Patent Grant
11847631
Payment cards, such as credit cards and debit cards, are often used by customers during transactions with merchants. Merchants can read payment information from payment cards using payment card reader devices. Payment card reader devices include magnetic stripe reader devices that read payment card information from a magnetic stripe of a payment card that is swiped through a slot, Europay/Mastercard/Visa (EMV) chip reader devices that read payment card information from an EMV chip of a payment card that is inserted into a slot, or near field communication (NFC) reader devices that read payment card information wirelessly from an NFC-enabled payment card. Payment card reader devices read the payment card from a payment card, then send that payment card information to a server associated with a financial entity, such as a bank or credit card institution, in order to process the transaction by transferring funds from a customer account to a merchant account.
Mobile computing devices, such as smartphones or tablet computers, are computing devices with a mobile and/or portable form factor. Mobile computing devices typically include a display screen and an input interface, such as a touchscreen touch interface of the display screen. Mobile computing devices are increasingly popular, but come in a wide range of different sizes and form factors. As a result, interfacing a particular mobile computing device with another device can be difficult, because while a bracket or other elements made for holding or otherwise securing a mobile computing device might be compatible with some mobile computing device form factors and sizes, it might not be compatible with all mobile computing device form factors and sizes. For example, manufacturers often change device thickness, size, ports, port locations, or other form factor elements from one version of a mobile computing device to the next, often meaning that a newer model of a mobile computing device breaks compatibility with an interface that an older version of the same mobile computing device worked well with.
Merchant point of sale (POS) devices are systems that are used by merchants to enter items or services requested by a customer, retrieve prices for each item or service, calculate a total, and in some cases prepare a receipt or invoice to be printed and given to the customer before or after payment processing.
There is a need for systems and methods for a secure payment processing system that flexibly and intuitively interfaces with a variety of mobile computing devices.
A point of sale (POS) terminal device includes a nest portion and a cradle portion. The nest portion includes one or more payment card or near field communication (NFC) readers. The cradle portion couples to differently-sized interchangeable frames, which in turn help secure a mobile computing device to the cradle portion of the POS terminal device. The mobile computing device is connected via a connector to the rest of the POS terminal device. Payment card information read by the readers is conveyed to the mobile computing device over the connector for processing. The POS terminal device may also include tamper detection circuitry.
The point of sale (POS) device may include a flexible member with two exposed conductive areas that are part of a tamper detection circuit. While a recess receives a screw, the screw passes through apertures in the flexible member and in a conductive gasket, and the conductive gasket connects the two exposed conductive areas to one another, closing the tamper detection circuit. Adhesives affix the flexible member to the screw and the conductive gasket to the recess opening so that removing the screw from the recess separates the conductive gasket from the two exposed conductive areas, opening the tamper detection circuit.
The point of sale (POS) device may include tamper detection circuitry in which one or more flexible members that each include multiple side-by-side conductive traces connect two circuit boards, optionally so that one circuit board must remain very close to the other if the device remains in a secure un-tampered-with state. Severance of a trace of the flexible member, or disconnection of the flexible member from either circuit board, may result in unexpected voltage sensor readings indicative of a tamper attempt.
The POS terminal device 110 of
The cradle 120 of the POS terminal device 110 receives a mobile computing device 105A and secures the mobile computing device 105A to the POS terminal device 110 via a frame 130A. The frame 130A includes a supportive border barrier structure that extends from a surface 205 of the cradle 120, forming a cavity 140A in a central area around which the supportive border barrier structure of the frame 130A extends. The size of the cavity 140A depends on the thickness of the frame 130A. The thickness along each of the sides of the frame 130A may be designed so that the cavity 140A is sized to secure the mobile computing device 105A in place.
The frame 130A itself may be removable. Thus, when in a secured state, the frame 130A is secured to a surface 205 of the cradle 120. When in an unsecured state, the frame 130A is separate from the surface 205 of the cradle 120, as visible in
The side of the mobile computing device 105A with the connector 165 may be referred to as the bottom of the mobile computing device 105A, and the side of the POS terminal device 110 that is coupled to the stand 150 may be referred to as the bottom of the POS terminal device 110. In this case, the thickness of the left side border of the frame 130A and the thickness of the right side border of the frame 130A together impact the width of the cavity 140A, which in turn impacts the height of the mobile computing 105A that fits into the cavity 140A. Similarly, the thickness of the top side border of the frame 130A and the thickness of the bottom side border of the frame 130A together impact the height of the cavity 140A, which may in turn impact the width of the mobile computing 105A that fits into the cavity 140A. Different frames, such as the frame 130B of
A connector 145 may extend from the nest 115 into the cradle 120, and may connect to a corresponding connector 165 of the mobile computing device 105A to connect the mobile computing device 105A to the nest 115. In
In some cases, the nest 115 may include a computing device 1900 as illustrated in and discussed with respect to
The mobile computing device 105A may be a computing device 1900 as illustrated in and discussed with respect to
The frame 105A includes a latch 135, which may be used to help secure the mobile computing device 105A to the POS terminal device 110 within the cavity 140A. Some examples of a latch 135 and its use are illustrated in
The housing of the POS terminal device 110, which includes the cradle 120 and the nest 115, may be rotatably coupled to a base 150. That is, the base may rotate or swivel about the base so that the display of the mobile computing device 105A faces different a direction depending on the rotation angle. In some cases, the housing may be able to rotate endlessly about the base, 360 degrees or more. In other cases, the rotation of the housing about the base may be limited, for example from one angle corresponding to a merchant being able to see and use the display of the mobile computing device 105A (a merchant rotation position or a merchant rotation orientation) to another angle corresponding to the customer being able to see and use the display of the mobile computing device 105A (a customer rotation position or a customer rotation orientation), with these angles for example being 180 degrees apart. In some cases, the base 150 may include one or more dampeners that slow or lock movement at certain positions, such as the merchant and customer positions, and thus require additional force to rotate the housing about the base out of those positions. The dampeners may include, for example, springs, ramps, or magnets.
The base may also include sensors or mechanisms that that can be used to detect a rotational orientation or position of the housing about the base and convey that detected position/orientation to the mobile computing device 105A and/or to the POS terminal device 110. Examples of such sensors or mechanisms may include switches, light sensors, Hall effect sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, inertial measurement units (IMUs), or combinations thereof. Alternately, sensors within the mobile computing device 105A and/or nest 115 may be used to detect the rotational orientation or position of the housing about the base, for example accelerometers, gyroscopes, inertial measurement units (IMUs), light sensors, infrared sensors, and/or cameras within the mobile computing device 105A and/or nest 115. The mobile computing device 105A can use rotational position/orientation information to change the graphical user interface (GUI) displayed by the mobile computing device 105A between a merchant GUI and a customer GUI, and change the inputs sought through the touch or button interface or payment instrument readers, based on whether the housing is in the merchant position or in the customer position.
