OPEN NETWORK SYSTEM FOR I/O OPERATION INCLUDING A COMMON GATEWAY INTERFACE AND AN EXTENDED OPEN NETWORK PROTOCOL WITH NON-STANDARD I/O DEVICES UTILIZING DEVICE AND IDENTIFIER FOR OPERATION TO BE PERFORMED WITH DEVICE

US6366967B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• DATA SCAPE LTD. · IE

Inventor

• Richard Wagner · Schopfheim, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: May 18, 1999
• Grant date: Apr 2, 2002
• Expiry date: May 18, 2019

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04L69/329
• WIPO field: IT methods for management
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

An open network system for supporting input/output (I/O) operations for non-standard I/O devices are disclosed. The system includes a server coupled to a plurality of I/O device through an open network and an extended open system protocol that supports communication with devices that are not personal computers (PCs). These devices include magnetic stripe readers, check readers, smart card readers, credit card terminals, screen phone terminals, PIN pads, printers, and the like. The extended open network protocol includes tags which identify device and input operations and attributes which identify the location, data exchange method, and data variable names for the retrieval, acquisition, and submission of data between the server and I/O devices. Preferably, the open network protocol is implemented in a Hyper Text Transport Protocol (HTTP). Preferably, the system includes a common gateway interface (CGI) at the server which converts protocol statements communicated between the server and I/O devices to application language statements for providing data to an application program coupled to the server. Most preferably, the application statements and protocol statements are constructed …