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AreyouinvolvedinsellingorsupportingATMs?DoyouknowhowNDCworks?Doyou
knowwhataStateTableis?WhatgetsdownloadedtotheATM?
MynameisColinDavis,andinthisseminar,IwillgiveyouashorthistoryofATMs,and
thendescribewhatismeantbytheNDCenvironment.
Objectives
NCR Confidential
Bytheendofthisseminar,youshouldbeableto:
DescribethedevelopmentofNDC,listthetablescontainedinaDownlineLoad,describe
thecontentofthosetables,describe(atahighlevel)StateProcessing,theflowof
transactionsandlisttheoperationalmodes.
InthisseminarwewilllookbrieflyatthehistoryofATMssincethefirstonewas
installed.ThenwewillgetintoNDCandseehowitoperateswiththevarioustablesthat
getdownloaded.
Wewilllookatthetypesofmessagethatgetpassedbetweenthe terminalandthehost
andwewilllisttheoperationalstatesthattheterminalcanbe in.
NCR Confidential
AsyoucanseefromtheATMTimelinehere,thefirstATMthatwasinstalledwasat
BarclaysBankintheUKin1967.Atthattime,Docutel wastheonlyATMmanufacturer.
Docutel thenmovedtotheNorthAmericanmarket,ChemicalBankin1969, andthenon
toCitizensandSouthernNationalBankofAtlantain1971.
Asof1974,Docutel enjoyed100%ofthemarket,butwithonly2900units.
ATMinstallationswerelimitedtoonpremiseonly,theoffpremisemarkethadnotbeen
conceived.
ThisiswhereNCRenteredthemarket,withour1stgenerationATM,theNCR770.
NCR Confidential
In1977,theATMmarketreallystartedtogainmomentum.Diebold hadits9000
controllerbasedsolution,IBMhadannouncedits3624buttheycouldntdeliverfor18
months.
Docutel 2000unitswereunreliableandexpensivetoupgradeandtheNCR 1770in
lobbyATMcouldnotbedelivereduntil1978.
The1770wasNCRssecondgenerationATManditisimportanttonotethatDiebold
wastheonlyATMvendoratthetimethatwasabletodeliverunits,andsoconsequently
theygrewtheirmarketsharetonumber1.
In1979,NCRdidcomeoutwiththe1780whichunfortunatelyhadsomereliability
problems.IBMwereabletodelivertheir3624,andDieboldstartedtoreleasethe910
directconnectsoftware.
In1982morecompaniesjoinedthegrowingmarketwithFujitsuandBurroughsand
thenin1983,NCRreallycameonboardwithitsthirdgeneration andthecreationofa
dedicatedSelfServiceBusinessUnit.
Alsoin1983NCRDirectConnectsoftwarewascreatedtooperateits3rdGeneration,
50xxseries,eitherinDieboldemulationtocapturereplacementbusiness,orinNCR
NativemodetotakeadvantageofNCRfeaturessuchashaving8FunctionDisplayKeys.
In1990,NCRs4thgenerationwaslaunchedandatthattimetheoriginalNDCsoftware
wasmigratedtoNDC+thatwascreatedspecificallytosupport4thgenerationfeatures
suchastheabilitytodisplaygraphicimages,ratherthanjusttext.
CruciallyNDC+usedthesamehostapplicationasNDCandthesamecustomisationdata.
Beingbackwardscompatible,sothatnewsoftwarecanbeinstalledwithnohost
change,isaguidingprincipleformanyofourcustomerseventoday.
NCR Confidential
In1996,NCRlaunchedourPersonasseries.PersonaswasthefirsthardwarePlatform
fromNCRthatwascapableofsupportingtheWindowsNToperating system.
AtthesametimewealsolaunchedSSDSwhichisanapplicationdevelopment
environmentbutcriticallythePersonassupportedtheolderNDC+ applicationrunning
withtheolderOS/2operatingsystemaswell.
SoitwasidealtoprovideamigrationpathtogofromOS/2toWindowsNTand
eventuallyWindowsXP.
In1998,SSDSNDCwaslaunchedtooperatewiththeNToperatingsystemandin1999,
NCRrebrandeditsWindowsbasedsoftwaretotheAPTRAsoftwaresuite.
In2002,theAPTRAsoftwarewasmigratedtorunonbothWindowsNTandWindows
XP.