In
The POS terminal device 110 with the frame 130A is also illustrated in
Payment instruments, also referred to as payment objects, transaction instruments, or transaction objects, may include payment cards or transaction cards such as credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, or transit cards. Payment instruments may also include payment devices or transaction devices, such as cellular phones, wearable devices, smartphones, tablet devices, laptops, media players, portable gaming consoles, and other computing devices 1900 as discussed with respect to
The POS terminal device 110 of
The mobile computing device 105B of
In particular, the point of sale (POS) terminal device 110 includes a housing with the cradle 120 and the nest 115. Both the first frame 130A of
The surface 205 of
The magnets 210 and/or magnets 215 which may also be present in
In some cases, the frame 130A/130B and/or the mobile computing device 105A/105B may be removably secured to the surface 205 via one or more of: a latch, a hook, a hook-and-loop fastener, an adhesive, a flexible (e.g. rubber or silicone) seal, a stud and tube coupling system, a screw, a male-female coupling system, or some other coupling system instead or in addition to the magnets 210 and/or magnets 215.
The connector 145 is also illustrated as a long rigid plug extending from the nest 115 into the cradle 120 above the surface 205. In some cases, the connector 145 may simply pass through a portion of a frame 130 through a passage in the frame 130 and partially extend into the cavity 140 (e.g., enough to plug into the connector 165 if it is a port). In other cases, the connector 145 of
A POS terminal device 110 that is compatible with interchangeable frames 130 provides considerable benefit by giving merchants the flexibility to use the POS terminal device 110 with older models of mobile computing devices 105, newer models of mobile computing devices 105, and to even continue using the POS terminal device 110 with future models of mobile computing devices 105 that are only released after the merchant already has the POS terminal device 110. Another benefit is that certain certifying bodies may be able to certify the POS terminal device 110 independently of its various frames 130, since the frames 130 in most cases serve to secure the mobile computing device 105 in place, and do not store or convey sensitive data such as encryption keys or unencrypted payment instrument information. Thus, recertification is not necessary even when new frames 130 are developed to support shapes, sizes, and form factors of future versions of mobile computing devices 105.
The system architecture 300 includes the mobile computing device 105 and the POS terminal device 110. The mobile computing device 105 refers to a mobile computing device 105 of any form factor, such as the large mobile computing device 105A of
The mobile computing device 105 includes a processor 305, which may be any type of processor 1910 discussed with respect to
The mobile computing device 105 may include a touchscreen display 315, which may be any type of display screen or display system 1970 discussed with respect to
The mobile computing device 105 may include one or more wireless transceivers 325, which may include one or more 802.11 wi-fi transceivers, wireless local area network (WLAN) transceivers, 3G/4G/LTE/5G cellular network transceivers, Bluetooth transceivers, NFC transceivers, RFID transceivers, any type of wireless transceivers discussed with respect to the input devices 1960 of
The mobile computing device 105 may include at least one connector 165 that can connect with a connector 145 of the POS terminal device 110. Likewise, the POS terminal device 110 may include the connector 145, which connects to the connector 165 of the mobile computing deice 105. The connectors 145 and 165 may be wired connectors that form an electrical connections when joined together. For example, the connector 165 may be a female port while the connector 145 is a male plug. Alternately, the connector 165 may be a male plug while the connector 145 is a female port. Alternately, both connectors 145 and 165 may be female, or both may be male, and they may be connected together by a female-to-female or male-to-male adapter or cable, which may in some cases be located in the frame 130 and may be referred to as the extender/adapter 335. The extender/adapter 335 of the frame 130 may also change connection types or formats, for example by including an adapter from a Universal Serial Bus (USB) standard port or plug (such as USB-C) to another type of port or plug such as an Apple Lightning port or plug, or vice versa. The extender/adapter 335 of the frame 130 may in some cases include some components that modify a signal being conveyed between the connector 145 and the connector 165 (in either direction), such as an analog to digital converter (ADC), a digital to analog converter (DAC), an amplifier, a high-pass filter, a low-pass filter, a band-pass filter, or some combination thereof. The extender/adapter 335 of the frame 130 may in some cases include some components, such as a memory and processor (not pictured), that may be used to modify a format of data being conveyed between the connector 145 and the connector 165 (in either direction), for example by changing a file format and/or adding an extra layer of encryption based on an encryption key stored in a memory of the frame 130.
In some cases, the connectors 145 and 165 may be, or may include, one or more wireless receivers, transmitters, or transceivers that may connect wirelessly to one another rather than through electrical contact. In such cases, the connectors 145 and 165 may be or may include 802.11 wi-fi wireless receivers/transmitters/transceivers, wireless local area network (WLAN) receivers/transmitters/transceivers, Bluetooth receivers/transmitters/transceivers, personal area network (PAN) receivers/transmitters/transceivers, 3G/4G/LTE/5G cellular network receivers/transmitters/transceivers, NFC receivers/transmitters/transceivers, RFID receivers/transmitters/transceivers, any type of wireless receivers/transmitters/transceivers discussed with respect to the input devices 1960 of
The frame 130 refers to a frame 130 of any form factor, such as the frame 130A with thin borders (to accommodate a large mobile computing device 105A in large cavity 140A) of
The frame 130 may include a latch 135, which may be used to secure the mobile computing device 105 to the POS terminal device 110, in particular within the cavity 140 that the frame 130 borders. Examples of the latch 135 are illustrated in, and discussed with respect to, at least
The POS terminal device 110 may include the magnets 210 and magnets 215 illustrated in
The POS terminal device 110 may include the nest 115. The nest 115 may include a secure enclosure 340. The secure enclosure 340 may be used to house components that might read, store, convey, or manipulate sensitive information, such as encryption keys, payment instrument information, customer identifying information, personal identification numbers (PIN) or codes, customer signatures, merchant identifying information, or other sensitive information.
