U.S. patent application number 13/895287 was filed with the patent office on 2013-09-26 for apparatuses, methods and systems for providing access to a game area of an online game using a multi-level in-game currency platform.
This patent application is currently assigned to Zynga Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Zynga Inc.. Invention is credited to Matthew Ocko, Sim Singh.
Application Number | 20130252727 13/895287 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43826661 |
Filed Date | 2013-09-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130252727 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ocko; Matthew ; et
al. |
September 26, 2013 |
Apparatuses, Methods and Systems for Providing Access to a Game
Area of an Online Game Using a Multi-Level In-Game Currency
Platform
Abstract
The APPARATUSES and METHODS FOR providing access to a game area
of an online game includes receiving a request to access the game
area, from a user, wherein the request includes information related
to game attributes of the user. The game attributes of the user are
analyzed to determine if the user should be provided access to the
game area defined in the request. When it is determined that the
user does not have one or more of the game attributes to gain
access to the game area based on the analysis, determining if a
specific one of the game attributes is eligible for purchase to
gain access to the game area. If the specific game attribute is
eligible for purchase, then facilitating purchase of the specific
one of the game attributes by the user in order to gain access to
the game area.
Inventors: |
Ocko; Matthew; (Palo Alto,
CA) ; Singh; Sim; (San Francisco, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Zynga Inc. |
San Frncisco |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Zynga Inc.
San Francisco
CA
|
Family ID: |
43826661 |
Appl. No.: |
13/895287 |
Filed: |
May 15, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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13244692 |
Sep 26, 2011 |
8469801 |
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13895287 |
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12895738 |
Sep 30, 2010 |
8210934 |
|
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13244692 |
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61247549 |
Sep 30, 2009 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
463/29 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63F 13/69 20140902;
A63F 2300/575 20130101; G06Q 30/02 20130101; A63F 13/792 20140902;
G06Q 10/10 20130101; A63F 13/795 20140902; A63F 13/822 20140902;
A63F 13/85 20140902; A63F 13/67 20140902; G06Q 30/06 20130101; A63F
13/35 20140902; G06Q 20/381 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
463/29 |
International
Class: |
A63F 13/12 20060101
A63F013/12 |
Claims
1. A method for providing access to a game area of an online game,
comprising: receiving a request to access the game area, from a
user, the request including information related to game attributes
of the user; analyzing game attributes of the user to determine if
the user should be provided access to the game area defined in the
request; when it is determined that the user does not have one or
more of the game attributes to gain access to the game area based
on the analysis, determining if a specific one of the game
attributes is eligible for purchase to gain access to the game
area; and facilitating purchase of the specific one of the game
attributes that is eligible for purchase by the user in order to
gain access to the game area, wherein the method operations are
performed by a processor.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the game attributes
further includes, obtaining in-game rules for the online game, the
in-game rules identifying requirements for providing access to the
game area for each of the game attributes; and comparing the
requirements for each of the game attributes defined by the in-game
rules against the corresponding game attributes of the user to
determine the specific ones of the game attributes that does not
meet eligibility requirement for accessing the game area.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining eligibility to
purchase further includes, examining information related to the
specific one of the game attribute to determine if the specific one
of the game attribute is eligible for purchase; and determining
purchase information for purchasing the specific one of the game
attribute based on the eligibility for purchasing the corresponding
game attribute.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining eligibility to
purchase further includes, examining other game attributes of the
user to determine if the user is eligible to purchase the specific
one of the game attribute required for accessing the game area; and
determining purchase information for purchasing the specific one of
the game attribute based on the user's eligibility for
purchase.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein facilitating purchase further
includes, providing an option to select one or more of other
attributes of the user for purchasing the specific one of the game
attribute.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein facilitating purchase further
includes, providing an option to the user to purchase a specific
type of virtual currency, the specific type of virtual currency
used to purchase the specific one of the attribute required for
gaining access to the game area, wherein the specific virtual
currency is purchased using one of real currency, virtual currency
different from the specific virtual currency, credit virtual
currency, reward points acquired during game play of the online
game.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein facilitating purchase further
includes, retrieving social graph data from one or more social
graphs associated with the user; analyzing the social graph data
associated with the user to determine one or more of user
eligibility to purchase the specific game attribute, purchase rate
for purchasing the specific game attribute, social contacts to
request the specific game attribute or to trade one or more other
game attributes of the user for the specific game attribute, the
social graph data identifying social contacts, type of link and
link weight established between the user and the social
contacts.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the game attribute required for
gaining access to the game area is possession of a predefined
amount of a specific virtual currency type, wherein the specific
virtual currency type is one of ordinary virtual currency, premium
virtual currency, special virtual currency, credit virtual
currency, or any combinations thereof.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the game attribute required for
gaining access to the game area is possession of a predetermined
game item that is required to perform a job or to progress within
the game area, the game item includes one of game chips, game
tools, game weapons or combinations thereof.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the game attribute required for
gaining access to the game area is an achievement of a
predetermined in-game level by the user, the in-game level
providing access to a game item required for performing a job or to
progress within the game area.
11. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium storing
instructions which when executed by a processor provides access to
a game area of an online game, the storage medium having
instructions to: receive a request to access the game area, from a
user, the request including information related to game attributes
of the user; analyze game attributes of the user to determine if
the user should be provided access to the game area defined in the
request; when it is determined that the user does not have one or
more of the game attributes to gain access to the game area based
on the analysis, determine if a specific one of the game attributes
is eligible for purchase to gain access to the game area; and
facilitate purchase of the specific one of the game attributes by
the user in order to gain access to the game area.
12. The storage medium of claim 11, wherein instructions to analyze
the game attributes further includes instructions to, obtain
in-game rules for the online game, the in-game rules identifying
requirements for providing access to the game area for each of the
game attributes; and compare the requirements for each of the game
attributes defined by the in-game rules against the corresponding
game attributes of the user to determine the specific ones of the
game attributes that does not meet eligibility requirement for
accessing the game area.
13. The storage medium of claim 11, wherein instructions to
determine eligibility to purchase further includes instructions to,
examine information related to the specific one of the game
attribute to determine if the specific one of the game attribute is
eligible for purchase; and determine purchase information for
purchasing the specific one of the game attribute based on the
eligibility for purchasing the corresponding game attribute.
14. The storage medium of claim 11, wherein instructions to
determine eligibility to purchase further includes instructions to,
examine other game attributes of the user to determine if the user
is eligible to purchase the specific one of the game attribute
required for accessing the game area; and determine purchase
information for purchasing the specific one of the game attribute
based on the user's eligibility for purchase.
15. The storage medium of claim 11, wherein instructions to
facilitate purchase further includes instructions to, provide an
option to purchase the specific one of the game attribute using one
or more of other attributes of the user.
