Abstract:
An electronic game apparatus for guessing the English acronyms comprise a game console and a system processor. The game console includes an alphanumeric keyboard, a display, and an ON/OFF switch. The system processor includes a central processing unit, a read only memory for storing the system software for performing the acronym guess, a random access memory and an input/output interface. The system software for performing the acronym guess includes a start loop module for setting the playing chances and the players&#39;turn for each player, and a main loop module for displaying the subject category to be guessed, the acronym puzzle and the game wheel, and for guessing the meaning of the acronym based on the word spellings relative to each letter in the acronym puzzle and the related prompt information which are set and displayed at each segment on the game wheel.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the field of electronic games. In particular, it relates to an electronic guessing game involving certain subtle characteristics inherent with the English language, viz. acronyms. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Over the past three decades, a host of intellectual mind games, primarily of the guessing types and both mechanically and electronically implemented, were advanced. The subjects of these games have to do with words of languages, numbers, cryptography, confectionery and mechanical pieces. A list of these games invented over the years is presented below as subject matter references: 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,648 (1970) “Puzzle apparatus”; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,792 (1971) “Game apparatus involving magnetized selection of game pieces”; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,825,255 (1974) “Number guessing game device”; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,891,218 (1975) “Decoding crossword-type game”; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,526 (1976) “Game apparatus for a game of hangman”; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,044 (1977) “Hangman game apparatus”; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,742 (1980) “Land and sea war game apparatus”; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,078 (1981) “Guessing game”; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,389 (1982) “Word finding and guessing game”; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,666 (1983) “Electronic game”; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,373 (1986) “Numerical guessing game”; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,672 (1987) “Guessing game and associated playing period”; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,863 (1988) “Confectionery game”; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,953 (1989) “Numbering guessing game structure”; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,043 (1994) “Cryptographic guessing game”; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,780 (1994) “Bow sight assembly”; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,506 (1995) “Cryptographic guessing game”; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,243 (1998) “Cryptographic guessing game”. 
     In U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,389 issued to Dumond et al. in 1982 (listed above), the disclosure describes a game to be played by two players and which involves the guessing by one player of a word selected by the opposite player. By questions and answers, the player will try to locate the position occupied by the word to be guessed, opposite a particular column, after which he will try to identify each letter of the word to be guessed. In his turn, the opposite player will also try to arrive at guessing the word selected by the first player. While this game is an excellent tool to develop the vocabulary of a person, it is totally different from the present invention which is a guessing game about acronyms of the English language and not directly about the guessing of words. 
     As a matter of fact, the most popular games about words and languages over the past several decades have been the games of Scrabble and Wheel of Fortune. Both of these well-known language games are based upon and played around language words. For example, the game of Scrabble tests the players with their depth of knowledge about the words of the language. The players have to compose valid words (according to a standard dictionary) to score points using letters in their possession. On the other hand, players of Wheel of Fortune have to guess at letters in order to get to the words that compose and reveal the puzzle. Again both of these “words” games are different from the present invention which takes advantage of the subtle characteristics of the English language as expressed by its many acronyms. 
     According to the Webster&#39;s New Collegiate Dictionary, an acronym is a word (as “radar” or “snafu”) formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term. An acronym is not the same as abbreviation which is a shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase, used to represent the whole. The use of acronyms can be dated back a long way, at least in the English language. In the U.S., the use of acronyms appears to originate initially for simplifying the identification of certain public organizations such as associations or trade unions. The best example is the acronym “PTA” which stands for Parent-Teacher Association. No doubt many acronyms in the U.S. can probably be traced back even to before the early 1900&#39;s, however many acronyms started to appear in 1930&#39;s and 1940&#39;s. Examples are “UAW” which stands for United Automobile Workers and “AMA” which stands for American Medical Association and also for American Management Association. Even in the English language itself, acronyms sometimes also show up. One example is “TWIMC” which stands for To Whom It May Concern. 
     But the proliferation of acronym usage across the American society at large did not start in earnest until after the World War II. There are several reasons to account for this occurrence. 
     The most prominent is the continued growth of the population in peace time while the English language remains virtually unchanged, both in size and usage. By that we mean very few new English words have been added to the language from the period after World War II until today. Meanwhile more and more organizations and associations are being formed thereby creating the more acronym usage just for identification purposes. Examples are “UNESCO” which stands for United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organization and “NAACP” which stands for National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. 
     Another reason is the continued growth of scientific disciplines in society thereby springing many new professional associations which do not exist before. Examples are “DISA” which stands for Data Interchange Standards Association and “ACAA” which stands for Agricultural Conservation and Adjustment Administration. Still another reason is due to the Government agencies, particularly the Defense Department and the Pentagon. During the period prior to the recent end of the so-called “Cold War”, a tremendous amount of research and development was earmarked for conventional and nuclear weaponry, space satellite communication and missile and rockets deployment. A host of acronyms quickly appeared on the scene, partly to conceal to some extent the nature and contents of many of the research projects from foreign nationals and average citizens and partly as jargons to impress the US Congress for project funding appropriations. The most familiar acronyms include “ICBM” which stands for Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles, “SDI” which stands for Starwar Defense Initiative, “MSP” which stands for Mosaic Sensor Program and a host of others. 
     But by far the greatest reason why so many acronyms are in use in American society today is the advancement of science and technology during the past several decades. This ushers in many new industries including computer hardware and software, microelectronics or the microchip, medical instruments, pharmaceuticals and drugs, genetic engineering and finally the Internet and the World Wide Web. The advent of these new sciences and technologies literally impacts all aspects of the American society. One example is the electronic banking and commerce. As an example of the volumetric use of acronyms in this industry alone, over 200 of them are listed in Appendix I. There are many other industries like the electronic banking and commerce and they too have their equally large arsenal of acronyms widely in use today. 
     The widespread use of acronyms in just about every industry today has pretty much created artificial barriers or walls separating professionals, workers and the average citizen alike in different industrial disciplines. For example, a chemical engineer, accustomed to only reckoning acronyms or jargons in the chemical industry, has a hard time understanding a software engineer&#39;s acronyms used in the day to day transactions of the electronic banking and commerce industry. Because of this situation, the average citizen is getting harder and harder to understand the phrasing and terminology of many of society&#39;s fabrics which he has to interact and deal with on a daily basis. Unless something is done to counteract this unhealthy situation, many of the citizens in society will be by default becoming more and more isolated from one another. The progressive lack of mutual understanding among the citizenry of a society in their everyday life will in time become a threat to the peace and prosperity of the entire society itself. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic game apparatus for guessing English language acronyms. The object is to attempt to educate the average citizen through this acronym guessing game by familiarizing him with the meaning of many acronyms used in all facets of the society wherein he lives. The presently invented acronym guessing game is easy to implement, simple to play and hopefully exciting and educational. Since no such a game is available today, it is the fervent hope of the inventor that the presently invented game will serve to fill a need in society at large. 