The secure enclosure 340 is secure in that it includes tamper detection circuitry 375 that can detect attempts to damage, drill into, modify, spill conductive liquid into/onto, or remove the secure enclosure 340 or any component within the secure enclosure 340. The tamper detection circuitry 375 includes one or more voltage sensors positioned at various points along conductive circuitry that, if untampered with, should conduct a known voltage, but if tampered with, are expected to conduct no current at all (e.g., due to a broken/open circuit) or to conduct a different voltage (e.g., due to a short circuit or other unwanted connection). If a tamper attempt is detected based on detection of one or more a voltage changes greater than a predetermined tolerance in one or more voltages by the one or more voltage sensors of the tamper detection circuitry 375, then the POS terminal device 110 may be at least partially disabled or deactivated, and data stored in its memory 350 may optionally be modified, erased, deleted, destroyed, and/or overwritten to prevent a malicious party from gaining access to sensitive information. Examples of the secure enclosure 340 and tamper detection circuitry 375 are illustrated and discussed further herein as the secure enclosure 705 of
The secure enclosure 340 of the nest 115 may include a magnetic stripe reader 355, which reads payment instrument information from a magnetic stripe of a payment instrument, such as a payment card, in response to receipt of the magnetic stripe through a slot of the nest 115. The secure enclosure 340 of the nest 115 may include a IC chip reader 360 such as an EMV chip reader, which reads payment instrument information from an IC chip of a payment instrument, such as a payment card, in response to receipt of the IC chip into a slot of the nest 115. The secure enclosure 340 of the nest 115 may include a NFC reader 365, which reads payment instrument information wirelessly from a wireless signal received from an NFC transmitter or NFC transceiver of a payment instrument. The NFC transmitter or NFC transceiver of the payment instrument may be an active NFC transmitter/transceiver or passive NFC transmitter/transceiver.
The secure enclosure 340 of the nest 115 may include one or more processors 345, each of which may be any type of processor 1910 discussed with respect to
In some cases, the processor 345 may execute instructions stored in the memory 350 to encrypt the payment instrument information once it is read by one or more of the reader(s) 355/360/365 but before the payment instrument information is sent to the mobile communication device 105 and/or to the payment processing server. That is, once encrypted, the payment instrument information may be sent to the payment processing server via the wireless transceiver 380 of the nest 115, or the payment instrument information may be sent to the mobile computing device 105 over the connectors 145 and 165, and the mobile computing device 105 may then send the payment instrument information to the payment processing server via the wireless transceiver 325 of the mobile computing device 105. In some cases, the one or more wireless transceivers 325 or 380 may receive a confirmation from the payment processing server once the payment transaction is processed, for instance once the funds (in the payment amount) are transferred from the account associated with the customer to the account associated with the merchant. If the confirmation is received at the one or more wireless transceivers 325, the mobile computing device 105 may also notify the POS terminal device 110 that the confirmation has been received, for example by forwarding the confirmation to the POS terminal device 110.
The secure enclosure 340 of the nest 115 may include a touch and/or button interface 370, which may include, for example, a touchscreen, a touchpad, a keyboard, keypad, mouse, selection buttons aligned with GUI elements displayed on the display 315, any other input device 1960 discussed with respect to
The secure enclosure 340 of the nest 115 may include one or more wireless transceivers 380, which may include one or more 802.11 wi-fi transceivers, wireless local area network (WLAN) transceivers, 3G/4G/LTE/5G cellular network transceivers, Bluetooth transceivers, NFC transceivers, RFID transceivers, any type of wireless transceivers discussed with respect to the input devices 1960 of
The nest 115 may also include one or more batteries 390 that may supply power to the other components of the POS terminal device 110, and optionally to the mobile computing device 105 through the connectors 145 and 165. Alternately or additionally, the mobile computing device 105 may supply power to the one or more batteries 390 and/or to the other components of the POS terminal device 110 through the connectors 165 and 145. In some cases, the nest 115 may have no battery 390, and its components may be powered exclusively by the mobile computing device 105 through the connectors 165 and 145. For example, the mobile computing device 105 may supply power to the POS terminal device 110 when the payment instrument readers should be activated. In some cases, the nest 115 may use a battery 390 to keep the tamper detection circuitry 375 active, while the payment instrument readers are only activated when the mobile computing device 105 is connected and/or supplying power via connectors 145/165. In some cases, the nest 115 may use a battery 390 to stabilize supply of power to the payment instrument readers and prevent issues related to blackouts or brownouts. While the one or more batteries 390 are illustrated outside the secure enclosure 340 within the nest 115 in
The nest 115 may also include one or more audio components 387, such as a 3.5 mm headphone jack, a 2.5 mm headphone jack, a USB audio connector, a Apple Lightning audio connector, a Bluetooth® wireless audio connector, another type of wired and/or wireless audio connector, a speaker, or some combination thereof. The audio components 387 may be used to read information out loud through a speaker of the audio components 387 or through headphones connected in a wired and/or wireless fashion to the audio components 387 to customers or merchants with disabilities such as blindness or other visual impairments. The information read aloud may include, for example, instructions for interacting with a user interface of the POS terminal device 110 for the customer portion or a merchant portion of the transaction. In some cases, at least some of the circuitry associated with the one or more audio components 387 may be located within the secure enclosure 340 because some of the information that is read to customers through the audio components 387 may be sensitive information, such as a payment card number, customer identifying information, a PIN code, or the like. An optional accessory device 389 is illustrated as being connected to the audio components 387 in
The accessory device 389 may alternately or additionally include a peripheral device other than a set of headphones, such as a card reader or other type of transaction object reader, a barcode scanner, a weight scale, a cash drawer, a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a printer, or some combination thereof. While the accessory device 389 may be connected to the POS terminal device 110 by being connected to the audio component 387, the accessory device 389 may alternately or additionally be connected to the POS terminal device 110 through a peripheral connector 383 separate from the audio component 387, and/or a wireless transceiver 380 separate from the audio component 387. The peripheral connector 383 may include one or more ports, one or more plugs, one or more wired or wireless receivers, one or more wired or wireless transmitters, one or more wired or wireless transceivers, or some combination thereof, such as in a hub. The peripheral connector 383 may include one or more of any wired or wireless connector of any type discussed with respect to the output device 1950, input devices 1960, or otherwise mentioned herein, which the accessory device 389 may connect to. For example, the peripheral connector 383 may include one or more USB ports, which the accessory device 389 may connect to via a USB plug or USB cable. While only one accessory device 389 is illustrated in
The nest 115 may also include a printer 395, which may be used to print a receipt during the transaction or after the transaction has been processed. The receipt may identify prices for each individual item or service purchased by the customer from the merchant, subtotal, the total, any taxes and/or fees and/or tips and/or gratuities, any coupons or discounts or other promotions applied, and the like. The receipt may be generated by the processor(s) 305 of the mobile computing device 105, the processor(s) 345 of the nest 115 of the POS terminal device 110, or some combination thereof. The receipt may in some cases be emailed, texted, and/or sent via an electronic messaging service to an account and/or device associated with the customer instead of or in addition to being sent to the printer 395 to be printed.