16. The storage medium of claim 11, wherein instructions to
facilitate purchase further includes instructions to, provide an
option to the user to purchase the specific virtual currency, the
specific virtual currency used to purchase the specific one of the
attribute required for gaining access to the game area.
Description
CLAIM OF PRIORITY
[0001] This application claims priority as a continuation, under 35
USC .sctn.120, of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/244,692
entitled "Apparatuses, Methods and Systems for a Multi-Level
In-Game Currency Platform," filed on Sep. 26, 2011, which is a
continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/895,738 (now
U.S. Pat. No. 8,210,934), which claims benefit, under 35 USC
.sctn.119, of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/247,549,
filed on Sep. 30, 2009, and entitled "MULTI-LEVEL IN-GAME
CURRENCIES," which are hereby incorporated by reference.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0002] For additional teachings of various uses of social graphs,
see U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/179,345 filed
May 19, 2009, entitled "DIRECT EMBEDDING OF GAMES INTO THIRD PARTY
WEBSITES," and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/778,956 filed
May 12, 2010, entitled "EMBEDDING OF GAMES INTO THIRD PARTY
WEBSITES."
[0003] The entire contents of the aforementioned applications are
herein expressly incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The present invention is directed generally to apparatuses,
methods and systems for providing access to online games, and more
particularly, to APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PROVIDING
ACCESS TO GAME AREAS OF AN ONLINE GAME.
BACKGROUND
[0005] Various applications that allow users to interact with other
users through the Internet have become popular. Online games that
allow players to interact with other players are one type of such
online applications. Some online games, such as chess or bridge,
have a small number of players that play together at the same time.
Other online games, such as massively multiplayer online games, can
have a large number of users playing together at once. Many online
games include game areas that are achieved through game play and
in-game currencies that may be used as part of the game (e.g.,
betting currency in card games) or to purchase various in game
items.
SUMMARY
[0006] The APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PROVIDING ACCESS TO
GAME AREA OF AN ONLINE GAME USING A MULTI-LEVEL IN-GAME CURRENCY
PLATFORM (hereinafter "MIC") provide access to game areas using one
or more game attributes available or gained during game play of the
online game.
[0007] In one embodiment, a method for providing access to a game
area of an online game. The method includes receiving a request to
access the game area, from a user. The request includes information
related to game attributes of the user. The game attributes of the
user are analyzed to determine if the user should be provided
access to the game area defined in the request. When it is
determined that the user does not have one or more game attributes
to gain access to the game area based on the analysis, further
determination is made to see if a specific one of the game
attributes is eligible for purchase to gain access to the game
area. When the specific game attribute is eligible for purchase,
purchase of the specific game attribute by the user is facilitated
so as to provide access to the game area.
[0008] In an alternate embodiment, a non-transitory
processor-readable storage medium for storing instructions related
to providing access to a game area of an online game, is disclosed.
The storage medium includes instructions to receive a request to
access the game area from a user, wherein the request includes
information related to game attributes of the user. The
instructions within the storage medium are further configured to
analyze game attributes of the user received in the request to
determine if the user should be provided access to the game area
identified in the request. When it is determined that the user does
not have one or more game attributes to gain access to the game
area based on the analysis, the instructions within the storage
medium are further configured to determine if a specific one of the
game attributes is eligible for purchase to gain access to the game
area. When it is determined that the specific game attribute is
eligible for purchase, the instructions within the storage medium
are further configured to facilitate purchase of the specific game
attribute by the user in order to provide access to the game area
to the user.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The accompanying appendices and/or drawings illustrate
various non limiting, example, inventive aspects in accordance with
the present disclosure:
[0010] FIG. 1 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating transaction
processing in one embodiment of the MIC platform;
[0011] FIG. 2 illustrates data flow in one embodiment of the MIC
platform;
[0012] FIG. 3 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating an
eligibility determining component in one embodiment of the MIC
platform;
[0013] FIG. 4 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating an incentive
conditions fulfillment component in one embodiment of the MIC
platform;
[0014] FIG. 5 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating a third party
incentives management component in one embodiment of the MIC
platform;
[0015] FIG. 6 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating a purchase
eligibility determining component in one embodiment of the MIC
platform;
[0016] FIG. 7 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating a virtual
currency conversion eligibility determining component in one
embodiment of the MIC platform;
[0017] FIG. 8 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating a real
currency conversion eligibility determining component in one
embodiment of the MIC platform;
[0018] FIG. 9 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating a conversion
rate determining component in one embodiment of the MIC
platform;
[0019] FIG. 10 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating a transfer
eligibility determining component in one embodiment of the MIC
platform;
[0020] FIG. 11 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating a user
account modifying component in one embodiment of the MIC
platform;
[0021] FIG. 12 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating game area
access determination in one embodiment of the MIC platform;
[0022] FIG. 13 is of a block diagram illustrating embodiments of
the MIC platform controller;
[0023] The leading number of each reference number within the
drawings indicates the figure in which that reference number is
introduced and/or detailed. As such, a detailed discussion of
reference number 101 would be found and/or introduced in FIG. 1.
Reference number 201 is introduced in FIG. 2, etc.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Overview
[0024] Online game operators provide users an opportunity to play
online games together with their friends. Particularly, social game
operators harness online social networks, designing games that
closely integrate the social graph data of users and their existing
friendship connections. Different types of virtual currencies may
be used by the game operators in various games. In one embodiment,
a single virtual currency may exist that may be freely
exchangeable. For example, in a simulated casino game, a player may
exchange a $1,000,000 chip for ten $100,000 chips or for one
hundred $10,000 chips. In another embodiment, multiple virtual
currencies may exist, and they may not be freely interchangeable
between each other. For example, some virtual currency types (e.g.,
New York Dollars, Cuban Pesos, and Moscow Rubles used in Zynga Game
Network's Mafia Wars game) may not be exchanged between each other,
while other virtual currency types may be exchanged in
predetermined ways (e.g., Reward Points may be used to purchase New
York Dollars, Cuban Pesos, and Moscow Rubles, but these currency
types may not be used to purchase Reward Points). To encourage
various behaviors (e.g., be more social, spend more money), online
game operators may use social graph information associated with
users to determine how users may use their real and/or virtual
currency. For example, a user who invited many friends in the
user's social graph to play a game may be rewarded with more
favorable currency conversion rates and/or allowed to exchange
between more currency types than a user who invited few friends in
the user's social graph to play the game. In another example, a
user who has helped a lot of friends play the game (e.g., sent many
gifts) may be rewarded with special coins that facilitate access to
exclusive items, abilities, areas, and/or the like.
