JP2000067146A - Service terminal machine and communication network system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the network system which can easily perform efficient maintenance by sending an agent program. SOLUTION: A communication network 10 includes network sites 12 and service terminal machines 16 and 18, a maintenance terminal machine 20 or a server 22 can be connected to each of the sites. The service terminal machines 16 and 18 may be ATMs or point-of-sales(POS) terminal machines and have at least one service element 44 like a card conveying machine or coin container which should be held in an operation state. An intelligent agent program 50 moves among the terminal machines 16, 18 and 20 while gathering information from the terminal machines 16, 18 and 20 that it visits or distributing information thereto. The gathered or distributed information is used to facilitate the efficient maintenance of the service terminal machines 16 and 18.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to communication networks. In particular, the present invention relates to a communication network having one or more service terminals as a self-service terminal (self-service terminal).
-service terminal, SST) Automatic teller machine (au
tomated teller machine (ATM), financial services terminal (FSC), self-service checkout ter
minals), or point-of-sale, P
oS) There are terminals. The present invention also relates to a method and system for sending an agent program carrying operational data over a communication network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Self-service terminals are required to operate under strict service conditions. 24 hour availability is critical for ATMs that continue to operate after regular banking hours. This problem is caused by ATMs located in retail stores and gas stations,
ATMs in areas far from banks are becoming more complex.
These locations may have restricted access by local agents for confidentiality reasons. PoS terminals in a retail environment must operate reliably over a wide range of locations, from large supermarkets to small retail stores.

[0003] These terminals can fail due to two basic types of errors. The first type of error is due to hardware and / or system failure, and the second type of error is caused by consumption media in the terminal. Mechanical transport mechanisms that allow media (money, tickets, receipts, cards, etc.) to move around the ATM can fail due to jamming of the media being carried. Cards are jammed in the card reader, money is jammed in the dispenser transport,
Receipt paper can jam in the printer mechanism or in its external transport. These serious errors will immediately render the terminal out of service and require recovery measures to return the terminal to operation.

The PoS terminal has a paper jam of receipt paper,
A failure similar to a hardware failure, such as a failure to open the cash extractor or a failure of an indicating system such as a scanner or a scale, may occur. Although conventional PoS terminals are operable by an operator, the operator may not be trained or authorized to perform repair work, and may need to seek help in the event of a failure. A new form of self-service checkout terminal (SST) that has been developed integrates some of the functions of ATM and PoS terminals. This type of unattended system suffers from the same major failures as PoS terminals or ATMs.

Consumable media in an ATM, PoS terminal, or SST include money, receipt paper, tickets, and cards. There are situations where ATMs seize cards and clear money during the payout process. Capture and cleanup containers have a capacity limit such that the container must be emptied when approaching the capacity limit. Similarly, when an ATM has a storage for receiving envelopes or checks, the corresponding capture container must be periodically emptied.

[0006] In PoS terminals where there is an opportunity for money to be deposited in the form of high-value banknotes and coins, or to be dispensed in the form of low-value banknotes and coins, the money must be included in the cash extract to respond to the transaction being processed. It is often not desirable to mix. The operator may need to seek assistance to refill a mixture of banknotes of the appropriate monetary value for cash extraction.

[0007] The resolution of critical faults and the management of consumable media are clearly important issues for ATM, SST and PoS terminals. There are a number of techniques designed to address these issues. Large retailers typically utilize loudspeakers or calling systems to allow operators to seek assistance. This could respond to certain critical situations, such as a receipt paper jam, but the customer would have to wait for the problem to be resolved. The above measures could respond to a shortage of low currency that would not allow the customer to receive change for the high value banknote, or a shortage of high value money that would cause the customer to be reluctantly given a large amount of small value change. . Either situation gives the customer undesired inconvenience.

When the terminal is included in the computer system, the operation of the terminal device (for example, a printer) and a consumable medium (for example, a remaining amount of printer paper) are monitored using an application program, and a possible failure is predicted. can do. In a stand-alone terminal, appropriate messages can be displayed on the user display to the user and on the special operator display to the operator. However, this method is also problematic for off-site locations in that someone still needs to periodically inspect the terminal that reads the displayed message and has to nominate someone to inspect the terminal.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to overcome one or several of the above disadvantages.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there are provided a plurality of interconnected network sites, at least one network site having a service terminal, and To assist in efficient maintenance, a communications network is provided that is characterized by using an intelligent agent program to transfer information between sites on the network.

It should be understood that each service terminal has an intelligent agent handler for receiving the intelligent agent from the network and launching the intelligent agent in the network. The agent handler allows the received intelligent agent to operate within the context of the handler. The agent handler can also perform other functions, such as checking that the received intelligent agent has the required security. Intelligent agents that work are intelligent
Data can be retrieved from the service terminal that has received the agent, and the data carried by the intelligent agent can be stored in the service terminal. Conveniently, the agent handler can be provided in software.

A preferred communication network sends an intelligent agent program over the communication network with reference to the network site address information.
Conveniently, each agent program has a site
It carries address information.

Preferably, each service terminal includes an operation monitoring means for recording operation information related to a service element in the terminal. These service elements can include receipt printers, cash dispensers, cash extractors, and the like. The operational information can relate to operating parameters associated with the service element. Operating parameters include details of all transactions such as the amount of cash withdrawn, state of health information such as the amount of receipt paper used,
And an error message.

