Patent Grant
8317622
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. Copyright 2009, WMS Gaming, Inc.
Embodiments of the inventive subject matter relate generally to wagering game systems, and more particularly to controlling import/export of data with respect to a wagering game establishment.
The popularity of online social communities has grown at an incredible rate. The fast growing popularity reflects a large population of active users. A large population of active users can be used to distribute information efficiently and quickly. Security concerns prevent or substantially limit access to online social communities, thus preventing or substantially limiting access to the utility and entertainment of social network websites.
In some embodiments, a method comprises establishing a data feed between an online social community server and a server of a wagering game establishment through at least two intermediate machines; evaluating content of the data feed with a first of the intermediate machines to ensure the content conforms to security rules of the wagering game establishment; and obscuring the wagering game establishment server from the online social community server with the second of the two intermediate processes.
In some embodiments, said establishing the data feed between the online social community server and the wagering game establishment server comprises the first intermediate machine validating a request for the data feed based on the security rules of the wagering game establishment.
In some embodiments, the method further comprises the first intermediate machine spawning one or more processes to handle the data feed if validated under the security rules.
In some embodiments, said obscuring the wagering game establishment server comprises the second intermediate machine communicating with the online social community server and the first intermediate machine.
In some embodiments, said evaluating the content of the data feed comprises the first intermediate machine sampling units of the data feed for the evaluating.
In some embodiments, said establishing the data feed comprises establishing security measures for the data feed to comply with the security rules.
In some embodiments, a method comprises validating a request to establish a data feed between a wagering game machine in a wagering game establishment and a server of an online social community against data import/export rules of a wagering game establishment; establishing the data feed through a data liaison associated with the online social community and a data import/export controller of the wagering game establishment in accordance with the data import/export rules; and expurgating units of the data feed in accordance with the import/export rules while maintaining the data feed and maintaining obscurity of the wagering game machine from the online social community server.
In some embodiments, establishing the data feed comprises spawning a process that reports current wagering gaming data of a player in the wagering game establishment to the server of the online social community.
In some embodiments, the current wagering gaming data comprises one or more of current winnings, most frequently played wagering game, total wagers, and achievements awarded.
In some embodiments, establishing the data feed comprises spawning a process that bridges the data feed to a second wagering game machine at a different wagering game establishment and bridges a data feed from the second wagering game machine to the wagering game machine.
In some embodiments, one or more machine-readable media having instructions encoded therein, which, when executed by a set of one or more processors, causes the set of one or more processors to perform operations that comprise validating a request to establish a data feed between a wagering game machine in a wagering game establishment and a server of an online social community against data import/export rules of a wagering game establishment; establishing the data feed through a data liaison associated with the online social community and a data import/export controller of the wagering game establishment in accordance with the data import/export rules; and expurgating units of the data feed in accordance with the import/export rules while maintaining the data feed and maintaining obscurity of the wagering game machine from the online social community server.
In some embodiments, said operation of establishing the data feed comprises spawning a process that reports current wagering gaming data of a player in the wagering game establishment to the server of the online social community.
In some embodiments, the current wagering gaming data comprises one or more of current winnings, most frequently played wagering game, total wagers, and achievements awarded.
In some embodiments, said operation of establishing the data feed comprises spawning a process that bridges the data feed to a second wagering game machine at a different wagering game establishment and bridges a data feed from the second wagering game machine to the wagering game machine
In some embodiments, an apparatus comprises a processor; a set of one or more network interfaces; and means for funneling data transmissions between a wagering game establishment and an online social community through an import/export controller that controls the data transmissions based on import/export rules for the wagering game establishment, and a data liaison associated with the online social community.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means to expurgate data units of the data transmission in accordance with the import/export rules.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means to validate requests for the data transmissions based on the import/export rules.
In some embodiments, a network comprises a first machine configured to validate a request for a data feed between a server of a wagering game establishment and a server of an online social community, and configured to ensure the data feed complies with a set of rules of the wagering game establishment; and a second machine communicatively coupled with the first machine, the second machine configured to liaise with the server of the online social community for the first machine to obscure the first machine.
In some embodiments, the first machine is obscured from the server of the online social community.
In some embodiments, the network further comprises a wagering game server communicatively coupled with the first machine and a wagering game machine communicatively coupled with the first machine, wherein the first and the second machine are configured to obscure the wagering game machine and the wagering game machine server from the server of the online social community.
Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the Figures of the accompanying drawings in which:
The description that follows includes exemplary systems, methods, techniques, instruction sequences and computer program products that embody techniques of the present inventive subject matter. However, it is understood that the described embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known instruction instances, protocols, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obfuscate the description.
A secure architecture can provide a wagering game establishment access to the utility and entertainment value of online social communities. An architecture that employs an internal entity that controls import and export of data (“import/export controller”) and an external entity that operates as a liaison (“data liaison”) between the import/export controller and one or more online social communities allows this access in a secure manner. The import/export controller and the data liaison handle data transmissions (e.g., data feeds, data updates, etc.) between the secure entity and the one or more online social communities. The import/export controller applies rules that regulate import and export of data, and the data liaison allows the import/export controller to operate in obscurity. Funneling data transmissions through the import/export controller and the data liaison allows players to securely access an online social community (e.g., an online wagering game community) from a wagering game machine while in a wagering game establishment. This secure access couples the online social community with the wagering game establishment experience without unnecessarily exposing wagering game establishment resources. Coupling the wagering game establishment with the online social community creates a symbiotic relationship between the wagering game establishment and the online social community that can enhance player experience and possibly increase user/player participation.
Player activity in the casino 117 can trigger an update of player data in the casino player account database 111, which eventually affects their account in an online social community. The player 101 interacts with the wagering game machine 103. The player 101 may swipe a player card, log into his casino player account, etc. At a stage A, activity by the player 101 at the wagering game machine 103 causes the wagering game server 105 to indicate the wagering game machine activity to the database process 107. The wagering game activity indicated to the database process 107 affects the player account entry 109. At a stage B, the database process 107 updates player data in the entry 109. The entry 109 comprises player data from activity in the casino 117, and player data from an online social community (e.g., an online wagering game community). The entry 109 has been marked to indicate that the player 103 is currently active in the casino 117. The entry 109 can be marked when the player 101 registers in the hotel, swipes a player card, logs into a wagering game machine, etc.
The updated player data can be viewed external to the casino. A request that originates from an online social community or a derivative of the online social community (e.g., a widget created for and/or distributed from an online social community) can request to view or modify, thus incurring a read operation, online player data of the player 103. For example, a friend of the player 101 may request to modify reputation of the player 101, add a comment to a website of the player 101, send an in-casino instant message to the player 101, see what game the player 101 is playing in the casino 117, etc.
The wagering game establishment data import/export controller 114 and the data liaison 119 have agreed upon security and communications protocols for the transfer of sensitive data from the casino 117. For instance, the wagering game establishment data import/export controller 114 and the data liaison 119 can encrypt all transmissions with keys exchanged out of band, predefined, etc. Despite the example depictions, embodiments can establish an n:n relationship between data import/export controllers and data liaisons. Regardless of the number, visibility of the data import/export controllers are limited to data liaisons, and communications with the data import/export controllers are funneled through the data liaisons. Moreover, data liaisons are not limited to particular hardware (e.g., chips, servers, etc.). A data liaison can be implemented as a virtual machine, a process, etc., encoded with a wagering game developer key or security value.
In addition, data export/import with a wagering game establishment is not limited to player data, can involve live wagering game data. It may be desirable to view current win statistics, current jackpots of various wagering games, etc. without being encumbered with inflexible security measures, such as dedicated lines. The wagering game server 113 can provide the wagering game establishment data import/export controller 114 with a continuous update of wagering game data (“live wagering game data”), such as running jackpots, recent payouts, etc. The data import/export controller 114 transmits the wagering game data to the data liaison 119. The data liaison 119 writes the wagering game data to a wagering game data database 127. Running jackpot amounts can be reported from multiple wagering game establishments over dedicated lines. An aggregation of the multiple establishment running jackpots can be supplied to a data import/export controller to transmit to a data liaison. The aggregation can indicate a ranking of wagering game establishments based on running jackpot amounts, data of last payout, etc. To view the live wagering game data, a user 125 submits a request at a client 123 via a casino data widget 121, which has been provided by the casino 117 or a trusted developer (e.g., wagering game developer). At a stage C2, the casino data widget 121 requests a view of a live wagering game data for a particular wagering game, for all progressive jackpots at a given casino, etc., to the data liaison 119. Although not necessary, access to the wagering game data database 127 can be limited to the data liaison 119. The data liaison 119 accesses the wagering game data database 127 to retrieve the appropriate live wagering game data for the casino data widget 121.
At a stage A1, a user 235 initiates importation of player data from an online social community at a client 233. The user 235 uses an online wagering game community widget 237 to transfer a reward to an online friend, who is the player 201.