[0025] In one embodiment, social graph information may describe a
user's friends. For example, user Alice may be a friend of user
Bob, implying that Alice and Bob are related in some way. In one
implementation, the relationship can be explicit, such as a
relationship stored in a social network database that links Alice's
user record to Bob's user record (e.g., a relationship database
table in the Social Graph table group 1319b). For example, Alice
and Bob may be listed as friends in a social network database
because one or both of them set up the explicit connection. In
another implementation, the relationship may be implicit in that
the MIC platform determines, based on data available to it (e.g.,
data regarding user stored in the User table group 1319a), that a
relationship exists between Alice and Bob that can be deemed a
friend relationship. For example, the MIC platform may include
logic to track which users play together, note repeat linkings and
infer a friend relationship. In one embodiment, determining friend
relationships might involve a plurality of social graphs. For
example, friends could be identified by relationships in a social
graph set up by a company operating a social networking site and/or
social graphs set up by an online game company. In one embodiment,
social graphs can be multiple levels (e.g., there are friends of
friends), and in some contexts, friends of friends are treated as
friends (and that itself could be recursive). In one embodiment,
social graphs may be unidirectional or bidirectional and different
types of links may optionally be given different weights (e.g.,
explicit links may be given a weight of W, implicit links may be
given a weight of W/2, and mutual links may be given a weight of 2
W).
MIC
[0026] FIG. 1 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating transaction
processing in one embodiment of the MIC platform. In one
embodiment, a transaction may involve acquisition of virtual
currency by a user. For example, a user may purchase virtual
currency, receive virtual currency as a gift, and/or the like. For
example, the user may acquire one type or multiple types of virtual
currency in the transaction. In FIG. 1, a request to credit a
user's account with virtual currency is received at 101. In one
embodiment, transaction details may be included in a transaction
details data structure included as part of the request. For
example, the transaction details data structure may be passed in as
an argument to a function written in the PHP programming language
(e.g., the transaction details data structure may include a variety
of fields such as the unique ID (UID) for a user involved in the
transaction, type of virtual currency to be credited, amount of
virtual currency to be credited, and/or the like).
[0027] Virtual currency type requested may be determined at 105,
and virtual currency amount requested may be determined at 110. In
one embodiment, these transaction details may be retrieved from the
transaction details data structure using PHP (e.g.,
$VCType=$transactionDetails["VCType"];
$VCAmount=$transactionDetails["VCAmount"];). For example, a user
may purchase virtual currency and the details of the transaction
may be passed among MIC platform components using the transaction
details data structure. In another embodiment, these transaction
details may be retrieved from the In-Game Data table group 1319c
using a SQL statement (e.g., SELECT VCType, VCAmount FROM
PeriodicCurrency Awards WHERE UID=`UID for a user from the
transaction details data structure`). For example, a user may be
awarded an amount of virtual currency (e.g., 100,000,000) of a
virtual currency type (e.g., New York Dollars) on a periodic basis
(e.g., per minute, hour, day, and/or the like) based on the user's
progress in the game (e.g., the level of user's Mega Casino in
Zynga Game Network's Mafia Wars game).
[0028] A determination may be made at 115, whether the requested
amount of virtual currency exceeds the maximum allowable amount of
virtual currency of the requested virtual currency type for a user.
In one embodiment, the determination may be made based on data in
the User table group 1319a and/or the In-Game Data table group
1319c. In one implementation, the user's current currency amount
may be retrieved from the User table group 1319a using a SQL
statement (e.g., SELECT VCAmount FROM User Currency Table WHERE
user_UID=`User's UID` AND VCType=`VC Type requested`), the user's
maximum allowable amount of virtual currency type may be retrieved
from the In-Game Data table group 1319c using a SQL statement
(e.g., SELECT VCAmountLimit FROM Currency LimitsTable WHERE
user_UID=`User's UID` AND VCType=`VC Type requested`), and the two
retrieved values may be compared to make the determination. In
another implementation, the determination may be made based on game
logic rules (e.g., the limit for a currency type may be a multiple
of the user's in-game level).
[0029] In one embodiment, if the requested amount exceeds the
maximum allowable amount, the request may be denied at 160. For
example, if a user attempts to purchase more special Royale poker
chips than allowed given the user's level, the request may be
denied. Preventing the user from purchasing an unlimited number of
special Royale poker chips may help limit game distortion. In
another embodiment, if the requested amount exceeds the maximum
allowable amount, the request may be allowed to proceed for certain
predetermined types of transactions. For example, an energy boost
from an Energy Pack game item may be allowed to exceed the maximum
allowable amount of energy for the user, while the periodic
accumulation of energy based on passage of time may not be allowed
to exceed the maximum allowable amount of energy for the user.
[0030] If the determination at 115 is negative, the transaction
type is determined at 120. In one embodiment, the transaction type
may be an award of virtual currency, a purchase of virtual
currency, a transfer of virtual currency, and/or the like. For
example, an award of virtual currency may be based on passage of
time, fulfillment of incentives, occurrence of events, and/or the
like. For example, virtual currency may be purchased using real
currency, credit virtual currency, special virtual currency,
ordinary virtual currency, and/or the like. For example, virtual
currency may be transferred by winning the virtual currency,
receiving the virtual currency as a gift, and/or the like. In one
implementation, the transaction type may be retrieved from the
transaction details data structure using PHP (e.g.,
$TransactionType=$transactionDetails["TransactionType"];). For
example, the transaction type may indicate that the transaction is
an "award of virtual currency." In another example, the transaction
type may indicate that the transaction is a "periodic energy award"
and the MIC platform may determine that such a transaction is an
"award of virtual currency" based on game logic rules.
[0031] If the transaction type is an award of virtual currency,
user eligibility to receive the award of virtual currency may be
determined at 130. In one embodiment, passage of time, fulfillment
of incentives, occurrence of events, and/or the like may be checked
to determine eligibility. See FIG. 3 for additional details
regarding determining whether a user is eligible to receive an
award of virtual currency.
[0032] If the transaction type is a purchase of virtual currency,
user eligibility to purchase the virtual currency may be determined
at 140. In one embodiment, in-game data, social graph data, and/or
the like may be checked to determine purchase eligibility. See FIG.
6 for additional details regarding determining whether a user is
eligible to purchase virtual currency. In one embodiment, if the
user is eligible to purchase virtual currency, receipt of payment
may be confirmed at 145. In one implementation, a third party
payment processor may be used to handle payment, and a confirmation
from the third party payment processor (e.g., using a callback URL
that includes the UID of the transaction) may indicate that the
payment was received.
[0033] If the transaction type is a transfer of virtual currency,
user eligibility to transfer the virtual currency may be determined
at 150. In one embodiment, in-game data, social graph data, and/or
the like may be checked to determine transfer eligibility. See FIG.
10 for additional details regarding determining whether a user is
eligible to receive a transfer of virtual currency.
