International Business Machines Corporation

International Business Corporation

James M White

Julie Anne Morris

Robert Thomas Cato

Timothy Wayne Crockett

Keith S Pennington

Lawrence G Heller

Eugene S Schlig

Paul A Hakenewerth

David R Hughes

Wayne Roger Hucaby

Robert R Rodite

James F Dubil

James R Walker

Raymond F Dinan

Aspi B Wadia

John R Hillery

Chester L Storm

Michael A Orr

James D Nihart

Carl J Moreschi

Nathan P Edwards

Robert C Melamud

Michael D Gulliver

Ronald W May

Ying-Cheng Lo

Ye Chen

Justin Rohde

Joshua Miller

An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for detecting tampering of devices such as fiscal printers. A memory module includes a volatile memory that stores multi-bit data. An operation module allows operation of an electronic device, such as a fiscal printer, in response to determining that the predefined multi-bit data is stored in the volatile memory. A detection module detects an attempt to access the enclosed device where access to the enclosed device is restricted by an enclosure. A tamper switch module disconnects power to the volatile memory such that the predefined multi-bit data stored in the volatile memory is erased in response to the detection module detecting an attempted access to the enclosed device. A shutdown module disables operation of the electronic device in response to determining that the predefined multi-bit data is not stored in the volatile memory.

Apparatus, system, and method for detecting tampering of fiscal printers

A computer implemented method and data processing system for providing a hardware controlled one-time write for fiscal printers. A signal from a fiscal printer is received at a memory controller in an electronic journal or fiscal memory card. The signal comprises transaction data and an address in a memory space in the electronic journal or fiscal memory card. The memory controller checks a marker bit corresponding to the address to determine if the marker bit is in a written state. Responsive to a determination that the marker bit is not in a written state, the memory controller sets the marker bit to the written state. The memory controller then writes the transaction data to the address in the memory space.

Hardware controlled one-time write for fiscal printers

The illustrative embodiments described herein provide an apparatus and method for detecting tampering. The apparatus includes a printer and a printer compartment located within the printer. The apparatus also includes a switch capable of being coupled to the printer compartment. The switch is adapted to close when tampering with the printer compartment occurs. The apparatus includes a tamper detection device capable of being in a tamper state and a non-tamper state. The tamper detection device discharges and places the tamper detection device in the tamper state when the switch is closed to indicate that tampering has occurred. The apparatus includes a set of power sources. The set of power sources provides charge to the tamper detection device and places the tamper detection device in the non-tamper state.

Apparatus and method for detecting tampering of a printer compartment

A data source on a main local area network (LAN) transmits broadcast messages via bridges to remote stations. A ring buffer in a bridge on the main LAN buffers a selected number of packets received from the data source. When the main bridge on the main LAN receives a 'Lost Frame Message' from a remote bridge, not on the main LAN, the main bridge backs up to the address of the lost packet in the ring buffer, and retransmits the lost packet and then continues sequential transmission of subsequent packets. If buffer is, filled above a pre-set criteria, retransmission is slowed or stopped until buffer is mostly emptied.

Data distribution network with improved broadcast feature

An interface device called an adapter is provided for interconnecting data terminal equipment (DTE) to a communication highway. The adapter includes a plurality of command/status registers coupled through a decoding device to the data bus and control lines of a microprocessor. An Internal Modem Interface (IMI) circuit arrangement monitors the decoding device and command/status registers and depending on the contents of the command/status registers and/or the status of the signals on the interface the IMI enables/disables the receive and transmit logic functions of the adapter. The adapter also includes a circuit arrangement which monitors traffic or signals on the data highway without affecting the electrical characteristics of the traffic.

Communication adapter for store loop communication system

In order to reduce data storage and transmission bandwidth requirements, a high resolution gray scale image is represented in two separate image forms, namely, a high resolution, high sampling density black and white image and a lower resolution, lower sampling density gray scale image. Generating separate black and white and gray scale image data allows the use of either image form independently. The high resolution black and white image data and the low resolution gray scale image data may be recombined subsequently to produce reconstructed high resolution gray scale image data representing the image.

Image processing system and method employing combined black and white

A scanner for scanning an increased area of a finger held or pressed on a concave elliptically cylindrical surface having two focal axes includes a linear light source positioned at one focal axis of a first reflective cylindrical elliptical surface, the other focal axis coinciding with one focal axis of the concave elliptical surface in contact with the finger. A second reflective, cylindrical elliptical surface has two focal axes where one of the axes coincides with the position of a linear array combination of photosensitive elements and charged coupled devices and the other coincides with the other focal axis of the concave elliptical surface in contact with the finger. The linear light source resides within a scanning drum having a longitudinal opening or slit and suitable rotated whereby a line of light is projected along the cylindrical elliptical surface of the first reflective surface whereby light rays are reflected to the finger contact surface to scan a finger held thereon and then totally internally reflected to the second reflective surface and then reflected therefrom as an image on the linear array.

