Patent ID: 7346917

Claim:
A set top box comprising: a processor for controlling the set top box; a video decoder coupled to the processor, the video decoder providing a decoded video signal; a graphics interface coupled to the video decoder to output the decoded video signal to at least one display; a network interface to access a computer network; a user interface enabling user interaction with the processor, initiating a transaction and committing the transaction to a remote server coupled to the computer network, and a non-volatile cache memory coupled to the processor, the non-volatile cache memory including: a Non-Volatile Random Access Memory (NVRAM); a context data save engine configured to store a context of the committed transaction to the NVRAM after the committed transaction is sent to the remote server but before an acknowledgement of the committed transaction is received from the remote server; a printer coupled to the processor, the processor controlling the printer to print a confirmed acknowledgment ticket when a confirmation of the committed transaction is received from the remote server within a predetermined period of time, the processor controlling the printer to print a provisional acknowledgment ticket when the confirmation of the committed transaction is not received from the remote server within the predetermined period of time, at least the provisional acknowledgment ticket including machine readable information that uniquely identifies the committed transaction, and a reader configured to read at least the machine readable information printed on the provisional acknowledgment ticket, the processor being further configured to control the printer to print the confirmed acknowledgment ticket corresponding to the uniquely identified committed transaction if the acknowledgment was received from the remote server since the provisional acknowledgment ticket was printed.