The latch 135 illustrated in
The latch 135 may include a grip portion 405 configured to hold a portion of a mobile computing device 105. The grip 405 may include two parallel surfaces (a “top” and “bottom” surface in
In some cases, a screw or pin 460 may also be inserted into the latch 136 where illustrated by the solid arrow in
From the side view of
The pin 430 of the latch 135 is inserted into a pin groove 425 within a wall of the frame 130 that abuts the side of the latch 135. The pin groove 425 is wide enough (in the vertical direction in
The latch jacket 420 is a structure that is part of the frame 430 that forms a “base” or “platform” on which the bottom of the latch 135 may rest and along which the bottom of the latch 135 may slide during translational movements or rotations, and in some cases limits the range of movement that the latch 135 is capable of. For example, the structure of the latch jacket 420 allows the latch 135 to slide laterally (left and right in
The grip 405 of the latch 135 is shown holding a mobile computing device 105 by the thickness of the mobile computing device 105. Because of this, the mobile computing device 105 is secured to the cavity 140 (surface 205) and frame 130 while the latch 135 is in the locked position as in
The screw/pin 460 is also illustrated in
The pin 430 of the latch 135 is positioned laterally approximately midway within the pin groove 420 when the latch 135 is in the unlocked position illustrated in
The pin 430 of the latch 135 is positioned laterally as far backward (away from the mobile computing device 105) within the pin groove 420 as possible when the latch 135 is in the receive/eject position illustrated in
In some POS terminal devices 110, the latch 135 might not rotate at all, or may only rotate without any translational movement. In some POS terminal devices 110, the latch 135 might have a larger or smaller defined range of rotation, for example from zero degrees to 10 degrees, 20, degrees, 30 degrees, 40 degrees, 50 degrees, 60 degrees, 70 degrees, 80 degrees, 90 degrees, 100 degrees, 110 degrees, 120 degrees, 130 degrees, 140 degrees, 150 degrees, 160 degrees, 170 degrees, 180 degrees, 225 degrees, 270 degrees, 315 degrees, or 360 degrees. While the latch 135 within the latch jacket 420 illustrated in
The operations 500 of
At step 510, the POS terminal device 110 secures initiates an electrical connection between a mobile computing device 105 and the POS terminal device 110 in response to electrical contact between a connector 165 of the mobile computing device 105 and a connector 145 of the POS terminal device 110. In some cases, the connectors 145 and 165 may be USB micro connectors, USB-C connectors, or Apple Lightning connectors. The electrical connection between the connectors 145 and 165 may convey data, power or both. The electrical connection between the connectors 145 and 165 may convey any combination of data and/or power from the mobile computing device 105 to the POS terminal device 110, from the POS terminal device 110 to the mobile computing device 105, or both.
At step 515, the POS terminal device 110 secures the mobile computing device 105 to the POS terminal device 110 (optionally the housing of the POS terminal device 110) using at least the frame 130. The POS terminal device 110 may secure the mobile computing device 105 to the POS terminal device 110 via the frame 130 simply based on at least some of the borders of the frame 130 being snug against the mobile computing device 105 when it is inserted into the cavity 140. The POS terminal device 110 may secure the mobile computing device 105 to the POS terminal device 110 via a latch 135, for example as show in
At step 520, the POS terminal device 110 reads payment instrument information from a payment instrument via a reader of the POS terminal device. The reader may be any type of payment instrument reader discussed herein, such as a magnetic stripe reader, an IC chip reader, or an NFC reader. The payment instrument reader may read the payment instrument information from the payment instrument in response to receipt of the payment instrument in a card slot that includes a card reader, NFC reading area that is within NFC signal range of the NFC reader, or other reading area.
At step 525, the POS terminal device 110 sends the payment instrument information to the mobile computing device 525. In some cases, the processor 345 in the secure enclosure 340 may encrypt the payment instrument information before the POA terminal device 110 sends the payment instrument information to the mobile computing device 105. Once the mobile computing device 105 receives the encrypted payment instrument information via the connectors 145 and 165, the mobile computing device 105 sends the encrypted payment instrument information to the payment processing server to process the payment.
The POS terminal device 110 may alternately be referred to as the POS device, the terminal device, the merchant device, the merchant POS device, or the merchant terminal device. The mobile computing device 105 may alternately be referred to as the mobile device, the computing device, the portable computing device, the user computing device, the merchant computing device, the portable device, the merchant device, or the user device.
While traditional NFC antenna coils are flat, the curved NFC coil 610 illustrated in
A corner of the nest 115 of the POS terminal device 110 is illustrated in
While curved NFC antenna coil 610 of
The second type of curved NFC antenna coil 610 is spread about a relatively flat surface, but where the flat surface is curved so as to represent two curved “steps.” The “step” shape of the curved NFC antenna coil 610 is useful because NFC antenna coils often don't function well when a circuit board interferes with the signal. Thus, many components (not pictured), such as circuit boards, can be placed underneath the high “step” of the curved NFC antenna coil 610 of
The exploded view of
The interior surface 720 of the secure enclosure 705 includes tamper traces 730 of varying voltages that snake along the interior surface 720. The tamper traces are conductive lines that conduct a particular voltage. In particular, the solid lines represent tamper traces that conduct a first voltage, while the dashed lines represent tamper traces that conduct a second voltage different from the first voltage. In some cases, one of the voltages may be ground.
While the patterns of the tamper traces 730 form complex designs, the connections themselves are more straightforward to understand. In the example of
For example, if a malicious party drills through the secure enclosure 705, one or more of the tamper traces 730 will be broken which changes a tamper detection circuit from a closed to an open state and modifies voltages detected at the voltage sensor, for example by reducing a voltage to ground that is not expected to be at ground. The metal from the drill bit may also bridge two or more of the tamper traces 730 and form a short circuit or other unexpected connection, initiating unexpected current flow that also results in unexpected voltage values detected at the voltage sensor. Attempting to remove the secure enclosure 705 from the circuit board 710 will likewise terminate the connection between the taper traces 730 and the circuit board 710 and likewise change the voltages detected at the voltage sensors. Flooding the secure enclosure 705 with a conductive fluid, such as a conductive ink, likewise makes unexpected connections that likewise change the voltages detected at the voltage sensors. Thus, many different forms of tampering are detectable and can be protected against using a secure enclosure 705.
While only one secure enclosure 705 is illustrated in
Because any attempt to tamper with the secure enclosure 705 to access components within the secure enclosure 705 can be detected, precautions can be taken if a tamper attempt is detected, such as deleting or overwriting sensitive information such as encryption keys and/or transaction information read from a transaction object. As a result, components within a secure enclosure 705 can safely store, convey, or manipulate sensitive information. Still, additional security measures such as those illustrated in
In particular, a circuit board 810 with a secure component 820, over a portion of the circuit board 810 is illustrated in
The flexible member 830 is used similarly in
In some case, a flexible member 830 with tamper traces that is tightly wrapped around a secure component 820 or enclosure 850 as in
The flexible member 905 may be connected at one end (not shown) to a circuit board, which may attempt to run current through one or more conductive traces within of the flexible member 905 and may use one or more voltage sensors to monitor voltage along the traces of the flexible member 95.