     SUMMARY 
     In accordance with the present invention, an electronic game apparatus for guessing the English acronyms comprise a game console and a system processor, wherein the said game console includes an alphanumeric keyboard to interface and input a command to the said system processor, a display interfaced to and controlled by the said system processor to display the status of the game, and an ON/OFF switch; the said system processor includes a central processing unit, a read only memory for storing the system software for performing the acronym guess, a random access memory and an input/output interface, wherein the said system software for performing the acronym guess includes a start loop module for setting the playing chances and the players&#39; turn for each player, and a main loop module for displaying the subject category to be guessed, the acronym puzzle and the game wheel, and for guessing the meaning of the acronym based on the word spellings relative to each letter in the acronym puzzle and the related prompt information which are set and displayed at each segment on the game wheel. 
     In accordance with the present invention, an acronym game session is defined as a game playing period lasting typically, but not limited to, 30 minutes in length. An acronym puzzle game is defined as one of several to be played during a particular acronym game session. The number of acronym puzzle games actually played during a game session might vary dependent upon how long a particular acronym puzzle game is played by the players. Typically between 3 to 4 acronym puzzle games can be played during a game session lasting approximately 30 minutes. 
     Although the Acronym Guessing Game can be played by just about any number of players, it is generally best played by four players or less. If the number of players is more than four (4), then the game session is preferred to be elongated to more than 30 minutes dependent upon the actual number of players. As a rule of thumb, each player should be allocated a playing time of roughly 10 minutes per game session. 
     For every game session, there are six (6) subject categories specially assigned for players from which to select his/her puzzle, when his/her turn comes up to play for a particular acronym puzzle game. Associated with each of the six subject categories are three or more acronym puzzles to be guessed at and solved by the players. The players&#39; turns to play during a game session are determined randomly ahead of time by the game apparatus before the session actually starts. When it is his/her turn to play, the player will first select a particular subject category. An acronym puzzle will then appear automatically for the players to solve during the ensuing puzzle game. 
     The first player then spins a wheel having 24 segments. All the 26 alphabet letters either singly or in small groups occupy a total of 18 segments. Two segments are allocated as “Wild Letter” and two as “Extra Clue”. One of the remaining two segments is “Lose a turn” and the other “Bankrupt”. As the name “Wild Letter” implies, when a player lands on this segment, he or she can pick any letter in the remaining acronym puzzle in order to fully spell out the word represented in the puzzle by that chosen letter. On the other hand, when the players lands on “Extra Clue”, a clue will be displayed about the meaning or origin of the acronym puzzle in order to help the player to come up with the correct guess. Except for the two segments “Lose a turn” and “Bankrupt” whose meanings are obvious, each of the other 22 segments all carries a monetary value. In some special acronym puzzle games, the monetary value of some segments could be replaced by a special promotional gift item or a travel trip paid for by one of the Acronym Guessing Game advertisement sponsors. 
     The game continues after the first player&#39;s turn to spin the wheel. Dependent upon which of the segments is landed, the first player will start accumulate monetary value as shown in the wheel segment. Since the segment might also carry a letter (or a small group of letters), that matches one or more of those in the acronym puzzle, the word or words corresponding to one or more of the acronym puzzle letters will be fully spelled out if that is the case. If the segment contains no monetary value but a gift or a travel trip, the player will keep the gift or travel trip in lieu of the monetary value. After each spinning of the wheel, a player can take a guess at the acronym puzzle. If he guesses correctly at the puzzle, then that particular puzzle game will end and the winning player will collect all the monetary value accumulated during the game, plus any gifts or travel trips earned if applicable. The other players will forfeit their corresponding accumulated monetary values and/or the gift or travel items for the game that is ending. If the player guesses incorrectly, the game will continue with the next player waiting in turn to spin the wheel. 
     These steps will continue until one of the players finally guesses correctly at the acronym puzzle to end this particular game. After a puzzle game is ended and if there is enough time left in the game session, a new puzzle game will start with a new player in turn to select the subject category and spin the wheel. The above playing steps continue from player to player until the acronym puzzle is once again solved by one of the players at which point the puzzle game ends. If there is still time left in the game session to play another puzzle game, a new player other than the one that started the last puzzle game will now begin the game by spinning the wheel again. Otherwise the game session will come to an end. As was stated earlier, a typical 30 minutes session will accommodate the playing of 3 to 4 game puzzles. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows the Acronym Guessing Game system flow chart. 
     FIGS. 2A and 2B show the Start Loop sub-flow chart. 
     FIGS. 3A and 3B show the Main Loop sub-flow chart. 
     FIG. 4 shows the game wheel for the acronym puzzle game. 
     FIG. 5 shows the game apparatus status display as appearing in Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen. 
     FIG. 6 shows game apparatus console. 
     FIG. 7 shows the game apparatus system block diagram. 
     FIGS. 8-18 illustrate the sequential game status displays of the Acronym Guessing Game Apparatus as appeared in the LCD display of the game console for an actual game playing example. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 1 shows the acronym guessing game system flow chart. The start loop  1  takes over after the game apparatus is turned on. The main functions of this start loop  1  are 1) to determine using a single-integer-digit random number generator the playing turns for the players if the number of players is more than one but less than four; and 2) to select for the game session the six subject categories whence the acronyms from each subject category are derived. The start loop  1  is followed by the main loop  2 . The main loop  2  contains all the playing elements of the game including 1) choice of subject category; 2) presentation of the acronym puzzle associated with the subject category selected; 3) game wheel spinning for monetary value determination and possible help for guessing at the puzzle and 4) guess at the puzzle itself. Every time a player successfully guesses at the acronym puzzle thus ending a puzzle game, the main loop  2  checks for the time remaining in the session and makes a determination whether to end the session or to start another puzzle game. 
     FIG. 2 shows the details of the start loop  1  sub-flow chart. After the game is turned on and the Acronym Guessing Game graphics are displayed in block  3 , a representative of the players is requested to enter the number of players in block  4 . After the six designated subject matters are selected internally by the game apparatus in block  5 , each of the players takes turn to ask the game apparatus for a random number as depicted in blocks  6 - 9  (see FIG.  2 ). Then based upon the ranking order of the single integer random numbers drawn by the respective players, the game apparatus enunciates the turn of play for the players in block  10 . 
     FIG. 3 shows the details of the main loop  2  sub-flow chart. After displaying the 6 pre-selected subject categories out of a collection as shown in Appendix II and asking the first player to pick the first subject category in block 11, the game apparatus displays the acronym puzzle in block  12 . The game apparatus then asks the first player to start the game by spinning the game wheel in block  13 . The flow of the game thereafter is described in detail by the main loop  2  sub-flow chart shown in FIG. 3. A player is always given a choice to guess at the puzzle by block  14  (see FIG. 3) every time after he spins the wheel except when the wheel lands at either “Lose a turn” or “Bankrupt” segment. In the latter case, the player forfeits all his previous monetary values earned in this particular game (but not the monetary value that he might have already accumulated earlier in the game session) and forfeits his turn of play as well. 