Preferably, one site in the communication network has a server. In one embodiment, the server provides transaction processing capabilities.

Preferably, the server is operating at each available server terminal, ie, each server terminal connected to the communication network records a network site address.

The server preferably has a monitor for sending out a monitor intelligent agent program (hereinafter referred to as a monitor agent) for collecting operation information from each available server terminal. This server can give each monitor agent a list of all available service terminal addresses. Conveniently, the monitor is available as software.

[0017] It is preferable that the monitor agent has a storage space for storing operation information on the service terminal for each service terminal address on the list.

Each monitor agent visits each service terminal in turn. The handler associated with each terminal receives the monitor agent, and the program carried by the received monitor agent is executed. This program is operating monitoring means
Extract operation information from. The handler then sends the monitor agent to the next address. The next address may be the next service terminal on the list. Alternatively, the monitor agent may return to the server when all service terminals on the list have been visited.

Preferably, the monitor is capable of receiving the returning monitor agent and operating from the returning monitor agent to extract stored operation information about each visited service terminal.

[0020] A preferred monitor includes analysis means for analyzing the operation information. Using this analysis means, the server can predict when the service terminal needs maintenance. For example, if the returning monitor agent contains operational information about the ATM and the information indicates that the receipt printer paper is very low in quantity, the server will schedule maintenance staff to replenish the paper. By issuing a warning so as to form an ATM, the stop time of the ATM can be reduced. Thus, in another aspect, the present invention provides a predictive maintenance communication network that uses a monitor agent to predict when maintenance will be required.

Conveniently, the server sends out monitor agents at a scheduled frequency, eg, at a rate of one monitor agent every 30 minutes.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a service terminal for use in a communication network, said service terminal comprising one or more service elements and an operation associated with said one or more service elements. It includes an operation monitoring means for recording operating information, a network interface, and an intelligent agent handler for receiving the intelligent agent via the interface and sending the received intelligent agent to the next address. With this configuration, the intelligent agent received by the received intelligent agent is executed by the handler, and the received intelligent agent extracts and stores operation information from the operation monitoring means.

The network interface is I / O
Interface.

The next address may be another service terminal or the server that sent the visit monitor agent.

The service terminal may be an SST or PoS terminal.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, an automatic maintenance request communication network system (automat)
ic maintenance requesting communications network s
ystem). The system includes at least one service terminal and at least one maintenance terminal, and when a maintainer logs in to the maintenance terminal, information about the maintainer and the network address of the maintenance terminal is stored in the service agent register. An intelligent agent service program is sent to the service terminal to inform the service terminal. If there is a failure, the service terminal sends an intelligent agent alert program with a maintenance request to the maintenance terminal. Have been.

This system allows a faulty service terminal to determine if there is a maintainer available to repair the fault, and if the maintainer is available, the service terminal Requests can be sent to the maintainer (using an alert agent).

[0028] The maintainer may be a service engineer, a contingent, or an automatic rescue system.

The maintainer information preferably includes details for evaluating the priority of the maintainer. These details describe the types of faults that the maintainer can repair, such as a faulty card reader, faulty cash extraction,
Includes a failure of the receipt printer. These details include, for example, the geographical location of the maintainer, such as whether the maintainer belongs to a local or remote location, whether the maintainer should make primary contact, or only when there is no primary contact, And the like. Using this information, if there are multiple maintainers available, the service terminal can rank these available maintainers based on the failure, the location of the maintainer, and other details, and place them in the preferred order of visit. it can. The service terminal can generate a list of maintainers to be visited by the alerting agent. In that case, the first maintainer in the list has the highest priority.

If the maintainer refuses to repair, or if the maintainer fails to respond to the alert agent within a predetermined time, the alert agent moves on to the next maintainer on the list. In some embodiments, the alerting agent has a predetermined life span, and after its expiration, the alerting agent becomes inactive.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an automatic maintenance request communication network system (automat)
ic maintenance requesting communications network s
ystem) is provided for the service terminal. The service terminal includes an intelligent agent handler, an operation monitoring means for detecting a failure, and a service agent register. When the service terminal is used, the intelligent terminal stores maintenance information and maintenance terminal information in the service agent register. An intelligent agent alert for receiving and executing an agent service program by the intelligent agent handler so that if a fault is detected, the operation monitoring means sends the handler from the service agent register to the handler to one or more maintainers. Gives information about one or more maintainers to generate the program.

The preferred operation monitoring means selects a plurality of maintainers and ranks the selected maintainers such that the alerting agent visits the selected maintainers in order of priority. .

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a communication network includes a plurality of interconnected network sites, the network having a server at one network site and a service terminal at another network site. And providing a method for communicating an intelligent agent program via a communication network when the service terminal includes at least one service element. The method comprises operating parameter of the service element.
monitoring the service element to derive operating data for r); and an intelligent agent carrying the operating data.
Launching a program in the server from the service terminal.