The flexible member 905 may include a flexible printed circuit (FPC) 910, which may form a top surface of the flexible member 905. The flexible member 905 may include an aperture 913 (which may be referred to as an opening) through which a shank 940 of a screw 935 may pass. On the top surface of the flexible member 905, the FPC 910 may include a first exposed conductive area 920 and a second exposed conductive area 925. The first exposed conductive area 920 may be an endpoint of a first conductive trace running along the length of the flexible member 905 but not exposed other than at the first exposed conductive area 920. Likewise, the second exposed conductive area 925 may be an endpoint of a second conductive trace running along the length of the flexible member 905 but not exposed other than at the second exposed conductive area 925. If the first exposed conductive area 920 and the second exposed conductive area 925 were to be bridged, these two traces would be connected, and a circuit would be closed that is otherwise open while the first exposed conductive area 920 and the second exposed conductive area 925 remain exposed.
Below the FPC 910, the flexible member 905 may optionally include a stiffener 915 to protect the portion of the flexible member 905 that comes in contact with the shank 940 of the screw 935 from damage by the screw 935. Below the FPC 910 and the stiffener 915, the flexible member 905 may include an adhesive 930, such as a pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA).
The screw 935, housing 960, and conductive gasket 970 of
The solid housing 960 may be part of the housing of the POS terminal device 110 and may include one or more solid substance such as wood, plastic, metal, or some combination thereof. The solid housing 960 may include a recess 965 with an opening 967. The at least a portion of the shank 940 of the screw 935 may fit into at least a portion of the recess 965 through the opening 967 in the solid housing 960. The recess 965 may include a bass 955 that the threading 950 of the screw 935 may thread into or screw into. The conductive gasket 970 as illustrated in
The shank 940 of the screw 935 is partially inserted into the recess 965 in
The system of
The adhesive 975 affixes or adheres the conductive gasket 970 to at least a portion of the solid housing 960 (e.g., a portion around or adjacent to the opening 967), while the adhesive 930 of the flexible member 905 affixes or adheres the flexible member 905 to the head 945 of the screw 935. Thus, if a malicious party attempts to unscrew the screw 935 from the recess 965 in the housing 960, the conductive gasket 970 will remain adhered to the solid housing while the flexible member 905 will remain adhered to the head 945 of the screw 935. Thus, the conductive gasket 970 will no longer be in contact with the two exposed conductive areas 920 and 925 of the flexible member 905, and the circuit will go from closed to opened. The circuit board that the flexible member 905 connects to will be able to determine, via one or more voltage sensors, that the circuit is now open, and can determine that the POS terminal device 110 has been tampered with. The flexible member 905 may in some cases connect to a circuit board via a board connector within a secure enclosure, such as the board connectors 840 of
The tamper detection system of
When screwed into the recess 965, the screw 935 thus serves to secure the solid housing 960 to the second solid housing element 980. The adhesive 930 of the conductive gasket 970 may adhere to the second solid housing element 980 in
An alternate arrangement of the system of
In some cases, the screw 930 of
While
In some cases, the conductive gasket 970 may be omitted entirely. Instead, the flexible member 905 may be affixed or adhered to at least a portion of the solid housing 960, with the two exposed conductive areas 920 and 925 facing toward the head 945 of the screw 935. The head 945 of the screw 935 may be conductive (e.g., metallic) and may close the circuit when the screw 936 is screwed into the recess 965 by forming an electrical connection bridging the first exposed conductive area 920 and the second exposed conductive area 935. Alternately, the flexible member 905 may be affixed or adhered to at least a portion of the head 945 of the screw 935, with the two exposed conductive areas 920 and 925 facing toward the solid housing 960, and the solid housing 960 may include a conductive (e.g., metallic) area around or adjacent to the opening 967 such that this conductive area of the solid housing 960 closes the circuit when the screw 935 is screwed into the recess 965 by forming an electrical connection bridging the first exposed conductive area 920 and the second exposed conductive area 935. The conductive area of the solid housing 960 could include a threaded insert, and may in some cases also conduct through the bass 955 and/or the shank 940 of the screw 935. Alternately, in a situation where the exposed conductive areas 920 and 925 face the second solid housing element 980. the second solid housing element 980 may include a conductive (e.g., metallic) area around or adjacent to its aperture such that this conductive area of the second solid housing element 980 closes the circuit when the screw 935 is screwed into the recess 965 by forming an electrical connection bridging the first exposed conductive area 920 and the second exposed conductive area 935.
While the flexible member 905 is illustrated with a circular aperture 913 with the first exposed conductive area 920 and the second exposed conductive area 925 adjacent to the aperture 913, the aperture 913 may be of a different shape, and in some cases the flexible member 905 need not have an aperture 913 at all. For example, the flexible member 905 may have two “prongs” arranged with an opening between, such as in a “U” shape or a “V” shape, with the shank 940 of the screw passing through the opening between the prongs, with the prongs themselves being squeezed against the conductive gasket 970 and/or solid housing 960 and/or second solid housing element 980 by the head 945 of the screw 935 when the screw 935 is screwed into the recess 965. Alternately, a flexible member 905 with no aperture 913 may simply have a portion that is positioned adjacent to one or more sides of the shank 940 of the screw 945, so that the head 945 of the screw 935 squeezes the portion of the flexible member 905 that is adjacent to the shank 940 against the conductive gasket 970 and/or solid housing 960 and/or second solid housing element 980 when the screw 935 is screwed into the recess 965. Likewise, the conductive gasket 970 and/or second solid housing element 980 need not have circular apertures as illustrated and described herein, but may have apertures of other shapes, or may instead have pronged “U” or “V” shapes, or may have no aperture but instead simply have a portion that is adjacent to the shank 940 of the screw 935 so that the head 945 of the screw 935 squeezes the portion against the other elements (e.g., flexible member 905, solid housing 960, conductive gasket 970, and/or second solid housing element 980) when the screw 935 is screwed into the recess 965.
