Patent Grant
9314698
The present disclosure relates to gaming machines and networks and, more particularly, to games-on-demand systems.
Gaming in the United States is divided into Class I, Class II and Class III games. Class I gaming includes social games played for minimal prizes, or traditional ceremonial games. Class II gaming includes bingo games, pull tab games if played in the same location as bingo games, lotto, punch boards, tip jars, instant bingo, and other games similar to bingo. Class III gaming includes any game that is not a Class I or Class II game, such as a game of chance typically offered in non-Indian, state-regulated casinos. Many games of chance that are played on gaming machines fall into the Class II and Class III categories of games.
Various games, particularly the Class II and Class III categories of games, can be implemented as server-based games in a server-client system. Server-based games are generally those in which the games and capabilities of a gaming terminal depend on a central server. The terminal may download games from the central server or may rely on the central server to run the games.
Game applications are becoming more sophisticated and, hence, larger in size, to use the expanding capabilities of central servers and gaming terminals. In addition, the number of different game applications available for play is always increasing, as game developers attempt to keep players interested in visiting casinos to play new and exciting games. As a result, there are so many various game applications in existence; it has become impractical to store all of these games on a single gaming terminal. Thus, server-based games have been implemented in many casinos and hotels. In this way, a multitude of game applications can be stored at a central server, and played remotely or downloaded to individual gaming terminals in the gaming network.
In a games-on-demand system, a player can operate a gaming terminal to request a particular game for playing. In a server-client game download configuration, a requested game is downloaded from the central server to the gaming terminal, and then executed on the gaming terminal. In a server-based configuration, on the other hand, the requested game is executed on the server, and the player interacts with the server to play the game. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,549, “Database Driven Online Distributed Tournament System,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,016, “Remote Gaming Device,” and U.S. Pat. No. 6,409,602, “Slim Terminal Gaming System” describe server-based configurations where minimal or no processing occurs on the gaming machine. In these conventional systems, the game is executed on the central server, and outcome data are sent to the gaming machine for output to the player. The gaming machine operates as an IO device for a player to interact remotely with the game executed on the central server. The game play, meter tracking, and other game functions are carried out on the central server.
In implementing a games-on-demand system, both the download configuration and the server-based configuration described above have their respective drawbacks. In a download configuration, the gaming terminal is susceptible to long delays while a requested game is retrieved and downloaded from the central server, and then authenticated, before game play can begin. These delays are often attributable to the large and ever increasing size of game applications, as explained above. In addition, downloading of games on-demand is bandwidth intensive, computationally complex and intensive, and not secure when games are in transit. In a server-based configuration, a drawback is that the operability of the gaming terminals is entirely network-dependent. When the central server malfunctions, or other network problems arise, interfering with the connection between the gaming terminals and the central server, all of the gaming terminals are affected. Game play can be hindered on the gaming terminals due to their dependence on the central server to execute the game.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a gaming system which eliminates both the delay and other problems associated with download configurations, and the network-dependence associated with server-based configurations.
Disclosed are methods, apparatus, and systems, including computer program products, implementing and using techniques for providing a game of chance.
In one aspect of the present invention, at a local gaming machine in communication with a remote gaming machine over a data network, a player input is received at an input terminal. The player input requests a game application. A location of the requested game application is determined as being at the remote gaming machine. Interface requirements of the requested game application are identified. It is determined whether the identified interface requirements are compatible with the interface of the local gaming machine. It is also determined whether the requested game application is available for execution on the remote gaming machine. When it is determined that the interface requirements are compatible and that the requested game application is available for execution, an instance of the requested game application is reserved on the remote gaming machine.
In one implementation, responsive to execution of the instance of the requested game application on the remote gaming machine, output data of the executed game application is received from the remote gaming machine over the data network. This received output data can be stored in memory and/or can be provided on an interface of the local gaming machine. Generic output data components can be received from a storage medium and provided on the interface. One or more game parameters can be captured from the received output data. In some implementations, determining whether the requested game application is available for execution on the remote gaming machine includes determining compliance of the requested game application with interface requirements, licensing requirements and/or jurisdictional requirements.
According to another aspect to the present invention, at a remote gaming machine, a game of chance is provided to a local gaming machine in communication with the remote gaming machine over a data network. A game application request message is received from the local gaming machine over the data network. The request message requests a game application. Interface requirements of the requested game application are provided. It is determined whether the requested game application is available for execution on the remote gaming machine. An instance of the requested game application is reserved on the remote gaming machine when it is determined that the requested game application is available for execution.
