Method of enhancing point-of-sale systems
First Claim
1. A method of operating a point-of-sale (POS) system, the POS system comprising a POS terminal having a software module for enabling a retailer to process transactions within a transaction environment, and a peripheral device in communication with the POS terminal, the POS system further comprising a driver software module in a data communications path between the software module and the peripheral device, the method comprising:
- intercepting, at the driver software module, data sent directly to the software module from the peripheral device in communication with the POS terminal;
parsing the intercepted data to derive transaction data comprising a list of transaction items and transaction card data;
communicating with a further device in dependence on the data received at the driver software module and sending the derived transaction data to the further device, the derived transaction data to be modified by the further device;
receiving, at the driver software module, the modified data from the further device; and
outputting the modified data from the driver software module directly into the data communications path between the software module and the peripheral device such that the modified data is received at the software module, wherein the data communications path comprises a software stack within the POS terminal to handle communications between the software module on the POS terminal and the peripheral device, and the driver software module is located within the software stack.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of operating a point-of-sale (POS) system (1), the POS system comprising a POS terminal (3) having a software module (17, 21) thereon for enabling a retailer to process transactions within a transaction environment, and a peripheral device (5, 7) in communication with the POS terminal (3), the POS system (1) further comprising a driver software module (40) installed between the POS terminal (3) software module (17, 21) and the peripheral device (5, 7), the method comprising: receiving, at the driver software module (40), data sent between the software module (17, 21) and the peripheral device (5, 7) in communication with the POS terminal (3); communicating with a further device (44, 60, 64) in dependence on the data received at the driver software module (40); receiving modified data from the further device (44, 60, 64); and outputting the modified data.
14 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method of operating a point-of-sale (POS) system, the POS system comprising a POS terminal having a software module for enabling a retailer to process transactions within a transaction environment, and a peripheral device in communication with the POS terminal, the POS system further comprising a driver software module in a data communications path between the software module and the peripheral device, the method comprising:
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intercepting, at the driver software module, data sent directly to the software module from the peripheral device in communication with the POS terminal; parsing the intercepted data to derive transaction data comprising a list of transaction items and transaction card data; communicating with a further device in dependence on the data received at the driver software module and sending the derived transaction data to the further device, the derived transaction data to be modified by the further device; receiving, at the driver software module, the modified data from the further device; and outputting the modified data from the driver software module directly into the data communications path between the software module and the peripheral device such that the modified data is received at the software module, wherein the data communications path comprises a software stack within the POS terminal to handle communications between the software module on the POS terminal and the peripheral device, and the driver software module is located within the software stack. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A point-of-sale (POS) terminal comprising:
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a computer processor; a software module for enabling a retailer to process transactions within a transaction environment, the POS terminal being in communication with a peripheral device; a driver software module installed in a data communications path between the software module and the peripheral device wherein the driver software module is arranged to; intercept data sent directly to the software module from the peripheral device in communication with the POS terminal; parse the intercepted data to derive transaction data comprising a list of transaction items and transaction card data; communicate with a further device in dependence on the data received at the driver software module and send the derived transaction data to the further device; receive modified data from the further device; and output the modified data from the driver software module directly into the data communications path between the software module and the peripheral device such that the modified data is received at the software module or the peripheral device, wherein the data communications path comprises a software stack within the POS terminal to handle communications between the software module on the POS terminal and the peripheral device, and the driver software module being located within the software stack. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A method of enhancing the functionality of a point-of-sale (POS) system, the POS system comprising a POS terminal having a software module for enabling a retailer to process transactions within a transaction environment, and a peripheral device in communication with the POS terminal, the method comprising:
installing a driver software module in a data communications path between the software module and the peripheral device, the driver software module being arranged, in use, to; intercept data sent directly to the software module from the peripheral device in communication with the POS terminal; parse the intercepted data to derive transaction data comprising a list of transaction items and transaction card data; communicate with a further device in dependence on the data received at the driver software module and send the derived transaction data to the further device, the derived transaction data being modified by the further device; receive the modified data at the drive software module from the further device; and output the modified data from the driver software module directly into the data communications path between the software module and the peripheral device such that the modified data is received at the software module or the peripheral device, wherein the data communications path comprises a software stack within the POS terminal to handle communications between the software module on the POS terminal and the peripheral device and the driver software module is located within the software stack.
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40. A method of operating a point-of-sale (POS) system, the POS system comprising a POS terminal having a software module for enabling a retailer to process transactions within a transaction environment, back office servers, a payment processing server and a peripheral device in communication with the POS terminal, the POS system further comprising a driver software module in a data communications path between the software module and the peripheral device, wherein the data communications path comprises a software stack within the POS terminal to handle communications between the software module on the POS terminal and the peripheral device and the driver software module is located within the software stack, the method comprising:
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intercepting, at the driver software module, data sent directly from the software module to the peripheral device in communication with the POS terminal; parsing the intercepted data to derive transaction data comprising a list of transaction items and transaction card data; communicating with a further device in dependence on the data received at the driver software module and sending the derived transaction data to the further device, the derived transaction data being modified by the further device; receiving, at the driver software module, the modified data from the further device; and outputting the modified data from the driver software module directly into the data communications path between the software module and the peripheral device such that the modified data is received at the software module or the peripheral device wherein the further device is located outside the POS system.
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Specification