Importance

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Abstract

The present invention includes the hardware and software necessary to perform virtually any volume of complex transactions, and particularly a large volume thereof, is disposed in a central Application Processing Front End (APFE) which is shared by a plurality of merchants, thereby spreading the cost of the APFE among a large number of users. By including only the minimum amount of hardware components in the POS terminals, such terminals may be made available to low volume users on a cost-effective basis. In the present invention, the APFE logical module is interposed between the POS terminal and the host computer. In one embodiment of the present invention, the APFE comprises a separate hardware module interposed between the POS terminal and the host computer; in an alternate embodiment, the APFE corresponds to a software module resident within the host. The APFE unit includes the sophisticated hardware, software, memory, and other computing components necessary to implement a large volume of sophisticated transactions quickly and efficiently. The POS terminals which interface with the APFE, on the other hand, include only the minimum amount of hardware and software necessary to perform a desired level of functionality.

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First Claim