U.S. patent application number 11/528183 was filed with the patent office on 2007-01-25 for peer-to-peer gaming system.
This patent application is currently assigned to IGT. Invention is credited to R. Jeffrey Jordan, James R. Norton, Glen Keith Russell, Michael B. Shelby.
Application Number | 20070021215 11/528183 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32736629 |
Filed Date | 2007-01-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070021215 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Russell; Glen Keith ; et
al. |
January 25, 2007 |
Peer-to-peer gaming system
Abstract
A gaming system is disclosed. The gaming system includes at
least two gaming components. Each gaming component includes a
controller and a communications interface. The gaming system also
includes a communication link to allow the controllers of the
gaming components to communicate with other controllers of other
gaming components on a peer-to-peer basis through the communication
interfaces.
Inventors: |
Russell; Glen Keith; (Las
Vegas, NV) ; Shelby; Michael B.; (Corvallis, OR)
; Jordan; R. Jeffrey; (Las Vegas, NV) ; Norton;
James R.; (Corvallis, OR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BEYER WEAVER & THOMAS, LLP
P.O. BOX 70250
OAKLAND
CA
94612-0250
US
|
Assignee: |
IGT
|
Family ID: |
32736629 |
Appl. No.: |
11/528183 |
Filed: |
September 26, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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10615732 |
Jul 8, 2003 |
|
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11528183 |
Sep 26, 2006 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
463/42 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G07F 17/3216 20130101;
G07F 17/32 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
463/042 |
International
Class: |
A63F 9/24 20060101
A63F009/24 |
Claims
1. A gaming system, comprising: a hostless communications link; at
least two gaming components, each gaming component comprising: a
controller, and a communications interface; and a connector
configured to connect each communications interface to the
communication link, the hostless communication link configured to
allow a controller of one gaming component to communicate with a
controller of another gaming component on a peer-to-peer basis
without a master controller to control communications through the
communication interfaces.
2. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein one of the at least two
gaming components comprises a game processing unit.
3. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the at least two gaming
components comprise two gaming components operable to communicate
directly with one another without processing or transmitting by a
game processing unit.
4. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the at least two gaming
components are selected from the group comprised of: a game
processing unit, a camera, a printer, a storage device, a coin
hopper, a light display, a button panel, a ticket reader, a bill
validator, a speaker, a microphone, a card reader, a biometric
device, and a keypad.
5. The gaming system of claim 1, the hostless communications link
being configured to allow communications between the at least two
gaming components without any interaction of a game processing
unit.
6. (canceled)
7. The gaming system of claim 1, the gaming system further
comprising a second hostless communications link, wherein the at
least two gaming components are arranged in a cabinet and one
hostless communications link is used by the gaming components
arranged in the cabinet and one hostless communications link is
used for communications between the gaming components arranged in
the cabinet and a gaming component located outside of the
cabinet.
8. The gaming system of claim 1, the hostless communications link
further configured to allow gaming components to be added and
removed while power is on.
9. The gaming system of claim 1, the hostless communications link
further configured to provide power to at least one gaming
component.
10. The gaming system of claim 1, the hostless communications link
further comprising a link compliant with IEEE 1394.
11-16. (canceled)
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] With newer video gaming systems, graphics and sound embody
exciting gaming experiences. As games grow in complexity, the
gaming systems need more processing power and the image and sound
files begin to take up more storage space. Patrons want newer and
more complex features as well as more dynamic content. This fuels
the continual need to upgrade gaming devices with more powerful
processing, video, sound, and storage components. In such a cost
conscious industry, the need for more dynamic content and the cost
of the platform to support that content can often lead to decisions
which delay the release of newer titles which in turn can
significantly impact revenues.
[0002] It is not unusual to have image and sound files consume
megabytes of storage. The storage of these files at the local
level, as is currently done, does not lend itself well to evolving
content. The massive size of the data precludes continual storage
in main memory. As storage is moved away from the local gaming
console, bandwidth requirements for faster, more exciting games
have become critical. The gaming environment will be moving towards
a more distributed environment, where central servers provide
content, storage, and management capabilities for the gaming
systems.
[0003] In addition to sharing storage, the gaming systems may have
the ability to share components, such as a camera overseeing a
number of gaming systems grouped together.
[0004] In addition, the gaming environment may benefit from gaming
systems that are reconfigurable and adaptable, based on a
peer-to-peer communications system, rather than client/server.