A first circuit board 1005 and a second circuit board 1010 are illustrated in
While the two flexible members 1020 and 1025 are illustrated as quite long with a fair amount of slack, it should be understood that this is just for illustrative purposes, to make the diagram easier to interpret. In some implementations, the first and second flexible members 1020 and 1025 are much shorter, for example short enough that the first circuit board and secure enclosure must touch, or must be within millimeters of one another, in order for the two flexible members 1020 and 1025 to remain connected to both boards 1005 and 1010. Thus, the first circuit board 1005 and the two (or more) flexible members 1020 and 1025 impede access to the secure enclosure 1015, and a potential attacker has no space in which to insert any drill or other tool over or around the secure enclosure 1015, increasing security and tamper detectability further. In some cases, one or more flexible members 1020 and 1025 that bridge different circuit boards as in
While only two flexible members 1020 and 1025 are illustrated, more may be used. In particular,
Some of the flexible members, such as the first flexible member 1020, may include data traces that convey data and/or power traces that convey power as well as tamper traces. In such cases, having the tamper traces be mostly in the center of the flexible member, for example at the highlighted central trace 1030 and/or nearby traces, provides an added benefit of making it difficult for malicious parties to specifically manipulate tamper traces as opposed to power or data traces. Keeping tamper traces central within the flexible member also enables nearby power and data traces to act as tamper traces by modifying the voltage of the tamper traces in a manner that is detectable by the voltage sensor(s) in the secure enclosure 1015.
A payment card 1105 of
In some cases, one or both of the chip card readers of
The first chip card reader 1120 and the second chip card reader 1125 include many of the same elements. That is, voltages of the common collector (Vcc), programming power supply (Vpp), and ground; a rest line; a clock line; and input/output (I/O) line; optional reserved for future use (RFU) lines, and a card detection mechanism that detects the presence of the card 1105 of the IC chip 1110 early as the card 1105 is entering the slot 1115 to start prepare the reader components to read before the IC chip reaches the reader 1120 or 1225. The card detection mechanism may function, for example, by the card 1105 flipping a mechanical switch or momentary button, or by the conductive material of the IC chip closing an open circuit in the slot 1115 (e.g., two conductive prongs from an open circuit may stick out into the slot 1115 over a position that the IC chip is expected to pass). In some cases, the card detection mechanism may be missing from one or both IC chip readers of
The tamper detection system of
The housing 1205 has been lifted away from the circuit board 1210 in
The housing 1305 of
The housing 1305 has been lifted away from the circuit board 1310 in
In some cases, tamper dome systems as in
In particular, the POS terminal device 110 includes the frame 130A secure to the surface 205, and includes the mobile computing device 105A within the cavity 140 and secured using a latch 135 of the frame 130A.
The POS terminal device 110 may rotate about its base 150 about several axes. The POS terminal device 110 may rotate about a vertical Y axis 1415, for example performing the illustrated counter-clockwise rotation 1410 about the Y axis 1415, or an opposite clockwise rotation about the Y axis 1415. Rotation 1410 about the Y axis 1415 may be used to rotate the POS terminal device 110 between facing a merchant (a merchant position) and facing a customer (a customer position).
The POS terminal device 110 may rotate about a horizontal X axis 1425, for example performing the illustrated upward rotation 1420 about the X axis 1425, or an opposite downward rotation about the X axis 1425. Rotation 1420 about the X axis 1425 may be used to tilt the cradle 120 and nest 115 up or down to adjust for users of different heights.
The POS terminal device 110 may rotate about a Z axis 1435 that extends out from the paper of
Rotation about all three axes, and even additional diagonal axes between these three axes, may in some cases be used in combination.
A pin 1450 is also illustrated in
A headphone jack 1480 and USB port 1485 are also illustrated in the nest 115 of
In some cases, the base 150 of a POS terminal device 110 may be detached from the housing (e.g., the cradle 120 and nest 115) of the POS terminal device 110 and carried as a handheld device or reattached to a different base 150. In such cases, the base 150 may be attached to the rest of the POS terminal device 110 via one or more screws and/or pins, which may be used similarly to the screw/pin 460 and/or the pin 1450. Different styles of bases 150 may be provided, such as a short base whose height is appropriate for a user to use while the POS terminal device 110 is on a table or countertop, a medium base whose height is appropriate for a user to use while the POS terminal device 110 is standing on the floor and the user is sitting, and a tall base 150 whose height is appropriate for a user to use while the POS terminal device 110 is standing on the floor and the user is standing. In some cases, some bases may enable or disable rotation of the housing of the POS terminal device 110 about the base 150 about one or more of the axes 1415, 1425, and/or 1435. In some cases, the base 150 may be a wall mount or a ceiling mount rather than a stand, and may still enable rotation of the housing about the base about one or more of the axes 1415, 1425, and/or 1435. In some cases, a cable (of any type discussed with respect to the input devices 1950 and/or the output devices 1960 of
A base 150 is illustrated. The base 150 includes a rotating foot 1505 and a skeleton 1525. The rotation 1410 about the Y axis 1415 may be executed via rotation of the foot 1505 about the skeleton 1525. The skeleton 1525 includes two skeleton magnets 1510 and 1515. The foot 1505 includes one foot magnet 1520, which can be attracted to either of the two skeleton magnets 1510 and 1515 depending on the rotational position of the foot about the skeleton 1525. For example, the foot magnet 1520 may be attracted to the skeleton magnet 1510 when the POS terminal device 110 is rotated into or near the customer position, and the foot magnet 1520 may be attracted to the skeleton magnet 1515 when the POS terminal device 110 is rotated into or near the merchant position. This attraction may add a dampening effect on a user attempting to rotate the device when it is already in the customer position or the merchant position, since the attraction pulls the foot 1505 back to those positions, and thus the POS terminal device 110 requires the user to apply slightly more force to rotate the POS terminal device 110 away from the customer position or the merchant position than the user would have to apply to rotate the POS terminal device 110 when the POS terminal device 110 is in another position.
A similar dampening effect to the effect of
A plug 1620 of a cable 1610 is illustrated being received or ejected by a port 1625 of a housing 1605. A jacket 1615 of the cable 1610 ends in the plug 1620. A socket 1607 of the housing 1605 houses the port 1625. The jacket 1615 of the cable 1610 includes a radial seal 1630 made of an elastomeric material such as silicone or rubber, the radial seal 1630 surrounding the walls of the jacket 1615. The radial seal 1630 provides a snug fit in the socket 1607, preventing liquid (e.g., water) ingress into the port 1625 or plug 1620 once the plug 1620 has been received by the port 1625. The radial seal 1630 is illustrated with a raised “bump” that provides a further tighter seal in a particular area to enhance the seal.
Alternately or additionally, the socket 1607 may include a radial seal on the inner walls of the socket 1607, which provides or enhances the seal therefore water ingress prevention.
The housing 1605, socket 1607, port 1625, plug 1620, and cable 1610 are all the same in
Alternately or additionally, the socket 1607 may include a boot seal on the inner walls of the socket 1607 and on the inner face of the socket 1607 surrounding the port 1625, which provides or enhances the seal therefore water ingress prevention.