In some implementations, the instance of the requested game application is executed on the processor of the remote gaming machine. Output data of the executing game application is sent from the remote gaming machine to the local gaming machine over the data network. Authentication information can be provided in frames of the output data, for instance, as a digital signature embedded in the frame.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a local gaming machine provides a game of chance from a remote gaming machine in communication with the local gaming machine over a data network. The gaming machine includes a user interface coupled to receive a player input. The player input requests a game application. A gaming controller including a processor is configured to: (1) determine a location of the requested game application as being at the remote gaming machine, (2) identify interface requirements of the requested game application, (3) determine whether the identified interface requirements are compatible with an interface of the local gaming machine, (4) determine whether the requested game application is available for execution on the remote gaming machine, and (5) reserve an instance of the requested game application on the remote gaming machine when it is determined that the interface requirements are compatible and that the requested game application is available for execution.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a remote gaming machine provides a game of chance to a local gaming machine in communication with the remote gaming machine over a data network. The remote gaming machine includes a communications interface coupled to receive a game application request message from the local gaming machine over the data network. The request message requests a game application. A gaming controller including a processor is configured to: (1) provide interface requirements of the requested game application, (2) determine whether the requested game application is available for execution on the remote gaming machine, (3) reserve an instance of the requested game application on the remote gaming machine when it is determined that the requested game application is available for execution, and (5) execute the instance of the requested game application. The remote gaming machine further includes a streaming module coupled to send output data of the executing game application from the remote gaming machine to the local gaming machine over the data network.
All of the foregoing methods, along with other methods of aspects of the present invention, may be implemented in software, firmware, hardware and combinations thereof. For example, the methods of aspects of the present invention may be implemented by computer programs embodied in machine-readable media and other products.
Aspects of the invention may be implemented by networked gaming machines, game servers and other such devices. These and other features and benefits of aspects of the invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the associated drawings.
Reference will now be made in detail to some specific embodiments of the invention including the best modes contemplated by the inventors for carrying out the invention. Examples of these specific embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While the invention is described in conjunction with these specific embodiments, it will be understood that it is not intended to limit the invention to the described embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, numerous specific details are set forth below in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. The present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known process operations have not been described in detail in order not to obscure the present invention.
Implementations of the present invention provide games-on-demand methods, apparatus, and systems for playing games of chance in a peer-to-peer gaming machine configuration. Game application executables, also referred to herein as games and game codes, are stored redundantly among the gaming machines to define a distributed game network. Gaming machines can be implemented in various forms, including the gaming machines shown and described with reference to
When a player situated at one of the gaming machines requests a game not stored locally, the game can be executed remotely at one of the other gaming machines in the peer-to-peer network. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, an executable game application generally operates on a set of input data to produce output data. Output data of the executing game application, for example, video and audio streams, are routed to the local gaming machine where the player is situated. The player can then interact with the remote gaming machine for remote game play. The effect of instant-on game play is achieved at any of the gaming machines where a player wishes to play games.
Applying principles of the present invention, the delay associated with game download is eliminated because the entire game executable does not have be downloaded, unpacked, decrypted and then authenticated. Instead, the game application is executed at the origin, in its native mode, and the results piped to the requesting gaming machine. Computational resources are conserved. Security is improved, in that it is difficult for a hacker to intercept frames of the streamed output data from one of the remote gaming machines, alter the data frame-by-frame, and provide the output data to the local gaming machine without noticeable delay. Redundant storage substantially reduces or eliminates the problem of network errors, as the game can be executed on another remote gaming machine with which the local gaming machine has established communications. The need for a central server is minimized or eliminated, as the games and other relevant data are distributed among the various gaming machines in the peer-to-peer network. Reliability increases as a point of possible failure (the central server) is eliminated.
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Implementations of gaming methods and systems described herein provide efficient and enjoyable game play for players of the games. In addition to the features described herein, games are executed and played with implementations of the present invention in accordance with techniques described in commonly assigned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/931,673, entitled “Multi-Player Bingo Game with Real-Time Game-Winning Pattern Determination,” filed Sep. 1, 2004.
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As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, location records 210a-210d, and routing tables 215a-215d can be stored in various memory devices in system 200. In one implementation, each pair of location record and routing table is stored in memory within the respective gaming machine. In other implementation, each location record and routing table pair is stored in a storage medium situated external to the gaming machine, such as storage medium 205a. In this implementation, different banks of memory addresses are preferably used to distinguish the location records, routing tables and game applications. In another implementation, the location records and routing tables can be stored at a central data repository coupled as part of system 200, for instance, at a central server. Other implementations are intended to be within the spirit and the scope of the present invention.