[0034] If the user is ineligible to complete the transaction based
on determination at 130, 140, 145, or 150, the request may be
denied at 160. Otherwise, the user's account may be modified to
reflect the acquisition of virtual currency at 170. For example,
the amount of virtual currency of the acquired virtual currency
type associated with the user's account may be increased. In
another example, access to new upgrades, abilities, areas, and/or
the like may be granted based on the acquisition (e.g., based on
acquiring a predetermined minimum amount of virtual currency of a
specified type). See FIG. 11 for additional details regarding
modifying a user's account to reflect having newly acquired virtual
currency.
[0035] FIG. 2 illustrates data flow in one embodiment of the MIC
platform. In FIG. 2, a user 201 may send a user transaction request
220 to a client 203. In one embodiment, the user request may be a
request to credit a user's account with virtual currency (e.g., see
FIG. 1 and related figures). For example, the user may wish to
purchase virtual currency (e.g., Reward Points in Zynga Game
Network's Mafia Wars game). In another example, the user may wish
to fulfill a third party incentive to receive an award of virtual
currency. In one implementation, the user may use a keyboard, a
mouse, and/or the like to input the user transaction request 220
(e.g., using a user interface of a game). In one embodiment, the
client 203 may send a transaction request 222 to a gaming server
205 (e.g., Zynga Game Network's Mafia Wars gaming server) to
facilitate the transaction (e.g., a purchase of virtual currency).
In one implementation, the transaction request 222 may include
information regarding the transaction (e.g., user's UID, virtual
currency type to be purchased, virtual currency amount to be
purchased, and/or the like). For example, the transaction request
may be in XML format and may take on the following form:
<XML>
[0036] <UserUID>User1234</UserUID>
[0037] <VCType>Reward Points</VCType>
[0038] <VCAmount>100</VCAmount>
</XML>
[0039] In one embodiment, the gaming server 205 may analyze data
associated with the transaction 224. For example, the gaming server
205 may analyze data regarding the user, data regarding the virtual
currency, in-game data, inter-game data, third-party data, and/or
the like. In one implementation, this data may be retrieved from
one or more table groups such as the User table group 1319a, the
In-Game Data table group 1319c, the Inter-Game Data table group
1319d, the Third Party Data table group 1319e, and/or the like
(e.g., using one or more SQL statements). In one implementation,
this data may be analyzed (e.g., see FIG. 1 and related figures) to
determine whether the user is eligible to receive requested virtual
currency, to calculate the conversion rate between the requested
virtual currency and the payment virtual currency, and/or the like.
In one embodiment, the gaming server 205 may use an application
programming interface (API) 207 to request social graph data from a
social networking server 208 (e.g., Facebook, MySpace, and/or the
like). In one implementation, the gaming server 205 may send a
request for social graph data 226 to the social networking server
208 in accordance with the API 207, and receive a response with
social graph data 228. In another implementation, social graph data
may have been previously received (e.g., when the user signed up to
play the game, during a periodic update, and/or the like) and the
social graph data may be retrieved from the Social Graph table
group 1319b (e.g., using one or more SQL statements). In one
implementation, social graph data may be analyzed (e.g., see FIG. 1
and related figures) to determine whether the user is eligible to
receive the requested virtual currency, to calculate the conversion
rate between the requested virtual currency and the payment virtual
currency, and/or the like. In one embodiment (e.g., if the user
wishes to fulfill a third party incentive to receive an award of
virtual currency), the gaming server 205 may contact a third party
server 209 to receive a confirmation that the user fulfilled
conditions of the third party incentive. In one implementation, the
gaming server 205 may send a request to confirm fulfillment of
incentive conditions 230. For example, the confirmation request may
be in XML format and may take on the following form:
<XML>
[0040] <UserUID>User1234</UserUID>
[0041]
<TransactionUID>Transaction456</TransactionUID>
[0042] <IncentiveUID>Incentive789</IncentiveUID>
</XML>
[0043] In one implementation, the third party server 209 may
respond to the gaming server 205 with a confirmation response 232
(e.g., in XML format including the UID of the transaction, user,
and/or the like). In another implementation, the confirmation
response may have been previously received, and the confirmation
may be retrieved from the Third Party Data table group 1319e (e.g.,
using one or more SQL statements). The confirmation may be used to
determine whether the user is eligible to receive an award of
virtual currency (e.g., see FIG. 1 and related figures). In another
embodiment (e.g., if the user wishes to purchase virtual currency),
payment information 234 may be analyzed (e.g., see FIG. 1 and
related figures) to determine whether the user agrees to pay for
the requested virtual currency (e.g., using real currency, virtual
currency, and/or the like). In one embodiment, virtual currency
data 236 associated with the user may be updated (e.g., see FIG. 1
and related figures) to reflect the transaction. For example, if
the user has 50 Reward Points and purchases 100 Reward Points, the
amount of Reward Points in the user's account in Mafia Wars may be
increased to 150. In one embodiment, the gaming server 205 may send
a transaction response 238 to the client 203. In one
implementation, the transaction response 238 may include
information updated as a result of the transaction. For example,
the transaction response may be in XML format and may take on the
following form:
<XML>
[0044] <UserUID>User1234</UserUID>
[0045] <VCType>Reward Points</VCType>
[0046] <VCAmount>150</VCAmount>
</XML>
[0047] In one embodiment, the client 203 may output the result of
the transaction 240 to the user 201. In one implementation, the
client 203 may output the result using a monitor, speakers, a
printer, and/or the like. For example, the client 203 may update
the user interface display to reflect that the user 201 owns 150
Reward Points as a result of the transaction.
[0048] FIG. 3 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating an award
eligibility determining component in one embodiment of the MIC
platform. In FIG. 3, a request to determine a user's eligibility to
receive an award of virtual currency is received at 301. For
example, the user may try to collect virtual currency from in-game
properties that generate virtual currency periodically (e.g., a
Mega Casino in Zynga Game Network's Mafia Wars game). In another
example, the user may fulfill an incentive (e.g., invite 5 friends
to play the game) to receive an award of virtual currency. In yet
another example, the user may be awarded virtual currency based on
occurrence of an event (e.g., a virtual currency award for
Halloween, a virtual currency award during a weekend, and/or the
like).
[0049] The basis for award eligibility may be determined at 305. In
one embodiment, an award of virtual currency may be based on
passage of time, fulfillment of incentives, occurrence of events,
and/or the like. In one implementation, the basis of award
eligibility may be determined based on transaction type, which may
be retrieved from the transaction details data structure using PHP
(e.g., $TransactionType=$transactionDetails["TransactionType"];).
For example, the transaction type may indicate that the transaction
is a "periodic energy award" and the MIC platform may determine
that such a transaction is an "award based on passage of time"
based on game logic rules. In another implementation, the basis of
award eligibility may be determined based on transaction subtype,
which may be retrieved from the transaction details data structure
using PHP (e.g.,
$TransactionSubType=$transactionDetails["TransactionSubType"];).