The service terminal may be an ATM or kiosk, or an SST such as a PoS terminal.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for requesting a service to a service terminal connected to a network of interconnected sites. The method includes selecting a site to which a request for service should be sent based on profile data registered with the site and relating to service personnel, and communicating the request to the site using an intelligent agent program.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing service to interconnected service terminals through a network, the method comprising the step of communicating service information to service personnel through the network. Can be In this case, the communication allows each service employee to accept responsibility for servicing a particular condition that has occurred in the terminal, and the communication in turn continues until one service employee accepts responsibility. To visit.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for requesting a service to a service terminal connected to a network of interconnected sites. The method includes the steps of initializing a request for service based on events occurring in the terminal, selecting the appropriate service personnel to send the request to, and grading the priorities of service personnel to visit. And using an intelligent agent program to communicate requests to service personnel according to priority.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an interconnected network system including a transaction terminal, a central server, and a service personnel terminal. In this case, the central server is responsible for terminals and personnel logged on to the network, terminals that cannot communicate as expected from the network, the health and service requirements of transaction terminals, and services that are logged on to the network. Monitor personnel qualifications. Monitoring is to establish one or more lists of network locations to be visited by the intelligent agent program to assist the services provided by the transaction terminal.

These aspects of the invention have a number of advantages. This is because intelligent agent technology can send agents (in the form of software such as Java objects) between various computer elements on a network. As a result, entering a new code in an existing element, performing some data collection activity in that element, and then making appropriate moves, for example, to the next element in the list (network site) to be visited It becomes possible to do. These agents can provide a monitoring function by periodically traversing a network of terminal modules in search of errors. By harvesting information that reflects actual usage, these monitoring agents can be used to schedule replenishments. The service agent is responsible for providing service personnel (iden) available to all modules operating in the network.
tity). In the event of a major failure (e.g., requiring some immediate or near attention), the module may send out a warning agent indicating that an error is occurring in the module. These alerting agents are trained and authenticated and sent to various registered personnel to find someone who can be used as a helper in service operations.
Suitable alerting agents can cruise around the network on their own to perform predefined tasks. Information about non-critical errors or faults is kept in the module (ie, not forwarded by the alerting agent), which is monitored by the monitor as described below.
Access later by other types of agents, such as agents.

After identifying a module with certain serious errors or service personnel capable of rescuing the ATM, the personnel may re-enter the ATM to obtain further details.
Embedded server can be accessed. This can be achieved by providing the central server with a web server. The web server can be accessed by a standard web browser at the service staff's station or by a terminal at a more remote location. It is possible to provide a number of interface types to field engineers and other service personnel using standard web protocols and Java applets.

The web-based Java applet can be accessed by a central server to obtain information, which information can be obtained from individual ATM modules by the central server. The support server embedded in the module will respond to the conditions in the module or in response to external queries or requests, specific logs of the module,
Can have the ability to retrieve tally and health information. If the Java applet is enabled, it is possible to provide the current error notification on the relevant web page through the Java applet.

[0042]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring first to FIG. This figure shows a local area network (LAN) in a bank branch
1 shows a communication network 10 in the form of FIG. LAN10
Communicate using messages in TCP / IP format. LAN 10 has nine network terminal sites 12 interconnected by a LAN bus 14. A service terminal (eg, ATM or teller station), a maintenance terminal (eg, back office terminals), or a server can be connected to each terminal site 12 of the network.

Of these nine network sites 12, three sites 12 are ATM terminals 16, two sites 12 are accounting station terminals 18, and three sites 12 are rear office terminals of a bank. 20, one site 12 is connected to a server 22.

To connect the LAN 10 to a WAN (Wide Area Network, not shown), a server 22
Is connected to the wide area network bus 24. The server 22 is connected to the IP of each service terminal and each maintenance terminal connected to the LAN 10.
Maintains records of addresses.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the ATM terminal 16. A
The TM 16 is connected to the bus 14 of FIG. 1 through a physical I / O interface 32, receives an intelligent agent (indicated by an arrow 50) from the LAN 10 via the I / O interface 32, and
An agent handler 40 for launching an intelligent agent into the LAN 10 via the O-interface 32 is included. This agent handler 4
0 is provided by software running on processor 42 in ATM 16. Agent Handler 4
0 is shown superimposed on the processor 42. The reason is that the handler 40 is an intelligent agent 5
0 is received and executed on the processor 42, but only within the context of the handler 40. For this reason, it is guaranteed that the agent 50 does not have unrestricted access to the ATM 16.

The Agent Handler 40 has an IP address (which is the IP address of the processor 42 on which the Agent Handler software is running) and a port number (which represents the logical channel of the processor 42). Since this IP address is a network site address, it can be shared with various agent handlers 40. Because multiple agent handlers 40 are
2 can run on it. However, if more than one agent handler 40 is running on the same processor 42, each agent handler 40 will have a unique port number. (That is, each agent handler 40 monitors a different logical channel in the same processor 42.)
Any two agent handlers 40 in the same I
There is no P address and no port number. An agent handler 40 monitors the port number and detects an incoming intelligent agent.

The ATM 16 has a user interface 4
4a, a card reader 44b, a cash dispenser 44c, and four service elements 44 in the form of a receipt printer 44d. The ATM 16 also has a service agent register 45 and an operation monitoring means 46 including a service element monitor 48 and an associated service register 49. service
Element monitor 48 interrogate service element 44 to obtain operational information related to service element 44 in ATM 16. The operation information includes state of health information. The service element monitor 48
It is arranged and configured to monitor operations performed by element 44, such as bill transport, to provide operating data indicating the health of ATM 16. The service element monitor 48 stores this information in a register 49.

