International Business Machines Corporation

William A Boothroyd

Robert A Palo

Boyd W Sorensen

Richard C Frey

James C Camann

Thomas G Anderson

A user guidance display system provides an animated display of example action being entered into a displayed image of the machine, to show a self-service machine user how the machine is to be operated. The various graphic images which show the prospective user what to do are created on a personal computer, using any of the commercially available graphic design programs. The binary file provided by the design program is processed, to compress the file into a special form having reduced memory requirements and having synergism with the image-displaying apparatus so as to permit fast and low overhead display of each image. By displaying a base image comprised of a number of image fragments, the base image can be changed during the course of guiding a user through a transaction. Animation is provided by sequentially displaying a plurality of image fragments under control of an animation list which, in turn, controls a timer. In order to provide for the convenient combination of graphic images and text, each image fragment is referenced to a text character location. The picture fragments, after being compressed, are stored in a memory in the self-service transaction machine. Text and picture images are sent to the display as messages under control of the transaction program executing in the computer of the self-service transaction machine. The messages are in the form of standard character strings in which a special graphic escape control code has been defined to distinguish between character text codes and graphic image fragment display instructions.

User transaction guidance

A user transaction terminal which may be connected for communication with a large scale data processing system includes a card handling subsystem which receives and transports user information cards; a user communication subsystem which includes a keyboard and an optical display; a hardware control subsystem which operates terminal hardware, a transaction statement subsystem which prints and dispenses written records of user transactions; a terminal communication subsystem which provides communication with a data processing system; a processor support subsystem which assists a control subsystem by performing control functions which are more easily implemented with hardware than software; and a control subsystem which includes a programmed microprocessor which is connected to the other subsystems via an information bus to coordinate and control the operations of the other subsystems. The keyboard includes a plurality of mutually exclusive keyboard fields, each relating to a different type of information. These fields include a function selection field, a from account field, a to account field, and a numeric field. The transaction selection, from account, and to account fields each include an optional selection key, the activation of which permits a user to enter key modifier data corresponding to the field of an activated optional selection key by activating a selected, predetermined combination of keys within the numeric field in accordance with a prearranged schedule. This convenient, simple keyboard thus contains separate keys for the most commonly used information states for each field as well as optional selection keys which greatly expand the information which may be entered without a substantial increase in keyboard complexity.

Transaction terminal with unlimited range of functions

A transaction execution system includes a host data processing system having a multiple account data base and a plurality of transaction terminals in communication with the host. The terminals each include a keyboard, a display, document handling subsystems, a hardware control subsystem, a communication subsystem and a programmable control subsystem supervising the other subsystems. A user initiates a transaction request by inserting a card into one of the terminals. After reading acceptable account identification information from the card the terminal requests entry of a preassigned personal ID number through the keyboard. The ID number is encrypted by the terminal at least once and communicated to the host along with information read from the card and entered via the keyboard. The host accesses from its stored data base an encrypted ID number corresponding to the received card information and makes a verification comparison of the stored encrypted ID number with the encrypted ID number received from the terminal. By requiring the entry of a nonencrypted ID number at a terminal while storing only encrypted ID numbers at the host, the correspondence between credit card account information and ID numbers need be known only to a few key personnel having access to both the encryption algorithm and a particular key therefor.

Transaction execution system with secure data storage and communications

A versatile readily serviced transaction terminal includes a credit card control mechanism, a user keyboard, a user display, a document handling system for cash and printed transaction statements, and a system for controlling terminal operation. The terminal receives a user credit card having a magnetic stripe with prerecorded account information, reads the account information, and then receives a user personal ID number through the keyboard. As an available option, the terminal may require a predetermined correspondence between the personal ID number and the account information. After any required correspondence is satisfied, the user is permitted to operate the keyboard to indicate a selected one of an unlimited range of possible transaction requests. The control system, which includes a programmable microprocessor and a plurality of passive terminal elements interconnected by a terminal information bus, operates to assemble user supplied information, terminal status information, communicate transaction requests to a host, and provide central information to terminal modules for the execution of requested transactions in a manner consistent with host generated transaction reply messages. Each terminal element handles one or more terminal functions such as the control of hardware or the control of user communications in direct response to microprocessor control information. All decision making is handled by the microprocessor with only specific, well defined commands being executed by the bus connected modules.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

William A Boothroyd