Shared and local components in these types of systems may be added
and removed from gaming systems for reconfiguration or maintenance
requirements, with little or no effect on the performance of the
gaming system. This would allow increased flexibility and provide
more options for an exciting gaming environment.
[0005] Finally, the ability to offload processing to local and/or
remote peripherals in a peer-to-peer communications systems reduces
the processing power needed for critical game functionality as is
currently utilized in a traditional gaming system. The advent of a
system that allows for the distribution of processing and/or
storage to peripheral components, thus breaking the need for the
continual upgrade cycle, can significantly improve the bottom line
revenues of a manufacturer.
SUMMARY
[0006] One embodiment of the invention is a gaming system. The
gaming system includes at least two gaming components. Each gaming
component includes a controller and a communications interface. The
gaming system also includes a communication link to allow the
controllers of the gaming components to communicate with other
controllers of other gaming components on a peer-to-peer basis
through the communication interfaces.
[0007] Another embodiment of the invention is a gaming system with
two communications links. An interior communications link provides
communications to gaming components arranged inside a cabinet. An
exterior communications link provides communications to gaming
components located outside the cabinet. A bridge provides physical
connection between the interior and exterior communications
links.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The invention may be best understood by reading the
disclosure with reference to the drawings, wherein:
[0009] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a gaming system having
interior and exterior gaming components.
[0010] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of gaming systems sharing
components.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0011] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a gaming system having both
exterior and interior components. The gaming system may have
several components to provide gaming services to users, whom may
also be referred to as players. In this particular example, the
gaming system has a cabinet 10, in which are arranged several
gaming components. The following discussion gives examples of
gaming components and their possible uses. This is not intended to
limit either the configuration of a gaming system to these specific
gaming components or to limit the uses of the gaming components to
the examples given of their possible uses.
[0012] A light or candle 12 may indicate if the game is active, if
there is a winner, or to identify a system needing service. A
camera 14 may be used to monitor the players, capture video of
winners, etc. The camera could be a video camera providing live
feed to an image processing gaming component that translated the
input images from the camera into images that could be used in the
game. For example, an input stream from the camera of a user
becoming a winner could be used as input to a bonus game that had
images of the user as part of the game.
[0013] Similarly, the camera could be a still camera, a combination
of both, and either an analog or digital input device. In another
example, the video camera could project images of a winner on one
of the games to a shared overhead display, enticing others to come
play the games. Another example may be the broadcast of a
centralized video capture of a game to a centralized display, to
several distributed displays and a recording device. This example
may provide images of a mechanical or animated roulette table and
several betting stations.
[0014] Speakers 18 may provide music, sound effects or voice
instructions to the players, and the system may also have a
microphone. A printer 16 provides the capability to printout
tickets that generally are used to provide the player with a
voucher and may be used to print out other items, such as
promotional awards, prize certificates, etc. The voucher can be
redeemed for cash. A bill acceptor 20 and a coin acceptor 24 allow
the user to insert money to be wagered on the games. The bill
acceptor and coin acceptor will also generally validate the coins
and bills to ensure that the currency inserted is valid, as well as
tracking the amount of currency being inserted. The component
referred to here as a bill acceptor may also serve a dual function
as a ticket reader. A bill door 22 may provide access to the bill
stacker for maintenance functions. A coin hopper 26 dispenses coins
when the player cashes out their accumulated winnings
[0015] Other types of gaming components could include `networked`
printers that are controlled by a central system. For example, the
printing of a promotional ticket may be done on a printer usually
controlled by the game processing unit. When the main system
communicates with the printer, it can do so without involving the
game processing unit, and the main system may actually take control
of the printer away from the game processing unit. This may also be
true for commands to print tickets of a certain amount/value, where
those commands come from a central accounting system, not the local
gaming system or game processing unit. In a configuration such as
that shown in FIG. 2, there would not need to be any special wiring
or harnessing in the cabinet.
[0016] Other gaming components could include keypads, either for
security or other uses; biometric devices for identification and
security, such as fingerprint scanners, facial recognition modules,
voice print identifiers, retinal scanners, etc. The combinations
are limited only by the capabilities of the hostless communication
link and the ability to include the communications interface in the
gaming component.
[0017] The access doors 28 provide interior access to the gaming
system components inside the cabinet for service, removal and
insertion of new components. Typically located inside the cabinet,
in addition to the various controllers for the devices in the
gaming system arranged in the cabinet, is a logic assembly 30 that
may include the game processing unit. The game processing unit
provides the logic components and the distribution media which
contain the games that are played by the player on the system,
although it is not necessary that the game processing unit be the
provider of the games, as will be discussed in more detail
later.
