Loyalty host interface

• US 8,510,162 B1
• Filed: 02/25/2008
• Issued: 08/13/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NCR Voyix Corporation
• Original Assignee: Radiant Systems Incorporated (NCR Voyix Corporation)
• Inventors: Dobelstein, Joshua, Priego, Ernesto, Fedak, Honza, Sharma, Arun, Jones, Mike, Parker, Rob
• Primary Examiner(s): Zeender, F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Haider, Fawaad
• Application Number:
  US12/036,922
• Time in Patent Office: 1,996 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26
• US Class Current: 705/14.38
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0229 Multi-merchant loyalty card systems

Abstract

The present invention relates to translating loyalty requests between loyalty clients and loyalty hosts. For example, one embodiment of the present invention provides a method for translating point-of-sale loyalty requests by using a loyalty request to create a translated loyalty request that is compatible with a loyalty host and by using the loyalty response to create a translated loyalty response that is compatible with the loyalty client.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

(a) receiving by a loyalty engine a loyalty request comprising request data from a loyalty client over a first connection, wherein the loyalty request comprises (i) an AUTH message which can be used to validate a potential loyalty sales transaction, (ii) an AUTH_CANCEL message which can be used to cancel the potential loyalty sales transaction after the potential loyalty sales transaction has been validated but before the potential loyalty sales transaction is fully tendered, and (iii) a STATUS message which can be used to query a loyalty host of a plurality of loyalty hosts that are connected to the loyalty engine to determine if the loyalty host is offline or if an error condition has occurred by the loyalty host;

(b) determining by the loyalty engine, based on the loyalty request, a first loyalty host of the plurality of loyalty hosts that are connected to the loyalty engine;

(c) creating by the loyalty engine, based on the loyalty request, a translated loyalty request using a first communication protocol that is compatible with the first loyalty host by changing the request data to be compatible with the first loyalty host;

(d) sending the translated loyalty request to the first loyalty host, using the first communication protocol, over a second connection;

(e) receiving at the loyalty engine a loyalty response to the translated loyalty request, the loyalty response comprising response data from the first loyalty host over the second connection and using the first protocol;

(f) creating by the loyalty engine, based on the loyalty response, a translated loyalty response using a second communication protocol that is compatible with the loyalty client; and

(g) sending the translated loyalty response to the loyalty client, using the second communication protocol, over the first connection.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (c) comprises creating by the loyalty engine, based on the loyalty request, a translated loyalty request that is compatible with a first loyalty host by changing a data format of the request data to be compatible with the first loyalty host.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein changing a data format of the request data to be compatible with the first loyalty host comprises converting the request data to a specified markup language.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the specified markup language comprises XML.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein step (f) comprises creating by the loyalty engine, based on the loyalty response, a translated loyalty response that is compatible with the loyalty client by changing a data format of the response data to be compatible with the loyalty client.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein changing a data format of the response data to be compatible with the loyalty client comprises converting the response data to a specified markup language.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the specified markup language comprises XML.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the AUTH message can be further used to lock points during the potential loyalty sales transaction, and the AUTH_CANCEL message can be further used to release locked points during the potential loyalty sales transaction.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the loyalty request further comprises a STATUS message which can be used to query a loyalty host of the plurality of loyalty hosts to determine if the loyalty host is offline or if an error condition has occurred by the loyalty host.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed by a computer having a memory executing one or more programs of instructions which are tangibly embodied in a program storage medium readable by the computer.

11. A method comprising:

(a) receiving by a loyalty engine a loyalty request comprising request data from a loyalty client over a first connection, wherein the loyalty request comprises (i) an AUTH message which can be used to lock points during a potential loyalty sales transaction, (ii) an AUTH_CANCEL message which can be used to indicate to a loyalty host that locked points should be released during the potential loyalty sales transaction, (iii) a CAPTURE message which can be used to unlock points for any unused rewards during the potential loyalty sales transaction, and (iv) a STATUS message which can be used to query a loyalty host of a plurality of loyalty hosts that are connected to the loyalty engine to determine if the loyalty host is offline or if an error condition has occurred by the loyalty host;

(b) determining by the loyalty engine, based on the loyalty request, a first loyalty host of the plurality of loyalty hosts that are connected to the loyalty engine;

(c) creating by the loyalty engine, based on the loyalty request, a translated loyalty request using a first communication protocol that is compatible with the first loyalty host by changing the request data to be compatible with the first loyalty host;

(d) sending the translated loyalty request to the first loyalty host, using the first communication protocol, over a second connection;