At a stage A2, the user 201 initiates importation of online player data from the wagering game machine 203 into the casino 217. When the user 201 performs an initiating action (e.g., swipes a player card, enters a player account identifier, enters biometric data, etc.), the wagering game machine 203 transmits a request for player data of the user 201 to the wagering game server 205. Embodiments can prompt the user to explicitly request online player data. Embodiments can automatically retrieve online player data. The wagering game server 205 submits the request to a database process 207, which operates on the casino player account database 211. The database process 207 retrieves player data from an entry 209 for the user 201 from the casino player account database 211. The database process 207 also submits a request for current online player data for the user 201 to the wagering game establishment data import/export controller 214. The wagering game establishment data import/export controller 214 imports the current online player data for the user 201 through the data liaison 219. The controller 214 pushes the current online player data to the casino player account database 211 via the database process 207. The entry 209, as depicted in
Although funneling data transmissions through a data liaison external to a casino and a data import/export controller secured by/for the casino allows access to data of an online social community while obscuring highly regulated computing resources of the casino, the data can also be regulated by either of the data liaison or the data import/export controller. Although either one or both of the data import/export controller and the data liaison can regulate content of data transmissions,
Although
Outside of the wagering game establishment, the data liaison 605 and a web server process 607 of an online social community establish the data feed. The data liaison 605 receives the feed request from the process spawned by the import/export controller 603. The data liaison 605 spawns a process to handle the requested feed. The spawned process then requests the data feed of the web server process 607. The web server process 607 establishes a source for the feed. The web server process 607 transmits information about the source to the process spawned by the data liaison 605. The spawned process of the data liaison 605 subscribes to the source established by the web server process 607. Units of the data feed are forwarded from the process spawned by the data liaison 605, to the import/export controller 603, and then to the player account manager 601. The player account manager 601 supplies units of the data feed to the wagering game machine of the requesting player.
It should be understood that the illustrated examples are to aid in understanding embodiments, and should not be used to limit embodiments. For example, embodiments can transmit less information to establish a data feed, perhaps obviating transmission of the indication of the process, the requesting player, etc. In addition, embodiments are not limited to establishing feeds sourced from an online social community. For instance, embodiments can establish data feeds among multiple wagering games via an online social community. As an example, users of an online social community may want to compare winnings from wagering games while at different wagering game establishments. One or more data liaisons of the online social community can establish data feeds with the individual wagering game establishment, and then bridge the data feeds to allow the users to see each other's current status on a wagering game machine. Furthermore, data transmissions are not all required to traverse a database and a data liaison. An import/export can allow data transmissions from an electronic wagering game machine to an outside trusted destination through the import/export controller while avoiding the data liaison in accordance with export rules enforced by the import/export controller (e.g., reports at certain times of day to a game developer). The import/export controller can also allow an outside source to mine data from a wagering game establishment (virtual or physical) database in accordance with import/export rules. Likewise, the import/export controller can allow a wagering game establishment entity (e.g., process) to mine data from an online social network database in accordance with import/export rules.
In addition, the diagrams have been described with details to aid in understanding the inventive subject matter. These illustrative details, however, should not be used to limit embodiments or scope of the claims. A few of the illustrative details include exporting/importing player data and exporting/importing data with a wagering game establishment. Embodiments can regulate export/import of data that can arguably be classified outside of player data, and can be applied to a virtual casino.
The examples refer many times to player data. Although player data encompasses a wide spectrum of data about a player (e.g., player reputation, player winnings, favorite casinos, most frequently played wagering games, player avatar, player created images, etc.), embodiments can import/export data about or created by users who are not players. A user may contribute images popular among players even though the user is not labeled a player. A third party service may automatically generate audio, images, or video that is exported/imported into a wagering game establishment (physical or virtual). In addition, ratings of wagering games can be imported into or exported from a physical or virtual wagering game establishment. For example, players can rate wagering games, and the ratings provided by the players are weighted based on information about the player. A system can more heavily weigh ratings of wagering games by a player who frequently participates in an online social community and who visits both a virtual and a physical wagering game establishment. The system can apply a lower weight, fractional weights, negative weight, etc., to wagering game ratings provided by a user who infrequently visits physical or virtual wagering game establishments, who has a low reputation, etc.