[0018] The player interacts with the games through the player
controls 32 and the display/touch screen 34. The player's progress,
as well as the player's account status and other player related
information, may be tracked by a player tracking subsystem, 36,
which may also be a logic circuit arranged in the cabinet but not
always visible to the outside. All of the gaming components
discussed so far, as well as many other possibilities, are all
arranged in the cabinet and may or may not be visible to the
player. Other components of the system may be outside of the
cabinet, such as the external storage 42, connected to the
components in the cabinet by the communications link 40, and
overhead display 38. The overhead display 38 may take data from the
camera 14 and display it so that others than the player may see
video capture of the player's game, the player when he or she wins,
etc.
[0019] These gaming components, whether inside or outside the
cabinet, will have a controller of some sort and a communications
interface allowing the controllers to access a common
communications link among the various gaming components. The
controllers may vary greatly between the devices. For example, the
coin acceptor and bill acceptor may have simple logic circuits and
sensors that identify the insertion of coin or currency, validate
that the money is valid, and a simple counter that counts how much
money has been inserted. These controllers may also have a
rejection function that returns invalid money. Similarly, the coin
hopper may have a controller that merely receives a signal to
release a certain number of different kinds of coins as
winnings.
[0020] In contrast, the camera controller may be a high-end video
processor that reads signals from a charge-coupled device and
converts it to digital video or still image data. Similarly, the
player controls controller may be a simple voltage generator that
generates a voltage for a particular button push, or may be much
more complex input apparatus. The display/touch screen may also
have a fairly complex controller, to allow rendering of video
images, either from the camera or from a file, as well as receiving
and interpreting touch screen inputs. The controllers of these
devices, regardless of their complexity will govern the functioning
of the gaming component as well as communicate through the
communications link with other gaming components.
[0021] The gaming system should have some degree of flexibility,
allowing gaming components to be switched in and out, added and
removed to enhance the gaming experience. The communications link
40 that provides communications between all the components should
allow this flexibility. One such communication link is a `hostless`
communications link, where the communications link, such as a bus,
does not require one designated device to always function as the
master communications controller, through which all the gaming
components must communicate. Hostless communications system may
have bus control functions, but any device with the appropriate
capabilities may take those functions upon themselves, and the
functions may be divided among several devices sharing the
link.
[0022] An example of a hostless communication link is the
communications protocol set out by the Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers (IEEE) standard 1394 (IEEE 1394), which may
also be known as FireWire.RTM. a trademark of the Apple Computer
Corporation or i.LINK.RTM. a trademark of Sony Corporation. The
IEEE 1394 standard sets out a communications link that is
reconfigurable, hostless and very flexible. It also has the
capability to provide power through either the backplane or the
cables to components, eliminating the need for separate power
supplies and adding to the overall flexibility of the
configuration. IEEE 1394 compliant communications links reconfigure
themselves by the components communicating among themselves to
determine who will fulfill what roles and what the relationships
are among the various components. This will be discussed with
regard to FIG. 2.
[0023] FIG. 2 shows two gaming systems 50a and 50b with interior
and exterior gaming components, as well as some shared gaming
components. All of these gaming components communicate on a
peer-to-peer basis, with no dedicated master controller that always
manages the communications link between the devices. The
elimination of a host allows the gaming system to be reconfigured
without concern for communications management. For example, in many
current systems, a master controller manages the communications
link. Any changes to the master controller, or if the master
controller fails, renders the entire gaming system inoperative, as
none of the other gaming components can communicate without the
master controller.
[0024] The hostless communication link may be configured as a
backplane bus, where the components have an adapter that allows
them to be `plugged` into a slot on the gaming system backplane, or
may be a cable link, where devices all use the same type of cable
to communicate through their communications interfaces. In
addition, these links may be bridged together. This provides two
communications links, one for the gaming components interior to the
cabinet, and a communication link between the components in the
cabinet and components outside the cabinet. In addition, for the
added flexibility of adding components that do not have their own
power supplies, the communications link should also provide power,
via a backplane or through the cable.
[0025] An example of a gaming system having both an interior
communications link in the form of a backplane bus and a cable
communications link for gaming components outside of the cabinet is
shown in gaming system 50a. The display and touch screen 34a, the
printer 16a, the internal storage 60a, the game processing unit
46a, the coin acceptor 24a, the bill acceptor 20a, the coin hopper
26a, the player controls 32a and the unspecified gaming component
52a all communicate with each other and the bridge 48 via a
backplane hostless bus. The unspecified gaming component 52a can be
any type of gaming component that the system designer desire, with
the understanding that the system designer can add additional
components as the designer sees fit.