NCR Confidential
Oneofthekeydriversinthelastfewyearshasbeenthemovetoproviding1software
solutionthatwillworkonterminalsfromallthemajormanufacturers.Banks
increasinglywanttobuythehardwarefromanysupplierbutstillbeabletorun,and
support,softwarefromjust1supplierregardlessofthehardware.
Allofthemajormanufacturers,includingNCR,gottogetherwith CEN,theEuropean
CommitteeforStandardisation,toproduceastandardcalledCENXFSthatwouldhelp
softwaredeveloperstowrite1applicationthatwouldrunonany CENXFScompliant
system.
APTRAAdvanceNDCversion3.0wasreleasedin2005thatwouldworknotonlyonNCR
ATMs,butalsoDiebold,Wincorandintheory,anyCENXFScomplianthardware.
In2008NCRreplacedthePersonasrangewiththeupdatedSelfServrangeofhardware,
increasingthevarietyofdevices,suchasdepositdevices,aswellasmovingfromolder
SerialbasedhardwaretoUSBdevices.
In2011NCRstartedlimitedsupportforWindows7onaselectnumberofSelfServ
terminals,withtheintentionoffullWindows7supportbytheendof2011.APTRA
AdvanceNDCversion4.1isthefirstversionofNDCtosupportWindows7aswellas
havingmajorenhancementsforDepositsolutions.
NCR Confidential
ThatwasabriefhistoryofATMhardware,nowwewillconcentrateontheAPTRA
softwareproductsthatNCRsellthataresuitableintheNDCenvironment.
WiththelaunchofNCRs3rdgenerationATMin1983therewereanumberofATM
systemarchitecturesinuseatthetime.
Theprimarydifferencebetweenthearchitectureswasthelocationofthetransaction
processingcapabilities.Youvegottorememberthisistheearly80s,personal
computerswereintheirinfancy,mostcomputerswereMainFrames whereallofthe
processingisdoneon1largecentralsystemandalloftheterminalsaredumb.Butthe
80ssawtheintroductionofmicroprocessorsthatcouldmakemoreandmore
processingdecisionslocally,onlyneedingacentralcomputerforthefinalauthorisation.
Diebolds910DirectConnectsoftwarehadstartedatrendwhereallofthefunctionality
wascentrallymanagedbytheBanksmainframecomputer.
Alternativelytherewasacontrollerbasedsolution,andIntelligentATMswherethe
ATMswereabletomakealotofdecisionsattheterminallevel.
NCRsDirectConnectsoftwarewasproduced,initiallytobecompatiblewiththeDiebold
910DirectConnect,butthenitbranchedouttobecomeitsownstandard,NDC,to
supportthefeaturesofNCRhardware.
Direct Connect
In Direct Connect systems:
Network software designed for non-intelligent terminals
Transaction control is at the Central Host
If the network goes down for any reason, the ATMs are
unavailable
NCR Confidential
SowhatisNDC?WellwithDirectConnectsystems,thenetworkis designedfornon
intelligentterminals,itwasmorecosteffectiveatthetimeto havelowercostterminals
andgreatercentralprocessing.
TherewasnothingliketheCPUsthatwehavenow,whereprocessingischeapand
efficientattheterminallevelsotransactioncontrolwasalwaysatthebankscentral
mainframeorHost.Someofthedrawbackswerethatifthenetworkeverwentdown
foranyreason,theATMnetworkwasalsounavailable.
ThesoftwareonaDirectConnectterminalwasTableDriven.What doImeanbyTable
DrivenSoftware?
ThesoftwareontheATMknowshowtooperatethehardware,butitdoesnthaveany
intelligenceintermsofhowtopresentatransactiontoacardholder,whatitdoesis
followinformationthathasbeensenttoitfromthecentralhostwhicharestoredas
tables.
ThesoftwarerunningontheATMlooksatthetablestotellitthingslikewhat
informationtodisplayonthemonitor,whatstepsneedtobefollowedandthe
sequenceofthosestepstowalkacardholderthroughanATMtransaction.
ThetablesalsogivetheATMinformationabouthowtoprocessCardandPIN
informationandtheyhavevaluesforthingsliketimeoutsanddifferenttypesof
configurationinformation.
TableinformationissenttotheATMthroughsomethingcalledtheDownlineload.The
downlineloadisaseriesofmessagessenttoeveryNDCterminal fromhost sending
theStates,Screens,FinancialInstitutionTables(FITs)andConfigurationtablesforthe
ATMtostorelocallyandfollow.