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One benefit of storing the parameters of the game application at the local gaming machine, even though the game application is being executed on another remote gaming machine, is to provide an audit trail for the game that can be accessed at the particular local gaming machine on which the player plays the game. In one embodiment, these same parameters 615a-f are also stored at the remote gaming machine on which the game application is being executed. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that additional blocks of memory in nonvolatile memory 615 can be allocated to maintain settings and other parameters for various players and for various game applications.
In another embodiment, the parameters in memory 615 are stored at a central server in addition to or as an alternative to the storage of parameters at the remote gaming machine. In one implementation, this central server has a verification check mode that can be invoked as desired, for instance, for jackpots exceeding a certain amount. In the various parameter storage schemes described herein, the parameters can later be reconciled to provide an audit trail for game play on the machines.
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In one embodiment, the selection of pre-rendered output data components is dependent upon player input. For instance, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, often the player can interact with a gaming machine to input game parameter selections such as wager amounts, number of pay lines, maximum bet amount, and other configuration data for game play. In accordance with one method, pre-rendered output data components are appropriate for certain of these inputs, but not for others. In this method, pre-rendered components that most closely match the inputted selections are delivered to the gaming machine to be displayed. Also, in some implementations, the choices of game parameters offered to the player may be limited to selections that will be appropriate for the pre-rendered components.
As multiple instances of certain game applications are played, it is inevitable that certain game applications will not be played, for instance, due to unpopularity of that game. In one embodiment, a method is provided to delete those unused game application instances when some predetermined criteria is satisfied. For instance, when no requests for a particular game application or instance of the game application are received for a predetermined length of time, or from a predetermined number of game requests, that game application is marked for deletion. In this embodiment, the method provides for tracking used and unused game applications by maintaining a “use” record which indicates which games have been played, such as a tally, or more detailed information describing the number, date, time, and other information characterizing use of that game application. In one embodiment, the use record is updated each time a game application instance is executed.
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Implementations of the present invention provide for auditing and game history dispute resolution by storing captured parameters in memory 615 of the local gaming machine 600 and/or memory 735 of the remote gaming machine 700. Several methods of dispute resolution can be performed in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. In one embodiment, at the remote gaming machine, parameters are stored or otherwise captured from frames using techniques described herein and stored in memory 735, when sent to the local gaming machine. As the output data is received at the local gaming machine, parameters are captured from the received frames and stored in outcome history 615f of memory 615. The frames are output to the display. When a dispute arises, the parameters stored in memory 735 are compared with those in memory 615. In another embodiment, parameters are provided separate from the frames, but are similarly stored at the remote gaming machine when sent, and also then stored at the local gaming machine when received. The two sets of stored parameters are again compared in a dispute. In yet another embodiment, parameters are only captured at the remote gaming machine. When a dispute arises, the parameters at the remote gaming machine govern the outcome. In yet another embodiment, parameters are only captured at the local gaming machine. When a dispute arises, the parameters at the local gaming machine govern.
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In step 816, according to one embodiment, a location record 210 as shown in
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In one embodiment, steps 820 and 825 of method 800 are performed separately, that is, off-line with respect to the player providing user input to select game applications. In this way, when the respective interface requirements are incompatible, the game application can be removed from the menu of game applications presented to the player in step 805. Thus, in this situation, the user would not have to experience the error message after requesting game play. Also, in another embodiment, the location record 210 and/or routing table 215 can be updated accordingly, so that game applications incompatible with certain gaming machines are not listed as being available to interact with one another in those records.
In step 830, when the interface requirements are compatible, it is determined whether the requested game application is available for execution on the remote gaming machines identified in step 817. A number of factors can be taken into consideration in determining step 830, including jurisdictional regulations for the jurisdiction in which gaming machines are located, licensing requirements associated with the gaming machines and game applications and imposed on a casino or other facility in which the gaming machines are situated, computational capacity, including processor and memory availability on the gaming machine where the requested application is to be executed, and other factors as desired for the particular implementation. Any one of these factors can serve to limit the number of instances of game applications executing on the remote gaming machine and, hence, prohibit execution of a further instance of a game application in step 830. The various factors and determinations of step 830 are described in greater detail below with respect to
In step 830, when the requested game application is available, the method 800 proceeds to step 840, described below. In step 830, when the requested game application is unavailable on that gaming machine, the method 800 proceeds to step 835 to identify another remote gaming machine having the requested game application. In one embodiment, a routing table 215, as mentioned above and described in greater detail below, is accessed to determine the proper remote gaming machine to request execution of the desired game application.