     When the game session finally ends due to time expiration, the player who has accumulated the most monetary value is declared the winner. For those players who have earned gifts or travel trips during any of the puzzle games played, those items have assigned monetary values and will be added to the earned monetary values of the players towards deciding which player is the winner of the game session. 
     The Acronym Guessing Game wheel  15  is shown in FIG.  4 . Note that there are a total of 24 segments in the wheel with one wheel position marker at the first segment of the wheel. The letters of the alphabet, either singly or in small groups, occupy a total of 18 segments as shown in FIG. 4 (segments  1 ,  2 ,  4 ,  5 ,  7 ,  8 ,  10 ,  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  19 ,  21 ,  22 ,  24 ). Two segments are devoted each to “Wild Letter” and “Extra Clue” respectively (segments  9 ,  20 ,  3 ,  14 ) and one each to “Lose a turn” and “Bankrupt” respectively (segments  23 ,  6 ). With the exception of “Lose a turn” and “Bankrupt”, each of the other 22 segments are labeled with a monetary value or a gift or travel trip item. For example segment  4 , which carries the letter “B” has an assigned monetary value equal to $800. Similarly, segment  24  which carries the group of letters “X,Y,Z” has an assigned monetary value equal to $900. On the other hand segments  1  and  13 , which carries the letter “A” and “E” respectively, carries a travel trip instead of an assigned monetary value. The same is true for segments  7  and  19  which carries the letter “C” and “G” respectively, carries a gift item in lieu of assigned monetary values. 
     The Acronym Guessing Game status display  16  as appearing on the LCD screen  28  of the game console (see FIG. 6 below) is shown in FIG.  5 . The Session timer  17  is shown at the upper left hand corner of the display  16 . The winnings of players  1 - 4  are shown in rectangular boxes  18 - 21  respectively. Box  22  displays the puzzle game number that is being played in a game session. In the center is the main acronym puzzle display  23 . The subject categories (six categories) and the extra clues displays are depicted in boxes  24  and  25  respectively. 
     FIG. 6 shows the Acronym Guessing Game apparatus console  26 . The console  26  consists of three items. The first item is the game apparatus ON/OFF switch  27 . The second item is the LCD display  28  which serves to display the status of the game while it is in progress as depicted in FIG.  5 . The third item is the alphanumeric keyboard  29  which serves as the input to the game apparatus from the players. In the keyboard  29 , there are the usual 26 alphabet characters. 
     The numbers 0-9, the “Space” and the “Spin” keys are addressed with the help of the “Shift” key. In addition to the 26 alphabetic characters, there are also the “Back Space” and “Enter” keys to facilitate entering inputs to the game apparatus. For example, a player can guess at the acronym puzzle by simply typing in the words represented by the letters of the acronym. The game apparatus then makes the decision whether the input guess is correct or otherwise. 
     The present electronic game of guessing acronyms can be implemented in quite a simple and straightforward manner using modern day microcomputer and microelectronic technologies. As will be described in more detail below, almost 100% of the functions for the game will be performed via stored software (permanently as Read Only Memory or ROM) in a microcomputer. The interfacing electronics, which governs the players&#39; input to the game and the game apparatus&#39; message or commands to the players, will also be controlled by software and hardware. The only separate and independent electronic circuits needed are those power regulation supply circuits and batteries that power the microcomputer. As far as the game display and game console are concerned, both the LCD display and the alphanumeric keyboard will be controlled also by the microcomputer. Both the inputs to the game apparatus and the output to the players from same are respectively directed to or originated from the software resident in the on-board microcomputer. 
     FIG. 7 shows the system block diagram for the game apparatus of the present invention. There are basically four (4) component building blocks for the present Acronym Guessing electronic game. They are 1) system processor  30  which takes the form of a complete microprocessor comprising a Central Processing Unit (CPU), Read Only Memory (ROM) which stores the system software, Random Access Memory or RAM and Input/Output interfaces (I/O); 2) LCD screen display  31  (part of game console) interfaced to and controlled by the system processor  30 ; 3) an alphanumeric keyboard (also part of game console) interfaced and controlled by the system processor  30  and 4) power supply  32  to power the system processor, LCD screen, alphanumeric keyboard and other component building blocks. 
     FIGS. 8 through 18 show the actual playing procedures, game console LCD displays and sequences for three players playing the acronym guessing game. As shown in FIG. 8, the subject category selected by the first player is “Our World” and the acronym puzzle presented by the game apparatus for playing is “UNESCO”. 
     The game wheel segment positions are presented in sequence as follows: 
     1. Position  21  [U,V,W and $1,000] (see Game Wheel layout in FIG. 4) landed by Player P( 1 ) [see FIG.  9 ] 
     Note that in this case there is a match in the letter “U” of the acronym puzzle. The rule is that when the first time an acronym letter is matched, all the vowels, namely A, E, I, O, U that appear in the word begun with “U” will be shown. Thus in this case in addition to Player P( 1 ) collecting $ 1,000, the first word in the acronym puzzle starting with “U” is also shown, viz. “U_I_E_” and indicating this word is six letters long. 
     2. Position  13  [E and a Travel Trip] landed by Player P( 2 ) [see FIG. 10 ] 
     Note that in this case there is a match in the letter “E” of the acronym puzzle. The same first time match rule applies so that the word starting out with “E” is shown as “E_U_A_IO_A_” and indicating that this word is 11 letters long. Also the trip is worth $2,700 and is recorded in Player P( 2 )&#39;s winning box. 
     3. Position  14  [Extra Clue and $400] landed by Player ( 3 ) [see FIG.  11 ] 
     Note that in this case an extra clue appears in the LCD display EXTRA CLUE as “Headquarters in New York City”. Player P( 3 ) also collects $400 winnings. 
     4. Position  23  [Lose a turn] landed by Player P( 1 ) [see FIG.  12 ] 
     Note that in this case Player P( 1 ) collects no winnings and forfeits a turn. Nothing has changed as far as the progress of the game is concerned. 
     5. Position  2  [J, K and $ 100] landed by Player P( 2 ) [see FIG.  13 ] 
     Note that in this case there is no match of the letters J, K to those in the acronym puzzle. Player P( 2 ) collects no winnings. Nothing has changed as far as the progress of the game is concerned. 
     6. Position  9  [Wild Letter and $ 500] landed by Player P( 3 ) [see FIG.  14 ] 
     Note that in this case, the player can pick any letter in the acronym puzzle and has the word spelled out in full. Player P( 3 ) picks the letter “S” in the puzzle and the word “SCIENTIFIC” is spelled out in full for him. He also collects $500. 
     7. Position  8  [N, O and $300] landed by Player P( 1 ) [see FIG.  15 ] 
     Note that in this case, both the letters “N” and “O” match with those in the acronym puzzle. Since this is the first match for both letters in the acronym puzzle, only the vowels A, E, I, O, U are revealed as shown in FIG. 15 because they are both first matches. Player P( 1 ) also collects double the monetary allotment, viz. $600 instead of $300 because there are two matches of letters. 
     8. Position  21  [U,V,W and $1,000] landed by Player P( 2 ) [see FIG.  16 ] 
     Note that in this case the letter “U” matches that of the acronym puzzle the second time. In this situation, the additional letters “L, N, R, S, T” are revealed in the word starting out with “U” in the puzzle. The first word now becomes “UNITE_”. Player P( 2 ) also collects $1,000. [Note that after three matches of the same letter in the acronym puzzle, the entire word will be spelled out in full.] 
     9. Position  6  [Bankrupt] landed by Player P( 3 ) [see FIG.  17 ] 
     Note that in this case Player P(3) loses all his previous winnings and he further forfeits the turn. 
     10. Position  7  [C and Gift] landed by Player P( 1 ) [see FIG.  18 ] 
     Note that in this case there is a first match of the letter “C” and the vowels are revealed in the puzzle word starting with “C”, namely “CU  —— U_A_”. Player P( 1 ) collects a gift which is worth $1,500 and is added to his winnings. At this point Player P( 1 ) correctly guesses at the puzzle to be “UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CULTURAL ORGANIZATION”. This game ends and Player P( 1 ) wins this particular game and pockets a total of $3,100 of which $1,600 is cash and a gift worth $1,500. 
     Since the session timer only elapses a little over 6 minutes (see FIG. 18) and there is plenty of time left for the players to start another puzzle game. A typical game session will last 30 minutes. 
     Thus, there has been described an Acronym Guessing electronic game, both as to organization and method of operation as preferred embodiments of the present invention. Additional variations which would be apparent to workers knowledgeable in the field, such as acronyms in other languages having an alphabet, are considered to be encompassed within the present invention, which is defined by the following claims. 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
             
