RU2766548C1 - Method and apparatus for locating terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: physics.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to computer engineering. Method of determining location of a terminal comprises steps of obtaining transaction data; determining that the location of the terminal is unknown; searching for user transaction data using a terminal with a known location; determining time interval between transactions involving terminals; comparing time interval and determining that value corresponds to specified boundaries; assigning to terminal with unknown location coordinates of terminal with known location; retrieving records with values of time intervals between transactions involving a terminal with an unknown location and two terminals with a known location; determining average values of time intervals; determining the number of records for each terminal with known location; determining proximity metrics of terminals and selecting a minimum value; location of terminal with unknown location is specified by assignment of coordinates of terminal with minimum value of proximity metric.

EFFECT: providing the possibility of determining the location of a terminal based on data on the location of terminals adjacent to it.

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Description

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

[0001] The present invention relates generally to the field of computing, and in particular to a method and apparatus for determining the location of a terminal, and can be used to determine the location of a terminal by determining the nearest neighboring terminals to it, the location of which is known.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] From the prior art solutions are known that allow you to determine the location of unknown terminals.

[0003] The closest solution to the claimed solution is a method and apparatus for determining information about the location of the transaction device, disclosed in patent RU 2680198 C2. In the known solution, the transaction data uploaded by the terminal is obtained when an electronic payment for the transaction is made by the terminal displaying the unique digital object identifier, and the transaction execution device scanning the displayed unique digital object identifier and transmitting payment information associated with the unique digital object identifier to the server to complete the transaction, the transaction data being associated with the transaction, after which the transaction device identifier and the transaction address information also included in the transaction data are determined, the transaction device identifier containing the identifier of the transaction device itself, and the transaction address information contains the location of the terminal at the same time as the transaction, and determines and stores the location information of the terminal as the location of the implementation device transactions corresponding to the identifier of the transaction device.

[0004] The disadvantage of the known solution is the inability to determine the location of the transaction device based on the location data of the devices adjacent to it.

ESSENCE OF THE TECHNICAL SOLUTION

[0005] The technical problem or technical challenge posed in this technical solution is to create a new efficient, simple and reliable solution for automated terminal location.

[0006] The technical result achieved by solving the above technical problem or technical problem is to provide the possibility of determining the location of the terminal based on the location data of the terminals adjacent to it.

[0007] The specified technical result is achieved due to the implementation of the method for determining the location of the terminal, performed by at least one computing device, comprising the steps of:

- receive transaction data containing the identifier (ID) of the user and the ID of the terminal;

- based on the terminal ID determine that the location of the terminal is unknown;

based on the user ID, transaction data of the same user is searched using a terminal whose location is known;

- determine the time interval between transactions involving the terminal, whose location is unknown, and the terminal, whose location is known;

- comparing the time interval between transactions with the specified boundaries of the transaction interval;

- determine that the value of the time interval between transactions corresponds to the specified boundaries;

assigning to the terminal whose location is unknown the coordinates of the terminal whose location is known.

[0008] In one of the particular examples of the implementation of the method, the boundaries of the transaction interval are an interval from 120 to 2400 seconds.

[0009] In another particular embodiment of the method, the steps are additionally performed, where:

- retrieve records containing the values of the time intervals between transactions involving the terminal, whose location is unknown, and the first terminal, whose location is known;

- retrieve records containing the values of the time intervals between transactions involving the terminal, whose location is unknown, and the second terminal, whose location is known;

- determine the average values of the time intervals between transactions involving the terminal, the location of which is unknown, and the first and second terminals, the location of which is known;

- determine the number of entries for each terminal of the mentioned at least two terminals, the location of which is known;

- based on the average values of the time intervals between transactions and the number of records for each terminal, determine the proximity metrics of the terminal, the location of which is unknown, to the first and second terminals, the location of which is known;

- choose the minimum value of the proximity metric;

- clarify the location of the terminal, the location of which is unknown, by assigning to it the coordinates of the terminal corresponding to the minimum value of the proximity metric.

[0010] In another particular embodiment, the steps are additionally performed, where:

- choose two minimum values of the proximity metric n and n+1;

- comparing the value obtained by dividing n by n+1 with a predetermined value;

- determine that the values of n/n+1 is less than a predetermined value;

- determine the average coordinates of the terminals corresponding to the proximity metrics n and n+1;

- clarify the location of the terminal, the location of which is unknown, by assigning to it the average coordinates of the terminals.

