Block, Inc.

Square, Inc.

Cory Douthat

Matthew H Maibach

Jason Binder

Thomas Byrne

Jeremy Wade

Yenliang Chen

Jeremy Martin

Brett Andler

Mani Razaghi Kashani

Rowan Schultz

Nicholas Kunst

Steven Stallion

Sean Michael Hafemann

Marvin Balaoro

Mani Razaghi

Michael C Lamfalusi

John L Kelley

David Donovan

Zachary Crosby

A point of sale (POS) device includes an output device such as a speaker, a display screen, or a network interface. The POS device also includes a secure enclosure housing a secure processor and tamper detection circuitry for detecting attempts to tamper with the secure enclosure. Use of the output device is shared between the secure processor and a main processor via a switch that is controlled by the secure processor. The secure processor can switch control of the output device from the main processor to itself and can output an output dataset via the output device in a number of scenarios. These scenarios include the secure processor detecting an attempt to tamper with the secure enclosure, the secure processor recognizing that the main processor is behaving suspiciously, or the secure processor wanting to output sensitive information. The output dataset may include visual data, audio data, or network data.

Controlling processor's access to interface device

A transaction system receives a card into a slot between a plurality of surfaces (e.g., a first surface and a second surface) of a housing. The transaction system detects, using at least one detector, that a storage medium of the card faces the one of the plurality of surfaces at a first time while the card is received by the slot. Between the first time and a second time (that is after the first time), the transaction system prepares one of a plurality of reader interfaces (e.g., a first reader interface or a second reader interface) to read information from the storage medium in response to the at least one detector detecting that the storage medium of the card is facing the one of the plurality of surfaces. At the second time, the one of the plurality of reader interfaces reads the information from the storage medium of the card.

Reader device with a plurality of reader interfaces

Wireless communication and proximity-based feedback technologies are disclosed. In some examples, a system identifies, based on analysis of signal(s) (e.g., conveying transaction object information) received by a reader interface from a transaction object in response to physical proximity between the transaction object and the reader interface, an indication of a movement of the transaction object relative to the reader interface. The system generates, based on the indication, feedback indicating a recommended change to the movement to improve an ability of the reader interface to read the transaction object. The system sends the feedback to an output device that to output the feedback to indicate the recommended change. The system reads the transaction object information from the transaction object using the reader interface in response to an improvement in the ability of the reader interface to read the transaction object and in response to the output of the feedback.

Movement feedback based on reader interface

Controlling access to output device between two processors

A point-of-sale (POS) device includes a processor, a battery, a transaction object reader, a printer with a printer controller, and optionally a temperature sensor. The processor determines a present power discharge capability rate of the battery, optionally based on a temperature measured by the temperature sensor. The processor also calculates a first estimated power draw rate based on a first setting value for at least one of the components of the POS device, such as the printer. If the first estimated power draw rate is dangerously close to the present power discharge capability rate of the battery, a second estimated power draw rate is calculated based on a second setting value for the one or more components. If the second estimated power draw rate is no longer dangerously close to the present power discharge capability rate of the battery, the components are set to the second settings value.

Point of sale device power management and undervoltage protection

A point of sale (POS) 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 device. The mobile computing device is connected via a connector to the rest of the POS device. Payment card information read by the readers is conveyed to the mobile computing device over the connector for processing. The POS device may also include tamper detection circuitry.

Point of sale device with cradle for computing device

Point of sale device with cradle for mobile computing device

Wireless communication and proximity-based feedback technologies are disclosed. In some examples, a system identifies that a wireless communication interface has received wireless signal(s) for conveying information from a transaction object in response to proximity between the transaction object and the interface. The system identifies, based on relative signal strength of the signal(s) as received at each of a plurality of antennae of the interface, an indication of a relative position of the transaction object relative to the interface. The system generates, based on the indication of the relative position, feedback indicating a recommended movement of the transaction object relative to the interface to increase signal strength, and sends the feedback to an output device to output the feedback to indicate the recommended movement. The system reads the information from the transaction object using the interface in response to an increase in signal strength and to the outputting of the feedback.

Reader detection signal based proximity feedback

Aspects of the technology provide an electronic device having a touch display and a method of detecting any possible tampering with the electronic device using the same ITO traces of a conductive grid of the touch display that are used to drive the touch display for displaying information and/or sensing touch inputs.

Tamper detection using ITO touch screen traces

Sharing output device between unsecured processor and secured processor

A transaction object reader receives a signal from a user's transaction object when the user's transaction object is in proximity with the transaction object reader. This signal is conveyed from the transaction object reader to a secure processor that reads transaction information from the signal, generates a processed dataset by encrypting or otherwise processing the transaction information, and outputs the processed dataset to a main processor, which uses the processed dataset to conduct a transaction. The signal from the transaction object reader is also conveyed along a second path that bypasses the secure processor, instead going to a filter that filters the signal to attenuate the transaction information and then going to the main processor, which uses the filtered signal to provide feedback to the user identifying how close the transaction object is to the transaction object reader.

Reader detection signal bypassing secure processor

Point of sale device power management and under voltage protection

A point-of-sale (POS) device includes a processor, a universal serial bus (USB) hub, two switches, and an external connector that connects the POS device to a secondary device with its own second processor. In a primary mode, the processor is connected to a host connector of the USB hub and the secondary device is connected to a first peripheral connector of the USB hub via the external connector. In a secondary mode, the processor is connected to the first peripheral connector of the USB hub and the secondary device is connected to the host connector of the USB hub via the external connector. The processor controls the switch from the primary mode to the secondary mode, and vice versa, by transmitting control signals to control pins of the two switches, and optionally by transmitting a reset signal to a reset pin of the USB hub.

Growing community of inventors

San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Cory Douthat