Advantages / Disadvantages
Advantages
Lower cost ATMs
Centralised Control
Gives networks the ability to control all ATMs centrally
Disadvantages
No off-line processing
Processing load on host
May cause overload, requiring larger or additional processors
to be used
No local control
Changes must be made at the Host
NCR Confidential
10
TheadvantageisthatwhentheDirectConnectarchitecturewasfirstlaunchedinthe
mid70sandearly80s,thatithadalowcostforATMs lessintelligencewasrequired
ateachterminal.Thisalsoallowedforcentralisedcontrol onechangeonthebanks
centralmainframecouldthenbepushedquicklytoeveryATM.Networkshadtheability
tocontrolalloftheirterminalscentrally,sotheyknewexactlywhatwasgoingonata
specificATMinanygivenpointintime.
ThedisadvantagesofhavingnoprocessingattheATMisthatitcannotoperateinoff
linemode.
Italsocreatesarealprocessingloadonthecentralhostcomputer.Asmoreandmore
ATMsgetaddedtothebanksnetwork,theHostwillhavecapacityissuesthathaveto
bedealtwith.
Butmorethanthat,asATMshandlemoreandmorediversetypesoftransaction,such
asMobilePhoneTopup,having1centralHostbecomesveryexpensivetoupgrade,
supportandmaintain.
AndthefinaldisadvantagewithtraditionalDirectConnectisthatthereisnolocal
control theATMisnotabletomakedecisions,andthereforethehosthastoprogram
allchanges.
Soagain,inthecentralisedNDCworld,thereisastrongdependencyonhost
programmingcapabilitiesforthecustomer,skillsthatarebecomingmoreandmore
specialisedandexpensive.
Tosupportanewtransaction,theywillhavetogototheirhost software,suchasACIor
DeluxeDataandthentheyaregoingtogetinlineforresourceavailabilitiesandcosts.
CENTRAL
SWITCH
NCR Confidential
11
SofarIhaveusedthetermsCentralandHosttotalkaboutthemainframecomputerat
theBank.
Intheearlydays,everythingwasonpremiseandtheATMonlyservedtheowning
institutionscustomers.Central wasthebanksmainframecomputer,alsocalledthe
Hostcomputer.
Later,banksgottogethertoformallianceswhereifyouwereacustomerof1bank,you
couldalsousetheATMsoftheirpartners,thisgreatlyincreasedthenumberofATMs
youcoulduseasthecustomerofaparticularbank.
TodayofcourseyoucanusealmosteveryATMintheworldandit canservicealmost
anycardwhatsoever.
Tomanagethesenetworksofinterconnectedsystems,theATMsare connectedtoa
Switch computer,whichwillrouteauthorisationrequeststotheappropriatehost
anywhereintheworld.
SoyouwillseethewordsCentral,HostandSwitchusedalmostinterchangeably
because,fromtheATMsperspective,itisallthesamething.
IttalkstoCentral whichitbelievesisattheotherendofthatcommunicationlink.
Downline Load
States, Screens, FITs, Configuration
Downline Load
Table information sent to the ATM
12
WewanttofocusonNDCterminaloperationsandgetbacktosome ofthepointsthat
wereraisedearlier.
TerminaloperationsarecontrolledbyreallythreedifferentthingsintheNDCworld.
TheyarecontrolledbythesoftwarerunningontheATM,thecustomisationdownline
loadfromthehostandfinallytheyarecontrolledbycommandmessagessenttothe
ATMagainfromCentral.
IwanttodifferentiatebetweentheDownlineLoadandSoftwareManagementhere.
TheDownlineLoadisaseriesofmessagesfromCentraltotheATMcontainingthetable
information.SoftwareManagementorSoftwareDistributionsystemsarecompletely
separate.
SoftwareManagementisforinstallingoperatingsystempatches,newversionsof
software,newgraphicsfilesandgenerallycontrollingthesoftwareontheATM.
ThedownlineloadisnotcapableofsendinganewimagefiletotheATM,thebankwill
havetoinstallseparatesoftwareforthat.
On Power-Up
When an NDC ATM is powered on
Terminal sends a status message to Central & enters Out
of Service mode
Central may now downline load customisation data
Central may also change encryption keys and set terminal
Date/Time
Central sends a Go In Service command to the terminal
NCR Confidential
13
Soasabriefoverview,thesearethestepsthatanNDCATMmayfollowonpowerup.
Thefirstthingistopowerup,checkallthehardwareisworking,establish
communicationsandsendastatusmessageCentralsothatisknowstheATMhasjust
beenturnedon.
