Fuel Dispenser Coordination via Distributed Messaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
The communication system between dispenser controllers and fuel dispensers is not fault-tolerant, leading to interruptions in service and loss of ability to provide financial transactions and pump functions, causing inconvenience to customers and revenue loss for retail fueling facilities.
Innovation Solution
Intelligent fuel dispensers that can communicate and coordinate operations independently, including diagnostic testing, theft deterrence, and redundant customer services, allowing them to continue functioning during central controller interruptions by sending messages to other dispensers for tasks like printing receipts or performing diagnostic tests.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fuel dispensers rely on a central controller for coordination and control, then the system architecture is simplified and easier to manage, but the system becomes vulnerable to communication failures and interruptions, reducing reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the centralized control system into distributed autonomous fuel dispensers, where each dispenser becomes an independent operational unit capable of making local decisions. This segmentation eliminates the single point of failure (central controller) and allows the system to maintain functionality even when communication links are interrupted, directly resolving the reliability-complexity contradiction.
Solution Approach 2:
Each fuel dispenser is equipped with intelligence to autonomously perform coordination tasks such as diagnostic testing, theft deterrence, and customer service functions without requiring continuous central controller intervention. This self-service capability ensures operations continue during communication failures, improving reliability while the standardized autonomous protocols keep added complexity manageable.
2Reliability
If fuel dispensers operate independently without central controller intervention, then service continuity is maintained during communication failures, but coordination between dispensers becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple coordination functions (diagnostic testing, theft deterrence, customer service) into a unified peer-to-peer communication protocol that dispensers execute autonomously. This merging of functions into standardized interaction patterns simplifies the coordination mechanism while maintaining operational availability, as dispensers follow predetermined coordination rules rather than requiring complex real-time negotiations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes predetermined coordination protocols and communication patterns before failures occur. During normal operation, dispensers follow established rules for coordination tasks, which are pre-programmed to handle various failure scenarios. This preliminary action ensures that when communication failures occur, dispensers can immediately switch to independent operation using pre-established coordination mechanisms, avoiding the need for complex real-time decision-making.
3Reliability
If a fault-tolerant communication system is implemented between central controller and dispensers, then service interruptions are reduced, but system cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the fault-tolerance capability from the communication infrastructure and relocates it to the fuel dispensers themselves. Instead of investing in expensive fault-tolerant communication systems, each dispenser is made autonomous with built-in intelligence to continue operations during communication failures. This extraction resolves the contradiction by achieving reliability through a different approach that doesn't increase communication infrastructure complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Fuel dispensers located at a fueling facility may perform operations in a coordinated manner. In particular implementations, a system and process for coordinating the operation of fuel dispensers at a fueling facility may include the ability to determine at a first fuel dispenser that a function is to be performed by at least one other fuel dispenser at the fueling facility. The system and process may also include the ability to generate at the first fuel dispenser a message regarding the function, the message to be sent to the at least one other fuel dispenser at the fueling facility. Fuel dispensers may, for example, coordinate operations that relate to diagnostic testing, theft deterrence and loss prevention, safety monitoring, and redundant customer services.