Self-service terminal fault signal buffering agent
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing self-service terminals, such as ATMs, generate false fault messages when modules are intentionally powered down for maintenance, leading to unnecessary communications and costly dispatches of service engineers.
Innovation Solution
A self-service terminal with a control application and an SNMP agent that buffers fault signals when a module is powered down, only sending the signal if the fault state persists upon powering up, preventing false alerts to the remote management system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If modules are powered down independently of the PC Core for maintenance, then maintenance operations can be performed, but false fault messages are generated causing unnecessary communications and service dispatches
Solution Approach 1:
The agent performs preliminary action by detecting the power-down state of a module before fault monitoring begins. When the module is powered down, the agent buffers any fault signals and waits for the module to be powered up again, preventing false fault messages from being sent to the management system during maintenance operations
Solution Approach 2:
The agent acts as an intermediary between the module and the management system. It intercepts fault signals from the module, determines whether the module is in a powered-down state, and decides whether to forward the signal to the management system, thereby filtering out false messages during maintenance
2Reliability
If fault monitoring is continuous to ensure reliable detection, then genuine faults are detected, but unnecessary communications occur during planned power-downs
Solution Approach 1:
The agent performs preliminary detection of the power-down state before monitoring fault signals. This allows the system to prepare for maintaining reliable fault detection while preventing unnecessary communications during maintenance by buffering signals until the module is powered up
Solution Approach 2:
The agent continuously monitors the power state of the module and uses this feedback to determine whether to forward fault signals to the management system. This feedback mechanism ensures reliable fault detection when needed while preventing unnecessary communications during planned power-downs
3Speed
If the management system receives all fault signals immediately, then real-time fault detection is achieved, but service engineers are dispatched unnecessarily for maintenance issues
Solution Approach 1:
The agent performs preliminary detection of the module's power state before transmitting fault signals. This preliminary action allows the system to maintain fast fault signal transmission for genuine faults while preventing unnecessary service dispatches by buffering signals during maintenance power-downs
Solution Approach 2:
The agent serves as an intermediary that receives fault signals from modules and filters them based on the module's power state before forwarding to the management system. This ensures real-time fault detection for genuine issues while preventing unnecessary service engineer dispatches for maintenance-related false alerts
Data Source
AI summary
A self-service terminal comprises a pc core and at least one module, which can be powered down independently of the pc core, the terminal has a control application and an agent arranged to monitor the fault state of the at least one module and cause a fault signal to be sent from the self-service terminal when the fault state of the at least one module is characteristic of a problem with the at least one module. The agent is arranged to determine if the module has been powered down; whereupon the fault signal is buffered until the module is powered up and a determination as to the fault state of the module is again made. The fault signal is only sent if the fault state still indicates there to be a problem with the at least one module.