ButatraditionalNDCATMwillnotbeavailabletocardholdersyet,itwillenteranOutof
Servicemode.
Centralmaychoosetodoadownlineloadofnewcustomisationdata loadinganynew
StateTables,anynewScreenData,FITtablesandConfigurationParameters.
CentralmayalsochoosetochangeEncryptionKeys,resettheterminalsTimeandDate
andrequestthestatusinformationforallofthedevicesfitted totheATM.
Oncethatsdone,CentralwilldecidewhethertosendaGoInServicecommandtothe
ATM,allowingittobecomeavailabletocardholders.
ThepointofthisisthetraditionalNDCATMreallycannotdoanythingunlessthecentral
hostorswitchsaystodosomething.
Customisation Data
State Tables
Cash Withdrawal
State 3
Amount Entry F State
Screen: 13
Go to 5
State 0
Card Read A State
Screen: 10
Good Read go to 1
Screen 10:
Please Insert Your Card
State 1
PIN Entry B State
Screen: 11
Good PIN go to 2
Screen 11:
Please Enter you PIN
State 2
Menu E State
Screen: 12
Cash Deposit
State 4
Cash Deposit > State
Screen: 14
Go to 5
Balance
State 5
Trans Request I State
Screen: 15
NCR Confidential
14
IkeepmentioningStatesTables,whatdoImeanbyaStateTable?
ThinkoftheStateTableasanumberofsequentialinstructions, similartoaconventional
computerprogram.
Eachstateissimilartoaprograminstructionandwhentheterminalisinservice,the
tablesareexecutedthesameasaprogramgetsexecuted,startingatState0whichis
thefirstlineofthestatestable.
MoststatesincludesomesortofascreennumbertodisplayandaNextStatenumberas
partofthetabledata.So,whenyouareexecutingastatetable,itsaysThisiswhat
weregoingtodoforthisparticularstepofthistransaction.You needtopainta
particularscreenontothemonitorthatmighthavethewelcomescreenforexample,
enablethecardreader,andwhenthecardgetsinserted,thereisanewscreenthatgets
paintedontothemonitor.
Thestatetablearticulates,foreachstepofthetransaction,whattodowiththe
information,whatinformationtopostontothemonitorandwheretogonext.
NCR Confidential
15
HereisthebeginningofthedefinitionoftheCardReadstate.Youcanseethatitbegins
witha1characterStateType(inthiscaseA).ThisstatetypetellstheATMsoftware
whathardwaretoenableandwhatdatatocollect.
TheAstateiscardread,soenablethecardreader.TheFstateisAmountEntry,so
enablethenumberkeysandallowtheentryofanamount.
Eachtableentryhas9parameters,Iamonlyshowingyouthefirst3here.
ThefirstparameterisalwaystheStateTypewhichisjust1character.
Eachsubsequentparameteris3charactersandreferstoascreen number,anotherstate
numberorsomeotherinformationthattellstheATMsoftwarehow tooperateinthis
particularstate.
Transaction Processing
Cash Withdrawal
State 3
Amount Entry F State
Screen: 13
Go to 5
State 0
Card Read A State
Screen: 10
Good Read go to 1
Screen 10:
Please Insert Your Card
State 1
PIN Entry B State
Screen: 11
Good PIN go to 2
Screen 11:
Please Enter you PIN
State 2
Menu E State
Screen: 12
Cash Deposit
State 4
Cash Deposit > State
Screen: 14
Go to 5
Balance
State 5
Trans Request I State
Screen: 15
NCR Confidential
16
OncetheATMistoldtoGoInServicebyCentralthetraditional NDCterminalwill
executethefirstStatetableentry,statenumber0.HereIveshownaverysimplified
transactionflowexample.
State0shouldbesomesortofaCardReadstate,IveusedanAstate.Thesoftware
knowsthatforanAstateitneedstoenablethecardreaderand whenacardisinserted,
parametersintheAstatetableentrytellthesoftwarewhichtrackstoreadfromthe
card.
IfthecardisreadsuccessfullytheNDCsoftwarewillgotothe statenumberidentified
bytheStateTable,inthiscaseaPINEntrystate.
Nextmystateflowgoestothemaintransactionmenu,offeringthecardholder3
transactions,CashWithdrawal,CashDepositandBalance.Theflowbranchesdepending
onwhichoptionthecardholderchoosesbuteventuallywillalwayscomebacktoa
TransactionRequestState,whichsendsaTransactionmessagetoCentralfor
authorisation.
