Full contact with POS Access Technology

Full contact with POS Access Technology
Zdnet China
30/6/2003
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.cn/techupdate/implement/wireless/communication/story/0,3800072586,39048538,00.htm

The POS machine should be no stranger to most people: the POS machine will "swipe the card" on the POS machine, the POS machine will get the information (card number, business data, etc.) through the communication line to the bank host, the host processes the information and returns the corresponding processing result to the POS machine to complete a transaction. There must be POS access devices between the POS terminal and the host of the Bank to complete communication between the two parties. Accordingly, various POS access technologies have also emerged.

Currently, the most widely used POS access methods can be simply divided into two types: traditional point-to-point POS access methods based on telephone networks and subsequent Network POS access methods, now, has launched a router POS access solution globally to address the shortcomings of existing access methods. We will introduce it to you in detail below.

Point-to-Point dialing POS Access Technology

The dial-up POS is based on the traditional telephone network. Wired or wireless POS terminals placed at sales points (malls, hotels, hotels, gas stations, and other places) are called to the authorization center through built-in modem; in the authorization center, the Network Access Controller (NAC) connects several trunk lines (depending on the scale, the trunk lines are equipped with 2 to 10 lines, up to 16 lines) to receive POS data, the data format accepted by the host of the Bank or other receiving institution is first processed by the network controller (NAC) and then sent to the authorized host for processing.

The biggest feature of point-to-point dialing POS is that the POS terminal connects to the network access controller through the telephone network through the built-in modem for communication. Relatively low cost and ease of use are the main advantages of dial-up pos. In particular, the point-to-point POS access method is widely used when the data network is not developed in the early days. However, the inherent characteristics of the telephone network determine that there must be some problems in dialing POS. Main problems:

Poor System Reliability: Because the telephone network is designed to transmit voice, its transmission error rate is 1 × 10-3, and the transmission quality is poor, banking services that do not meet high data transmission requirements.

Poor system confidentiality: the telephone network is an open network, which is prone to "intrusion ".

Long transaction time: POS transaction time is roughly divided into two parts: communication and host processing. The latter's speed can be improved by upgrading hosts and improving software. In this regard, the manufacturers have done their best and there is little room for improvement. The real bottleneck of slow speed lies in communication. Pos sends data through dial-up. First, there must be a modem "handshake" to establish the connection time, which is about 10 ~ 20 seconds (using the "quick handshake" technology also takes at least 5 seconds ). Therefore, every transaction is 20 ~ 30 seconds, or even longer.

Low connection rate and obvious redial phenomenon: the average connection rate of the telephone network itself is only 55%, far lower than that of the data network, the telephone relay lines of the authorization center and the outlet relay lines of the telephone small switch of the mall are all "bottlenecks" of point-to-point dialing POs, And the POS machines are mixed with the business telephones of the mall, this makes it difficult for POS machines to allocate external lines, directly affecting the transaction time and quality.

Network technology upgrades are difficult: Although modem technology has produced many new technologies and standards over the past few years, the speed and quality are improving, but it also brings more complicated processing to the link negotiation, which introduces the dialing time problem described above. In addition, low-speed links transmit data slowly. In this way, it is difficult for the system to smoothly transition with the development of data communication technology and introduce new technologies.

In short, although the application of dial-up POS has a relatively long time and a relatively large range, with the development of data communication technology, dial-up methods have been difficult to compete with the current rise of Network POS access.

Network-based POS Access Technology

The network-based POS access technology is opposite to the dial-up method. POS terminals no longer access the NAC of the authorization center through the telephone network, but access the internet like ordinary Ethernet users, connect to the NAC of the authorization center directly through the data network (Ethernet, ddnleased line, etc. Compared with the dial-up POS through the landline network, the Network POS access has the following advantages:

Reliability and confidentiality: the design of various encryption, confidentiality, and reliability of the data network makes the reliability and confidentiality of the Network POS method much higher than that of the traditional telephone network.

Short transaction time: Modem "dial-up" is no longer required in the network mode. Therefore, the most sensitive transaction time caused by dial-up is avoided first, and because the network mode is always "online, therefore, the high redial rate is also radical.

Easy technical upgrade: traditional telephone networks can only carry signals, and data networks can take full advantage of the technical advantages of network communication, for example, bandwidth, Reliable IP transmission, line backup, and traffic sharing. At the same time, the network components based on this technology are independent and scalable, for example, you can use the new network technology to achieve smooth transition. These advantages cannot be achieved in the dial-up network mode.

In short, Network POS access has a greater performance advantage than dial-up POs, and Network POS is the development trend of POS devices. Of course, the dial-up POs may have requirements for a long period of time. Especially for some small users, the cost of the network method is not suitable. Moreover, there is an inevitable transitional process for large users.

Router POS Access Technology

After careful analysis of the above POS access solution, we will find that both dial-up POs and Network POS require dedicated access devices to connect POS terminals and authorized hosts, for example, a variety of professional NAC. These dedicated access devices require not only dedicated personnel for maintenance, but also have disadvantages such as single functions, high costs, poor compatibility and scalability. Therefore, the spokesperson for domestic routers, creatively launched the POs access technology based on general-purpose routers in the world, providing users with cutting-edge and cost-effective options.

Compared with the existing POS access, the core of the router POS access is to add a pos function card to the router to replace the traditional dedicated network controllers such as NAC. This advantage is obvious for dial-up POs and Network POS. Its advantages include:

Powerful vro Access provides a simpler network structure and richer IP features compared with the network controller. The speed of dial-up is less than 3 seconds, it provides a variety of low-convergence solutions to adapt to the future development of POs, and many IP services such as VPN, encryption, backup and other policies can play a role in the traditional POS network, it is more secure, flexible, and reliable. It supports centralized network management and surpasses traditional network controllers in terms of performance. For example, when the number of POS networks reaches several hundred or even thousands, the limited NAC trunk lines will inevitably cause system congestion, and it is unrealistic to expand the NAC and trunk lines in a large number; the powerful scalability of the router can solve this problem well.

Cost-effective because a simple function card replaces the dedicated network controller, not only the device price is much lower than the dedicated network controller, but also reduces the workload of personnel and maintenance for POS system operators; coupled with the powerful functions of the Router Access System, it is highly cost-effective.

Good compatibility. For example, in the dial-up POS mode, the network controller and the business processor are pure business flows, while using a router can directly connect to the LAN in a bank or authorized institution, in this way, the POS system applications can be seamlessly integrated with other network applications, such as integration and communication with MIS, ERP, and other e-commerce systems, in this way, the user information level is improved as a whole, and the cost of professional personnel and specialized equipment is greatly reduced. This is especially true for Network POS.

Therefore, the POs access solution using the router platform represents the future development direction of POS access technology. Compared with other access methods, not only do not have dial-up time problems, but also have high communication speed and reliability. In addition, various technologies of IP network communication can be fully utilized, it is easy to smoothly transform or upgrade the system, which is more cost-effective and will certainly be applied more widely.

(Responsible editor: Wang Yue)