Electronic Payment Terminal Traceability via Base Station Contact Monitoring
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile electronic payment terminals are highly susceptible to theft due to their small size and autonomy, making them difficult to monitor, and law enforcement often struggles to recover stolen units as they are frequently relocated, making it hard to correlate the stolen device with the rightful owner.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a traceability method that detects a lack of contact with a base or another terminal for a predetermined time, storing tracking data with time stamps in a secure memory to reconstruct the terminal's route, and providing features like data deletion, invalidation, and alarm triggering to aid in recovery and identification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If mobile electronic payment terminals are deployed for user-friendliness, then ease of operation is improved, but susceptibility to theft increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by detecting theft through monitoring contact with base stations before the terminal can be fully compromised. The theft detection mechanism continuously checks for presence in the service area and detects when the terminal is stolen, enabling early intervention and tracking before the thief can alter serial numbers or relocate the device thousands of kilometers away.
2Volume of moving object
If terminal size is reduced for portability, then ease of operation is improved, but monitoring difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses an intermediary approach by employing base stations as monitoring intermediaries. Instead of requiring direct continuous monitoring of the small portable terminal, the base stations act as intermediaries that detect the terminal's presence in their service areas. The terminal periodically contacts base stations, and the system monitors these contact patterns to detect theft, making monitoring feasible despite the terminal's small size and portability.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If terminal is relocated after theft, then thief's concealment is improved, but law enforcement correlation capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring and recording the terminal's location information through base station contacts. When a terminal is stolen and relocated, the system detects the lack of contact with expected base stations and records the new location data from subsequent contacts. This feedback loop maintains correlation between the stolen terminal and its movement轨迹, enabling law enforcement to track the terminal even after relocation by thousands of kilometers.
4Measurement precision
If time span for theft detection is extended, then detection accuracy is improved, but response time deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses parameter changes by adjusting the detection threshold based on the predetermined time span without contact. Instead of using a fixed detection criterion, the system monitors whether the terminal has maintained contact with base stations over a specific time period. This parameter-based approach balances detection accuracy and response time by allowing normal temporary disconnections while detecting actual theft scenarios where contact is lost for the predetermined duration.
Data Source
AI summary
A traceability method is provided for an electronic payment terminal, in the event of a theft thereof. The method includes the following steps: detection of a lack of contact with a base and/or another terminal associated with the terminal, for a predetermined time span, generating a passage of the terminal into a stolen state; and in the stolen state, storage, in a secure memory area of the terminal, of a series of successive tracking data each associated with time stamp information, so as to enable reconstruction of a route followed by the terminal.