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In alternative embodiments, generic multimedia components are stored at a central data storage medium in the system, or at the local gaming machine. In this way, immediately after a player selects the conditionally reserved game application for execution, the player begins receiving output associated with game play. This immediate output of generic game play components ensures that the player's interest level is sustained and enhances the excitement of the gaming experience. In addition, in step 855, the immediate output of generic game play components can mask any latency which may occur while game outcomes and other game output is generated before being sent to the local gaming machine.
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In step 1210, when instances of the requested game application are being executed, the method 830 proceeds to step 1215 to determine whether another instance of the requested game application can be executed. In one embodiment, a predetermined maximum number of instances of the particular game application is defined. This maximum can be set as desired for the particular implementation. In one implementation, licensing requirements imposed on the casino dictate that only a certain maximum number of instances of the game application can be executed at a given time. Also, jurisdictional regulations imposed on the jurisdiction in which the gaming machine is situated can be factored in to set this maximum. In step 1215, other factors can be taken into account to determine the maximum number of instances of the game application. Also, in one embodiment, preferably one copy, i.e. instance of the requested game application is always reserved for players who wished to play the game application on the remote gaming machine at which the game application is situated. In this way, a player who interfaces directly with the remote gaming machine will always be provided with game applications stored on that remote gaming machine. In such an embodiment, the predetermined maximum of step 1215 can be reduced by one or more counts of the instances to be reserved for direct game play at that remote gaming machine.
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In one embodiment, a failsafe mechanism is implemented in a gaming system constructed according to one embodiment of the present invention. This failsafe mechanism provides a method for maintaining remote game play on a particular remote gaming machine when a network error or other malfunction occurs, hindering further remote game play using that particular remote gaming machine. In this embodiment, using a routing table and/or location table described above, a further one of the remote gaming machines having the game application is identified, applying the methods described above with respect to
In addition to the techniques described herein, techniques for the transfer of game play from one gaming machine to another are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/224,814, filed concurrently herewith, for METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INSTANT-ON GAME DOWNLOAD, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Such techniques are considered within the spirit and scope of the present invention, and are particularly beneficial to provide the user with a near-continuous game play experience in the unlikely circumstance of network failure or other error that might otherwise hinder remote game play.
One example of a gaming system, also referred to herein as a gaming network, that may be used to implement methods performed in accordance with embodiments of the invention is depicted in
Here, gaming machine 1602, and the other gaming machines 1630, 1632, 1634, and 1636, include a main cabinet 1606 and a top box 1604. The main cabinet 1606 houses the main gaming elements and can also house peripheral systems, such as those that utilize dedicated gaming networks. The top box 1604 may also be used to house these peripheral systems.
The master gaming controller 1608 controls the game play on the gaming machine 1602 according to instructions and/or game data from game server 1622 or stored within gaming machine 1602 and receives or sends data to various input/output devices 1611 on the gaming machine 1602. In one embodiment, master gaming controller 1608 includes processor(s) and other apparatus of the gaming machines described above in
A particular gaming entity may desire to provide network gaming services that provide some operational advantage. Thus, dedicated networks may connect gaming machines to host servers that track the performance of gaming machines under the control of the entity, such as for accounting management, electronic fund transfers (EFTs), cashless ticketing, such as EZPay™, marketing management, and data tracking, such as player tracking Therefore, master gaming controller 1608 may also communicate with EFT system 1612, EZPay™ system 1616 (a proprietary cashless ticketing system of the present assignee), and player tracking system 1620. The systems of the gaming machine 1602 communicate the data onto the network 1622 via a communication board 1618.
It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that embodiments of the present invention could be implemented on a network with more or fewer elements than are depicted in
Moreover, DCU 1624 and translator 1625 are not required for all gaming establishments 1601. However, due to the sensitive nature of much of the information on a gaming network (e.g., electronic fund transfers and player tracking data) the manufacturer of a host system usually employs a particular networking language having proprietary protocols. For instance, 10-20 different companies produce player tracking host systems where each host system may use different protocols. These proprietary protocols are usually considered highly confidential and not released publicly.
Further, in the gaming industry, gaming machines are made by many different manufacturers. The communication protocols on the gaming machine are typically hard-wired into the gaming machine and each gaming machine manufacturer may utilize a different proprietary communication protocol. A gaming machine manufacturer may also produce host systems, in which case their gaming machine are compatible with their own host systems. However, in a heterogeneous gaming environment, gaming machines from different manufacturers, each with its own communication protocol, may be connected to host systems from other manufacturers, each with another communication protocol. Therefore, communication compatibility issues regarding the protocols used by the gaming machines in the system and protocols used by the host systems must be considered.
