System and method for monitoring and diagnosis of point of sale devices having intelligent hardware

• US 20050006468A1
• Filed: 05/10/2004
• Published: 01/13/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Frontech North America Incorporated (Fujitsu Limited)
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Transaction Solutions Inc. (Fujitsu Limited)
• Inventors: Gunny, George, Fandel, Larry, Factor, Florentino
• Granted Patent: US 7,232,063 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/383
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/026 for alarm, monitoring and auditing in vending machines or means for indication, e.g. when empty
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/14 Systems including one or more distant stations co-operating with a central processing unit data transmission in general H04L; telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station H04Q9/00

Abstract

Methods and associated systems are disclosed for POS devices and associated monitoring and diagnostic applications. POS peripherals in a POS device include data memory for storing device configuration and status information. A diagnostic application installed in the POS device monitors and diagnoses the POS device. The diagnostic application monitors the interactions between hardware in the POS device and applications that interface with the hardware. The diagnostic applications analyze these interactions, the configuration and status information and any logs it creates to provide diagnostic information. The POS device also includes several interfaces to access the diagnostic application.

Claims

1. A point of sale peripheral apparatus comprising:

at least one point of sale peripheral component;

at least one data memory for storing configuration information or status information associated with the apparatus; and

at least one communications interface, coupled to the at least one data memory, for sending the configuration information or status information to a device external to the point of sale peripheral apparatus.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the configuration information comprises one of the group consisting of serial number, type of apparatus, date of manufacture of the apparatus, and firmware level for the apparatus.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the status information comprises data associated with usage of the apparatus.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus comprises a scanner.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus comprises a keyboard.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus comprises a bill dispenser.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus comprises a display device.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising circuitry, coupled to the at least one point of sale peripheral component, for generating usage data associated with usage of the component.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the circuitry further comprises at least one counter.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the counter counts at least one period of time the component was operating.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the counter counts the number of times the component has been operated.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the usage data represents an operating life expectancy of the component.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the component comprises one of the group consisting of check printer, controller, key-lock, MICR reader, magnetic stripe reader, POS key, receipt printer, scale, slip printer, motor, laser, currency reader and power supply.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the circuitry further comprises circuitry for storing the configuration information or status information in the at least one data memory.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one data memory comprises at least one non-volatile data memory.

16. A method of maintaining a point of sale peripheral comprising:

storing configuration information or status information in at least one data memory;

retrieving the configuration information or status information;

identifying the point of sale peripheral according to the retrieved configuration information or status information; and

tracking usage of the point of sale peripheral using the retrieved configuration information or status information.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the configuration information comprises one of the group consisting of serial number, type of apparatus, date of manufacture of the apparatus, and firmware level for the apparatus.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the status information comprises data associated with usage of the point of sale peripheral.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the point of sale peripheral comprises a scanner.

20. The method of claim 16 wherein the point of sale peripheral comprises a keyboard.

21. The method of claim 16 wherein the point of sale peripheral comprises a bill dispenser.

22. The method of claim 16 wherein the point of sale peripheral comprises a display device.

23. The method of claim 16 further comprising tracking at least one period of time the point of sale peripheral was operating.

24. The method of claim 16 further comprising counting the number of times the point of sale peripheral has been operated.

25. The method of claim 16 further comprising generating status information associated with usage of the point of sale peripheral.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the status information represents an operating life expectancy of the point of sale peripheral.

27. The method of claim 16 wherein the at least one data memory comprises at least one non-volatile data memory.

28. A method of monitoring a point of sale peripheral comprising:

monitoring interactions between at least one application and at least one point of sale peripheral;

storing data associated with the monitored interactions in at least one data memory; and

processing the stored data to track usage of the point of sale peripheral.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the at least one application comprises at least one point of sale application.

30. The method of claim 28 further comprising identifying the point of sale peripheral according to configuration information stored on the point of sale peripheral.

31. The method of claim 28 further comprising performing failure analysis for the point of sale peripheral according to the stored data.

32. The method of claim 28 further comprising identifying a component of the point of sale peripheral that has failed or is in need of maintenance.

33. The method of claim 28 further comprising generating maintenance recommendations for the point of sale peripheral according to the stored data.

34. The method of claim 28 further comprising comparing usage of the point of sale peripheral according to the stored data with at least one duty cycle of the point of sale peripheral.

35. The method of claim 28 wherein the processing is performed by a management tool.

36. The method of claim 28 wherein monitoring comprises using a driver filter to process communications to and from the point of sale peripheral.

37. The method of claim 28 further comprising providing the data to a management tool using CIM.

38. The method of claim 28 further comprising manipulating the stored data for storage in a CIM repository to enable a management tool to access the stored data.

39. The method of claim 28 wherein the stored data comprises configuration information or status information from the at least one point of sale peripheral.

40. A method of monitoring a point of sale peripheral comprising:

monitoring interactions between at least one application and at least one point of sale peripheral;

storing data associated with the monitored interactions in at least one data memory; and

performing failure analysis for the point of sale peripheral according to the stored data.

41. The method of claim 40 wherein the failure analysis comprises identifying a component of the point of sale peripheral that has failed or is in need of maintenance.

42. The method of claim 40 wherein the failure analysis comprises generating maintenance recommendations for the point of sale peripheral according to the stored data.

43. The method of claim 40 wherein the at least one application comprises at least one point of sale application.

44. The method of claim 40 wherein the stored data comprises configuration information or status information from the at least one point of sale peripheral.

45. A method of monitoring a point of sale peripheral comprising:

monitoring interactions between at least one application and at least one point of sale peripheral;

collecting data associated with the monitored interactions;

processing the collected data to generate CIM Properties; and

storing the CIM Properties in at least one data memory accessible by at least one management tool.

46. The method of claim 45 wherein the at least one management tool comprises one of the group consisting of a diagnostic application installed on a point of sale device associated with the point of sale peripheral, a remote manager and a remote help desk.

47. The method of claim 45 wherein the at least one application comprises at least one point of sale application.

48. The method of claim 45 wherein the collected data comprises configuration information or status information stored on the at least one point of sale peripheral.