FIG. 3 shows the Intelligent Agent 5
0 is exemplified. Intelligent agents are a class of software consisting of code and data that can be transmitted through a networked computer environment. The intelligent agent 50 monitors the operation of the ATM 16 and the accounting station 18 on the LAN 10, updates the information maintained by the ATM 16 and the accounting station 18 and, as described below, the rear office terminal 20 and / or the server 22 for any problems. It can be used for various purposes such as warning to

The agent 50 has the fields 52, 5
It is composed of digital information packets divided into 4, 56 and 58. Agent 50 includes a header and a source address field 52. The source address is the server terminal 16, 18, the maintenance terminal 20, or the server 2 that has launched the agent 50 in the LAN 10.
2 and the port number associated with the application that generated the intelligent agent 50 (described below).

Address field 54 includes subfields 54a, 54b,..., 54n. These subfields are respectively the target service terminals 16, 1
8 or the IP address and port number of the agent handler 40 in the maintenance terminal 20. Agent 50 should therefore visit site 1
2 visit lists. This list includes, at a minimum, an IP address and a port number for one network site. This list is inherent in Site 12
Indicate the order in which they should be visited. This is because the address in subfield 54a is visited first, then the address in subfield 54b is visited, and so on.

The code / data field (code and da
The ta field 56 includes program instructions for the service terminals 16, 18, the maintenance terminal 20, or the server 22 to be visited by the agent 50. The register field 58 stores the terminal 16,
Record the data collected from 18.

Returning to FIG. 2, the agent handler 4
0, when used, treats the intelligent agent as follows. Handler 40 is intelligent
Received the agent 50 and received the agent 50
The code contained in the code / data field 56 is assembled so that the code can be executed by the processor 42 in the ATM 16 when they are assembled. Also, the agent handler 40 may, if necessary, retrieve data from the service element monitor 48 requested by the intelligent agent 50 and store the retrieved service log data in the intelligent agent 50, as will be described in more detail later. It also performs other functions, such as processing and storing the data provided by the received intelligent agent 50.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the server 22 in more detail. The server 22 provides the ATM 16 in the LAN 10 with transaction processing capability, and
Access to and from the WAN (not shown) is provided via (FIG. 1). Server 22 is I / O
Interface 132, Agent Handler 14
0, processor 142, IP address port number register 170, health monitor 172, and transaction processing hardware / software 174.

The agent handler 140 is very similar to the agent handler 40, with the main difference being that the agent handler 140 does not retrieve data from the service log, while the agent handler 40 retrieves data from the service log. is there.
Since the agent handlers 40, 140 are provided as software, there is only a slight difference between the code used for the handler 40 and the code used for the handler 140.

The IP address / port number register (IPa
ddress and port number register) is an agent
Accessed when the handler 140 is building an intelligent agent to send to the LAN 10.

The server 22 is connected to each network site 12
Is stored in the IP address register 170. This IP address register also contains
The port numbers for the handlers 40 and 140 are also stored.

The health status monitor 172 includes the processor 142
Provided by the software running on it and the memory accessed by the software. The monitor 172 displays information about each ATM 16 and each cashing station, including cash withdrawn from each ATM 16, cash available to the cashing station 18, the remaining amount of receipt printer paper in each ATM 16, and other similar information. Collate.

To gather this information, monitor 172 periodically requests agent handler 140 to build and launch an intelligent agent in the form of a monitor agent (indicated by arrow 50a). The monitor 172 is the agent handler 140
Provides an indication of the ATM 16 and the accounting station 18 to be visited by the monitor agent 50a.

Transaction processing hardware / software 17 to provide standard functions of the ATM server
4 are used.

When the agent handler 140 receives a request from the monitor 172 to build and launch the monitor agent 50a, the handler 140 uses the IP address and port number register 170 to determine the IP addresses of the ATM 16 and the accounting station 18 to be visited. I do. The handler 140 then builds a monitor agent 50a with the appropriate information in each of the fields 52, 54, 56, 58 (FIG. 3). The server's IP address and port number are placed in source field 52. ATM 16 to visit and cashier station 18
IP address and the port number of the associated agent handler 40 are stored in the address subfield 54a,
b, c ... An operational data fetching program for fetching operation data from the service register 49 in each ATM 16 and the accounting station 18 is arranged in the code / data field 56. Register field 58, when reset,
All data stored in that field 58 is deleted.

Next, the agent 50 is started by the handler 140, and as a result, the agent 50a
It roams freely within the AN 10 and searches for the location of the address stored in the address subfields 54a, b, c.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the steps provided by the agent handler 40 handling the monitor agent 50a.
From the step of receiving the monitor agent 50a to the step of restarting the received monitor agent 50a.

FIG. 6A shows a monitor agent 50a that has been started up from the server 22 and has arrived at the ATM 16a. Monitor Agent 50a
Is indicated by a solid line at the arrival point, and is indicated by a dotted line at the time before departure from the server 22.