The example diagrams also refer to casinos and wagering game establishments. Embodiments are not limited, however, to physical (i.e., brick and mortar) casinos and wagering game establishments. An import/export controller and a data liaison can securely funnel data transmissions between a physical and a virtual wagering game establishment, between an online social community and a virtual wagering game establishment, between different virtual wagering game establishments, etc. For example, current winnings for an online player on a virtual wagering game machine in a virtual casino can be transmitted to widget used by a friend of the online player. As another example, user created images can be imported into a virtual casino from an online social community to periodically update virtual wagering game machines. One or more data liaisons can also coordinate data transmissions across multiple players across different physical and virtual wagering game establishments for various widgets and/or competitions (e.g., team wagering competitions across different geographic locations).
Each casino 712 includes a local area network 716, which includes an access point 704, a wagering game server 706, and wagering game machines 702. The access point 704 provides wireless communication links 710 and wired communication links 708. The wired and wireless communication links can employ any suitable connection technology, such as Bluetooth, 802.11, Ethernet, public switched telephone networks, SONET, etc. In some embodiments, the wagering game server 706 can serve wagering games and distribute content to devices located in other casinos 712 or at other locations on the communications network 714.
The wagering game machines 702 described herein can take any suitable form, such as floor standing models, handheld mobile units, bartop models, workstation-type console models, etc. Further, the wagering game machines 702 can be primarily dedicated for use in conducting wagering games, or can include non-dedicated devices, such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants, personal computers, etc. In one embodiment, the wagering game network 700 can include other network devices, such as accounting servers, wide area progressive servers, player tracking servers, and/or other devices suitable for use in connection with embodiments of the invention.
In some embodiments, wagering game machines 702 and wagering game servers 706 work together such that a wagering game machine 702 can be operated as a thin, thick, or intermediate client. For example, one or more elements of game play may be controlled by the wagering game machine 702 (client) or the wagering game server 706 (server). Game play elements can include executable game code, lookup tables, configuration files, game outcome, audio or visual representations of the game, game assets or the like. In a thin-client example, the wagering game server 706 can perform functions such as determining game outcome or managing assets, while the wagering game machine 702 can present a graphical representation of such outcome or asset modification to the user (e.g., player). In a thick-client example, the wagering game machines 702 can determine game outcomes and communicate the outcomes to the wagering game server 706 for recording or managing a player's account.
In some embodiments, either the wagering game machines 702 (client) or the wagering game server 706 can provide functionality that is not directly related to game play. For example, account transactions and account rules may be managed centrally (e.g., by the wagering game server 706) or locally (e.g., by the wagering game machine 702). In addition, the wagering game server 706 can provide functionality of a data import/export controller. Other functionality not directly related to game play may include power management, presentation of advertising, software or firmware updates, system quality or security checks, etc.
Any of the wagering game network components (e.g., the wagering game machines 702) can include hardware and machine-readable media including instructions for performing the operations described herein.
Embodiments may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, embodiments of the inventive subject matter may take the form of a computer program product embodied in any tangible medium of expression having computer usable program code embodied in the medium. The described embodiments may be provided as a computer program product, or software, that may include a machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions, which may be used to program a computer system (or other electronic device(s)) to perform a process according to embodiments, whether presently described or not, since every conceivable variation is not enumerated herein. A machine readable medium includes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form (e.g., software, processing application) readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, magnetic storage medium (e.g., floppy diskette); optical storage medium (e.g., CD-ROM); magneto-optical storage medium; read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); erasable programmable memory (e.g., EPROM and EEPROM); flash memory; or other types of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. In addition, embodiments may be embodied in an electrical, optical, acoustical or other form of propagated signal (e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.), or wireline, wireless, or other communications medium.
This detailed description refers to specific examples in the drawings and illustrations. These examples are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the inventive subject matter. These examples also serve to illustrate how the inventive subject matter can be applied to various purposes or embodiments. Other embodiments are included within the inventive subject matter, as logical, mechanical, electrical, and other changes can be made to the example embodiments described herein. Features of various embodiments described herein, however essential to the example embodiments in which they are incorporated, do not limit the inventive subject matter as a whole, and any reference to the invention, its elements, operation, and application are not limiting as a whole, but serve only to define these example embodiments. This detailed description does not, therefore, limit embodiments of the invention, which are defined only by the appended claims. Each of the embodiments described herein are contemplated as falling within the inventive subject matter, which is set forth in the following claims.
This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/095,039 filed Sep. 8, 2008.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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| PCT/US2009/056147 | 9/7/2009 | WO | 00 | 2/24/2011 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2010/028322 | 3/11/2010 | WO | A |
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