           
               
                 APPENDIX I 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Acronyms for Electronic Banking/Commerce 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 ACH 
                 Automated Clearinghouse 
               
               
                 ACTS 
                 Advanced Communication Technologies and 
               
               
                   
                 Services 
               
               
                 ADSL 
                 Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line 
               
               
                 AES 
                 Advanced Encryption Standard 
               
               
                 AFCEE 
                 Association Française pour le Commerce et 
               
               
                   
                 les Échanges Électroniques 
               
               
                 AFNOR 
                 Association Française de Normalisation 
               
               
                 AH 
                 Authentication Header 
               
               
                 AID 
                 Application Identifier 
               
               
                 AIR-IMP 
                 AIR Interline Message Procedures 
               
               
                 ANSI 
                 American National Standards Institute 
               
               
                 API 
                 Application Programming Interface 
               
               
                 ARDP 
                 Asychnronous Reliable Delivery Protocol 
               
               
                 ARQC 
                 Authorization Request Cryptogram 
               
               
                 ASC 
                 Accredited Standards Committee 
               
               
                 ASN.1 
                 Abstract Syntax Notation 1 
               
               
                 ATM 
                 Asynchronous Transfer Mode 
               
               
                 ATM 
                 Automated Teller Machine 
               
               
                 ATR 
                 Answer to Reset 
               
               
                 BACS 
                 Banker&#39;s Automated Clearing Service 
               
               
                 BER 
                 Basic Encoding Rules 
               
               
                 BIN 
                 Bank Identification Number 
               
               
                 BIS 
                 Bank for International Settlements 
               
               
                 BISP 
                 Bank Internet Payment System 
               
               
                 BSP 
                 Bank Settlement Payment 
               
               
                 BTX 
                 Bildschirmtext 
               
               
                 CAC 
                 Confirmation and Authentication Challenge 
               
               
                 CAFE 
                 Conditional Access for Europe 
               
               
                 CALS 
                 Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistics Support, 
               
