Abstract:
A system and method for enabling a merchant to connect electronically to the customer, specifically the customer&#39;s portable digital appliance, from the merchant&#39;s point of sale (POS) terminal, thereby providing “last meter connectivity”. That is, the consumer can synchronize or download data onto (or off of) his/her portable appliance from (to) any public device, such as the POS terminal.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
         [0001]    The present application is related to commonly assigned, co-pending, and concurrently filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. [Attorney Docket No. 10013451-1] entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING E-SERVICES,” the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.  
         TECHNICAL FIELD  
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a system and method for synchronizing a portable digital appliance with a point of sale (POS) terminal.  
         BACKGROUND  
         [0003]    Only a decade ago, a merchant could accept a single type of credit card and satisfy most customers. That has changed dramatically with the proliferation of card-based payment, payment-related and even non-payment options in the highly competitive retail marketplace. This has added significantly to the complexity of today&#39;s e-payment environment.  
           [0004]    Merchants are always looking for new ways to enhance convenience and increase sales, while reducing costs. As point of sale (POS) terminals have become more powerful and sophisticated, they offer the potential to move into the mainstream of retail operations, such as providing a way to capitalize on untapped opportunities by supporting an array of value-added, non-payment applications. This changing environment has created a need for merchants to connect electronically to customers at their point of sale terminals to provide “last meter of connectivity”.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The present invention is directed to a system and method for synchronizing information stored in a portable appliance with information stored in an e-server through a POS terminal and across a network. The consumer establishes a wireless connection between the consumer&#39;s portable device and the POS terminal and initiates a synchronization process in the portable appliance to synchronize information stored in the portable appliance with information stored in the desired e-service server via the POS terminal.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1 shows a block diagram showing the incorporation of the present invention within a point and pay system or environment; and  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of one operational embodiment of the invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0008]    The present invention is readily implemented by presently available communication apparatus and electronic components. The invention finds ready application in virtually all commercial communication networks, including but not limited to a telephone network, wireless network, local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), intranet, world wide web (Internet), and wired cable transmission system.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 shows system  10  having POS terminal  100  operable to support synchronization with consumer portable appliance  101 , such as a cell phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), beeper or digital device via a wireless connection. The customer can connect portable appliance  101  to POS terminal  100  via a wireless connection, such as connection  110  and synchronize, i.e., Hot Sync, portable appliance  101  with web-based services or accept delivery of digital information/products (collectively referred to herein as “e-services”). POS terminals  100  are often coupled together into computer networks, such as a secured financial network  130  and/or Internet. This connection can be wired or wireless, such as shown by  131 . When POS terminal  100  is used to synchronize portable appliance  101  to a server, the network infrastructure can be used via  132  to route a synchronization to the appropriate e-service provider or server  102 . For example, the consumer generally stores his/her personal information, such as address information, credit card information, a list of preferred e-service providers with status of any outstanding orders, etc. on a server, such as server  102  which then can be accessed via POS terminal  100 . Alternatively, POS terminal  100  can access server(s)  102  by a direct (or daisy chained) link  120  if desired. Any of the links, or portions thereof, can be wired or wireless. Link  120  can, if desired, be the Internet.  
         [0010]    Accordingly, the consumer can synchronize his/her portable device  101  using POS terminal  100  as a communication medium. To perform this synchronization across the network, such as the Internet, via POS terminal  100 , portable appliance  101  generally stores an identifier that can be used to uniquely address and identify portable appliance  101  across the Internet via POS terminal  100 .  
         [0011]    In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the consumer can synchronize his/her portable appliance  101  by establishing a wireless connection with POS terminal  100 . In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, POS terminal can verify if the consumer or portable appliance  101  is authorized to access the POS terminal using any known techniques. The wireless connection can be established using any known techniques, including but not limited to wireless application protocol (WAP), shared wireless access protocol, wireless LAN or WLAN, IrDA, bluetooth, PAN, etc. Bluetooth is a short-range radio technology aimed at simplifying communications among net devices and between devices and the Internet. IrDa is short for Infrared Data Association, a group of device manufacturers that developed a standard for transmitting data via infrared light waves. Personal Area Network (PAN) is an IBM technology based on the electric-field transmission medium that allows individuals to exchange data with a simple touch or grasp. In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, POS terminal  100  is connected to one or more back end servers  102  to provide requested e-services, contents, etc. over the intranet or Internet. It is appreciated that POS can be connected to back end server(s)  102  over a wired or wireless connection.  