For example, the transaction subtype may indicate that the
transaction is an "award based on passage of time."
[0050] If the basis for award eligibility is based on passage of
time, a determination may be made at 310 whether virtual currency
of the requested type may be obtained based on passage of time. For
example, ordinary virtual currency (e.g., New York Dollars, energy,
and/or the like) may be obtained based on passage of time, while
special virtual currency (e.g., Royale poker chips, and/or the
like) may not be obtained based on passage of time. In one
embodiment, information regarding which virtual currency types may
be obtained based on passage of time may be stored in the Currency
table group 1319f. In one implementation, this information may be
retrieved from the Currency table group 1319f using a SQL statement
(e.g., SELECT TimeAwardEligibility FROM EligibilityTable WHERE
VCType=`VC Type requested`). In another embodiment, information
regarding which virtual currency types may be obtained based on
passage of time may be determined by game logic rules. If the
determination at 310 is affirmative, a determination may be made at
315 to determine whether enough time passed to make the user
eligible to receive an award of virtual currency. In one
embodiment, the determination may be made based on data in the
In-Game Data table group 1319c. In one implementation, the time at
which the user may be eligible to receive an award of virtual
currency of the requested type may be retrieved from the In Game
Data table group 1319c using a SQL statement (e.g., SELECT
VCAwardTime FROM VCAwardTimesTable WHERE user_UID=`User's UID` AND
VCType=`VC Type requested`), and compared to the current time to
make the determination.
[0051] If the basis for award eligibility is based on fulfillment
of incentives, a determination may be made at 320 whether virtual
currency of the requested type may be obtained based on fulfillment
of incentives. For example, special virtual currency (e.g., Royale
poker chips, and/or the like) may be obtained based on fulfillment
of in game, inter-game, and third party incentives, while ordinary
virtual currency (e.g., New York Dollars, energy, and/or the like)
may be obtained based on fulfillment of in-game and inter-game
incentives, but not based on fulfillment of third party incentives.
In one embodiment, information regarding which virtual currency
types may be obtained based on fulfillment of incentives may be
stored in the Currency table group 1319f. In one implementation,
this information may be retrieved from the Currency table group
1319f using a SQL statement (e.g., SELECT IncentiveAwardEligibility
FROM EligibilityTable WHERE VCType=`VC Type requested`). In another
embodiment, information regarding which virtual currency types may
be obtained based on fulfillment of incentives may be determined by
game logic rules. If the determination at 320 is affirmative, a
determination may be made at 325 to determine whether the user
fulfilled incentive conditions that may make the user eligible to
receive an award of virtual currency. In one embodiment, in-game
data, inter-game data, third party data, social graph data, and/or
the like may be used to determine whether a user fulfilled
incentive conditions. See FIG. 4 for additional details regarding
determining whether a user fulfilled incentive conditions.
[0052] If the basis for award eligibility is based on occurrence of
events, a determination may be made at 330 whether virtual currency
of the requested type may be obtained based on occurrence of
events. For example, both ordinary virtual currency (e.g., New York
Dollars, energy, and/or the like) and special virtual currency
(e.g., Royale poker chips, and/or the like) may be obtained based
on occurrence of events. In one embodiment, information regarding
which virtual currency types may be obtained based on occurrence of
events may be stored in the Currency table group 1319f. In one
implementation, this information may be retrieved from the Currency
table group 1319f using a SQL statement (e.g., SELECT
EventAwardEligibility FROM EligibilityTable WHERE VCType=`VC Type
requested`). In another embodiment, information regarding which
virtual currency types may be obtained based on occurrence of
events may be determined by game logic rules. If the determination
at 330 is affirmative, a determination may be made at 335 to
determine whether an event that makes the user eligible to receive
an award of virtual currency has occurred. In one embodiment, the
determination may be made based on data in the In-Game Data table
group 1319c. In one implementation, the time at which the event
occurs may be retrieved from the In Game Data table group 1319c
using a SQL statement (e.g., SELECT EventTime FROM EventsTable
WHERE EventUID=`UID of the event associated with the transaction`),
and compared to the current time to make the determination.
[0053] If a determination at 310, 315, 320, 325, 330, or 335, is
negative, the award eligibility determining component determines
that the user is ineligible to receive an award of virtual currency
at 340. Otherwise, the award eligibility determining component
determines that the user is eligible to receive an award of virtual
currency at 350.
[0054] FIG. 4 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating an incentive
conditions fulfillment component in one embodiment of the MIC
platform. In one embodiment, the incentive conditions fulfillment
component may be used to determine whether a user has fulfilled
incentive conditions that make the user eligible to receive an
award of virtual currency. In FIG. 4, a request to determine
whether a user has fulfilled incentive conditions may be received
at 401. As discussed with regard to FIG. 1, in one embodiment,
transaction details associated with the request may be included in
the transaction details data structure included as part of the
request.
[0055] At 405, the type of incentive associated with the
transaction may be determined. In one embodiment, an incentive may
be an in-game incentive, an inter game incentive, a third party
incentive, and/or the like. In one implementation, the type of
incentive may be determined based on transaction type, which may be
retrieved from the transaction details data structure using PHP
(e.g., $TransactionType=$transactionDetails["TransactionType"];).
For example, the transaction type may indicate that the transaction
is an "award of virtual currency based on an in-game incentive" and
the MIC platform may determine that the incentive is an "in-game
incentive" based on game logic rules. In another implementation,
incentive type may be retrieved from the transaction details data
structure using PHP (e.g.,
$IncentiveType=$transactionDetails["IncentiveType"];). For example,
the incentive type may indicate that the incentive is a
"third-party incentive."
[0056] If the incentive is an in-game incentive, a determination
may be made at 410 whether the user fulfilled incentive conditions.
For example, an in-game incentive may specify that a user who
invites a specified number of friends to play a game may receive
virtual currency as a reward. In one embodiment, in-game incentives
available to the user and/or rewards associated with the in-game
incentives may depend on in-game data, social graph data, and/or
the like associated with the user. For example, if a user's social
graph indicates that the user has many friends (e.g., based on a
predetermined number, percentage, and/or the like) who are not
currently playing a game (e.g., Zynga Game Network's Mafia Wars
game), the user may be offered an in-game incentive (e.g., 2 Reward
Points) for inviting and having a specified number of user's
friends (e.g., 5) join the game. In another example, if the user's
social graph indicates that the user has many friends who are
currently playing the game, the user may be offered an in-game
incentive (e.g., an Energy Pack) for providing in-game help to
these friends (e.g., sending Energy Packs to friends). In one
embodiment, the determination whether the user fulfilled incentive
conditions may be based on in-game data, social graph data, and/or
the like associated with the user. For example, in-game data,
social graph data, and/or the like may be used to determine how
many of the user's friends joined the game. In another example,
incentive conditions may indicate that the user's friends have to
reach a specified in-game level (e.g., level 4) and/or invite a
specified number of friends, and the in-game data, social graph
data, and/or the like associated with the user's friends may be
used in the determination. In one implementation, the determination
may be made based on data stored in the Social Graph table group
1319b, the In-Game Data table group 1319c, and/or the like (e.g.,
using a SQL statement to retrieve information such as the number of
the user's friends that joined the game).
