Event Storm Suppression for Self-Service Terminal Management Agents
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Solution Overview
Problem
Self-service terminals (SSTs) generate a high volume of repetitive events, leading to network traffic disruption and bandwidth consumption, as management applications receive numerous instances of the same event, overwhelming the system and disrupting normal operations.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an event storm criterion to suppress repetitive events by matching new events with those received within a defined time period or count, ensuring only the first event is transmitted, with optional event clear messages sent when the storm subsides, using a management agent with components like an agent core, collector components, and a transfer service to manage communications and filtering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If all events are transmitted to the management application, then the management application can be fully informed of device status changes, but network traffic is disrupted and the management application is swamped with excessive events
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by transmitting only a subset of events (non-suppressed events) to the management application. The event storm criterion selectively suppresses certain repetitive events while allowing other events to pass through, achieving partial transmission that balances information completeness with system performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of event transmission by introducing dynamic suppression based on event storm criteria. The system monitors event frequency and suppresses events that exceed defined thresholds, effectively changing the transmission parameter from 'all events' to 'filtered events based on frequency parameters'.
2Loss of energy
If repetitive events are filtered out, then network bandwidth consumption is reduced, but the management application may miss important exception information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the management application receives notifications about suppressed events through event clear messages. When the event storm criterion is no longer met (events return to normal frequency), the system sends feedback messages to inform the management application that the storm has subsided, ensuring important information is not lost.
Solution Approach 2:
The event storm criterion acts as an intermediary between the event source and the management application. It mediates the transmission by selectively suppressing events based on defined criteria while allowing others to pass through, and provides feedback through event clear messages to maintain information accuracy.
3Productivity
If an event storm criterion is implemented to suppress repetitive events, then network traffic disruption is reduced, but the system complexity increases due to additional filtering logic
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the event handling process into distinct components: event reception, event storm criterion evaluation, suppression decision logic, and transmission control. This segmentation allows each component to handle specific tasks independently, managing complexity through modular organization.
Solution Approach 2:
The event storm criterion is pre-defined and configured before event processing begins. By establishing suppression rules in advance (defining what constitutes an event storm, thresholds, and criteria), the system avoids complex real-time decision-making and reduces runtime complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of handling events is described. The method comprises: receiving an event; transmitting the event to a remote management application; receiving a new event; ascertaining if the new event fulfills an event storm criterion; suppressing the new event if the new event fulfills the event storm criterion; and transmitting the new event to the remote management application if the new event does not fulfill the event storm criterion.