Remote-access fuel dispenser using data type aware mark-up language
First Claim
1. A fuel dispenser capable of communicating with a site controller, said fuel dispenser comprising:
- a communications interface adapted to transfer information between the site controller and said fuel dispenser;
a communications processor associated with said communications interface and adapted to provide;
a) a protocol service operating such that said information transferred between said fuel dispenser and the site controller is transferred in accordance with a defined protocol;
b) a data type aware SGML service operating such that data transferred from the site controller to said fuel dispenser in a data type aware SGML format is converted to a native format; and
c) a storage service operating such that said data transferred from the site controller is stored in an associated memory in said native format; and
a fuel dispenser controller to control one or more operations of said fuel dispenser based on said data transferred from the site controller stored in said associated memory.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fuel dispenser includes data type aware SGML processing capabilities allowing it to efficiently process received data having a variety of data types. Such received data typically includes fuel dispenser configuration information. Further benefits related to data type aware SGML processing within the fuel dispenser include the ability to transfer information in a data type aware SGML format from the fuel dispenser, such as diagnostics data, to a remote system. Data type aware SGML data definitions facilitate conversion of the data type aware SGML-formatted diagnostics data into a machine format usable by the remote system. Preferably, the fuel dispenser includes an HTTP server for communicating with remote client'"'"'s systems that employ data type aware SGML-capable, web browsers.
52 Citations
47 Claims
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1. A fuel dispenser capable of communicating with a site controller, said fuel dispenser comprising:
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a communications interface adapted to transfer information between the site controller and said fuel dispenser;
a communications processor associated with said communications interface and adapted to provide;
a) a protocol service operating such that said information transferred between said fuel dispenser and the site controller is transferred in accordance with a defined protocol;
b) a data type aware SGML service operating such that data transferred from the site controller to said fuel dispenser in a data type aware SGML format is converted to a native format; and
c) a storage service operating such that said data transferred from the site controller is stored in an associated memory in said native format; and
a fuel dispenser controller to control one or more operations of said fuel dispenser based on said data transferred from the site controller stored in said associated memory. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A fuel dispensing system comprising:
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a site controller; and
a fuel dispenser comprising;
a) a communications interface adapted to transfer information between said site controller and said fuel dispenser;
b) a communications processor associated with said communications interface and adapted to provide;
i) a protocol service operating such that said information transferred between said fuel dispenser and said site controller is transferred in accordance with a defined protocol;
ii) a data type aware SGML service operating such that data transferred from said site controller to said fuel dispenser in a data type aware SGML format is converted to a native format; and
iii) a storage service operating such that said data transferred from the site controller is stored in an associated memory in said native format; and
c) a fuel dispenser controller adapted to control one or more operations of said fuel dispenser based on said data transferred from the site controller stored in said associated memory. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A fuel dispenser capable of communicating with a site controller, said fuel dispenser comprising:
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a communications interface adapted to transfer information between said fuel dispenser and the site controller, a communications processor associated with said communications interface and adapted to provide;
a) a protocol service operating such that information transferred between said communications processor and the site controller via said communications interface is transferred in accordance with a defined protocol;
b) a conversion service operating such that data included in information received from the site controller is converted from a transfer format to a native format based on interpreting embedded data tags included in said information received from said site controller; and
c) a storage service such that said data included in information received from the site controller is stored in a memory associated with said fuel dispenser after conversion to said native format; and
a fuel dispenser controller adapted to control one or more operations of said fuel dispenser based on said stored data. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A fuel dispensing system comprising:
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a site controller;
a fuel dispenser comprising;
a) a communications interface adapted to transfer information between said fuel dispenser and said site controller; and
b) a communications processor associated with said communications interface and adapted to provide;
i) a protocol service operating such that information transferred between said communications processor and said site controller via said communications interface is transferred in accordance with a defined protocol;
ii) a conversion service operating such that data included in information received from said site controller is converted from a transfer format to a native format based on interpreting embedded data tags included in said information received from said site controller; and
iii) a storage service such that said data included in information received from the site controller is stored in a memory associated with said fuel dispenser after conversion to said native format; and
c) a fuel dispenser controller for controlling one or more operations of said fuel dispenser based on said data included in information received from the site controller stored in said memory. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A method of supporting intereaction in a fuel dispenser, said method comprising:
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establishing a communications link between a fuel dispenser and a site controller based on a common protocol;
receiving a data type aware SGML data request from said site controller via said communications link;
identifying data corresponding to said data request;
converting said data from a native format to produce data type aware SGML-formatted fuel dispenser data; and
transferring said data type aware SGML-formatted fuel dispenser data to said site controller via said communications link. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
receiving an HTML page request corresponding to a Java applet request prior to receiving said data type aware SGML data request from said site controller; and
transferring a Java applet from a memory associated with said fuel dispenser to said site controller in response to said HTML page request;
said Java applet adapted to enable said site controller to transmit said data type aware SGML data request to said fuel dispenser and to manipulate said data type aware SGML-formatted fuel dispenser data received from said fuel dispenser.
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40. The method of claim 38 further comprising:
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receiving an HTML page request from said site controller via said communications link;
identifying data corresponding to said HTML page request;
converting said data from a native format to a data type aware SGML format, thereby producing data type aware SGML-formatted data;
converting said data type aware SGML-formatted fuel dispenser data to a HTML format using one or more data type aware style sheets stored in a memory associated with said fuel dispenser, thereby producing HTML-formatted fuel dispenser data; and
transferring said HTML-formatted fuel dispenser data to said site controller via said communications link.
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41. The method of claim 38 further comprising:
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receiving a data type aware SGML-formatted data set corresponding to said data from said site controller;
converting said data type aware SGML-formatted data set into a native format data set;
storing said native format data set into a memory associated with said fuel dispenser; and
controlling one or more operations of said fuel dispenser based at least in part on said stored native format data set.
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42. The method of claim 38, wherein said data type aware SGML is XML.
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43. The method of claim 38, wherein said data is comprised from the group consisting of configuration data, operating data, diagnostic data, monitoring data, and historical data.
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44. A method of supporting remote parameter editing in a fuel dispenser, said method comprising:
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receiving a data request from a site controller;
converting stored information associated with said data request from a native format into a data type aware SGML format, thereby forming converted information;
transferring said converted information to said site controller;
receiving edited information from said site controller, said edited information received in a data type aware SGML format;
parsing said data type aware SGML format edited information to extract one or more updated parameters; and
storing said one or more updated parameters in a memory associated with the fuel dispenser. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47)
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Specification