[0057] If the incentive is an inter-game incentive, a determination
may be made at 420 whether the user fulfilled incentive conditions.
For example, an inter-game incentive may specify that a user who
achieves a specified level in one game (e.g., level 4 in Zynga
Poker game) may receive virtual currency (e.g., New York Dollars)
as a reward in another game (e.g., Zynga Game Network's Mafia Wars
game). In one embodiment, inter-game incentives available to the
user and/or rewards associated with the inter game incentives may
depend on inter-game data, social graph data, and/or the like
associated with the user. For example, if a user's social graph
indicates that the user has friends who are not currently playing a
game (e.g., Zynga Game Network's Mafia Wars game), but who spend
money playing other games (e.g., Zynga Game Network's FrontierVille
game), the user may be offered an inter-game incentive (e.g., 5
Reward Points) for inviting and having a specified number of these
friends (e.g., 5) join the game. In one embodiment, the
determination whether the user fulfilled incentive conditions may
be based on inter-game data, social graph data, and/or the like
associated with the user. For example, inter-game data, social
graph data, and/or the like may be used to determine how many of
the user's friends joined the game. In another example, incentive
conditions may indicate that the user's friends have to invite a
specified number of friends, and the inter-game data, social graph
data, and/or the like associated with the user's friends may be
used in the determination. In one implementation, the determination
may be made based on data stored in the Social Graph table group
1319b, the Inter-Game Data table group 1319d, and/or the like
(e.g., using a SQL statement to retrieve information such as the
number of the user's friends that joined the game). In one
implementation, the Inter-Game Data table group 1319d may be a
shared table group accessible to games with inter-game incentives
through a common application programming interface (API). For
example, a game may use the Inter-Game Data table group 1319d to
obtain information regarding a user from another game (e.g., the
user's level in another game).
[0058] If the incentive is a third party incentive, a determination
may be made at 430 whether the user fulfilled incentive conditions.
For example, a third party incentive may specify that a user who
joins a program offered by a third party may receive virtual
currency as a reward (e.g., 125 Reward Points). In one embodiment,
third party incentives available to the user and/or rewards
associated with the third party incentives may depend on third
party data, social graph data, and/or the like associated with the
user. For example, if a user's social graph indicates that the user
has few friends, the user may be offered third party incentives
that involve joining a third party program instead of incentives
that involve inviting friends to join a game. In one embodiment,
the determination whether the user fulfilled incentive conditions
may be based on third party data, social graph data, and/or the
like associated with the user. For example, the user may be
provided with a way to join a third party program (e.g., a website
link), and a confirmation from the third party (e.g., using an XML
token that includes the UID of the user) may indicate that the user
joined the third party program and fulfilled incentive conditions.
In one implementation, the determination may be made based on data
stored in the Social Graph table group 1319b, the Third Party Data
table group 1319e, and/or the like (e.g., using a SQL statement to
retrieve information such as whether a user joined a third party
program). See FIG. 5 for additional details regarding managing
third party incentives.
[0059] FIG. 5 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating a third party
incentives management component in one embodiment of the MIC
platform. In FIG. 5, a request to offer a third party incentive to
game users is received at 501. For example, third party incentives
may involve joining a third party program (e.g., a book club),
subscribing to a magazine, purchasing a product, applying for a
credit card, and/or the like. In one embodiment, a website with an
application form may be provided to third parties wishing to offer
third party incentives. In another embodiment, information
regarding third party incentives may be received through a
telephone, fax, email, mail and/or the like. At 505, the third
party incentive may be checked to verify that the third party
incentive complies with applicable rules (e.g., rules established
by the game operator). For example, the game operator may verify
that the third party incentive is appropriate for game users (e.g.,
based on target age of the third party incentive and ages of the
game users). The type of virtual currency to be awarded for
completing conditions of the third party incentive may be
determined at 510, and the amount of virtual currency to be awarded
for completing conditions of the third party incentive may be
determined at 515. In one embodiment, information regarding the
type and amount of virtual currency to be awarded may be parsed
from the request and stored in the Third Party Data table group
1319e. In one implementation, standard XML formatting may be used
to facilitate parsing and the information may be provided in the
following form:
<XML>
[0060] <VIRTUAL_CURRENCY_TYPE>Reward
Points<VIRTUAL_CURRENCY_TYPE>
[0061]
<VIRTUAL_CURRENCY_AMOUNT>125<VIRTUAL_CURRENCY_AMOUNT>
[0062] <INCENTIVE_LINK>URL of the
incentive<INCENTIVE_LINK>
</XML>
[0063] User access to the third party incentive may be facilitated
at 520. In one embodiment, a website link to a website associated
with the third party incentive may be provided. In another
embodiment, a telephone number, fax number, email address, mail
address and/or the like may be provided.
[0064] FIG. 6 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating a purchase
eligibility determining component in one embodiment of the MIC
platform. In FIG. 6, a request to determine a user's eligibility to
purchase virtual currency is received at 601. For example, the user
may try to purchase special virtual currency (e.g., Royale poker
chips) using real currency (e.g., U.S. dollars). In another
example, the user may try to convert one virtual currency (e.g.,
New York Dollars in Zynga Game Network's Mafia Wars game) into
another virtual currency (e.g., Las Vegas Chips).
[0065] The payment type associated with the virtual currency
purchase may be determined at 605. In one embodiment, the payment
type may be real currency, virtual currency, and/or the like. In
one implementation, the payment type may be determined based on the
information in the transaction details data structure using PHP
(e.g., $PaymentType=$transactionDetails["PaymentType"];). For
example, the payment type may be New York Dollars. In another
example, the payment type may be U.S. dollars.
[0066] If transaction information indicates that a virtual currency
is used as a payment type, a determination may be made at 610
whether the payment virtual currency may be converted into the
requested virtual currency. For example, this determination may be
based on the types of payment virtual currency and requested
virtual currency (e.g., Reward Points may be used to purchase New
York Dollars, but not vice versa). See FIG. 7 for additional
details regarding determining whether the payment virtual currency
may be converted into the requested virtual currency.