[0011] In another preferred embodiment of the claimed solution, a terminal location device is provided, comprising at least one computing device and at least one memory containing machine-readable instructions that, when executed by at least one computing device, perform the above method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] The features and advantages of the present technical solution will become apparent from the following detailed description of the technical solution and the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0013] In FIG. 1 is a diagram of a data processing system.

[0014] In FIG. 2 is a diagram of the data processing method.

[0015] In FIG. 3 is an example of a general view of a computing device.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TECHNICAL SOLUTION

[0016] The concepts and terms necessary for understanding this technical solution will be described below.

[0017] In this technical solution, the system means, including a computer system, a computer (electronic computer), CNC (numerical control), PLC (programmable logic controller), computerized control systems and any other devices capable of performing a given , a well-defined sequence of operations (actions, instructions).

[0018] A command processing device is an electronic unit, a computing device, or an integrated circuit (microprocessor) that executes machine instructions (programs).

[0019] The command processor reads and executes machine instructions (programs) from one or more data storage devices. The role of a storage device can be, but not limited to, hard drives (HDD), flash memory, ROM (read only memory), solid state drives (SSD), optical drives.

[0020] A program is a sequence of instructions intended to be executed by a computer control device or command processing device.

[0021] The terminal is the end part of a system that provides communication between the system and the external environment. In systems for accepting payments, a payment terminal is used for user interaction with the system, and the operation is performed by the card user. Also, the terminal can be a POS-terminal - a device for paying for goods (services) using payment cards, and the operation is performed by the cashier.

[0022] According to the diagram shown in FIG. 1, the data processing system 100 includes at least one terminal 1 and a terminal location device 10.

[0023] Terminal 1 can be any device that enables transactions, for example, POS - terminal (trading terminal) - an electronic device that is installed next to the cash register of a trade and service enterprise and allows you to read information from a magnetic stripe or card chip and carry out communication with the bank for authorization in order to carry out a transaction with a bank card.

[0024] The terminal location device 10 may be implemented on the basis of at least one computing device and contain: a data collection module 11, a location module 12, and a transaction data processing module 13. The mentioned modules can be implemented on the basis of software and hardware of a computing device, the design of which will be further disclosed in the description.

[0025] Accordingly, the terminal 1 enables the user to perform a transaction related to withdrawing funds, crediting them to an account, transferring funds between accounts, and other operation. After the transaction is completed, the terminal 1 sends the transaction data (step 100, see FIG. 2) to the terminal location device 10 for storage in the data collection module 11 . The transaction data may contain a user identifier (ID) (for example, "Customer 1"), a terminal ID (for example, "Store 1"), a transaction time (for example, "01/29/19 11:18:25") and other information.

[0026] Also, the transaction data may be provided to the location module 12, which performs location determination of the terminal based on the terminal ID. To do this, said module 12 can be equipped with a database (DB) in which terminal IDs and their corresponding coordinates, in particular geographic coordinates, are pre-stored. In an alternative implementation of the proposed solution, instead of geographic coordinates, a geographic address can be used, and the said module 12, in accordance with a given software and hardware algorithm, can retrieve transaction data from the data collection module 11 by sending appropriate data requests.

[0027] After the location of the terminal 1 has been determined, the location module 12 stores the coordinates of the terminal in the data collection module 11 along with the corresponding transaction data. Also, said module 12 may determine that the location of terminal 1 is unknown (step 101, see FIG. 2). The location of terminal 1 is defined as unknown if the corresponding terminal 1 ID was not found by said module 12 in the database with which it is equipped, or the database contains information indicating that the coordinates of terminal 1 are missing. Data indicating that the location of the terminal 1 is unknown can also be stored in the data acquisition module 11. Thus, in the data collection unit 11, the transaction data and the location data of the terminals 1 can be stored in the following form:

where the address flag "0" indicates that the location of the terminal is unknown, and the address flag "1" indicates the presence of data about the location of the terminal, in particular, the coordinates of the terminal.

[0028] After determining that the location of the terminal 1 is unknown, the device 10 may initiate the procedure for determining the location of the terminal 1. To do this, the location module 12 extracts the user ID from the transaction data, and then refers to the data collection module 11 to search for transaction data of the same user using a terminal whose location is known and whose coordinates are stored in the module 11. Next, said module 12 sends transaction data containing the ID of the terminal whose location is unknown and the transaction data whose location is known to the transaction data processing module 13.