A network device that links a gaming establishment with another gaming establishment and/or a central system will sometimes be referred to herein as a “site controller.” Here, site controller 1642 provides this function for gaming establishment 1601. Site controller 1642 is connected to a central system and/or other gaming establishments via one or more networks, which may be public or private networks. Among other things, site controller 1642 communicates with game server 1622 to obtain game data, such as ball drop data, bingo card data, etc.
In the present illustration, gaming machines 1602, 1630, 1632, 1634 and 1636 are connected to a dedicated gaming network 1622. In general, the DCU 1624 functions as an intermediary between the different gaming machines on the network 1622 and the site controller 1642. In general, the DCU 1624 receives data transmitted from the gaming machines and sends the data to the site controller 1642 over a transmission path 1626. In some instances, when the hardware interface used by the gaming machine is not compatible with site controller 1642, a translator 1625 may be used to convert serial data from the DCU 1624 to a format accepted by site controller 1642. The translator may provide this conversion service to a plurality of DCUs.
Further, in some dedicated gaming networks, the DCU 1624 can receive data transmitted from site controller 1642 for communication to the gaming machines on the gaming network. The received data may be, for example, communicated synchronously to the gaming machines on the gaming network.
Here, CVT 1652 provides cashless and cashout gaming services to the gaming machines in gaming establishment 1601. Broadly speaking, CVT 1652 authorizes and validates cashless gaming machine instruments (also referred to herein as “tickets” or “vouchers”), including but not limited to tickets for causing a gaming machine to display a game result and cash-out tickets. Moreover, CVT 1652 authorizes the exchange of a cashout ticket for cash. These processes will be described in detail below. In one example, when a player attempts to redeem a cash-out ticket for cash at cashout kiosk 1644, cash out kiosk 1644 reads validation data from the cashout ticket and transmits the validation data to CVT 1652 for validation. The tickets may be printed by gaming machines, by cashout kiosk 1644, by a stand-alone printer, by CVT 1652, etc. Some gaming establishments will not have a cashout kiosk 1644. Instead, a cashout ticket could be redeemed for cash by a cashier (e.g. of a convenience store), by a gaming machine or by a specially configured CVT.
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The gaming machine 1602 includes a top box 6, which sits on top of the main cabinet 4. The top box 6 houses a number of devices, which may be used to add features to a game being played on the gaming machine 1602, including speakers 10, 12, 14, a ticket printer 18 which may print bar-coded tickets 20 used as cashless instruments. The player tracking unit mounted within the top box 6 includes a key pad 22 for entering player tracking information, a florescent display 16 for displaying player tracking information, a card reader 24 for entering a magnetic striped card containing player tracking information, a microphone for inputting voice data, a speaker 42 for projecting sounds and a light panel 45 for display various light patterns used to convey gaming information. In other embodiments, the player tracking unit and associated player tracking interface devices, such as 16, 22, 24, 42, 43 and 44, may be mounted within the main cabinet 4 of the gaming machine, on top of the gaming machine, or on the side of the main cabinet of the gaming machine.
Understand that gaming machine 1602 is but one example from a wide range of gaming machine designs on which the present invention may be implemented. For example, not all suitable gaming machines have top boxes or player tracking features. Further, some gaming machines have two or more game displays—mechanical and/or video. Some gaming machines are designed for bar tables and have displays that face upwards. Still further, some machines may be designed entirely for cashless systems. Such machines may not include such features as bill validators, coin acceptors and coin trays. Instead, they may have only ticket readers, card readers and ticket dispensers. Those of skill in the art will understand that the present can be deployed on most gaming machines now available or hereafter developed. Moreover, some aspects of the invention may be implemented on devices which lack some of the features of the gaming machines described herein, e.g., workstation, desktop computer, a portable computing device such as a personal digital assistant or similar handheld device, a cellular telephone, etc. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/967,326, filed Sep. 28, 2001 and entitled “Wireless Game Player,” is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.
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During the course of a game, a player may be required to make a number of decisions. For example, a player may vary his or her wager on a particular game, select a prize for a particular game, or make game decisions regarding gaming criteria that affect the outcome of a particular game (e.g., which cards to hold). The player may make these choices using the player-input switches 32, the video display screen 34 or using some other hardware and/or software that enables a player to input information into the gaming machine (e.g. a GUI displayed on display 16).