Referring again to FIG. 5, ATM1 16a
When the agent handler 40 receives the monitor agent 50a (via the I / O interface 32) (step 180), the agent handler 40 checks that the IP address targeted by the monitor agent 50a matches the IP address of the ATM 16a. Make sure that The handler 40 then submits the monitor agent 50a to a security check to verify that the monitor agent 50a has been authorized to access the service element monitor 48 in its ATM 16a (step 182).

Upon successful completion of the security check, the handler 40 sends a service request to the service element monitor 48.
Requests an update of the register 49. After the arrival of each monitor agent 50a, operation data (health status information in this embodiment) is captured by the service register 49 (step 184).

The operational data retrieval program in field 56 of monitor agent 50a is then executed within the context of handler 40 (ie, within the runtime environment of handler 40). This data fetching program requests the health status information from the service register 49. This information is provided by the service element monitor 48. The retrieved health status information is then stored in register field 58 as a record.

The health status information is temporarily stored in the register field 5
Once stored in 8, the monitor agent 50a updates its address field 54 and deletes the IP address of the ATM 16a that has visited.

Next, the monitor agent 50a is restarted in the LAN 10 by the handler 40 (step 188). The monitor agent 50a restarted in the LAN 10 has the address field 54
Visit the next service terminal in

This procedure continues until all locations have been visited. Monitor when all visits have been made
The agent 50a is (monitor agent 50a
Is launched first) and returns to the server 22, and the LAN
The health state information obtained by iteratively passing through 10 is given.

The monitor agent 50a is connected to the server 22
, The handler 140 performs the steps shown in FIG. The returned agent is received (step 1
90) A security check is performed to verify that the monitor agent 50a was previously sent by the server 22 (step 192).

Next, register field 58 is examined to retrieve the stored information (step 19).
4). The stored information is read from the register field 58 one record at a time. The record in this case is healthy state information stored for one service terminal, and is analyzed by the healthy state monitor 172.

As described above, the health status monitor 172
Using the information provided by the returning monitor agent 50a, it is possible to establish a dynamically changing state of the service terminal in the LAN 10, identify a problem area, and perform a replenishment and maintenance operation based on local needs. You can set a schedule. This is a large average over the centralized rescue
riding average). For example, if this information is used, it is possible to schedule the supply of consumables in the service terminal at an appropriate time.

The information (health state information in this embodiment) extracted from the service terminal is the monitor agent 56a.
The content is determined by the program instructions contained in the code / data field 56 of FIG. This determination allows the health monitor 172 to retrieve various types of information (health status, consumable usage status, configuration, etc.) by selecting an appropriate program to use for the monitor agent 50a. . Thus, the monitor agent 50a is connected to the monitor 1
72 is configured to extract the desired type of information.

Similar to retrieving information from a visited service terminal, the intelligent agent 50 can also distribute information to the service terminal. This will be described below with reference to portions (a) to (c) of FIG.

The service agent 50b has the same format as the agent 50. In the service agent 50b, the register field 58 contains service personnel information to be allocated to the service terminal. On the other hand,
Register field 5 in monitor agent 50a
Reference numeral 8 is used to collect information from the service terminal.

In FIG. 8A, each rear office terminal 20 can support a maintainer. In this case, the maintainer is a resupplyer (a person who supplies consumables to the service terminal) or logs on (logon) or logs off (logo) the LAN 10.
ff) You may be a field engineer (person who is authorized to repair the malfunction of the service terminal).

FIG. 9 shows the rear office terminal 20 where the maintainer logs on the LAN 10. When a maintainer logs on to the LAN 10 via a rear office terminal (such as 20a), the maintainer monitor 238 stores information about the maintainer and provides services available to the ATM 16 and the accounting station 18 on the LAN 10. After identifying the maintainer as a resource, the service agent 50b (physical I
The agent handler 240 is instructed to prepare and start up (via the / O port 232).

As will be described in further detail below, the rear office terminal 20 has an error log 250 which is used to record error information provided by the failing service terminal. Agent Handler 240
Is very similar to the agent handlers 40 and 140.

FIG. 8A shows the rear office terminal 1
(BO1) 20a is a terminal that has started up the service agent 50b that the ATM 116a is receiving. The service agent 50b is processed by the agent handler 40 of the ATM 16a. Then A
A service agent 50b is launched from TM1 16a and arrives at ATM2 16b. This procedure continues until the service agent 50b visits each ATM 16 and cashier station 18. FIG. 8 (b) shows that the service agent 50b started from the terminal BO1 20a has arrived at the ATM2 16b.

When the maintainer logs in to the LAN 10 via the rear office terminal (for example, 20b), the service necessary for the agent handler 240 and the location information for entering the register field 58 of the service agent 50b are stored in the agent handler 240.
The maintainer is required to answer a number of questions. Typical service and location information required is the level of certification of the maintainer (eg, low security level when replenishing confidential consumables or high airtightness level when replenishing cash), physical information of the maintainer. Location (local or remote to LAN 10, etc.), maintainer status (primary, secondary, final, etc.), and maintainer training level (maintainer Details about what peripherals can be serviced, etc.). This service location information is also stored on the maintainer monitor 238.

Agent Handler 240 is a service
Generate and launch an agent 50b. service
Agent 50b has standard format service location information in its register field 58. The service agent 50b stores the back office terminal 20 in the header / source address field 52.
b has the IP address and the port number that the agent handler 240 is monitoring. The IP address of the service terminal to be visited is located in the address subfields 54a, b, c ... and the service update program is located in the code / data field 56.

