ATM Service Provider Resolver for Vendor Agnostic Device Communication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing self-service terminal systems, such as ATMs, face challenges in communicating with devices due to vendor-specific logical service names and multiple device variants, requiring tailored applications and leading to configuration management issues and synchronization problems.
Innovation Solution
A method and system where a Manager module, referred to as the 'Resolver', identifies and selects the appropriate service provider based on device-related parameters like logical service names or device classes, allowing for dynamic session management without requiring application modifications or reboots, using a DLL or executable to query and select service providers during session setup.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If logical service names are hard-coded within the ATM application with a fixed one-to-one relationship, then the application can communicate with devices, but the application must be tailored for each vendor and device variant
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a service provider selection module as an intermediary between the ATM application and service providers. This module receives device-related parameters from the application, queries multiple service providers to find the best match, and returns the selected service provider to the application. This intermediary layer enables the application to work with multiple vendors and device variants without being tailored to each one, while the selection module handles the complexity of matching and configuration.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple service providers are installed to support different device variants, then vendor-specific compatibility is improved, but configuration management and synchronization problems arise
Solution Approach 1:
The service provider selection module implements self-service by autonomously querying installed service providers, evaluating their capabilities against device-related parameters, and selecting the most appropriate match without requiring external configuration management. The module automatically handles synchronization by dynamically discovering which service providers are installed and capable, eliminating configuration management problems while maintaining support for multiple device variants.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the system queries multiple service providers to find the best match, then adaptability to different devices is improved, but the session setup time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-querying service providers during system initialization or idle periods to build a cache of available service providers and their capabilities. When the ATM application needs to open a session, the selection module can quickly retrieve pre-evaluated service provider information from the cache rather than querying all service providers in real-time, thus maintaining high adaptability while significantly reducing session setup time.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of operating a self-service terminal is described, along with software for performing the method. The self-service terminal has a number of service providers installed on it. According to the method, a call from a self-service terminal application to open a session with a service provider is received by a manager module. The call includes details of a device related parameter, such as a logical service name or device class. Those service providers which can support the device related parameter are identified and then queried to determine if an associated device is present. Based on the results of the query, one of the service providers is selected and a session is opened between the self-service terminal application and the selected service provider module.