During certain game functions and events, the gaming machine 1602 may display visual and auditory effects that can be perceived by the player. These effects add to the excitement of a game, which makes a player more likely to continue playing. Auditory effects include various sounds that are projected by the speakers 10, 12, 14. Visual effects include flashing lights, strobing lights or other patterns displayed from lights on the gaming machine 1602, from lights behind the belly glass 40 or the light panel on the player tracking unit 44.
After the player has completed a game, the player may receive game tokens from the coin tray 38 or the ticket 20 from the printer 18, which may be used for further games or to redeem a prize. Further, the player may receive a ticket 20 for food, merchandise, or games from the printer 18. The type of ticket 20 may be related to past game playing recorded by the player tracking software within the gaming machine 1602. In some embodiments, these tickets may be used by a game player to obtain game services.
IGT gaming machines are implemented with special features and/or additional circuitry that differentiate them from general-purpose computers (e.g., desktop PC's and laptops). Gaming machines are highly regulated to ensure fairness and, in many cases, gaming machines are operable to dispense monetary awards of multiple millions of dollars. Therefore, to satisfy security and regulatory requirements in a gaming environment, hardware and software architectures may be implemented in gaming machines that differ significantly from those of general-purpose computers. A description of gaming machines relative to general-purpose computing machines and some examples of the additional (or different) components and features found in gaming machines are described below.
At first glance, one might think that adapting PC technologies to the gaming industry would be a simple proposition because both PCs and gaming machines employ microprocessors that control a variety of devices. However, because of such reasons as 1) the regulatory requirements that are placed upon gaming machines, 2) the harsh environment in which gaming machines operate, 3) security requirements and 4) fault tolerance requirements, adapting PC technologies to a gaming machine can be quite difficult. Further, techniques and methods for solving a problem in the PC industry, such as device compatibility and connectivity issues, might not be adequate in the gaming environment. For instance, a fault or a weakness tolerated in a PC, such as security holes in software or frequent crashes, may not be tolerated in a gaming machine because in a gaming machine these faults can lead to a direct loss of funds from the gaming machine, such as stolen cash or loss of revenue when the gaming machine is not operating properly.
For the purposes of illustration, a few differences between PC systems and gaming systems will be described. A first difference between gaming machines and common PC based computers systems is that gaming machines are designed to be state-based systems. In a state-based system, the system stores and maintains its current state in a non-volatile memory, such that, in the event of a power failure or other malfunction the gaming machine will return to its current state when the power is restored. For instance, if a player was shown an award for a game of chance and, before the award could be provided to the player the power failed, the gaming machine, upon the restoration of power, would return to the state where the award is indicated. As anyone who has used a PC, knows, PCs are not state machines and a majority of data is usually lost when a malfunction occurs. This requirement affects the software and hardware design on a gaming machine.
A second important difference between gaming machines and common PC based computer systems is that for regulation purposes, the software on the gaming machine used to generate the game of chance and operate the gaming machine has been designed to be static and monolithic to prevent cheating by the operator of gaming machine. For instance, one solution that has been employed in the gaming industry to prevent cheating and satisfy regulatory requirements has been to manufacture a gaming machine that can use a proprietary processor running instructions to generate the game of chance from an EPROM or other form of non-volatile memory. The coding instructions on the EPROM are static (non-changeable) and must be approved by a gaming regulators in a particular jurisdiction and installed in the presence of a person representing the gaming jurisdiction. Any changes to any part of the software required to generate the game of chance, such as adding a new device driver used by the master gaming controller to operate a device during generation of the game of chance can require a new EPROM to be burnt, approved by the gaming jurisdiction and reinstalled on the gaming machine in the presence of a gaming regulator. Regardless of whether the EPROM solution is used, to gain approval in most gaming jurisdictions, a gaming machine must demonstrate sufficient safeguards that prevent an operator of a gaming machine from manipulating hardware and software in a manner that gives them an unfair and some cases an illegal advantage. The code validation requirements in the gaming industry affect both hardware and software designs on gaming machines.
A third important difference between gaming machines and common PC based computer systems is the number and kinds of peripheral devices used on a gaming machine are not as great as on PC based computer systems. Traditionally, in the gaming industry, gaming machines have been relatively simple in the sense that the number of peripheral devices and the number of functions the gaming machine has been limited. Further, in operation, the functionality of gaming machines were relatively constant once the gaming machine was deployed, i.e., new peripherals devices and new gaming software were infrequently added to the gaming machine. This differs from a PC where users will go out and buy different combinations of devices and software from different manufacturers and connect them to a PC to suit their needs depending on a desired application. Therefore, the types of devices connected to a PC may vary greatly from user to user depending in their individual requirements and may vary significantly over time.
