Method of controlling information processor, non-transitory controller-readable medium storing program, and communication system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11526394-B2
Application number	US-202016930661-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 16, 2020
Priority date	Jul 19, 2019
Publication date	Dec 13, 2022
Grant date	Dec 13, 2022

Abstract

A POS terminal has: a device driver; a POS application that communicates with a peripheral through the device driver; a filter driver that acquires communication information related to communication performed between the POS application and the peripheral through the device driver; and a failure detection application that acquires communication information from the filter driver over a predetermined period, defines a decision reference according to which a decision is made about an abnormality related to the peripheral, according to the acquired communication information, and makes a decision about an abnormality related to the peripheral through a comparison between the defined decision reference and communication information acquired from the filter driver after the predetermined period.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of controlling an information processor configured to communicate with a peripheral, the information processor having a device driver, an application configured to communicate with the peripheral through the device driver, and a filter driver configured to acquire communication information related to communication performed between the application and the peripheral through the device driver, the method comprising:
acquiring communication information from the filter driver over a predetermined period, the communication information comprising a communication sequence of a plurality of events for a transaction and a communication interval from an occurrence of one event to an occurrence of a next event;
defining a decision reference according to which a decision is made about an abnormality caused during communication with the peripheral or an abnormality in the peripheral by calculating a time limit based in part upon an average of the communication interval; and
making a decision about an abnormality caused during communication with the peripheral or an abnormality in the peripheral through a comparison between the defined decision reference and communication information acquired from the filter driver after the predetermined period.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein:
communication is performed with a plurality of peripherals; and
the communication information includes information indicating the communication sequence in communication with the plurality of peripherals.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the communication information includes communication interval indicating a time interval from when communication with one peripheral is terminated until communication with another peripheral starts.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the communication information is involved in a transaction in accounting processing.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein communication with an external server other than the peripheral is performed, the method comprising:
transmitting the acquired communication information to the external server and receiving, from the external server, decision information indicating a result of a decision as to whether to recognize the abnormality; and
defining or updating the decision reference according to the received decision information.

6. A non-transitory controller-readable medium storing a program causing a processor in an information processor configured to communicate with a peripheral, the information processor having a device driver, an application configured to communicate with the peripheral through the device driver, and a filter driver configured to acquire communication information related to communication performed between the application and the peripheral through the device driver, to:
acquire communication information from the filter driver over a predetermined period, the communication information comprising a communication sequence of a plurality of events for a transaction and a communication interval from an occurrence of one event to an occurrence of a next event;
define a decision reference according to which a decision is made about an abnormality caused during communication with the peripheral or an abnormality in the peripheral by calculating a time limit based in part upon an average of the communication interval; and
make a decision about an abnormality caused during communication with the peripheral or an abnormality in the peripheral through a comparison between the defined decision reference and communication information acquired from the filter driver after the predetermined period.

7. The medium according to claim 6 , wherein:
communication is performed with a plurality of peripherals; and
the communication information includes information indicating a communication sequence in communication with the plurality of peripherals.

8. The medium according to claim 7 , wherein the communication information includes communication interval indicating a time interval from when communication with one peripheral is terminated until communication with another peripheral starts.

9. The medium according to claim 6 , wherein the communication information is involved in a transaction in accounting processing.

10. The medium according to claim 6 , wherein:
the information processor is configured to communicate with an external server other than the peripheral; and
the program causes the processor in the information processor to
transmit the acquired communication information to the external server and receive, from the external server, decision information indicating a result of a decision as to whether to recognize the abnormality, and
define or update the decision reference according to the received decision information.

11. A communication system comprising:
a peripheral; and
an information processor configured to have a device driver, a first application configured to communicate with the peripheral through the device driver, a filter driver configured to acquire communication information related to communication performed between the first application and the peripheral through the device driver, and a second application configured to acquire communication information from the filter driver over a predetermined period, to define a decision reference according to which a decision is made about an abnormality caused during communication with the peripheral or an abnormality in the peripheral, according to the acquired communication information, and to make a decision about an abnormality caused during communication with the peripheral or an abnormality in the peripheral through a comparison between the defined decision reference and communication information acquired from the filter driver after the predetermined period, wherein the communication information comprises a communication sequence of a plurality of events for a transaction and a communication interval from an occurrence of one event to an occurrence of a next event, and defining the decision reference comprises calculating a time limit based in part upon an average of the communication interval.

12. The communication system according to claim 11 , wherein:
the information processor communicates with a plurality of peripherals; and
the communication information includes information indicating a communication sequence in communication with the plurality of peripherals.

13. The communication system according to claim 12 , wherein the communication information includes communication interval indicating a time interval from when communication with one peripheral is terminated until communication with another peripheral starts.

14. The communication system according to claim 11 , wherein the communication information is involved in a transaction in accounting processing.

15. The communication system according to claim 11 , wherein:
the information processor is configured to communicate with an external server other than the peripheral; and
the information processor
transmits the acquired communication information to the external server and receives, from the external server, decision information indicating a result of a decision as to whether to recognize the abnormality, and

defines or updates the decision reference according to the received decision information.

Assignees

• Seiko Epson Corp

Inventors

• Takamoto Akio

Classifications

• G06Q20/202

  Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR · CPC title

• G06Q20/206

  comprising security or operator identification provisions, e.g. password entry · CPC title

• G06F11/0745

  in an input/output transactions management context (input/output processing in general G06F13/00) · CPC title

• G06F11/0793 Primary

  Remedial or corrective actions (recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40) · CPC title

• G06Q20/20

  Point-of-sale [POS] network systems · CPC title