               
                   
                 became Continuous Acquisition and Life-cycle 
               
               
                   
                 Support, then Commerce at Light Speed 
               
               
                 CAN 
                 Customer Account Number 
               
               
                 CAPI 
                 Cryptographic Application Programming Interface 
               
               
                 CAR 
                 Confirmation and Authentication Response 
               
               
                 CARGO-IMP 
                 CARGO Interchange Message Procedures 
               
               
                 CASE 
                 Computer-Aided Systems Engineering 
               
               
                 CBC 
                 Cipher Block Chaining 
               
               
                 CCD 
                 Cash Concentration and Disbursement 
               
               
                 CCITT 
                 Comité Consultatif International Télégraphique et 
               
               
                   
                 Téléphonique 
               
               
                 CDT 
                 Committee for Development of Trade 
               
               
                 CEFACT 
                 Centre pour la Facilitation des Pratiques et des 
               
               
                   
                 Procédures dans l&#39;Administration, le Commerce, 
               
               
                   
                 et les Transports 
               
               
                 CEFIC 
                 Conseil Européen des Fédérations de l&#39;Industrie 
               
               
                   
                 Chimique 
               
               
                 CEI 
                 Commission Électrotechnique Internationale 
               
               
                 CEN 
                 Comité Européen de Normalisation 
               
               
                 CFB 
                 Cipher Feedback 
               
               
                 CFONB 
                 Comité Français d&#39;Organisation et de Normalisation 
               
               
                   
                 Bancaire 
               
               
                 CGM 
                 Computer Graphics Metafile 
               
               
                 CHAPS 
                 Clearinghouse Automated Payment System 
               
               
                 CHIPS 
                 Clearinghouse Interbank Payment System 
               
               
                 CID 
                 Cardholder ID 
               
               
                 CIDX 
                 Chemical Industry Document Exchange 
               
               
                 CIIP 
                 Check Image Interchange Protocol 
               
               
                 CMC7 
                 Caractères Magnétiques Codés à 7 Bâtonnets 
               
               
                 CMP 
                 Certificate Management Protocol 
               
               
                 CMS 
                 Cryptographic Message Syntax 
               
               
                 COF 
                 Common Output Format 
               
               
                 COST 
                 Computer Security Technologies 
               
               
                 CPS 
                 Certification Practice Statement 
               
               
                 CPTP 
                 Customer Payment Server Transaction Protocol 
               
               
                 Creic 
                 Centres Régionaux d&#39;Échanges d&#39;Images-Chèques 
               
               
                 CRL 
                 Certification Revocation List 
               
               
                 C-SET 
                 Chip-Secured Electronic Transaction 
               
               
                 CSM 
                 Chipcard Security Module 
               
               
                 CTI 
                 Computer Telephony Integration 
               
               
                 CTP 
                 Corporate Trade Payments 
               
               
                 CTX 
                 Corporate Trade Exchange 
               
               
                 DAP 
                 Directory Access Protocol 
               
               
                 DEC 
                 Digital Equipment Corporation 
               
               
                 DEDICA 
                 Directory-based EDI Certificate Access and 
               
               
                   
                 Management 
               
               
                 DER 
                 Distinguished Encoding Rules 
               
               
                 DES 
                 Data Encryption Standard 
               
               
                 DF 
                 Dedicated File 
               
               
                 DGI 
                 Direction Générale des Impôts 
               
               
                 DIN 
                 Deutsches Institüt für Normung e.V. 
               
               
                 DIR 
                 Directory 
               
               
                 DIS 
                 Draft International Standard 
               
               
                 DISA 
                 Data Interchange Standards Association 
               
               
                 DISP 
                 Directory Information Shadowing Protocol 
               
               
                 DNS 
                 Domain Name Service 
               
               
                 DOD 
                 Department of Defense 
               
               
                 DOP 
                 Directory Operational Binding Management 
               
               
                   
                 Protocol 
               
               
                 DPA 
                 Differential Power Analysis 
               
               
                 DRAM 
                 Dynamic Random Access Memory 
               
               
                 DSA 
                 Digital Signature Algorithm 
               
               
                 DSL 
                 Digital Subscriber Line 
               
               
                 DSP 
                 Directory System Protocol 
               
               
                 DSS 
                 Digital Signature Standard 
               
               
                 DSSSL 
                 Document Style Semantics and Specification 
               
               
                   
                 Language 
               
               
                 DTD 
                 Document Type Definition 
               
               
                 EAN 
                 European Article Numbering Association 
               
               
                 EBES 
                 European Board for EDI Standardization 
               
               
                 EBS 
                 Elektronik Banking Systems GmBH 
               
               
                 ECB 
                 Electronic Code Book 
               
               
                 ECCHO 
                 Electronic Check Clearinghouse Organization 
               
               
                 ECP 
                 Electronic Check Presentment 
               
               
                 EDE 
                 Encryption-Decryption-Encryption 
               
               
                 EDI 
                 Electronic Data Interchange 
               
               
                 EDIFACT 
                 Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, 
               
               
                   
                 Commerce and Transport 
               
               
                 EDIINT 
                 EDI Internet Integration 
               
               
                 EEG 
                 EBES Expert Group 
               
               
                 EEPROM 
                 Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only 
               
               
                   
                 Memory 
               
               
                 EF 
                 Elementary File 
               
               
                 EFT 
                 Electronic Funds Transfer 
               
               
                 EFTA 
                 European Free Trade Association 
               
               
                 ElD 
                 Electronic Identity Card (in Sweden) 
               
               
                 EMV 
                 EuroPay, MasterCard, Visa 
               
               
                 EPC 
                 Every Penny Counts, Inc. 
               
