Granted Patent B1

US 6,976,622 · App. 10/913,897 · Granted Dec 20, 2005

Abstract

Claims (48)

1. A method comprising:

a) causing through operation of at least one first computer of an ATM, data corresponding to a first plurality of diagnostic messages to be stored in a memory device of the ATM, wherein the ATM includes a cash dispenser, wherein at least one of the first plurality of diagnostic messages includes data representative of a cash dispenser error;

b) periodically causing through operation of at least one first software component operating in the at least one first computer, the at least one first computer to store data corresponding to a second plurality of diagnostic messages in a data store of the ATM, wherein the second plurality of diagnostic messages corresponds to at least some of the diagnostic messages included in the first plurality of diagnostic messages;

c) receiving with the at least one first computer through operation of the at least one first software component a first communication from at least one second computer;

d) causing through operation of the at least one first software component, the at least one first computer to send data corresponding to a third plurality of diagnostic messages to the at least one second computer responsive to the first communication, wherein the third plurality of diagnostic messages corresponds to at least some of the diagnostic messages included in the second plurality of diagnostic messages stored in the data store.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one first software component includes a time duration parameter, wherein in (b) the at least one first software component periodically causes the at least one first computer to copy the data corresponding to at least some of the first plurality of diagnostic messages stored in the memory device to the data store responsive to the time duration parameter.

3. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising:

e) receiving with the at least one first computer responsive to operation of the at least one first software component a second communication from the at least one second computer;

f) modifying the time duration parameter through operation of the at least one first software component responsive to the second communication.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in (b) the at least one first software component causes the at least one first computer to not store data corresponding to the first plurality of diagnostic messages in the data store which has been previously stored in the data store.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in (b) when the first plurality of diagnostic messages includes first messages which are not represented by data in the data store and second messages which are represented by the data store, the at least one first software component causes the data corresponding to the second plurality of diagnostic messages to correspond to the first messages and not the second messages.

6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

e) causing through operation of the at least one first computer of an ATM, data corresponding to a fourth plurality of diagnostic messages to be stored in the memory device;

f) receiving with the at least one first computer responsive to operation of the first software component, a second communication from the at least one second computer;

g) causing through operation of the at least one first software component, the at least one first computer to store data corresponding to a fifth plurality of diagnostic messages in the data store, wherein the fifth plurality of diagnostic messages corresponds to at least some of the diagnostic messages included in the fourth plurality of diagnostic messages.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

f) receiving with the at least one first computer responsive to operation of the at least one first software component, a second communication from the at least one second computer;

g) causing through operation of the at least one first software component, the at least one first computer to delete data corresponding to at least one portion of the second plurality of diagnostic messages stored in the data store responsive to the second communication.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in (a) the memory device includes a nonvolatile RAM.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in (a) the first plurality of diagnostic messages includes error messages associated with the operation of the ATM.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in (a) the first plurality of diagnostic messages includes status messages associated with the operation of the ATM.

11. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

e) prior to (a), causing through operation of at least one terminal control software component operating in the at least one first computer, the at least one first computer to attempt to cause the cash dispenser to dispense cash.

12. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

f) causing through operation of the at least one first software component, the at least one first computer to route a plurality of transaction messages between the at least one terminal control software component and a host system located remotely from the ATM.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein in (f) the plurality of transaction messages includes at least one transaction message associated with the attempt to dispense cash from the cash dispenser in (e).

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein (b) includes causing through operation of the at least one first software component, the at least one terminal control software component to cause the at least one first computer to retrieve data corresponding to at least one portion of the first plurality of diagnostic messages from the memory device and to send the retrieved data to the at least one first software component.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein in (b) the data corresponding to the second plurality of diagnostic messages correspond to the retrieved diagnostic messages.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein in (b) the at least one first software component communicates with the at least one terminal control software component through at least one first TCP/IP port.

17. The method according to claim 16 , wherein in (f) the at least one first software component communicates with the remote host system through at least one second TCP/IP port.

18. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

e) determining through operation of the at least one first software component, at least one memory address associated with a location of the first plurality of diagnostic messages in the memory device responsive to a memory address parameter accessed by the at least one first software component

wherein (b) includes causing through operation of the at least one first software component, the at least one first computer to access the data corresponding to the first plurality of diagnostic messages from the at least one memory address of the memory device.

19. The method according to claim 1 , wherein (c) and (d) include the at least one first software component causing the at least one first computer to communicate with the at least one second computer through a parallel port of the at least one first computer.

20. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the data store in which data is stored in (b) is operative to store data corresponding to a larger maximum number of diagnostic messages than the memory device.

21. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a hard drive of the at least one first computer includes the data store in which data is stored in (b).

22. A method comprising:

a) operating an ATM to carry out a plurality of transactions, wherein the ATM includes a plurality of transaction function devices and wherein at least one of the transaction function devices comprises a cash dispenser and at least some of the transactions include dispensing cash;

b) during at least a portion of (a), storing data corresponding to a plurality of statuses related to the operation of at least one of the transaction function devices in carrying out at least one of the plurality of transactions in at least one first data store in the ATM;

c) including at least a portion of the data stored in (b) in the at least one first data store, in at least one second data store in the ATM responsive to operation of at least one software component operating in at least one computer in the ATM;

d) subsequent to (a) receiving through operation of the at least one computer in the ATM, at least one message from a separate computer located external of the ATM;

e) responsive to the at least one message received in (d) operating the at least one computer to send to the separate computer, the data corresponding to the statuses stored in the at least one second data store.

23. The method according to claim 22 wherein the at least one first data store comprises at least one nonvolatile memory, and wherein in (b) the data is stored in the at least one nonvolatile memory.

24. The method according to claim 23 wherein the at least one second data store includes a hard drive, and wherein in (c) at least a portion of the data stored in nonvolatile memory is stored on the hard drive.

25. The method according to claim 22 wherein in (b) data corresponding to statuses related to operation of a plurality of transaction function devices is stored in the at least one first data store.

26. The method according to claim 22 and further comprising:

f) generating a plurality of messages responsive to operation of the plurality of transaction function devices in (a); wherein the plurality of messages includes the data corresponding to the plurality of statuses stored in (b).

27. The method according to claim 26 wherein in (f) the plurality of messages include at least one error message relating to operation of the cash dispenser.

Assignments (18)