Method and apparatus for redundancy in an ATM using hot swap hardware underlying a virtual machine
US8689039B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 28, 2011 |
| Grant date | Apr 1, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 3, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F2201/815
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method and apparatus for providing redundancy in an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) is provided. The hardware platform of the ATM is configured to tolerate removal of a portion of the hardware as well as insertion of a portion of the hardware without removing power from the ATM. The insertion and replacement of hardware to a powered device is termed a “hot swap”. A hot swap may be necessitated by the failure or the upgrade of a hardware component. The hot swap is detected by a software program running on top of the hardware platform. The software program may reintegrate the replacement hardware including the location of “drivers” for the replacement software. In addition, application software may be run on top of a virtual environment such as a virtual machine and/or a virtual disk environment. Should a software component fail, the virtual environment will “crash” but the ATM hardware and operating system will remain intact. If the software is fatally flawed—e.g., due to a faulty “upgrade” the older version may be “rolled back” from a previously stored virtual environment.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.