NCR Confidential
17
CentralthenrespondswithsomesortofTransactionReplycommand;andthisis
important,thereisahierarchyhere whentheterminalistalkingtothehost,itisa
request,andwhenthehostistalkingtotheterminal,itisacommand
whichinstructstheterminalontheoperationtobeperformed,whatscreendatato
display,thedatatobeprinted,thenumberofnotestodispense andthenextstateto
enter.
SotheATMgetstheTransactionReplycommand,andiftheATMcompletesthe
operationsuccessfully,aReadymessageistransmittedtoCentralandthenextstateis
entered.
Butifthereisanerror,thenadevicestatusistransmittedto Central,andtheterminal
waitsforanotherTransactionReplycommandfromCentral.
TheATMreliesonCentraltotellitwhattodo.
3 Constituent Parts
Cardholder
Terminal
NCR Confidential
Central
18
Youcanseethatthistransactionflowisreallydividedinto3constituentsthatarereally
importantinhowanNDCtransactiontakesplace.
YouhavetheCardholder,whoisobviouslythecustomer.Youhave gottheterminalthat
isinterestedinfollowingwhatisgoingon;andthenyouvegotthecentralapplication.
Eachcardholdermightchooseadifferentflowthroughthestates byselectingdifferent
transactiontypes.Sostartingfromstate0,PleaseInsertYourCard thecardisread,
andthentheterminalgoestothenextStatewhichmightsayPleaseEnteryourPIN.
SothecardholderenterstheirPIN,Pleasechooseatransactiontype,PleaseEnteran
Amount andsoon.
Allofthatinformation thecardnumber,thePINinformation,thetransactionselection
andtheamountallgetcollectedbeforetheterminalstartstotalktothehost.
OnlywhenallofthetransactioninformationhasbeenentereddoestheATMsendthe
TransactionRequestmessage.
Thecentralapplicationauthorisesthetransaction,bymakingsurethatthecardisavalid
card,thatthePINisavalidPINforthatcard,andanyotherchecksthatitchoosesto
make,suchaswhetherthereissufficientfundsintheaccount.
Onceallthosecheckshavebeendoneandthehostissatisfiedthatthetransactionis
legitimate,thenitsendsaTransactionReplycommandtoDispense,Print,andthengo
ontothenextstate.
Operational Modes
NDC terminal can operate in 7 different modes
Start Up Mode
Out of Service Mode
In Service Mode
Settlement Transaction Mode
Offline Mode
Supervisor Mode
Suspend Mode
NCR Confidential
19
FinallyIwantedtotouchbrieflyonthedifferenttypesofoperationmodesthatanATM
canbein,inanNDCapplication.
Really,thereare7differentmodes.
YouhavegotStartupmode,theOutofServicemode,theInServicemode,Settlement
Transactionmode,Offlinemode,SupervisormodeandSuspendmode.
Thesemodesareprettyintuitiveastowhatgoeson,butifanyofyouareinterestedin
moredetail,youcouldspeakwithyourlocalPSconsultantordropmeanemail.
APTRA Activate
Support for NDC messages
NCR Confidential
20
NowthatyouknowwhatwemeanbytheNDCenvironment,letsfinishbytalking
abouttheNCRsoftwarespecifically.
NCRhave3APTRAsoftwareproductsthatcanbeusedinanNDCenvironment.
APTRAAdvanceNDCfollowsthetraditionalNDCphilosophyofabankcentralcomputer
controllingthecustomerscreensandfunctionsusingStatesandScreens.Thisisthe
mosttraditionalNDCsoftware.
ThentherewasAPTRAEdgewithanNDCproxybutthisdiscontinuedin2010and
replaceddirectlywithAPTRAActivatewhichalsosupportsNDCmessages.
APTRAEdgeandAPTRAActivatedonotfollowthetraditionalNDCstateflow,and
screendownload,buttheydorespecttheNDCmessagingsystemso theycanworkwith
anNDChost.TheyhavemoreindependencethanAPTRAAdvanceNDC, thereismore
localATMconfigurationandlocalprocessing,butthefinalauthorisationcanstillbe
doneusingthetraditionalNDCTransactionRequestandReplymessages.
IhopethattheinformationthatIvegivenyouhasprovidedausefulinsightintothe
worldofNDCandwhatthatmeanstotheATMmarketplace.