When the maintainer logs off the LAN 10 via the rear office terminal (for example, 20a), the maintainer monitor 238 updates itself and identifies the maintainer, and at the same time, the maintainer monitors the service for the ATM 16 and the accounting station 18. Preparing and launching a service agent 50b indicating that it is no longer available as a source is required by the agent handler 24 in its rear office terminal 20a.
Command 0. Maintainer Monitor 238 updates itself by deleting its maintainer and all associated service location information.

In this embodiment, since the WAN (not shown) is connected to the LAN 10, the field engineer can log in to the rear office terminal located in the WAN (not shown). Thereafter, the office terminal can send the service agent 50b to the LAN 10 via the server 22 via the bus 24.

In FIG. 8C, the dotted line indicates that the service agent 50b arriving via the bus 24 has been started up on the LAN 10 by the server 22, and the solid line indicates that the service agent 50b has arrived at the ATM 116a. , Is shown. Service Agent 50 sent from WAN
b before the server 22 gets permission to enter the LAN 10.
Undergo confidentiality check. Server 24 is LAN1
Service Agent 50b generated within 0 is WA
It is configured to stop entering N.

When the service agent 50b arrives at the service terminal (such as the ATM 116a), the agent handler 40 receives the service agent 50b, and updates the service update program (which is the code / data of the service agent 50b) in the context of the agent handler 40. (Contained in field 56). The service update program compares the service location information in register field 58 with any service location information stored in agent register 45 (FIG. 2). If the code location information stored in field 58 is different from that stored in agent register 45, the service update program updates agent register 45 to conform to the information in field 58. Thus, each service terminal has an internal list of maintainers (agent register 4) currently available if the service terminal has suffered a major failure.
5). This list of maintainers includes the address of each currently available maintainer and the port number of the associated Agent Handler 240 to obtain that maintainer. Service Agent 50b
Provides the convenience of updating the agent register information.

If a catastrophic failure occurs in the ATM 16a or the accounting station 18 in the LAN 10, the service element monitor 48 (FIG. 2) in the ATM 16 or the accounting station 18 which has experienced the failure alerts the agent handler 40 to the agent 50c. Prepare and order to start.

The IP address and port number associated with the service terminal experiencing the catastrophic failure are located in the header / source address field 52. code/
A warning program is placed in the data field 56, and details of serious failures, such as a card reader error due to a card jam, etc.
8 is located. The address of the rear office terminal to be visited is located in address subfields 54a, b.

The agent handler 40 uses the agent register 45 to obtain the address of the maintainer to be visited by the alert agent 50c. If more than one maintainer is available (ie LA
If one or more maintainers are currently logged on on N10), those maintainers will be prioritized in the sub-address field of alert agent 50c based on one or more predetermined assumptions. The precondition for this schedule may be the order in which the maintainer logs on to the LAN 10. Alternatively, the prerequisites may be based on the location of the maintainer. In that case, the closest maintainer has the highest priority and gets the visit first.

FIG. 10 shows that the warning agent 50c is an ATM.
316c indicates that it has been started.

The alert agent 50c arrives at the agent handler 240 associated with the highest priority maintainer. FIG. 10 shows the warning agent 50c.
Then, the agent handler 24 of the terminal BO1 20a
It is shown that it has arrived at zero.

When the alerting agent 50c arrives at the rear office terminal 20 of the maintainer having the highest priority, the associated handler 240 performs a security check on the received alerting agent 50c. Handler 240 then executes the alert program stored in code / data field 56 of alert agent 50c. This warning program is executed in the context of the handler 24 and the training and certification level (as part of the service location information) recorded in the maintainer monitor 238 of the terminal 20a.
authority levels) to determine whether rescue from the maintainer at the terminal 20a is available.

[0093] If the maintainer issues warning agent 5
Trained to deal with errors contained within 0c,
Agent, if certified and available
The handler 240 presents a request for assistance on the maintainer's terminal 20. If an acknowledgment of the request for assistance is not obtained within the scheduled time (eg, three minutes), the alert agent 50c moves to the next maintainer in the address field 54.

The maintainer may acknowledge receipt of the request for assistance for a number of reasons, for example, because the maintainer is away from terminal 20a or because the maintainer is assisting another ATM 16 or teller machine 18. The maintainer may not be able to. If the maintainer notices a request for assistance but cannot assist because of a customer engagement, the request for assistance can be denied. This situation immediately moves alert agent 50c to the next maintainer in address field 54.

If all maintainers available in the LAN 10 fail to assist, the alert agent 50c
Move to server 22 to request assistance from a maintainer on the AN (not shown). If at any point the alerting agent 50c successfully calls for assistance, the alerting agent 50c will be notified of the acknowledgment by its maintainer, and the severe failure information carried by the alerting agent 50c will be sent to the assisting maintainer. And stored in the error log 250 of the terminal 20.

The serious failure information includes an error type such as a paper jam of a card and identification information of a service terminal experiencing the failure. This identification information indicates that the aid is LA
If it is to be provided in the environment of N10, it may be simply a terminal number. In other cases, the identification information will include the IP address and contact information for accessing the failed service terminal.