[0029] The transaction data processing unit 13, upon receiving the above transaction data, determines a time interval between transactions involving a terminal whose location is unknown and a terminal whose location is known (step 102, see FIG. 2). The time interval by said module 11 can be determined by subtracting the transaction time, information about which is contained in the received transaction data. Below is a table with examples of transaction data, where the "Unknown terminal" column shows examples of terminal IDs whose location is unknown, the "Client" column shows examples of user IDs, the column "Known terminal" shows examples of terminal IDs whose location is unknown, in the column "Number of seconds between transactions" shows examples of the time interval between transactions.

[0030] Next, the module 13 processing data transactions compares the value of the time interval between transactions with the specified boundaries of the interval of the transaction. For example, the border of the interval of the transaction can be set to a time interval from 120 to 2400 seconds. If the value of the time interval between transactions corresponds to the given boundaries, then said module 13 sends a corresponding signal to the location module 12, which, upon receiving said signal, assigns to the terminal whose location is unknown, the coordinates of the terminal whose location is known (step 103, see Fig. 2). The coordinates of the terminal whose location was previously unknown are recorded in the data collection module 11 . Also, a record containing the ID of the terminal whose location is unknown (i.e., ID "Store 1"), the ID of the terminal whose location is known (i.e., ID "Store 2") and the value of the time interval ( i.e. 340 seconds).

[0031] If the value of the time interval between transactions does not correspond to the specified boundaries of the transaction interval, for example, less than 120 seconds, then this may indicate that the user has completed the transaction through an online terminal that does not have a stationary address, and therefore the location such terminals are not defined. Also, if the value of the time interval between transactions is greater than 2400 seconds, then this may indicate that the user has left or gone too far from the terminal, the location of which is known and the location of such terminals is not determined. The descriptions of the intervals are made on the basis of the analysis of large arrays of transactions from the indicated intervals and the verification of the algorithm's operation with the real location of unknown terminals. The parameters were selected to achieve maximum coverage, while maintaining a moderate error in determining unknown addresses. Accordingly, when determining that the value of the time interval between transactions does not correspond to the predetermined limits of the limits of the interval of the transaction, the data collection unit 11 ends the processing of the transaction data.

[0032] Thus, it is possible to determine the location of the terminal based on the location data of the terminals adjacent to it.

[0033] Additionally, the transaction data processing module 13 may be configured to clarify the coordinates of a terminal whose location was previously unknown. To do this, in accordance with a given software and hardware algorithm, the said module 13 retrieves from the data collection module 11 all records in relation to the terminal, the location of which was previously unknown (for example, the terminal with the ID "Store 1"), containing the ID of the terminal, the location of which unknown (i.e. ID "Store 1"), ID of terminals whose location is known (e.g. ID "Store 2", "Store 3", "Store 4") and time interval values, after which said module 13 determines the average the value of the time intervals and the number of entries for each terminal, the location of which is known, formed previously. Next, said module 11 determines a proximity metric for each terminal whose location is known by dividing the average slot value by the number of records. For example, the received data can be presented in the following form:

[0034] Next, the transaction data processing module 13 selects the minimum value of the metric, and then generates and sends a signal to the location module 12, which, upon receipt of the said signal, assigns to the terminal, the location of which is unknown, the coordinates of the terminal corresponding to the minimum metric value. The coordinates of the terminal whose location was previously unknown are recorded in the data collection module 11 .

[0035] Thus, the coordinates of the terminal, the location of which was previously unknown, are clarified.

[0036] Also, the transaction data processing module 13 may be configured to locate the terminal. To do this, said module 13 selects two minimum values of the metric n and n+1, for example, where n=10 and n+1=15, and then performs the operation of dividing n by n+1. If the obtained value n/n+1 is less than 0.9, then said module 13 extracts the coordinates of the terminals corresponding to the values of the metrics n and n+1, and determines the average coordinates of the terminals, after which it generates and sends a signal to the location determination module 12, which, upon receipt of the mentioned signal assigns to the terminal, the location of which is unknown, the average coordinates of the terminals.

[0037] If the obtained value of n/n+1 is greater than 0.9, then the terminal, whose position is unknown, is assigned, in the manner described earlier, the coordinates of the terminal corresponding to the minimum value of the metric n.

[0038] In general terms (see Fig. 2), the computing device (200) contains one or more processors (201), memory means, such as RAM (202) and ROM (203), and input / output (204).