               
                 EPH 
                 Electronic Payments Handler (in BIPS) 
               
               
                 EPO 
                 Electronic Payment Order 
               
               
                 EPOID 
                 Electronic Payment Order Identifier 
               
               
                 EPROM 
                 Electrically Programmable Read Only Memory 
               
               
                 ESP 
                 Encapsulating Security Payload 
               
               
                 ETEBAC 
                 Échange Télématique entre les Banques et leurs 
               
               
                   
                 Clients 
               
               
                 ETSI 
                 European Telecommunications Standards Institute 
               
               
                 EWG 
                 EDIFACT Work Group 
               
               
                 FACNET 
                 Federal Acquisition Computer Network 
               
               
                 FAQ 
                 Frequently Asked Questions 
               
               
                 FeRAM 
                 Ferrite Random Access Memory 
               
               
                 FIC 
                 Federal Insurance Corporation 
               
               
                 FSML 
                 Financial Services Markup Language 
               
               
                 FSTC 
                 Financial Services Technology Consortium 
               
               
                 FTP 
                 File Transfer Protocol 
               
               
                 GALIA 
                 Groupement pour l&#39;Amélioration des Liens dans 
               
               
                   
                 l&#39;Industrie Automobile 
               
               
                 GCARI 
                 Graphical Communications Association Research 
               
               
                   
                 Institute 
               
               
                 GDS 
                 Goppinger Datenservice 
               
               
                 Gie 
                 Groupement d&#39; Intérêt Économique 
               
               
                 GMD 
                 Gesellschaft für Mathematik und Datenverarbeitung 
               
               
                 GMT 
                 Greenwich Mean Time 
               
               
                 GOCPKI 
                 Government of Canada Public Key Infrastructure 
               
               
                 GTDI 
                 General-purpose Trade Data Interchange 
               
               
                 HEDIC 
                 Healthcare EDI Coalition 
               
               
                 HIBCC 
                 Health Industry Business Communications Council 
               
               
                 HMAC 
                 Hashed Message Authentication Code 
               
               
                 HTML 
                 HyperText Markup Language 
               
               
                 HTTP 
                 HyperText Transfer Protocol 
               
               
                 HyTime 
                 Hypermedia/Time-based Document Structuring 
               
               
                   
                 Language 
               
               
                 IAD 
                 Issuer Authentication Data 
               
               
                 IADF 
                 Internal Application Data File 
               
               
                 IANA 
                 Internet Assigned Numbers Authority 
               
               
                 IATA 
                 International Air Transport Association 
               
               
                 IBA 
                 Italian Banking Association 
               
               
                 IDEA 
                 International Data Encryption Algorithm 
               
               
                 IEC 
                 International Electrotechnical Commission 
               
               
                 IETF 
                 Internet Engineering Task Force 
               
               
                 IETM 
                 Interactive Electronic Technical Manuals 
               
               
                 IFTM 
                 International Forwarding and Transport Message 
               
               
                 IMAP 
                 Internet Message Access Protocol 
               
               
                 INRIA 
                 Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et 
               
               
                   
                 en Automatique 
               
               
                 InterNIC 
                 Internet Network Information Center 
               
               
                 IP 
                 Internet Protocol 
               
               
                 IPSEC 
                 Internet Protocol Security 
               
               
                 IRC 
                 Internet Relay Chat 
               
               
                 ISAKMP 
                 Internet Security Association and Key Management 
               
               
                   
                 Protocol 
               
               
                 ISDN 
                 Integrated Services Digital Network 
               
               
                 ISI 
                 IBM Smartcard Identification (protocol) 
               
               
                 ISI 
                 Information Science Institute 
               
               
                 ISO 
                 International Standardization Organization 
               
               
                 ITAR 
                 International Traffic in Arms Regulation 
               
               
                 ITU 
                 International Telecommunication Union 
               
               
                 ITU-T 
                 International Telecommunication 
               
               
                   
                 Union-Telecommunications 
               
               
                   
                 Standardization Sector 
               
               
                 JEPI 
                 Joint Electronic Payment Initiative 
               
               
                 JPEG 
                 Joint Photographic Expert Group 
               
               
                 JRT 
                 Joint Rapporteurs Team 
               
               
                 KEA 
                 Key Exchange Algorithm 
               
               
                 LACES 
                 London Airport Cargo EDP Scheme 
               
               
                 LDAP 
                 X.500 Lightweight Directory Access Protocol 
               
               
                 LETS 
                 Local Exchange Trading System 
               
               
                 LVMH 
                 Louis Vuitton-Moët-Hennesy 
               
               
                 MAC 
                 Message Authentication Code 
               
               
                 MD 
                 Message Digest 
               
               
                 MDG 
                 Message Development Group 
               
               
                 MF 
                 Master File 
               
               
                 MFC 
                 Multifunction Card 
               
               
                 MIC 
                 Message Integrity Check 
               
               
                 MICR 
                 Magnetic Ink Character Recognition 
               
               
                 MIME 
                 Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions 
               
               
                 MISPC 
                 Minimum Interoperability Specification for PKI 
               
               
                   
                 Components 
               
               
                 MIT 
                 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
               
               
                 MTA 
                 Message Transfer Agent (X.400 Messaging) 
               