Once the alerting agent 50c successfully calls for assistance, the agent returns to the original service terminal (ATM 316c in FIG. 10). Alternatively, the alerting agent 50c may delete itself.

In the parts (a) to (c) of FIG. 11, the gas station site has the ATM 16 and the sales point (Po).
S) Including the terminal 300. ATM 16 and terminal 30
0 is connected to the server 22 by the bus 320 in the LAN 310. The server 22 transmits the W
It is connected to an AN (not shown).

The health status monitor 172 in the server 22
As shown in FIG. 11A, the terminal 1 monitors the status and schedules a replenishment operation.
The monitor agent 50a is periodically sent to both 6 and 300. Each terminal 16, 300 has a service element monitor 48 for monitoring the service element in the terminal 16, 300. Such periodic health information gathering may be carried out by a field service company or a field servant for cash replenishment.
This is extremely important in off-site environments where you may use ice or security companies.

The PoS terminal 300 has a maintainer monitor 238, an agent handler 240, and an error log 250, and thus has a rear office terminal (FIG. 9).
Has some of the features previously described. FIG.
As illustrated in part (b) of FIG. 7, the maintainer monitor 238 (described above) of the PoS terminal 300 displays the service agent 5 when a new user logs in.
0b can be instructed to the agent handler 240.

A field service mechanism (not shown) is used to send the service agent 50b via the server 22 and register it with the ATM 16 and the PoS terminal 300. Both terminals 16, 300 can be supported by the same field service mechanism.

When a serious error occurs in the ATM 16,
The ATM 16 activates a warning agent 50c shown in the part (c) of FIG. This agent is the terminal 30
Go to Local Maintainer Monitor 238 in 0. The alerting agent 50c performs a training and certification check to see if help is available for the error.
For simple errors, a gas station clerk (logged into the PoS terminal 300) will assist. The warning agent 50c moves from the terminal 300 to the server 22 so that the warning agent 50c is sent to the WAN for a slightly more complicated error. The alerting agent 50c is used to alert field service organizations (not shown). Alternatively, the alerting agent 50c may send an e-mail message, local maintainer paging, or a traditional transaction-based rescue office (help d
esk) can be encouraged to use other communication strategies, such as alerts.

Various design changes can be made to the above-described embodiment. For example, while the network architecture illustrated in FIG. 1 is intended to represent a single bank branch,
The concept described above is equally applicable to more complex network environments with multiple terminal sites. The above concept is equally applicable to networks in non-bank environments, such as retail environments. In a retail environment, the service terminal may be a PoS terminal instead of the ATM and cashier station shown in FIG.

In another embodiment, each service element may have its own processor. As a result, an agent handler is used for each service element, and the network where the agent roams is located in the service terminal, so that the site of the network is the service element.

In some embodiments, the code used for the agent handlers 40, 140, 240 is general purpose. That is, the same code is used for all agent handlers. In a gas station embodiment, the health monitor can be activated from a central site that communicates with a locally active proxy server.
Monitor Agent 50a to WAN (not shown)
The provision of a suitable agent handler to allow the reception of services from a centralized location allows a more centralized monitoring of service elements to be performed from a WAN (not shown). Such an agent handler would augment the address list 54 of the monitor agent 50a with the address of the local service element 16, 300 along with its own return address. This augmentation connects the monitor agent 50a via the bus 320 to the service element 16
Would do it before sending to the first one. in this case,
The behavior of a regular internal monitor agent 50a will occur. When the monitor agent 50a returns to the agent handler in the server 22, the agent handler then sends the monitor agent 50a to the next address on the address list 54, WAN (not shown).
Can be sent through.

In another embodiment, the server 22 may integrate the service terminal with the service terminal so that the service terminal performs the function of the server. In another embodiment, the functions of the service terminal and the maintenance terminal can be combined. In yet another embodiment, a server,
By combining the functions of the service terminal and the maintenance terminal, the terminal can send out the monitor agent while operating as a server, and the terminal can send out the service agent while operating as a maintenance terminal. The terminal can send out a warning agent while acting as a service terminal. As another example, the maintainer need not be a human resource, but may be a computer-based system that handles failures. The network of sites can be configured using any convenient scheme. For example, sites can be configured in a client-server relationship or in a peer-to-peer relationship. Thin client architectures can also be used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a bank branch network according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a more detailed block diagram of a service terminal of the network of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of elements of an intelligent agent program communicated through the network of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a server of the network of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating the steps provided by an agent handler for receiving and forwarding monitor agents.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the operation of an intelligent agent monitor program used in the network of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating the steps provided by an agent handler for receiving an intelligent agent monitor program and examining the returning intelligent agent program.