[0039] The processor (201) (or multiple processors, multi-core processor, etc.) may be selected from a range of devices currently widely used, for example, manufacturers such as: Intel™, AMD™, Apple™, Samsung Exynos ™, MediaTEK™, Qualcomm Snapdragon™, etc. Under the processor or one of the processors used in the system (200), it is also necessary to take into account the graphics processor, for example, NVIDIA GPU with a CUDA-compatible software model, or Graphcore, the type of which is also suitable for full or partial execution of the method, and can also be used to training and application of machine learning models in various information systems.

[0040] RAM (202) is a random access memory and is designed to store machine-readable instructions executable by the processor (201) to perform the necessary data logical processing operations. The RAM (202) typically contains the executable instructions of the operating system and associated software components (applications, program modules, etc.). In this case, the RAM (202) may be the available memory of the graphics card or graphics processor.

[0041] A ROM (203) is one or more persistent storage devices such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), flash memory (EEPROM, NAND, etc.), optical storage media ( CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, BlueRay Disc, MD), etc.

[0042] Various types of I/O interfaces (204) are used to organize the operation of device components (200) and organize the operation of external connected devices. The choice of appropriate interfaces depends on the particular design of the computing device, which can be, but not limited to: PCI, AGP, PS/2, IrDa, FireWire, LPT, COM, SATA, IDE, Lightning, USB (2.0, 3.0, 3.1, micro, mini, type C), TRS/Audio jack (2.5, 3.5, 6.35), HDMI, DVI, VGA, Display Port, RJ45, RS232, etc.

[0043] To ensure user interaction with the device (200), various means (205) of I/O information are used, for example, a keyboard, a display (monitor), a touch display, a touch pad, a joystick, a mouse manipulator, a light pen, a stylus, a touch panel, trackball, speakers, microphone, augmented reality tools, optical sensors, tablet, light indicators, projector, camera, biometric identification tools (retina scanner, fingerprint scanner, voice recognition module), etc.

[0044] The network communication means (206) provides data transmission via an internal or external computer network, for example, an Intranet, the Internet, a LAN, and the like. As one or more means (206) can be used, but not limited to: Ethernet card, GSM modem, GPRS modem, LTE modem, 5G modem, satellite communication module, NFC module, Bluetooth and / or BLE module, Wi-Fi module and others

[0045] The specific choice of elements of the device (200) for the implementation of various software and hardware architectural solutions may vary while maintaining the required functionality provided.

[0046] Modifications and improvements to the above described embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The foregoing description is provided by way of example only and is not intended to be limiting in any way. Thus, the scope of the present invention is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (23)

1. A method for determining the location of a terminal, performed by at least one computing device, comprising the steps of: - receive transaction data containing the identifier (ID) of the user and the ID of the terminal; - based on the terminal ID determine that the location of the terminal is unknown; based on the user ID, transaction data of the same user is searched using a terminal whose location is known; - determine the time interval between transactions involving the terminal, whose location is unknown, and the terminal, whose location is known; - comparing the time interval between transactions with the specified boundaries of the transaction interval; - determine that the value of the time interval between transactions corresponds to the specified boundaries; assigning to the terminal whose location is unknown the coordinates of the terminal whose location is known; - retrieve records containing the values of the time intervals between transactions involving the terminal, whose location is unknown, and the first terminal, whose location is known; - retrieve records containing the values of the time intervals between transactions involving the terminal, whose location is unknown, and the second terminal, whose location is known; - determine the average values of the time intervals between transactions involving the terminal, the location of which is unknown, and the first and second terminals, the location of which is known; - determine the number of entries for each terminal of the mentioned at least two terminals, the location of which is known; - based on the average values of the time intervals between transactions and the number of records for each terminal, determine the proximity metrics of the terminal, the location of which is unknown, to the first and second terminals, the location of which is known; - choose the minimum value of the proximity metric; - clarify the location of the terminal, the location of which is unknown, by assigning to it the coordinates of the terminal corresponding to the minimum value of the proximity metric. 2. The method according to claim. 1, characterized in that the boundaries of the transaction interval are an interval from 120 to 2400 seconds. 3. The method according to p. 1, characterized in that it further comprises the steps in which: - choose two minimum values of the proximity metric n and n+1; - compare the value obtained by dividing n by n+1 with a predetermined value of 0.9; - determine that the values of n/n+1 is less than a predetermined value of 0.9; - determine the average coordinates of the terminals corresponding to the proximity metrics n and n+1; - clarify the location of the terminal, the location of which is unknown, by assigning to it the average coordinates of the terminals. 4. A terminal location device, comprising at least one computing device and at least one memory containing machine-readable instructions, which, when executed by at least one computing device, perform the method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-3.

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