[0026] Components outside the cabinet may communicate via a cabled
communications link through the bridge 40, such as the card reader
58a, the video light panel 56a and any other gaming components such
as 54a. The exterior or interior gaming components may in turn
communicate with other devices that are shared among gaming
systems, such as video camera 62. In addition, external devices may
communicate by being cabled to an interior device, such as the
external storage 42 being linked with the gaming component 52a.
[0027] In contrast, gaming system 50b has all of the devices cabled
together in one communications link. In either system, the hostless
communications link allows high degrees of flexibility in
communications that are useful in the gaming environment. For
example, in the IEEE 1394 hostless communications link, the bus is
reconfigured every time a device is added or removed. This
reconfiguration is sometimes referred to as `reset.`
[0028] Upon reset, the communications interfaces of each component
determine how many devices are attached to them. Components that
have only one other component attached to them are called `leaf
nodes.` Typically, nodes with more than one component attached are
called `branch nodes,` and components that have three or more
components are typically designated the `root node.` In systems
where there is more than one possible root node, the protocol
defines a method for how to settle which node is the root node.
Note that in gaming system 50a, the game processing unit 46a
happens to be the root node. In gaming system 50b, the root node is
the internal storage 60a. Once the tree structure is identified,
the root nodes enumerate the components and notify all of the
devices of everyone's identification. The devices can now
communicate on a peer-to-peer basis, without interaction of any
other gaming components.
[0029] In gaming system 50b, the display and touch screen 34b
connects to the printer 16b, which in turn connects to the internal
storage 60b. The internal storage 60b connects to the external
storage 42 and the gaming component 52b. The gaming component 52b
and any intervening gaming components connect with the player
controls 32b, in turn connecting to the coin hopper 26b. This
arrangement is repeated between the coin hopper 26b, the bill
validator 20b, the coin acceptor 24b, the game processing unit 46b
and the external devices. Note that the gaming system 50b does not
require a bridge, as there is only one cabled together system. The
communications link will not make any differentiation on the
physical level between any of the interior gaming components and
the exterior gaming components such as the card reader 58b, the
video/light panel 56b and the gaming component 54b as well as any
others.
[0030] In this manner, the gaming systems can be reconfigured
easily and with minimum interruption of the gaming experience for
the player. For example, one of the gaming components may be a slot
machine interface board (SMIB). The SMIB may communicate across a
network with a slot accounting system that provides ticket
validation. Once the validation is received at the SMIB, in this
example gaming component 52b, the print commands could be forwarded
to the printer 34b without having to involve the gaming processing
unit 46b.
[0031] In another example, a remote game server may be used to
"push" game content to the gaming system. In this example, the
external storage 42 may be an external application server that
provides dynamic, configurable content for players. The server 42
would then be able to communicate directly with the various gaming
components needed for the game, such as the display, the player
controls and the printer, without involving the CPU.
[0032] There are instances when the management system needs to take
the game system offline for a period of time. Currently, the
management system sends a message down to the gaming system via a
serial protocol which is received and processed by the game
processing unit, which in turn disables the player controls, bill
acceptor and touch screen until such time as the game processing
unit is reactivated. This disallows all interaction between the
game and the player until such time as the management system
reactivates the gaming system via another message that is read by
the game, processed, and then the game re-enables the player
controls, touch screen, etc.
[0033] After implementing embodiments of this invention, the
disable message would come in, be read by an intelligent gaming
component such as the SMIB or other root node, which would
communicate directly with the peripherals, leaving the game
processing unit out of the loop.
[0034] In another example, a sequence of events would start when
someone opens an access door. Currently, that signal is received,
processed by the game processing unit, and then certain actions are
taken, such as player controls disabled, ticket printers disabled,
etc., by the game processing unit. In a hostless communication
system, the root node may detect that event, and sends a broadcast
message to all other components to disable themselves. The root
node may or may not be the game processing unit. In the instance
where it is not the root node, the game processing unit would be
considered to be `just another` gaming component.
[0035] As can be seen, the examples of the operation of this type
of gaming system are wide and varied. Although there has been
described to this point a particular embodiment for a method and
apparatus for a gaming system, it is not intended that such
specific references be considered as limitations upon the scope of
this invention except in-so-far as set forth in the following
claims.
* * * * *