Although the variety of devices available for a PC may be greater than on a gaming machine, gaming machines still have unique device requirements that differ from a PC, such as device security requirements not usually addressed by PCs. For instance, monetary devices, such as coin dispensers, bill validators and ticket printers and computing devices that are used to govern the input and output of cash to a gaming machine have security requirements that are not typically addressed in PCs. Therefore, many PC techniques and methods developed to facilitate device connectivity and device compatibility do not address the emphasis placed on security in the gaming industry.
To address some of the issues described above, a number of hardware components, software components and architectures are utilized in gaming machines that are not typically found in general purpose computing devices, such as PCs. These hardware/software components and architectures, as described below in more detail, include but are not limited to watchdog timers, voltage monitoring systems, state-based software architecture and supporting hardware, specialized communication interfaces, security monitoring and trusted memory.
A watchdog timer is normally used in IGT gaming machines to provide a software failure detection mechanism. In a normally operating system, the operating software periodically accesses control registers in the watchdog timer subsystem to “re-trigger” the watchdog. Should the operating software fail to access the control registers within a preset timeframe, the watchdog timer will timeout and generate a system reset. Typical watchdog timer circuits contain a loadable timeout counter register to allow the operating software to set the timeout interval within a certain range of time. A differentiating feature of the some preferred circuits is that the operating software cannot completely disable the function of the watchdog timer. In other words, the watchdog timer always functions from the time power is applied to the board.
IGT gaming computer platforms preferably use several power supply voltages to operate portions of the computer circuitry. These can be generated in a central power supply or locally on the computer board. If any of these voltages falls out of the tolerance limits of the circuitry they power, unpredictable operation of the computer may result. Though most modern general-purpose computers include voltage monitoring circuitry, these types of circuits only report voltage status to the operating software. Out of tolerance voltages can cause software malfunction, creating a potential uncontrolled condition in the gaming computer. Gaming machines of the present assignee typically have power supplies with tighter voltage margins than that required by the operating circuitry. In addition, the voltage monitoring circuitry implemented in IGT gaming computers typically has two thresholds of control. The first threshold generates a software event that can be detected by the operating software and an error condition generated. This threshold is triggered when a power supply voltage falls out of the tolerance range of the power supply, but is still within the operating range of the circuitry. The second threshold is set when a power supply voltage falls out of the operating tolerance of the circuitry. In this case, the circuitry generates a reset, halting operation of the computer.
The standard method of operation for IGT slot machine game software is to use a state machine. Each function of the game (bet, play, result, etc.) is defined as a state. When a game moves from one state to another, critical data regarding the game software is stored in a custom non-volatile memory subsystem. In addition, game history information regarding previous games played, amounts wagered, and so forth also should be stored in a non-volatile memory device. This feature allows the game to recover operation to the current state of play in the event of a malfunction, loss of power, etc. This is critical to ensure the player's wager and credits are preserved. Typically, battery backed RAM devices are used to preserve this critical data. These memory devices are not used in typical general-purpose computers.
IGT gaming computers normally contain additional interfaces, including serial interfaces, to connect to specific subsystems internal and external to the slot machine. As noted above, some preferred embodiments of the present invention include parallel, digital interfaces for high-speed data transfer. However, even the serial devices may have electrical interface requirements that differ from the “standard” EIA 232 serial interfaces provided by general-purpose computers. These interfaces may include EIA 485, EIA 422, Fiber Optic Serial, Optically Coupled Serial Interfaces, current loop style serial interfaces, etc. In addition, to conserve serial interfaces internally in the slot machine, serial devices may be connected in a shared, daisy-chain fashion where multiple peripheral devices are connected to a single serial channel.
IGT gaming machines may alternatively be treated as peripheral devices to a casino communication controller and connected in a shared daisy chain fashion to a single serial interface. In both cases, the peripheral devices are preferably assigned device addresses. If so, the serial controller circuitry must implement a method to generate or detect unique device addresses. General-purpose computer serial ports are not able to do this.
Security monitoring circuits detect intrusion into an IGT gaming machine by monitoring security switches attached to access doors in the slot machine cabinet. Preferably, access violations result in suspension of game play and can trigger additional security operations to preserve the current state of game play. These circuits also function when power is off by use of a battery backup. In power-off operation, these circuits continue to monitor the access doors of the slot machine. When power is restored, the gaming machine can determine whether any security violations occurred while power was off, e.g., via software for reading status registers. This can trigger event log entries and further data authentication operations by the slot machine software.
