Hub Computer for Unified Transit Payment Processing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current transit systems face challenges in providing seamless and secure payment solutions across multiple operators, leading to duplicative processing, inconvenience for users, and difficulties in protecting sensitive credentials.
Innovation Solution
A hub computer system that receives interaction data from various validator systems, generates an authorization request message, and transmits it to an authorizing entity for approval, thereby facilitating unified payment processing and credential protection across different transit operators.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If each transit operator operates independently with its own payment system, then each operator can maintain control over its own transactions, but users must purchase separate tickets and make multiple payments for different modes of transportation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a hub computer as an intermediary system that receives interaction data from multiple validator systems operated by different transit operators. The hub computer consolidates this data and generates a single authorization request message that is sent to one authorizing entity computer, which then processes payment for all interactions. This intermediary hub resolves the contradiction by enabling multi-operator integration while maintaining simple user interaction through a unified payment process.
2Productivity
If multiple independent transit operators process payments separately, then each operator can manage its own payment system, but the processing scheme becomes duplicative and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple independent payment processing operations into a single consolidated process. The hub computer combines interaction data from multiple validator systems into one authorization request message, which is then processed by a single authorizing entity computer. This merging eliminates duplicative processing across different operators while the modular hub computer architecture manages the complexity of integrating multiple systems through standardized interfaces.
3Reliability
If credential protection mechanisms are implemented in combined systems, then security is improved, but adding new transit operators and account based ticketing services requires specific updates to each new entity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal hub computer architecture that provides credential protection through tokenization and encryption mechanisms that work across all validator systems and service providers. The hub computer uses standardized APIs to receive interaction data from any validator system and sends authorization requests to any authorizing entity computer. This universal design allows new transit operators and account based ticketing services to be added to the system without requiring specific updates to credential protection mechanisms, as the hub computer handles security uniformly for all participants.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is disclosed. The method includes receiving, by a hub computer from different validator systems, interaction data for a plurality of interactions conducted by a user on a journey from an initial location to an end location at different validator devices in the different validator systems at different times during the journey. The method includes generating an authorization request message comprising a value associated with the plurality of interactions, and transmitting the authorization request message to an authorizing entity computer. The authorizing entity computer approves or declines the authorization request message, and then generates an authorization response message. The method includes receiving by the hub computer, the authorization response message.