Distributed-service architecture at the point of sale or service

Points of sale or service. According to various embodiment, a point of sale or service includes a register, a peripheral and a protocol converter. The protocol converter communicatively couples the register and the peripheral. The register may communicate with the protocol converter using a first protocol while the peripheral communicates with protocol converter using a second protocol. The register and the protocol converter may communicate using TCP/IP. A second peripheral may communicate with the register using the first protocol and without the aid of the protocol converter. The point of sale or service may further include a processor communicatively coupled to the protocol converter, for accessing the first peripheral.

This invention relates to protocol converters, distributed-service architectures and point-of-sale or point-of-service (POS) terminals. More specifically, this invention relates to accessing legacy and new POS services in a POS terminal.

BACKGROUND

The links170,180,190,1A0and1B0communicatively and respectively couple the PIN pad110, the printer120, the scanner130, the signature-capture platform140and the check reader150to the register160. Each link is a direct (point-to-point) connection between a peripheral and the register160. Communications over each link follow a legacy protocol: RS485, RS232 or Universal Serial Bus (USB), for example.

Each of the peripherals110through150represents a service available to the POS terminal100. The POS register160contains the intelligence to operate and coordinate the peripherals110through150in order to perform the functions of a POS terminal. The POS register160maintains the state of the these peripherals and also the state of any ongoing transaction.

An example of prior-art POS-register intelligence is the operating system of the model 4690 POS terminal (available from International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y.) and its application software. The IBM model 4690 operating system runs software such as General Sales Application (GSA), Supermarket Application, Drug Store Application and Chain Sales Application, all known in the art.

(Windows-based POS registers160and Windows POS applications are also available. Windows is a class of operating systems available from Microsoft Corp., Bellevue, Wash.)

IBM model 4690-based POS systems have known problems. The operating system is monolithic. All peripherals that the POS system100is to support must be determined at the time the operating system is constructed (compiled). Adding a new service involves configuring and compiling a new version of the operating system. Adding a new service also involves acquiring application software that can take advantage of the new service.

Adding a new service requires loading the new operating systems, the new application software or both. This loading often requires the system100to be taken offline, thus disrupting the business of the merchant. As such, adding new services can be time consuming—even prohibitively so.

Accordingly, a point of sale or service is desirable with greater availability on the addition of peripherals or services.

These and other goals of the invention will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art on reading the background above and the description below.

SUMMARY

Herein are described points of sale or service. According to various embodiment, a point of sale or service may include a register, a peripheral and a protocol converter. The protocol converter may communicatively couple the register and the peripheral. The register may communicate with the protocol converter using a first protocol while the peripheral may communicate with the protocol converter using a second protocol. The register and the protocol converter may communicate using TCP/IP.

A second peripheral may communicate with the register using the first protocol and without the aid of the protocol converter. The point of sale or service may further include a processor communicatively coupled to the protocol converter, for accessing the first peripheral.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 2illustrates a point-of-sale (or service) system200incorporating an embodiment of the invention. The POS system200may include one or more peripherals—here, the PIN pad110, the printer120, the scanner130, the signature-capture platform140, the check reader150—as well as the communications links170,180,190,1A0,1B0, all of the art. The system200may also include a peripheral250, a POS register260, a data center270, a protocol converter280and communications links290,2A0.

The links170,180,190,1A0,1B0and1C0may communicatively and respectively connect the PIN pad110, the printer120, the scanner130, the signature-capture platform140, the check reader150and another peripheral250according to respective legacy communications protocols to the protocol converter280. The links170,180,190,1A0,1B0and1C0are direct (point-to-point) connections.

The link290may communicatively interconnect the POS register260, the protocol converter280and the controller2B0. The link290may be an ethernet, running TCP/IP. Then the POS register260, the protocol converter280and the controller2B0may have TCP/IP as a native communications protocol.

Indeed, any peripheral110through150,250whose native communications protocol is the same as that of the link290may interconnect using the link290well. The signature-capture platform140is an example of such a peripheral.

The link2A0may communicatively couple the controller2B0and the data center270. The link2A0may be an internet—even the Internet.

The protocol converter280may convert communications using the legacy protocols over the links170–1C0to communications using the protocol of the communications link290. Example legacy protocols include RS485, RS232 and USB. The link290protocol may be TCP/IP, for example.