Trusted memory devices are preferably included in an IGT gaming machine computer to ensure the authenticity of the software that may be stored on less secure memory subsystems, such as mass storage devices. Trusted memory devices and controlling circuitry are typically designed to not allow modification of the code and data stored in the memory device while the memory device is installed in the slot machine. The code and data stored in these devices may include authentication algorithms, random number generators, authentication keys, operating system kernels, etc. The purpose of these trusted memory devices is to provide gaming regulatory authorities a root trusted authority within the computing environment of the slot machine that can be tracked and verified as original. This may be accomplished via removal of the trusted memory device from the slot machine computer and verification of the trusted memory device contents in a separate third party verification device. Once the trusted memory device is verified as authentic, and based on the approval of the verification algorithms contained in the trusted device, the gaming machine is allowed to verify the authenticity of additional code and data that may be located in the gaming computer assembly, such as code and data stored on hard disk drives.
Mass storage devices used in a general-purpose computer typically allow code and data to be read from and written to the mass storage device. In a gaming machine environment, modification of the gaming code stored on a mass storage device is strictly controlled and would only be allowed under specific maintenance type events with electronic and physical enablers required. Though this level of security could be provided by software, IGT gaming computers that include mass storage devices preferably include hardware level mass storage data protection circuitry that operates at the circuit level to monitor attempts to modify data on the mass storage device and will generate both software and hardware error triggers should a data modification be attempted without the proper electronic and physical enablers being present.
Gaming machines used for Class III games generally include software and/or hardware for generating random numbers. However, gaming machines used for Class II games may or may not have RNG capabilities. In some machines used for Class II games, RNG capability may be disabled.
The interfaces 1868 are typically provided as interface cards (sometimes referred to as “linecards”). Generally, interfaces 1868 control the sending and receiving of data packets over the network and sometimes support other peripherals used with the network device 1860. Among the interfaces that may be provided are FC interfaces, Ethernet interfaces, frame relay interfaces, cable interfaces, DSL interfaces, token ring interfaces, and the like. In addition, various very high-speed interfaces may be provided, such as fast Ethernet interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, ATM interfaces, HSSI interfaces, POS interfaces, FDDI interfaces, ASI interfaces, DHEI interfaces and the like.
When acting under the control of appropriate software or firmware, in some implementations of the invention CPU 1862 may be responsible for implementing specific functions associated with the functions of a desired network device. According to some embodiments, CPU 1862 accomplishes all these functions under the control of software including an operating system and any appropriate applications software.
CPU 962 may include one or more processors 1863 such as a processor from the Motorola family of microprocessors or the MIPS family of microprocessors. In an alternative embodiment, processor 1863 is specially designed hardware for controlling the operations of network device 1860. In a specific embodiment, a memory 1861 (such as non-volatile RAM and/or ROM) also forms part of CPU 1862. However, there are many different ways in which memory could be coupled to the system. Memory block 1861 may be used for a variety of purposes such as, for example, caching and/or storing data, programming instructions, etc.
Regardless of network device's configuration, it may employ one or more memories or memory modules (such as, for example, memory block 1865) configured to store data, program instructions for the general-purpose network operations and/or other information relating to the functionality of the techniques described herein. The program instructions may control the operation of an operating system and/or one or more applications, for example.
Because such information and program instructions may be employed to implement the systems/methods described herein, the present invention relates to machine-readable media that include program instructions, state information, etc. for performing various operations described herein. Examples of machine-readable media include, but are not limited to, magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical media; and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory devices (ROM) and random access memory (RAM). The invention may also be embodied in a carrier wave traveling over an appropriate medium such as airwaves, optical lines, electric lines, etc. Examples of program instructions include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher-level code that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter.
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Those skilled in the art should understand that methods performed in accordance with embodiments of the present invention can include part or all of method 800 in
The above-described devices and materials will be familiar to those of skill in the computer hardware and software arts. Although many of the components and processes are described above in the singular for convenience, it will be appreciated by one of skill in the art that multiple components and repeated processes can also be used to practice the techniques of the present invention.
Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the scope of the appended claims.
This application is a continuation of and claims priority to co-pending and commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/601,062, filed on Aug. 31, 2012 and entitled “DISTRIBUTED GAME SERVICES,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/225,337, filed on Sep. 12, 2005 and entitled “DISTRIBUTED GAME SERVICES,” both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties and for all purposes.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20140094318 A1 | Apr 2014 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 13601062 | Aug 2012 | US |
| Child | 14095815 | US | |
| Parent | 11225337 | Sep 2005 | US |
| Child | 13601062 | US |