[0067] If the payment virtual currency may be converted into the
requested virtual currency, a determination may be made at 612
whether the user is allowed to convert payment virtual currency
into the requested virtual currency. For example, this
determination may be made based on information regarding the user
(e.g., user's in game level). In one embodiment, in-game data
(e.g., stored in In-Game Data table group 1319c), social graph data
(e.g., stored in Social Graph table group 1319b), and/or the like
associated with the user may be analyzed to make this
determination. In one implementation, the user's in-game level,
properties, abilities, and/or the like may be used to determine
whether the user is allowed to convert between specified
currencies. For example, a high level player that built a special
structure (e.g., a Vault in Zynga Game Network's Mafia Wars game)
may be allowed to convert between the specified currencies (e.g.,
New York Dollars and Las Vegas Chips), while a low level player
that does not have the special structure (e.g., a low level player
who cannot access Las Vegas area) may not be allowed to convert
between the specified currencies. In another implementation,
information regarding the user's social graph may be used to
determine whether the user is allowed to convert between specified
currencies. For example, a user who invited a specified number of
friends (e.g., fulfills conditions of an incentive) to play the
game may be rewarded by being allowed to convert between the
specified currencies.
[0068] If the user is allowed to convert the payment virtual
currency into the requested virtual currency, a conversion rate
between the payment virtual currency and the requested virtual
currency may be determined at 614. For example, the conversion rate
may be static (e.g., it may be retrieved from a database). In
another example, the conversion rate may be calculated dynamically
(e.g., based on information associated with the user). See FIG. 9
for additional details regarding determining the conversion rate
between payment virtual currency and requested virtual
currency.
[0069] A purchase price for the requested virtual currency
expressed in payment virtual currency may be calculated at 616. In
one embodiment, the purchase price may be calculated based on the
conversion rate determined at 614. In one implementation, the
purchase price may be calculated by multiplying the amount of the
requested virtual currency (e.g., determined at 110) by the
conversion rate. For example, if the conversion rate is 500 New
York Dollars for 1 Las Vegas Chip, a purchase of 2,000 Las Vegas
Chips would entail a payment of 2,000*500=1,000,000 New York
Dollars. A determination may be made at 630 whether the user agrees
to pay the calculated purchase price (e.g., by requesting
confirmation to proceed with payment from the user). If a
determination at 610, 612, or 630 is negative, the purchase
eligibility determining component determines that the user is
ineligible to purchase virtual currency at 640. Otherwise, the
purchase eligibility determining component determines that the user
is eligible to purchase virtual currency at 650.
[0070] If transaction information indicates that a real currency is
used as a payment type, a determination may be made at 620 whether
the real currency may be converted into the requested virtual
currency. For example, this determination may be based on the types
of real currency and requested virtual currency (e.g., U.S. dollars
may be used to purchase Reward Points, but not energy or New York
Dollars). See FIG. 8 for additional details regarding determining
whether the real currency may be converted into the requested
virtual currency.
[0071] If the real currency may be converted into the requested
virtual currency, a determination may be made at 622 whether the
user is allowed to convert the real currency into the requested
virtual currency. For example, this determination may be made based
on information regarding the user (e.g., user's in-game level). In
one embodiment, in-game data (e.g., stored in In-Game Data table
group 1319c), social graph data (e.g., stored in Social Graph table
group 1319b), and/or the like associated with the user may be
analyzed to make this determination. In one implementation, the
user's in-game level, properties, abilities, and/or the like may be
used to determine whether the user is allowed to convert between
specified currencies. For example, the amount of special Royale
poker chips that a user may be allowed to buy (e.g., per day,
total, and/or the like) may be limited by the user's in-game
achievements, and the user may not be allowed to purchase special
Royale poker chips beyond the limit. In another implementation,
information regarding the user's social graph may be used to
determine whether the user is allowed to convert between specified
currencies. For example, a user who invited a specified number of
friends (e.g., fulfills conditions of an incentive) to play the
game, may be rewarded by being allowed to purchase an otherwise
unavailable type of virtual currency.
[0072] If the user is allowed to convert the real currency into the
requested virtual currency, a conversion rate between the real
currency and the requested virtual currency may be determined at
624. For example, the conversion rate may be static (e.g., it may
be retrieved from a database). In another example, the conversion
rate may be calculated dynamically (e.g., based on information
associated with the user). See FIG. 9 for additional details
regarding determining the conversion rate between real currency and
requested virtual currency.
[0073] A purchase price for the requested virtual currency
expressed in real currency may be calculated at 626. In one
embodiment, the purchase price may be calculated based on the
conversion rate determined at 624. In one implementation, the
purchase price may be calculated by multiplying the amount of the
requested virtual currency (e.g., determined at 110) by the
conversion rate. For example, if the conversion rate is 1 U.S.
dollar for 4 Reward Points, a purchase of 8 Reward Points would
entail a payment of 8*1/4=2 U.S. dollars. A determination may be
made at 630 whether the user agrees to pay the calculated purchase
price (e.g., by requesting confirmation to proceed with payment
from the user). If a determination at 620, 622, or 630 is negative,
the purchase eligibility determining component determines that the
user is ineligible to purchase virtual currency at 640. Otherwise,
the purchase eligibility determining component determines that the
user is eligible to purchase virtual currency at 650.
[0074] FIG. 7 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating a virtual
currency conversion eligibility determining component in one
embodiment of the MIC platform. In FIG. 7, a request to convert
payment virtual currency into the requested virtual currency may be
received at 701. For example, the user may wish to convert Reward
Points into New York Dollars. In another example, the user may wish
to convert Reward Points into energy by buying an Energy Pack game
item. A determination may be made at 705 whether the payment
virtual currency is a credit virtual currency. In one embodiment, a
credit virtual currency may be a virtual currency (e.g., Reward
Points, Lucky Horseshoes, and/or the like) that may be used to
purchase other ordinary virtual currencies (e.g., New York Dollars,
Moscow Rubles, and/or the like). In another embodiment, a credit
virtual currency may be a meta virtual currency that may be used to
purchase in-game virtual currency, but may not be used in the game.
For example, a Zynga Game Card may be used to purchase other
virtual currencies (e.g., Lucky Horseshoes or Frontier Coins in
Zynga Game Network's FrontierVille game). In another example, meta
virtual currency may be used to purchase other virtual currencies.
In one embodiment, the determination at 705 may be made based on
data stored in the Currency table group 1319f. In one
implementation, this information may be retrieved from the Currency
table group 1319f using a SQL statement (e.g., SELECT CreditVC FROM
CurrencyTable WHERE VCType=`VC Type of payment virtual
currency--from the transaction details data structure`). In another
embodiment, the determination may be made based on game logic
rules.