Each peripheral110through150connects to the protocol converter280as it connected to the POS register160of the prior art. The cables enabling the communications links170,180,190,1A0,1B0may be the same in the two POS systems100,200.

Any peripheral110through150,250whose native communications protocol is the same as that of the link290may interconnect using the link290or the protocol converter280. In such an instance, the converter280may work more like a repeater.

Because all of the peripherals110through150,250—and the services they provide—are accessible over the link2A0, any processor2C0with access to the link2A0may use the services of any of the peripherals. The transaction computer2B0may mediate a processor2C0's access to the peripherals110through150,250.

The POS register260, the transaction controller2B0, the data center270or some other entity on the link290or the link2A0may maintain state regarding a service or transaction. The state information that one such entity maintains may be duplicative, overlapping or disjoint from that which another such entity maintains.

In the POS system200, the intelligence to conduct a transaction may reside in the POS register260. The POS register260, however, may not be intelligent enough to communicate with one or more of the peripherals. Such intelligence may now reside in any entity with access to the peripheral—the transaction computer2B0, for example.

When a new service peripheral is added to the system200, the operating system or application software of the POS register260need not be rebuilt to interact with the new peripheral. For example, the intelligence of the transaction computer2B0may be sufficient or may be increased to interact with the new peripheral. Accordingly, the POS register260need not be shut down to accommodate the new peripheral, and the transactions that the register260processes do not need to stop while the register is upgraded. (Of course, the POS register260may be upgraded in addition or in the alternative.)

In one embodiment of the system200, a processor2C0or transaction computer2B0is programmed to interact with a new peripheral. The upgraded processor2C0,2B0mediates any interaction with the new peripheral. Where, for example, the new peripheral replaces an old one and the POS register260continues to communicate on the expectation that the old peripheral is present, the transaction computer may filter the communications on the link190, reading transmissions destined for the old peripheral, supplying transmissions for the new peripheral. Where the new peripheral is incapable of responding to the POS register260in the manner in which it expects, the transaction computer _2B0may convert transmissions from the new peripheral for the benefit of the POS register260.

The transaction computer2B0may abstract a service provided by a class of peripherals to be independent of the peripheral hardware. Say there are multiple versions of the scanner130, each requiring different data formats. The intelligence of the transaction computer2B0may include a scanner interface with routines for initializing and resetting the scanner, retrieving data from the scanner, etc. Now, at the appropriate point in the transaction, the POS register260invokes the scanner-initialization routine on the transaction computer2B0and later invokes the retrieve-data routine. The transaction computer2B0has the entire responsibility of converting the data received as parameters to its scanner routines into data in the format required by whichever data format the scanner associated with the POS register260requires. (Of course, such an abstraction works as well with multiple peripherals, all communicating with the same data format.)

Using the Jini connection technology and its distributed-services paradigm, the services of a device may be further abstracted. Where, for example, the transaction computer2B0provides the Jini connection services, a peripheral may register with the Jini services. Later, when a processor260,2B0,2C0wants to access the peripheral's service, that processor260,2B0,2C0would query the Jini services. The Jini services return such information as necessary to allow the processor260,2B0,2C0to communicate with the peripheral. (The Jini connection technology is available from Sun Microsystems, Mountain View, Calif. Also, see www.sun.com/jini.)

The POS services that the peripherals make available may include capturing and processing signatures, reading and processing magnetic strips, displaying and processing line-item information, reading and processing personal identification numbers (PINs), processing payments, reading and processing smart-card information, recognizing and processing magnetic-ink characters (on checks, for example), printing, scanning and processing scanned information, serving advertisements and processing responses to them, serving and processing surveys, reading and processing scale information, displaying information, reading and processing biometric information, validating or verifying signatures, accessing storage (local or distributed), accessing CORBA services and providing wireless services. The preceding is by way of example and not limitation.

The invention now being fully described, many changes and modifications that can be made thereto without departing from the spirit or scope of the appended claims will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. A processor260,2B0,2C0may poll a peripheral to determine whether it has any data for transmission. Alternatively, a peripheral may raise an interrupt when it is ready to transmit data. In the latter case, the system200becomes an event-driven transaction system.