Virtualized Transaction Terminal Platform for Legacy Peripheral Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge of providing virtualization for Point-Of-Sale (POS) terminals and Self-Service Terminals (SSTs) is exacerbated by their unique and non-standard peripheral devices, leading to costly and resource-intensive upgrades due to OS incompatibilities and lack of support for newer peripherals, which limits the viability of virtualization solutions.
Innovation Solution
A virtualized transaction terminal platform is implemented, where peripherals are mapped to virtual device drivers within a virtual machine, enabling synchronization and processing of transactions across a thin-client OS and cloud-based virtual environment, supporting a variety of legacy and non-standard peripherals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If virtualization is implemented for POS terminals with thin-client OS, then device complexity is reduced and remote management is enabled, but compatibility with legacy and non-standard peripherals deteriorates due to driver support limitations
Solution Approach 1:
A virtualization layer acts as an intermediary between the thin-client OS and legacy peripherals. This layer includes virtual device drivers that translate requests from the virtualized environment into commands compatible with legacy hardware interfaces (Serial, Parallel, USB, Bluetooth, NFC, etc.), enabling peripherals to function in the virtualized terminal without requiring native OS support
Solution Approach 2:
The virtualization platform creates a universal interface that can accommodate multiple peripheral types through a single virtualized driver framework. The system can dynamically load and manage different peripheral drivers (scan drivers, card reader drivers, printer drivers, etc.) through a common virtualization layer, allowing one terminal to support diverse legacy and modern peripherals
2Adaptability or versatility
If OS upgrades are performed to support newer peripherals, then peripheral support capability is improved, but cost and time for capital purchases and upgrades increase due to incompatibility with existing peripherals
Solution Approach 1:
The virtualization layer is pre-configured with a comprehensive library of virtual device drivers that can be dynamically loaded as needed. Before any OS upgrade or peripheral addition, the system prepares and maintains a repository of compatible drivers (including legacy drivers for older peripherals and modern drivers for new peripherals), allowing rapid deployment without time-consuming reconfiguration
Solution Approach 2:
The virtualization system dynamically loads and unloads peripheral drivers based on the specific hardware being connected. Instead of requiring permanent OS support for every peripheral type, the system can dynamically instantiate the appropriate virtual driver at runtime, enabling flexible adaptation to new or legacy peripherals without permanent OS modifications or capital purchases
3Adaptability or versatility
If legacy motherboards with multiple peripheral ports are used, then peripheral connectivity is improved, but ability to support newer USB-based peripherals deteriorates due to lack of modern port connections
Solution Approach 1:
The virtualization layer creates virtual copies of modern peripheral interfaces within the thin-client OS environment. Even though the physical motherboard has limited ports, the virtualization system presents multiple virtual USB, Bluetooth, NFC, and other modern interfaces through software emulation, allowing the terminal to communicate with modern peripherals as if they were natively supported by the hardware
Data Source
AI summary
A virtualized transaction terminal platform is provided. A transaction terminal is configured as a thin-client terminal. A virtualized transaction terminal (Virtual Machine (VM)) is instantiated remotely on a cloud or a server over a network connection. Peripherals connected to the thin-client terminal are mapped to virtual peripheral device drivers on the cloud or the server. Physical peripherals connected to the thin-client terminal are mapped inside the VM to the corresponding virtual peripheral device drivers. As transactions are initiated and physical peripherals are operated at the thin-client terminal, the transactions are processed by the VM and inputs/outputs from the physical peripherals are forwarded for processing by the corresponding virtual peripheral device drivers. A remote desktop (RD) agent on the thin-client terminal keeps states of the VM and virtual peripheral device drivers in synchronization with a peripheral display of the thin-client terminal.