In some cases, a POS terminal device 110 may include a radial seal 1630 or boot seal 1635 as discussed herein to enhance liquid ingress protection and therefore enhance water or liquid resistance or proofing. In some cases, for example, the POS terminal device 110 may include one or more radial seals 1630 and/or boot seals 1635 in the base 150 of the POS terminal device 110.
Step 1710 of the operations 1700 includes identifying that a tamper detection circuit is closed. The tamper detection circuit includes a first exposed conductive area 920 and a second exposed conductive area 925 of a flexible member 905. The flexible member 905 includes an aperture through which a portion of a fastener (e.g., a shank 940 of a screw 935) passes while a recess 965 receives the portion of the fastener. The first exposed conductive area 920 is electrically connected to the second exposed conductive area 925 and the tamper detection circuit is closed while the recess 965 receives the portion of the fastener.
Step 1720 of the operations 1700 includes detecting a tamper attempt by identifying that the tamper detection circuit is open. The tamper attempt that is detected may be an attempt to tamper with the flexible member 905, the fastener (e.g., the screw 935), the solid housing 960 that includes the recess 965, an conductive gasket 970 that electrically connects the first exposed conductive area 920 to the second exposed conductive area 925, adhesive 975 on the conductive gasket 970, adhesive 930 on the flexible member 905, a circuit board or other tamper detection circuitry to which the flexible member 905 connects (e.g., optionally including one or more voltage sensors), or some combination thereof.
The operations 1700 of
Step 1810 of the operations 1800 includes identifying that a tamper detection circuit is closed. The tamper detection circuit includes at least one of a plurality of conductive traces of a flexible member. Each of the plurality of conductive traces run between an anterior end of the flexible member and a posterior end of the flexible member. The tamper detection circuit is closed while the anterior end of the flexible member is connected to a first connector and the posterior end of the flexible member is connected to a second connector.
Step 1820 of the operations 1800 includes detecting a tamper attempt by identifying that the tamper detection circuit is open. The tamper attempt that is detected may be an attempt to tamper with the flexible member, the first connector, the second connector, a first circuit board (or other circuitry element) that includes the first connector, the second circuit board (or other circuitry element) that includes the second connector, tamper detection circuitry coupled to either the first connector or the second connector (e.g., on either the first circuit board or the second circuit board and optionally including one or more voltage sensors), or some combination thereof.
The operations 1800 of
The components shown in
Mass storage device 1930, which may be implemented with a magnetic disk drive or an optical disk drive, is a non-volatile storage device for storing data and instructions for use by processor unit 1910. Mass storage device 1930 can store the system software for implementing some aspects of the subject technology for purposes of loading that software into memory 1920.
Portable storage device 1940 operates in conjunction with a portable non-volatile storage medium, such as a floppy disk, compact disk or Digital video disc, to input and output data and code to and from the computer system 1900 of
The memory 1920, mass storage device 1930, or portable storage 1940 may in some cases store sensitive information, such as transaction information, health information, or cryptographic keys, and may in some cases encrypt or decrypt such information with the aid of the processor 1910. The memory 1920, mass storage device 1930, or portable storage 1940 may in some cases store, at least in part, instructions, executable code, or other data for execution or processing by the processor 1910.
Output devices 1950 may include, for example, communication circuitry for outputting data through wired or wireless means, display circuitry for displaying data via a display screen, audio circuitry for outputting audio via headphones or a speaker, printer circuitry for printing data via a printer, or some combination thereof. The display screen may be any type of display discussed with respect to the display system 1970. The printer may be inkjet, laserjet, thermal, or some combination thereof. In some cases, the output device circuitry 1950 may allow for transmission of data over an audio jack/plug, a microphone jack/plug, a universal serial bus (USB) port/plug, an Apple® Lightning® port/plug, an Ethernet port/plug, a fiber optic port/plug, a proprietary wired port/plug, a BLUETOOTH® wireless signal transfer, a BLUETOOTH® low energy (BLE) wireless signal transfer, an IBEACON® wireless signal transfer, a radio-frequency identification (RFID) wireless signal transfer, near-field communications (NFC) wireless signal transfer, dedicated short range communication (DSRC) wireless signal transfer, 802.11 Wi-Fi wireless signal transfer, wireless local area network (WLAN) signal transfer, Visible Light Communication (VLC), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Infrared (IR) communication wireless signal transfer, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) signal transfer, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) signal transfer, 3G/4G/5G/LTE cellular data network wireless signal transfer, ad-hoc network signal transfer, radio wave signal transfer, microwave signal transfer, infrared signal transfer, visible light signal transfer, ultraviolet light signal transfer, wireless signal transfer along the electromagnetic spectrum, or some combination thereof. Output devices 1950 may include any ports, plugs, antennae, wired or wireless transmitters, wired or wireless transceivers, or any other components necessary for or usable to implement the communication types listed above, such as cellular Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards.
Input devices 1960 may include circuitry providing a portion of a user interface. Input devices 1960 may include an alpha-numeric keypad, such as a keyboard, for inputting alpha-numeric and other information, or a pointing device, such as a mouse, a trackball, stylus, or cursor direction keys. Input devices 1960 may include touch-sensitive surfaces as well, either integrated with a display as in a touchscreen, or separate from a display as in a trackpad. Touch-sensitive surfaces may in some cases detect localized variable pressure or force detection. In some cases, the input device circuitry may allow for receipt of data over an audio jack, a microphone jack, a universal serial bus (USB) port/plug, an Apple® Lightning® port/plug, an Ethernet port/plug, a fiber optic port/plug, a proprietary wired port/plug, a wired local area network (LAN) port/plug, a BLUETOOTH® wireless signal transfer, a BLUETOOTH® low energy (BLE) wireless signal transfer, an IBEACON® wireless signal transfer, a radio-frequency identification (RFID) wireless signal transfer, near-field communications (NFC) wireless signal transfer, dedicated short range communication (DSRC) wireless signal transfer, 802.11 Wi-Fi wireless signal transfer, wireless local area network (WLAN) signal transfer, Visible Light Communication (VLC), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Infrared (IR) communication wireless signal transfer, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) signal transfer, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) signal transfer, 3G/4G/5G/LTE cellular data network wireless signal transfer, personal area network (PAN) signal transfer, wide area network (WAN) signal transfer, ad-hoc network signal transfer, radio wave signal transfer, microwave signal transfer, infrared signal transfer, visible light signal transfer, ultraviolet light signal transfer, wireless signal transfer along the electromagnetic spectrum, or some combination thereof. Input devices 1960 may include any ports, plugs, antennae, wired or wireless receivers, wired or wireless transceivers, or any other components necessary for or usable to implement the communication types listed above, such as cellular SIM cards.