               
                 NACHA 
                 National Automated Clearinghouse Association 
               
               
                 NASP 
                 National Association of State Purchasing Officials 
               
               
                 NatWest 
                 National Westminster Bank 
               
               
                 NC 
                 Network Computer 
               
               
                 NFS 
                 Network File System 
               
               
                 NIST 
                 National Institute of Standards and Technology 
               
               
                 NMAC 
                 Nested Message Authentication Code 
               
               
                 NMDS 
                 Narrowband Multiservice Delivery System 
               
               
                 NNTP 
                 Network News Transfer Protocol 
               
               
                 NPP 
                 Network Payment Protocol 
               
               
                 NSA 
                 National Security Agency 
               
               
                 NVM 
                 Nonvolatile Memory 
               
               
                 NWDA 
                 National Wholesale Druggists Association 
               
               
                 OAEP 
                 Optimal Asymmetric Encryption Padding 
               
               
                 OBI 
                 Open Buying on the Internet 
               
               
                 OCF 
                 Open Card Framework 
               
               
                 ODA 
                 Open Document Architecture 
               
               
                 ODETTE 
                 Organisation des Données Échangées par 
               
               
                   
                 Télétransmission en Europe; Organization for 
               
               
                   
                 Data Exchange and Tele-Transmission in Europe 
               
               
                 OECD 
                 Organization for Economic Cooperation and 
               
               
                   
                 Development 
               
               
                 OFB 
                 Output Feedback 
               
               
                 OFTP 
                 ODETTE File Transfer Protocol 
               
               
                 OFX 
                 Open Finance Exchange 
               
               
                 OI 
                 Order Information 
               
               
                 OSI 
                 Open System Interconnection 
               
               
                 OTP 
                 Open Trading Protocol 
               
               
                 PACES 
                 Paperless Automated Check Exchange and 
               
               
                   
                 Settlement 
               
               
                 PACK 
                 Personal Authentication and Confirmation Kit 
               
               
                 PAN 
                 Primary Account Number 
               
               
                 PC 
                 Personal Computer 
               
               
                 PEDI 
                 Protocol EDI 
               
               
                 PEP 
                 Protocol Extension Protocol 
               
               
                 PESIT 
                 Protocole de Transfert de Fichier pour le Système 
               
               
                   
                 Interbancaire de Télécompensation 
               
               
                 PGP 
                 Pretty Good Privacy 
               
               
                 PI 
                 Payment Instructions 
               
               
                 PICS 
                 Platform for Internet Content Selection 
               
               
                 PIN 
                 Personal Identification Number 
               
               
                 PKCS 
                 Public Key Cryptography Standards 
               
               
                 PKIX 
                 Public Key Infrastructure 
               
               
                 PKP 
                 Public Key Partners 
               
               
                 POP 
                 Post Office Protocol 
               
               
                 POST 
                 Point-of-Sale Terminal 
               
               
                 PPP 
                 Point-to-Point Protocol 
               
               
                 PPT 
                 Payment Proof Ticket 
               
               
                 PROM 
                 Programmable Read Only Memory 
               
               
                 PRT 
                 Payment Request Ticket 
               
               
                 PST 
                 Portable Secure Terminal 
               
               
                 PSTN 
                 Public Switched Telephone Network 
               
               
                 RA 
                 Root Authority 
               
               
                 RADSL 
                 Rate Adaptive Digital Subscriber Line 
               
               
                 RAM 
                 Random Access Memory 
               
               
                 RCP 
                 Reference Control Parameter 
               
               
                 RFC 
                 Request for Comment 
               
               
                 ROM 
                 Read-Only Memory 
               
               
                 RRES 
                 Réseaux Récriproques d&#39;Échange de Savoirs 
               
               
                 RSADSI 
                 RSA Data Security, Inc. 
               
               
                 RTC 
                 Réseau Téléphonique Commuté 
               
               
                 RTGS 
                 Real-Time Gross Settlement 
               
               
                 RTP 
                 Real-Time Protocol 
               
               
                 S/MIME 
                 Secure MIME 
               
               
                 S/WAN 
                 Secure Wide Area Network 
               
               
                 SACK 
                 Server Authentication and Certification Kit 
               
               
                 SAIC 
                 Science Applications International Corporation 
               
               
                 SAM 
                 Security Application Module 
               
               
                 SAP 
                 Systems, Applications, Products 
               
               
                 SCSSI 
                 Service Central pour la Sécurité des Systèmes 
               
               
                   
                 d&#39;Information 
               
               
                 SDML 
                 Signed Document Markup Language 
               
               
                 SDSI 
                 Simple Distributed Security Infrastructure 
               
               
                 SEIS 
                 Secured Electronic Information in Society 
               
               
                 SEL 
                 Systèmes d&#39;Échanges Locaux 
               
               
                 SEMPER 
                 Secure Electronic Marketplace for Europe 
               
               
                 SET 
                 Secure Electronic Transaction 
               
               
                 SET SCCA 
                 SET Compliance Certification Authority 
               
               
                 SETREF 
                 SET Reference Implementations 
               
               
                 SGML 
                 Standard Generalized Markup Language 
               
               
                 S-HTTP 
                 Secure HyperText Transfer Protocol 
               
               
                 SHA 
                 Secure Hash Algorithm 
               
               
                 SIC 
                 Swiss Interbank Clearing 
               
               
                 SIMPROFRANCE 
                 Comité Français pour la Simplification des 
               
               
                   
                 Procédures du Commerce Internationale 
               
               
                 SIT 
                 Système Interbancaire de Télécompensation 
               
               
                 SITA 
                 Société Internationale de Télécommunications 
               
               
                   
                 Aéronautiques 
               
               
                 SITPRO 
                 Simplification of International Trade Procedures 
               
               
                 SKIP 
                 Simple Key Management for Internet Protocols 
               
               
                 SMTP 
                 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol 
               
               
                 SNMP 
                 Simple Network Management Protocol 
               
               
                 SNNTP 
                 Secure Network News Transfer Protocol 
               
               
                 SPKI 
                 Simple Public Key Infrastructure 
               
               
                 SRAM 
                 Static Random Access Memory 
               
               
                 SSB 
                 Società per i Servizi Banacari 
               
               
                 SSL 
                 Secure Sockets Layer 
               
               
                 SWIFT 
                 Society of Worldwide Interbank Financial 
               
               
                   