FIG. 8 is a service used in the network of FIG. 1;
It is a block diagram which illustrates the operation | movement of an intelligent agent program.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a maintenance terminal used in the network of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating the operation of the alert intelligent agent program used in the network of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a gas station site including an ATM and a PoS terminal.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Communication network 12 Terminal site 14 LAN bus 16-18 Service terminal 20 Maintenance terminal 22 Server 24 WAN bus 32 I / O interface 40 Agent handler 42 Processor 44 Service element 45 Service agent register 46 Operation monitoring means 48 Service element monitor 49 Service Register 50 Intelligent Agent 50a Monitor Agent 52 Header / Source Address 54 Address Field 56 Code / Data Field 58 Register Field 140 Agent Handler 172 Health Status Monitor 238 Maintainer Monitor 240 Agent Handler 300 Point of Sale (PoS) Terminal 310 310 LAN 320 Bus 330 W N bus

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Michael G. Coates Scotland DD25 RJ Dundee Burke Hill Black Low Drive 27 (72) Inventor Regie Dove United Kingdom Scotland PH139 HS HS Perthshire Cooper Angus White Lodge Millerigs Road

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A network system comprising: a plurality of interconnected network sites (12), at least one network site (12) having a service terminal (16, 18), said service terminal (16, 18); A communication network adapted to transfer information between sites (12) on said network (10) using an intelligent agent program (50) to facilitate efficient maintenance of the network. (10). 2. Each service terminal (16, 18) for receiving an intelligent agent from said network (10) and for launching an intelligent agent in said network (10).
An intelligent agent handler (40) is provided, wherein the agent handler (40) is a handler (4).
Communication network according to claim 1, characterized in that the execution of the intelligent agent (50) received in the context of (0) is permitted. 3. The agent program (50), wherein the network (10), via itself (10),
Communication network according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the intelligent agent program (50) is sent with reference to network site address information carried by the communication network. 4. Each service terminal (16, 18) communicates with a service element (4, 18) in the terminal (16, 68).
The communication network according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising operation monitoring means (46) for recording operation information related to (4). 5. A network site (12) in said communication network (10) having a server (22) for providing transaction processing capabilities to one or more service terminals (16, 18). The communication network according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. A monitor (172) for the server (22) to collect operational information from each available service terminal (16, 18) and to send out a monitor intelligent program (50a) for storing the operational information. )
The communication network according to any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising: 7. The monitor intelligent agent program (50a) to which the monitor (172) returns.
And the service terminals (16, 1
Communication network according to claim 6, operable to extract stored operating information for 8) from the feedback monitor intelligent agent program (50a). 8. The monitor (172) includes analysis means for analyzing the operation information and predicting when the service terminal (16, 18) requires maintenance.
The communication network according to claim 7, wherein: 9. A service terminal (16, 18) for use in a communication network (10), comprising: one or more service elements (44); and operation information on the one or more service elements (44). Operation monitoring means (46) for recording; a network interface (32); receiving the intelligent agent (50a) via the network interface (32), and sending the received intelligent agent (50a) to the next address. Intelligent
An agent handler (40), and the received intelligent agent (50a).
Is executed by the handler (40), and the received intelligent agent (50a) retrieves and stores operation information from the operation monitoring means (46). 10. At least one service terminal (1)
6, 18) and at least one maintenance terminal (2
0), when the maintainer logs in to the maintenance terminal (20), the intelligent information for transmitting information about the maintainer and the network address of the maintenance terminal to the service agent register (45).
An agent service program (50b) is sent to the service terminal (20). As a result, if there is a failure, an intelligent alert program (50c) for transmitting a maintenance request is sent to the service terminal (1).
6, 18) can be sent to the maintenance terminal (20). 11. The maintainer information includes details for evaluating the priority of the maintainer, so that if there is a failure, the intelligent agent alert program (50c) will first notify the maintainer with the highest priority. The automatic maintenance request communication network system according to claim 10, wherein the automatic maintenance request communication network system is sent. 12. If the highest priority maintainer fails to respond to the intelligent alert program (50c) within a scheduled time, the alert agent (50c) moves to the next highest priority maintainer. The automatic maintenance request communication network system according to claim 11, wherein the communication is performed. 13. The service terminal (16, 18) comprising: an intelligent agent handler (40); and an operation monitoring means (46) for detecting a failure.
And a service agent register (45);
At the time of its use, the intelligent agent service program (50) stores the maintainer information and the maintenance terminal information in the service agent register (45).
b) replaces the intelligent agent handler (4
0) is received and executed, and when a failure is detected, the operation monitoring means (46) sends an intelligent agent alert from the service agent register (45) to the handler (40) for sending to one or more maintainers. Service terminal (16, 1) for use in an automatic maintenance request communication network system, characterized in that it is adapted to provide one or more maintainer related information for generating the program (50c).
8). 14. The operation monitoring means (46) selects a plurality of maintainers and ranks the priorities of the selected maintainers, so that the warning agent (50c) assigns the selected maintainers in the priority order. The service terminal according to claim 13, wherein the service terminal is visited. 15. The communication network includes a plurality of interconnected network sites (12), wherein said network comprises a server (2) at one network site (12).
2) has a service terminal (16, 18) at another network site (12) and the service terminal (16, 18) includes at least one service element (44), The method comprises the steps of: monitoring the service element to derive operating data on operating parameters of the service element; and transmitting an intelligent agent program (50a) carrying the operating data to the service terminal (1).
6. A method of transmitting an intelligent agent program via a communication network, comprising: starting up in a server (22) from a server (18). 16. Selecting a site to which a request for service should be sent based on profile data relating to service personnel registered at the site; and communicating the request to the site using an intelligent agent program. A communication method for requesting a service for a service terminal connected to a network consisting of interconnected sites, comprising: