1. A method of processing data packets in an electronic network comprising:
receiving a plurality of data packets at a receive stack of an electronic network device;
saving a first header of the plurality of data packets;
modifying the first header with information from each of the set of data packets;
moving a start of data pointer for each of the plurality of data packets;
concatenating the set of data packets, thereby creating a concatenated packet, wherein the concatenated packet includes an indicator identifying the concatenated packet as a first packet type; and
routing the concatenated packet to a transmit stack of the electronic network device; and
segmenting the concatenated packet in the transmit stack, wherein segmenting the concatenated packet in the transmit stack comprises restoring information from the modified first header to each of the plurality of data packets.
2. A method of processing data packets in an electronic network comprising:
receiving a plurality of data packets at a receive stack of an electronic network device;
saving a first header of the plurality of data packets;
modifying the first header with information from each of the set of data packets;
moving a start of data pointer for each of the plurality of data packets;
concatenating the set of data packets, thereby creating a concatenated packet, wherein the concatenated packet includes an indicator identifying the concatenated packet as a first packet type;
passing the concatenated packet to a bridge layer of the receive stack; and
routing the concatenated packet to a transmit stack of the electronic network device from the bridge layer, wherein the receive stack includes a plurality of protocol layers, wherein the bridge layer is an intermediate layer of the plurality of protocol layers, and wherein routing the concatenated packet to the transmit stack bypasses at least one protocol layer in the plurality of protocol layers.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising segmenting the concatenated packet in a transmit stack of the electronic network device, wherein segmenting the concatenated packet comprises moving the start of data pointer for each of the plurality of data packets.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising recalculating a checksum for the first header.
5. The method of claim 3 further comprising:
receiving the concatenated packet at the transmit stack;
setting one or more bits in a header of the concatenated packet to provide an indicator that the concatenated packet is of the first packet type.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein creating the concatenated packet from at least a portion of each of the set of data packets comprises aggregating non-header data from the plurality of data packets in a buffer with the first header.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprises removing a packet size limitation.
8. A method for operating a network device, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of data packets at a receive stack of the network device;
subtracting a payload checksum from each of the plurality of data packets;
placing the payload checksums in a meta-structure; and
concatenating the plurality of data packets, thereby generating a combined packet from the received plurality of data packets;
passing the combined packet to a transmit stack of the network device; and
segmenting the combined packet into the plurality of data packets prior to transmitting the plurality of data packets.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein segmenting the combined packet into the plurality of data packets comprises providing the payload checksums to the respective data packets of the plurality of data packets.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein passing the combined packet to the transmit stack comprises passing the combined packet and the meta-structure at a network address translation layer of the network device.
11. The method of claim 9 further comprising calculating a header and a complete checksum for each of the plurality of data packets.
12. An electronic device comprising:
a processor;
a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing operating instructions for the operation of the electronic device;
a receive stack comprising a plurality of operative layers operated by the processor, wherein the receive stack is configured to create a combined packet from a plurality of received data packets, preserving checksum data of the data packets; and
a transmit stack comprising a plurality of operative layers operated by the processor, wherein the transmit stack is configured to receive the combined packet from the receive stack and reconstitute the plurality of data packets with the preserved checksum data prior to transmitting the plurality of data packets.
13. The electronic device of claim 12 wherein the processor is configured to operate a first layer of the receive stack to pass the combined packet to the transmit stack.
14. The electronic device of claim 12 wherein the processor is configured to extract the checksum data from a payload portion of the plurality of data packets and store the checksum data in a meta-structure associated with the combined packet.
15. The electronic device of claim 14 wherein the processor is configured to move a start of data pointer for each of the plurality of data packets when creating the combined packet.
16. The electronic device of claim 15 wherein the processor is configured to move the start of data pointer for each of the plurality of data packets when segmenting the combined packet.
17. The electronic device of claim 12 wherein the processor is configured to calculate a checksum for at least one header of the plurality of data packets upon reconstituting the packets in the transmit stack.
