comprising:
receiving a transaction account number, at a merchant system, from said RFID transaction device;
identifying said transaction account number as corresponding to said RFID transaction device; and
providing said incentive from said merchant system based on said transaction account number.
7. A merchant system for providing an incentive to an RFID transaction device user comprising:
a host configured to receive a transaction request, process said transaction request in accordance with an incentive wherein said incentive is received from a merchant database, and forward said transaction request to a transaction account issuer; and,
said merchant database configured to store a transaction history, a loyalty file corresponding to a transaction account number, and an incentive file for storing a plurality of incentives to be provided to said RFID transaction device user.
8. A computer-readable storage medium containing a set of instructions for a general purpose compute, the computer readable medium configured for:
receiving a transaction account number from an RFID transaction device;
identifying a transaction account number marker associated with said transaction account number; and
providing an incentive in accordance with said transaction account number marker.