Elliptical finger press scanner with rotating light source

An analog video data signal digitization and correction system scans a medium to produce video data signals representing images printed on the medium. Two reference quantities representing analog reference signals produced by scanning a densely printed image and an area of the medium having no printed image are used to establish the maximum and minimum values of a range of possible values for each video data signal. The analog video data signals are compared with this range and a corrected digital value obtained for each data signal depending on its position in the range. In generating the reference quantities each analog reference signal is converted into a digital reference signal dependent on the position of the analog signal in a range of possible values. For each analog reference signal only a portion of the range of possible values is selected in order to increase the accuracy of the corresponding digital reference signal. The number of bits in the digital reference signal is kept low but the accuracy of each digital reference signal remains high. In converting each digital reference signal into an analog reference quantity additional high order bits are added to the digital reference signal so that each analog reference quantity has the same accuracy as its corresponding digital reference signal.

Video data signal digitization and correction system

Efficient opaque metal conductors extending across the light receiving surface of a time delay and integration scanning array, are arranged at an angle to the array so as to make their interference with light, projected onto the array, substantially uniform. An anamorphic lens distorts the image projected onto the array to enable more convenient and efficient use of the array surface area.

High-speed time delay and integration solid state scanner

A two-dimensional history of reflectance values, from which black-white threshold decisions are made, is stored in a relatively small amount of memory. Updating of the history by non-linear functions is accomplished through the use of look-up tables.

Dynamic threshold device

Fluorescent bulbs having two phosphors emitting different colors with different persistence are used to illuminate a target object with sequentially different predetermined mixtures of light from which color separated images can be taken.

Electronic color separation

A color facsimile transmission apparatus wherein a beam of white light is dispersed into component colors by a prism. The color dispersed bands of illumination are focused to irradiate a portion of a moving document. The reflected, colored light from the document is focused on the surface of three charge coupled devices (CCDs) so that the red illuminating band irradiates a first CCD and the green and blue bands respectively irradiate the second and third CCDs. The movement of the document causes each line of the document to scroll through the illuminating band over each of the CCDs. The CCDs are operated in the time delay and integration mode to generate charge packets corresponding to the picture elements of the red, green and blue component line images of each line of the document.

Apparatus for color or panchromatic imaging

A CCD imaging array is operated in a time delay and integration mode to generate an array of charge packets corresponding to the light intensity at the picture elements of an irradiating image. The charge packets from the imaging array are gated in parallel to a line image storage array that stores n rows of charge packets in a columnar relation. A replicator circuit generates a replicated sum charge for each column of charge packets of the line image storage array. Each replicated sum charge corresponds to the sum of the n charges stored in a column at a particular instant in time and the charge stored at the (n+1)/2 position of each column is the middle charge for the associated replicated sum charge. Parallel delay gating electrodes gate a row of replicated sum charges to an area average serial shift register at the same time that a row of corresponding middle charges is gated into a focused element serial shift register. The serial shift registers are gated synchronously in a serial fashion and, as the registers are gated, the endmost n replicated sum charges are summed by a horizontal summer and 1/n.sup.2 of the sum is subtracted by a comparator from an associated central charge stored in the focused element serial shift register. The difference is the Laplacian for the central charge. The output of the focused element serial shift register, the summer output, and the Laplacian are useful for subsequent image processing.

Charge coupled device incorporating Laplacian thresholding with TDI array

A circuit is disclosed for obtaining a quantity of electrical charge carriers equal to and representative of the algebraic difference between the values of two original quantities of electrical charge carriers. The circuit includes two charge coupled device input shift registers. Each of the two shift registers incorporates at least three potential well electrodes and interposed transfer electrodes such that charge packets can be shifted from well to well. One potential well in each of the two shift registers is operated in a floating gate electrode mode, and the two potential wells are connected at a common node which services as the input to a third or output charge coupled device shift register. The two original quantities of electrical charge carriers are represented respectively in each of the two input shift registers by a pair of spatially separated charge packets which when sensed by sequencing them into and out of the potential well under the floating gate electrode provide the algebraic value of the associated quantity of electrical charge carriers. By representing each original charge quantity by two spatially separated pairs of charge packets, positive and negative algebraic values may be representing even though all the charge quantities are made up of charge carriers of the same polarity. Combining the two floating gate electrodes at the common node rectifying input to the third or output shift register produces an algebraic value in the output shift register which represents the difference between the original charge packets.

Non-destructive charge transfer device differencing circuit

A document scanner array which includes means for compensating for temporal changes in a light source, filters in the optical path, changes in the lens aperture and the like. The scanner array is comprised of a charge transfer device chip, which includes an exposure control section and a document information receiving section. A document holding means includes a reference indicia, with a reflection of the image of the reference indicia being imaged on the exposure control section simultaneous with the reflection of the document being imaged on the document information receiving section, in response to illumination from the light source. A common control signal concurrently applied to each section determines the time the reflected images are processed. The common control signal is terminated in response to the exposure control section sensing a given amount of light from the reflected image of the reference indicia.

Growing community of inventors

Charlotte, NC, United States of America

James M White