18. The electronic device of claim 12 wherein each of the transmit and receive stacks comprise a first layer, the first layer comprising:
a driver; and
a bridge layer logically located between the driver and a second layer, the bridge layer including a first address table and the second layer including a second address table, wherein one of the bridge layer or the second layer includes a network address translation layer.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A self-checkout system for conducting purchasing transactions comprising a self-checkout side and an attendant side, at least two self-checkout stations and a single self-payment module for effecting payments for transactions conducted on each of the least two self-checkout stations, wherein a plurality of the at least two self-checkout stations and the single self-payment module are all operable for scanning items for purchase and payment therof, respectively, from the self-checkout side, wherein selecting a self-checkout station for completing the respective transaction first based upon a determined priority, wherein upon a first time being the same time as a second time, the priority is awarded to a first self-checkout station.
2. The self-checkout system according to claim 1, wherein the self-payment module includes at least one or more of a coin acceptor, a bill acceptor, a electronic payment card reader, a signature capture device, a pin-pad, a coin dispenser, a bill dispenser and a coupon compartment.
3. The self-checkout system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the self-checkout stations is configurable for use as an attendant checkout system.
4. The self-checkout system according to claim 3, further comprising a cash box for use by the attendant.
5. The self-checkout system according to claim 3, wherein upon the at least one self-checkout stations being operable in an attendant mode, a respective display is rotatable to an attendant position.
6. The self-checkout system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the self-checkout stations include one or more security devices for aiding in the prevention of customer fraud.
7. The self-checkout system according to claim 6, wherein the one or more security devices comprise at least one of a physical characteristic measurement device (PCMD), wherein the PCMD produces a signal indicative of a measured characteristic of an item for comparison to a stored value of the measured characteristic.
8. The self-checkout system according to claim 7, wherein the PCMD comprises a scale.
9. The self-checkout system according to claim 6, wherein the one or more security devices comprise at least one of video surveillance, RFID item verification, EAS item verification and optical recognition item verification.
10. The self-checkout system according to claim 1, further comprising at least one conveyor system for moving purchased items from one or more of the at least two self-checkout stations to a bagging area.
11. The self-checkout system according to claim 10, wherein the at least one conveyor includes one or more security devices for aiding in prevention of customer fraud.
12. The self-checkout system according to claim 11, wherein the one or more security devices comprise at least one of a physical characteristic measurement device (PCMD), wherein the PCMD produces a signal indicative of a measured characteristic of an item for comparison to a stored value of the measured characteristic.
13. The self-checkout system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the self-checkout stations includes a display.
14. The self-checkout system according to claim 1, wherein the at least two self-checkout stations and self-payment module are arranged in a single counter arrangement.
15. A self-checkout system for conducting purchasing transactions comprising:
a self-checkout side and an attendant side;
at least two self-checkout stations, wherein:
at least one of the self-checkout stations includes one or more security devices for aiding in prevention of customer fraud and a display;
the one or more security devices comprise at least one of a physical characteristic measurement device (PCMD);
the PCMD produces a signal indicative of a measured characteristic of an item for comparison to a stored value of the measured characteristic; and
at least one of the self-checkout stations configurable for use as an attendant checkout system; and
a single self-payment module for effecting payments for transactions conducted on each of the at least two self-checkout systems; wherein a plurality of the at least two self-checkout stations and the single self-payment module are all operable for scanning items for purchase and payment thereof, respectively, from the self-checkout side, wherein selecting a self-checkout station for completing the respective transaction first based upon a determined priority, wherein upon a first time being the same time as a second time, the priority is awarded to a first self-checkout station.
16. The checkout system according to claim 15, wherein the self-checkout station is provided in an existing checkout counter area.
17. The self-checkout system according to claim 15, wherein the at least two self-checkout stations and self-payment module are arranged in a single counter arrangement.