         [0012]    After establishing a wireless connection with POS terminal  100 , the consumer can “Hot Sync” his/her portable appliance  101  to web-based services to accept the delivery of digital information/products. It is appreciated that the e-services can include subscribed services, such as connecting to an ISP (i.e., AOL), electronic payment services, receiving email, etc. Also, e-services include, but are not limited to, e-reservation services wherein the consumer can make reservations for a restaurant, e-takeout services wherein the consumer can order food for takeout and/or delivery, e-ticketing services wherein the consumer can purchase tickets for a concert, a sporting event, a movie, etc. Further, the consumer can use the e-services to purchase CDs, DVDs, wherein the desired movie, song, or album is downloaded onto a CD or DVD, electronic books, pre-paid telephone cards, and the like. Accordingly, for example, the consumer can initiate the synchronization process by pressing a predetermined button on portable appliance  101  or activating a synchronization software resident in portable appliance  101 .  
         [0013]    Using the identifier that uniquely addresses or identifies the e-service provider or server  102 , the synchronization software in POS terminal attempts to reach the desired e-service server  102  across the network. If the synchronization software in POS terminal  100  can reach the desired e-service server  102  through the network, then the synchronization software in POS terminal  100  acts as a pass-through and allows the synchronization software in portable appliance  101  to perform the synchronization with e-service server  102 . For example, the consumer can synchronize with e-service server  102  to receive or download the ordered movie, album, music, etc. or status of an outstanding order. The invention may also be used to pay for a good or service, and can receive a receipt for the payment. The receipt may be stored on the device or on a server based wallet.  
         [0014]    Turning now to FIG. 2, there is shown one embodiment of a system such as system  20  which shows POS  100  in step  201  receiving a signal from a portable device, such as device  101  in FIG. 1. Once POS  100  receives a signal, step  202  checks for a proper password and exchanges information so that it is satisfied that terminal  101  is a proper terminal for accessing a server. If this password is rejected, then step  209  rejects the connection and communicates that information back to user. If the password is acceptable, then step  203  provides an access to server  102 . The server can be selected either by POS terminal  100 , or more likely, it would be selected based upon the password identification information accepted from portable appliance  101 .  
         [0015]    As discussed previously, this connection can be made directly via network  120  from POS terminal  100  or via network  131  through the financial services network and over connection  132  to a selected server or e-services provider. In some cases, the e-services provider would be selected by POS terminal  100  depending upon its network or selected based upon, as discussed above, the identification information from the customer&#39;s portable appliance. Once the server or e-services is connected, step  202  begins a synchronization process to synchronize server  102  with portable appliance  101  and the synchronization, if desired, can have several attempts and if the limit of attempts have been exceeded and synchronization is not achieved, then the connection is rejected via step  205  and  209 .  
         [0016]    If synchronization is achieved, then communication between the portable appliance and the server as to what information or products or data is desired (or the server can provide portable appliance  101  with information that it deems necessary). Once this communication takes place, step  207  controls the downloading or uploading of information between the various elements in the systems, such as portable appliance  101 , POS terminal  100 , and server  102 . Of course, the system can offer to obtain information from financial services network  130  and embed that information into the transaction.  
         [0017]    For example, if the customer desired to download a DVD into a hand held or portable device connected to POS terminal  100 , the financial services network  130  could control the payment for the transaction or could control appropriate approval levels if necessary. Once the downloading or uploading is finished, then the system can be disconnected under control of step  208 . Also note that the portable device can, if desired, designate a separate device for receiving the information from the server as controlled by step  210 .  
         [0018]    Therefore, the present invention advantageously enables the consumer to synchronize or download onto his/her portable appliance  101  from any public device, such as a POS terminal, a kiosk, a credit card swiper, a credit card authorization device, an electronic fund transfer point of sale device (EFTPOS), etc. That is, the present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior art system, wherein the consumer downloads or synchronizes his/her portable appliance  101  using a physical docking station connected to the consumer&#39;s private PC.