Configuring Point-of-Sale (POS) Applications to Communicate with Peripheral Devices in a POS System

A Point-of-Sale (POS) terminal comprising:

• a communications interface circuit configured to communicate data with one or more remote devices via a communications network;
• and
• a processing circuit configured to:
• generate a key for a POS peripheral device communicatively connected to the POS terminal responsive to detecting a predetermined trigger event;
• obtain a configuration file for the POS peripheral device based on the key, wherein the configuration file comprises configuration data defining configuration settings for the POS peripheral device and environmental context information for the POS terminal;
• assign a priority level to the configuration file based on a comparative analysis of the configuration data in the configuration file to configuration information stored in a cache at the POS terminal;
• and
• configure a POS application program executing at the POS terminal with the configuration data in the configuration file, wherein the configuration data controls the POS application to update the configuration of the POS application program for the POS peripheral device based on the priority level.

A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer program code stored thereon that, when executed by a processing circuit of a Point-of-Sale (POS) terminal, configures the processing circuit to:

• generate a key for a POS peripheral device communicatively connected to the POS terminal responsive to detecting a predetermined trigger event;
• obtain a configuration file for the POS peripheral device based on the key, wherein the configuration file comprises configuration data defining configuration settings for the POS peripheral device and environmental context information for the POS terminal;
• assign a priority level to the configuration file based on a comparative analysis of the configuration data in the configuration file to configuration information stored in a cache at the POS terminal;
• and
• configure a POS application program executing at the POS terminal with the configuration data in the configuration file, wherein the configuration data controls the POS application to update the configuration of the POS application program for the POS peripheral device based on the priority level.