18. A method for conducting transactions for a self-checkout system, wherein the self-checkout system includes at least two self-checkout stations and a single self-payment module for effecting payments andor completing transactions conducted on each of the at least two self-checkout systems, the method comprising:
receiving a first signal at a first time, the first signal indicating that a first self-checkout station is ready to tender payment and complete a transaction conducted on the first self-checkout station;
receiving a second signal at a second time, the second signal indicating that a second self-checkout station is ready to tender payment and complete a transaction conducted on the second self-checkout station;
determining a priority of completing a respective transaction of the first self-checkout system and the second self-checkout system based upon the earlier of the first time and the second time, wherein completing the transaction comprises at least tending payment in at least one of cash, credit, debit and EBT (electronic benefits transfer) at the self-payment module, and wherein upon completing a transaction, the self-payment module is set to process another payment for a self-checkout station;
selecting the self-checkout station for completing the respective transaction first based upon the determined priority, wherein upon the first time being the same time as the second time, the priority is awarded to the first self-checkout station;
completing the transaction of the selected self-checkout system determined to have first priority; and
completing the transaction of the self-checkout system determined to have second priority.
19. The method according to claim 18, wherein tendering payment includes at least one of turning over at least the amount due for the transaction with at least one or more of coins, bills, credit, debit and EBT (electronic benefit transfer), and receiving change, cash back, credit, a receipt,andor a coupon.
20. A computer readable medium having computer instructions provided thereon for enabling a computer system to perform a method for conducting transactions for a self-checkout system, wherein the self-checkout area includes at least two self-checkout stations and a single self-payment module for effecting payments andor completing transactions conducted on each of the at least two self-checkout systems, the method comprising:
receiving a first signal at a first time, the first signal indicating that a first self-checkout station is ready to tender payment and complete a transaction conducted on the first self-checkout station;
receiving a second signal at a second time, the second signal indicating that a second self-checkout station is ready to tender payment and complete a transaction conducted on the second self-checkout station;
determining a priority of completing a respective transaction of the first self-checkout system and the second self-checkout system based upon the earlier of the first time and the second time, wherein completing the transaction comprises at least tending payment in at least one of cash, credit, debit and EBT (electronic benefit transfer) at the self-payment module, and wherein upon completing a transaction, the self-payment module is set to process another payment for a self-checkout station;
selecting the self-checkout station for completing the respective transaction first based upon the determined priority, wherein upon the first time being the same time as the second time, the priority is awarded to the first self-checkout station;
completing the transaction of the selected self-checkout system determined to have first priority; and
completing the transaction of the self-checkout system determined to have second priority.
21. The computer readable medium according to claim 20, wherein tendering payment includes at least one of turning over at least the amount due for the transaction with at least one or more of coins, bills, credit, debit and EBT (electronic benefit transfer), and receiving change, cash back, credit, a receipt, andor a coupon.
22. A computer application program operable on a computer for enabling a computer system to perform a method for conducting transactions for a self-checkout system, wherein the self-checkout system includes at least two self-checkout stations and a single self-payment module for effecting payments andor completing transactions conducted on each of the at least two self-checkout systems, the method comprising:
receiving a first signal at a first time, the first signal indicating that a first self-checkout station is ready to tender payment and complete a transaction conducted on the first self-checkout station;
receiving a second signal at a second time, the second signal indicating that a second self-checkout station is ready to tender payment and complete a transaction conducted on the second self-checkout station;
determining a priority of completing a respective transaction of the first self-checkout system and the second self-checkout system based upon the earlier of the first time and the second time, wherein completing the transaction comprises at least tending payment in at least one of cash, credit, debit and EBT (electronic benefit transfer) at the self-payment module, and wherein upon completing a transaction, the self-payment module is set to process another payment for a self-checkout station;
selecting the self-checkout station for completing the respective transaction first based upon the determined priority, wherein upon the first time being the same time as the second time, the priority is awarded to the first self-checkout station;
completing the transaction of the selected self-checkout system determined to have first priority; and
completing the transaction of the self-checkout system determined to have second priority.
23. The application program according to claim 22, wherein tendering payment includes at least one of turning over at least the amount due for the transaction with at least one or more of coins, bills, credit, debit and EBT, and receiving change, cash back, credit, a receipt, andor a coupon.