                 Telecommunication 
               
               
                 TC 
                 Transaction Certificate 
               
               
                 TCP 
                 Transmission Control Protocol 
               
               
                 TD 
                 Transaction Data 
               
               
                 TDCC 
                 Transportation Data Coordinating Committee 
               
               
                 TDFC 
                 Transfert de Données Fiscales et Comptables 
               
               
                 TDI 
                 Trade Data Interchange 
               
               
                 TEDIS 
                 Trade Electronic Data Interchange System 
               
               
                 TEK 
                 Token Encryption Key 
               
               
                 TEP 
                 Terminal for Electronic Payment 
               
               
                 Tep 
                 Titre Électronique de Paiement 
               
               
                 TID 
                 Transaction ID 
               
               
                 Tip 
                 Titre Interbancaire de Paiement 
               
               
                 TLS 
                 Transport Layer Security 
               
               
                 TMF 
                 Transaction File Manager 
               
               
                 TTC 
                 Terminal Transaction Counter 
               
               
                 UCS 
                 Uniform Communication Standards 
               
               
                 UDEF 
                 Universal Data Element Framework 
               
               
                 UDP 
                 User Datagram Protocol 
               
               
                 UN/ECE 
                 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe 
               
               
                 UNCID 
                 United Nations Rules of Conduct for Interchange of 
               
               
                   
                 Trade Data by Teletransmission 
               
               
                 UNCITRAL 
                 United Nations Commission on International 
               
               
                   
                 Trade Law 
               
               
                 UNCL 
                 United Nations Code List 
               
               
                 UN-JEDI 
                 United Nations - Joint Electronic Data Interchange 
               
               
                 UN-TDI 
                 United Nations - Trade Data Interchange 
               
               
                 UNI 
                 User Network Interface 
               
               
                 UPP 
                 Universal Payment Preamble 
               
               
                 URL 
                 Uniform Resource Locator 
               
               
                 USC 
                 University of Southern California 
               
               
                 VDSL 
                 Very high bit rate Digital Subscriber Line 
               
               
                 W3C 
                 World Wide Web Consortium 
               
               
                 WAN 
                 Wide Area Network 
               
               
                 WAP 
                 Wireless Application Protocol 
               
               
                 WEEB 
                 West European EDIFACT Board 
               
               
                 WINS 
                 Warehouse Information Network Standard 
               
               
                 WOIP 
                 World Organization for Intellectual Property 
               
               
                 WTLS 
                 Wireless TLS 
               
               
                 XML 
                 Extensible Markup Language 
               
               
                 XOR 
                 Exclusive OR 
               
               
                 ZKA 
                 Zentraler Kreditausschuβ 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
             
           
               
                 APPENDIX 2 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Subject Categories 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Adventure 
               
               
                   
                 Aeronautics 
               
               
                   
                 Ancient History 
               
               
                   
                 Animal Kingdom 
               
               
                   
                 Archaeology 
               
               
                   
                 Architecture 
               
               
                   
                 Art World 
               
               
                   
                 Artificial Intelligence 
               
               
                   
                 Astronomy 
               
               
                   
                 Attorneys 
               
               
                   
                 Automation 
               
               
                   
                 Aviation 
               
               
                   
                 Banking/Commerce 
               
               
                   
                 Biology 
               
               
                   
                 Building/Construction 
               
               
                   
                 Chemistry 
               
               
                   
                 Children 
               
               
                   
                 Civil Engineering 
               
               
                   
                 Computer 
               
               
                   
                 Cosmos 
               
               
                   
                 Cult/Taboo 
               
               
                   
                 Culture 
               
               
                   
                 Daily Living 
               
               
                   
                 Diseases 
               
               
                   
                 Economy 
               
               
                   
                 Education 
               
               
                   
                 Electronics 
               
               
                   
                 Entertainment 
               
               
                   
                 Environments 
               
               
                   
                 Fantasies 
               
               
                   
                 Fashion 
               
               
                   
                 Food Industry 
               
               
                   
                 Genetics 
               
               
                   
                 Geography 
               
               
                   
                 Government 
               
               
                   
                 Humanities 
               
               
                   
                 Insect World 
               
               
                   
                 Internet 
               
               
                   
                 Law Enforcement 
               
               
                   
                 Libraries &amp; Books 
               
               
                   
                 Literature 
               
               
                   
                 Machinery 
               
               
                   
                 Magic 
               
               
                   
                 Mathematics 
               
               
                   
                 Medical Instruments 
               
               
                   
                 Medicine 
               
               
                   
                 Microelectronics 
               
               
                   
                 Microorganism 
               
               
                   
                 Modern History 
               
               
                   
                 Movies/Cinema 
               
               
                   
                 Museums 
               
               
                   
                 Music 
               
               
                   
                 Natural Sciences 
               
               
                   
                 Nature 
               
               
                   
                 Neurology 
               
               
                   
                 News Media 
               
               
                   
                 Nuclear Science 
               
               
                   
                 Nutrition 
               
               
                   
                 Oceanics 
               
               
                   
                 Optics 
               
               
                   
                 Our World 
               
               
                   
                 Pentagon 
               
               
                   
                 Pharmaceuticals 
               
               
                   
                 Philosophy 
               
               
                   
                 Photography 
               
               
                   
                 Physics 
               
               
                   
                 Physiology 
               
               
                   
                 Plantology 
               
               
                   
                 Politics 
               
               
                   
                 Pollution Control 
               
               
                   
                 Psychology 
               
               
                   
                 Radiology 
               
               
                   
                 Railroads 
               
               
                   
                 Real Estate 
               
               
                   
                 Religion 
               
               
                   
                 Robotics 
               
               
                   
                 Space Sciences 
               
               
                   
                 Sports &amp; Games 
               
               
                   
                 Stock Market 
               
               
                   
                 Telecommunications 
               
               
                   
                 Tourism 
               
               
                   
                 Trade/Commerce 
               
               
                   
                 Transportation 
               
               
                   
                 Universe/Cosmology 
               
               
                   
                 Wireless Telephony 
               
               
                   
                 World Wide Web 
               
               
                   
                 Zoology