Input devices 1960 may include receivers or transceivers used for positioning of the computing system 1900 as well. These may include any of the wired or wireless signal receivers or transceivers. For example, a location of the computing system 1900 can be determined based on signal strength of signals as received at the computing system 1900 from three cellular network towers, a process known as cellular triangulation. Fewer than three cellular network towers can also be used—even one can be used—though the location determined from such data will be less precise (e.g., somewhere within a particular circle for one tower, somewhere along a line or within a relatively small area for two towers) than via triangulation. More than three cellular network towers can also be used, further enhancing the location's accuracy. Similar positioning operations can be performed using proximity beacons, which might use short-range wireless signals such as BLUETOOTH® wireless signals, BLUETOOTH® low energy (BLE) wireless signals, IBEACON® wireless signals, personal area network (PAN) signals, microwave signals, radio wave signals, or other signals discussed above. Similar positioning operations can be performed using wired local area networks (LAN) or wireless local area networks (WLAN) where locations are known of one or more network devices in communication with the computing system 1900 such as a router, modem, switch, hub, bridge, gateway, or repeater. These may also include Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers or transceivers that are used to determine a location of the computing system 1900 based on receipt of one or more signals from one or more satellites associated with one or more GNSS systems. GNSS systems include, but are not limited to, the US-based Global Positioning System (GPS), the Russia-based Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), the China-based BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), and the Europe-based Galileo GNSS. Input devices 1960 may include receivers or transceivers corresponding to one or more of these GNSS systems.
Display system 1970 may include a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display, an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, an electronic ink or “e-paper” display, a projector-based display, a holographic display, or another suitable display device. Display system 1970 receives textual and graphical information, and processes the information for output to the display device. The display system 1970 may include multiple-touch touchscreen input capabilities, such as capacitive touch detection, resistive touch detection, surface acoustic wave touch detection, or infrared touch detection. Such touchscreen input capabilities may or may not allow for variable pressure or force detection.
Peripherals 1980 may include any type of computer support device to add additional functionality to the computer system. For example, peripheral device(s) 1980 may include one or more additional output devices of any of the types discussed with respect to output device 1950, one or more additional input devices of any of the types discussed with respect to input device 1960, one or more additional display systems of any of the types discussed with respect to display system 1970, one or more memories or mass storage devices or portable storage devices of any of the types discussed with respect to memory 1920 or mass storage 1930 or portable storage 1940, a modem, a router, an antenna, a wired or wireless transceiver, a printer, a bar code scanner, a quick-response (“QR”) code scanner, a magnetic stripe card reader, a integrated circuit chip (ICC) card reader such as a smartcard reader or a EUROPAY®-MASTERCARD®-VISA® (EMV) chip card reader, a near field communication (NFC) reader, a document/image scanner, a visible light camera, a thermal/infrared camera, an ultraviolet-sensitive camera, a night vision camera, a light sensor, a phototransistor, a photoresistor, a thermometer, a thermistor, a battery, a power source, a proximity sensor, a laser rangefinder, a sonar transceiver, a radar transceiver, a lidar transceiver, a network device, a motor, an actuator, a pump, a conveyer belt, a robotic arm, a rotor, a drill, a chemical assay device, or some combination thereof.
The components contained in the computer system 1900 of
In some cases, the computer system 1900 may be part of a multi-computer system that uses multiple computer systems 1900, each for one or more specific tasks or purposes. For example, the multi-computer system may include multiple computer systems 1900 communicatively coupled together via at least one of a personal area network (PAN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a municipal area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), or some combination thereof. The multi-computer system may further include multiple computer systems 1900 from different networks communicatively coupled together via the internet (also known as a “distributed” system).
Some aspects of the subject technology may be implemented in an application that may be operable using a variety of devices. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media refer to any medium or media that participate in providing instructions to a central processing unit (CPU) for execution and that may be used in the memory 1920, the mass storage 1930, the portable storage 1940, or some combination thereof. Such media can take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile and volatile media such as optical or magnetic disks and dynamic memory, respectively. Some forms of non-transitory computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, a hard disk, magnetic tape, a magnetic strip/stripe, any other magnetic storage medium, flash memory, memristor memory, any other solid-state memory, a compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM) optical disc, a rewritable compact disc (CD) optical disc, digital video disk (DVD) optical disc, a blu-ray disc (BDD) optical disc, a holographic optical disk, another optical medium, a secure digital (SD) card, a micro secure digital (microSD) card, a Memory Stick® card, a smartcard chip, a EMV chip, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a mini/micro/nano/pico SIM card, another integrated circuit (IC) chip/card, random access memory (RAM), static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash EPROM (FLASHEPROM), cache memory (L1/L2/L3/L4/L5/L #), resistive random-access memory (RRAM/ReRAM), phase change memory (PCM), spin transfer torque RAM (STT-RAM), another memory chip or cartridge, or a combination thereof.
Various forms of transmission media may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to a processor 1910 for execution. A bus 1990 carries the data to system RAM or another memory 1920, from which a processor 1910 retrieves and executes the instructions. The instructions received by system RAM or another memory 1920 can optionally be stored on a fixed disk (mass storage device 1930/portable storage 1940) either before or after execution by processor 1910. Various forms of storage may likewise be implemented as well as the necessary network interfaces and network topologies to implement the same.
While various flow diagrams provided and described above may show a particular order of operations performed by some embodiments of the subject technology, it should be understood that such order is exemplary. Alternative embodiments may perform the operations in a different order, combine certain operations, overlap certain operations, or some combination thereof. It should be understood that unless disclosed otherwise, any process illustrated in any flow diagram herein or otherwise illustrated or described herein may be performed by a machine, mechanism, and/or computing system 1900 discussed herein, and may be performed automatically (e.g., in response to one or more triggers/conditions described herein), autonomously, semi-autonomously (e.g., based on received instructions), or a combination thereof. Furthermore, any action described herein as occurring in response to one or more particular triggers/conditions should be understood to optionally occur automatically response to the one or more particular triggers/conditions.
The foregoing detailed description of the technology has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the technology to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The described embodiments were chosen in order to best explain the principles of the technology, its practical application, and to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the technology in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the technology be defined by the claim.
This application claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/588,491, filed on Sep. 30, 2019, entitled “POINT OF SALE DEVICE WITH CRADLE FOR MOBILE COMPUTING DEVICE,” the entirety of which is herein incorporated by reference.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20210097522 A1 | Apr 2021 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 16588491 | Sep 2019 | US |
| Child | 17018938 | US |