(e) receiving at the loyalty engine a loyalty response to the translated loyalty request, the loyalty response comprising response data from the first loyalty host over the second connection and using the first protocol;

(f) creating by the loyalty engine, based on the loyalty response, a translated loyalty response using a second communication protocol that is compatible with the loyalty client; and

(g) sending the translated loyalty response to the loyalty client, using the second communication protocol, over the first connection.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the AUTH_CANCEL message is further used to indicate that no CAPTURE message will be sent for a given loyalty sales transaction.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the AUTH message and the AUTH_CANCEL message are linked to a corresponding CAPTURE message using a host authorization code.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the method is performed by a computer having a memory executing one or more programs of instructions which are tangibly embodied in a program storage medium readable by the computer.

15. A method of operating a loyalty engine which is (i) operatively connected over a generic-client protocol to a first loyalty client, (ii) operatively connected over a proprietary-client protocol to a second loyalty client which is different from the first loyalty client, (iii) operatively connected over a generic-host protocol to a first loyalty host, and (iv) operatively connected over a host-specific protocol to a second loyalty host which is different from the first loyalty host, the method comprising:

(a) receiving a first loyalty request comprising request data over the generic-client protocol from the first loyalty client;

(b) based upon the first loyalty request received from the first loyalty client in step (a), determining if the first loyalty request is to be directed to the first loyalty host or the second loyalty host;

(c) creating a first translated loyalty request to be transmitted over the generic-host protocol to the first loyalty host when a determination is made from step (b) that the first loyalty request is to be directed to the first loyalty host, and creating a second translated loyalty request to be transmitted over the host-specific protocol to the second loyalty host when a determination is made in step (b) that the first loyalty request is to be directed to the second loyalty host;

(d) sending the first translated loyalty request over the generic-host protocol to the first loyalty host when the first translated loyalty request is created in step (c), and sending the second translated loyalty request over the host-specific protocol to the second loyalty host when the second translated loyalty request is created in step (c);

(e) receiving a first loyalty response including response data over the generic-host protocol from the first loyalty host when the first translated loyalty request has been sent in step (d) to the first loyalty host, and receiving a second loyalty response including response data over the host-specific protocol from the second loyalty host when the second translated loyalty request has been sent in step (d) to the second loyalty host;

(f) creating a first translated loyalty response to be transmitted over the generic-client protocol to the first loyalty client when the first loyalty response is received in step (e), and creating a second translated loyalty response to be transmitted over the generic-client protocol to the first loyalty client when the second loyalty response is received in step (e); and

(g) sending the first translated loyalty response over the generic-client protocol to the first loyalty client when the first translated loyalty response is created in step (f), and sending the second translated loyalty response over the generic-client protocol to the first loyalty client when the second translated loyalty response is created in step (f).

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

(h) receiving a second loyalty request comprising request data over the proprietary-client protocol from the second loyalty client;

(i) based upon the second loyalty request received from the second loyalty client in step (h), determining if the second loyalty request is to be directed to the first loyalty host or the second loyalty host;

(j) creating a third translated loyalty request to be transmitted over the generic-host protocol to the first loyalty host when a determination is made from step (i) that the second loyalty request is to be directed to the first loyalty host, and creating a fourth translated loyalty request to be transmitted over the host-specific protocol to the second loyalty host when a determination is made in step (i) that the second loyalty request is to be directed to the second loyalty host;

(k) sending the third translated loyalty request over the generic-host protocol to the first loyalty host when the third translated loyalty request is created in step (j), and sending the fourth translated loyalty request over the host-specific protocol to the second loyalty host when the fourth translated loyalty request is created in step (j);

(l) receiving a third loyalty response including response data over the generic-host protocol from the first loyalty host when the third translated loyalty request has been sent in step (k) to the first loyalty host, and receiving a fourth loyalty response including response data over the host-specific protocol from the second loyalty host when the fourth translated loyalty request has been sent in step (k) to the second loyalty host;

(m) creating a third translated loyalty response to be transmitted over the proprietary-client protocol to the second loyalty client when the third loyalty response is received in step (l), and creating a fourth translated loyalty response to be transmitted over the proprietary-client protocol to the second loyalty client when the fourth loyalty response is received in step (l); and

(n) sending the third translated loyalty response over the proprietary-client protocol to the second loyalty client when the third translated loyalty response is created in step (m), and sending the fourth translated loyalty response over the proprietary-client protocol to the second loyalty client when the fourth translated loyalty response is created in step (m).

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the method is performed by a computer having a memory executing one or more programs of instructions which are tangibly embodied in a program storage medium readable by the computer.