[0075] If the payment virtual currency is a credit virtual
currency, the virtual currency conversion eligibility determining
component may indicate at 710 that the payment virtual currency may
be converted into the requested virtual currency. If the payment
virtual currency is not a credit virtual currency, a determination
may be made at 720 whether the exchange between requested virtual
currency and payment virtual currency is allowed. In one
embodiment, In-Game Data table group 1319c may store information
regarding which currencies may be converted into other currencies.
For example, the user may be allowed to convert ordinary virtual
currency (e.g., New York Dollars) into credit virtual currency
(e.g., Reward Points) during a special event, upon completion of a
special mission, and/or the like. If the determination at 720
indicates that the conversion is allowed, the virtual currency
conversion eligibility determining component may indicate at 710
that the payment virtual currency may be converted into the
requested virtual currency. Otherwise, the virtual currency
conversion eligibility determining component may indicate at 730
that the payment virtual currency may not be converted into the
requested virtual currency.
[0076] FIG. 8 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating a real
currency conversion eligibility determining component in one
embodiment of the MIC platform. In FIG. 8, a request to convert
real currency into the requested virtual currency may be received
at 801. For example, the user may wish to purchase Reward Points
with real currency (e.g., using a credit card, PayPal, and/or the
like). In another example, the user may wish to purchase Lucky
Horseshoes using one or more real currency types such as U.S.
Dollars, Euros, and/or the like. A determination may be made at 805
whether the requested virtual currency is a credit virtual
currency. In one embodiment, a credit virtual currency may be a
virtual currency that may be purchased with real currency and used
in the game (e.g., Reward Points, Lucky Horseshoes, and/or the
like). In one embodiment, the determination at 805 may be made
based on data stored in the Currency table group 1319f. In one
implementation, this information may be retrieved from the Currency
table group 1319f using a SQL statement (e.g., SELECT CreditVC FROM
CurrencyTable WHERE VCType=`VC Type of requested virtual
currency--from the transaction details data structure`). In another
embodiment, the determination may be made based on game logic
rules.
[0077] If the requested virtual currency is a credit virtual
currency, the real currency conversion eligibility determining
component may indicate at 810 that the real currency may be
converted into the requested virtual currency. If the requested
virtual currency is not a credit virtual currency, a determination
may be made at 820 whether the exchange between requested virtual
currency and real currency is allowed. In one embodiment, In-Game
Data table group 1319c may store information regarding which
currencies may be converted into other currencies. For example, the
user may be allowed to convert real virtual currency into ordinary
virtual currency (e.g., New York Dollars) during special sales
events, upon completion of a special mission, and/or the like. If
the determination at 820 indicates that the conversion is allowed,
the real currency conversion eligibility determining component may
indicate at 810 that the real currency may be converted into the
requested virtual currency. Otherwise, the real currency conversion
eligibility determining component may indicate at 830 that the real
currency may not be converted into the requested virtual
currency.
[0078] FIG. 9 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating a conversion
rate determining component in one embodiment of the MIC platform.
In FIG. 9, a request to determine a conversion rate between a
requested virtual currency type and a payment currency type may be
received at 901. In one embodiment, the payment currency type may
be a different virtual currency type. For example, the user may
wish to convert between New York Dollars and Las Vegas Chips. In
another embodiment, the payment currency type may be a real
currency type. For example, the user may wish to convert between
U.S. Dollars and Reward Points.
[0079] At 905 a determination may be made whether the conversion
rate between the requested virtual currency type and the payment
currency type is static. In one embodiment, the determination at
905 may be made based on data stored in the Currency table group
1319f. In one implementation, this information may be retrieved
from the Currency table group 1319f using a SQL statement (e.g.,
SELECT ConversionType FROM ConversionsTable WHERE VCType1=`VC Type
of requested virtual currency` AND VCType2=`Type of payment
currency`). In another embodiment, the determination may be made
based on game logic rules (e.g., conversion rate between Lucky
Horseshoes and energy may be static, while conversion rate between
U.S. Dollars and Reward Points may be dynamic).
[0080] If the determination is made at 905 that the conversion rate
between the requested virtual currency type and the payment
currency type is static, the predetermined static conversion rate
may be retrieved at 910. In one embodiment, the conversion rate may
be retrieved from the Currency table group 1319f using a SQL
statement (e.g., SELECT ConversionRate FROM ConversionsTable WHERE
VCType1=`VC Type of requested virtual currency` AND VCType2=`Type
of payment currency`). In other embodiments, the conversion rate
may be retrieved from a configuration file, hardcoded, and/or the
like.
[0081] If the determination is made at 905 that the conversion rate
between the requested virtual currency type and the payment
currency type is dynamic, the dynamic conversion rate may be
calculated based on game objectives associated with currency types,
conversion channel (e.g., venue), the user's characteristics,
and/or the like. For example, the game operator may wish to adjust
the conversion rate based on the user's progression through the
game. In another example, the game operator may wish to aggregate
information regarding other users, and adjust the conversion rate
based on a comparison of the user's progression through the game to
the other users' progression through the game.
[0082] In one embodiment, game objectives associated with the
virtual currency type may be determined at 920. For example, the
game operator may wish to encourage players to be more social by
giving better conversion rates to users who complete a special
"social mission" that involves asking other users for help to
complete the mission. In another example, the game operator may
wish to control the pace at which players may progress through the
game by adjusting the conversion rate between an ordinary virtual
currency type (e.g., New York Dollars) and a credit virtual
currency type (e.g., Reward Coins) to make progressing through the
game faster (e.g., more New York Dollars per Reward Coin) or slower
(e.g., fewer New York Dollars per Reward Coin). In yet another
example, the game operator may wish to encourage users to buy more
virtual currency by giving volume discounts (e.g., based on
purchase amount in a transaction, based on total virtual currency
purchased, based on total real currency spent, and/or the like). In
one implementation, premium virtual currency (e.g., credit virtual
currency, special virtual currency, and/or the like) may be tracked
in an automated fashion to promote player actions in line with the
game objectives. For example, the amount of a premium virtual
currency type in the game may be assessed periodically (e.g., using
a SQL statement to examine data in User table group 1319a to
determine the amount of the premium currency type owned by all
users-SELECT SUM(VCAmount) FROM UserCurrencyTable WHERE VCType=`VC
Type of the premium virtual currency`), and the conversion rate may
be adjusted (e.g., based on the average amount of the premium
currency type per user of an in-game user level). Thus, if the
average amount of the premium virtual currency type for users with
in-game level 5 is more than a threshold amount (e.g., 100), the
base conversion rate (e.g., stored in the Currency table group
1319f) may be adjusted (e.g., from 15,000 New York Dollars per 1
Reward Point, to 12,000 New York Dollars per 1 Reward Point) to
slow the pace of progress through the game.
[0083] In one embodiment, the conversion channel (e.g., venue) used
by the user to convert between the requested virtual currency type
and the payment currency may be determined at 925. For example, the
game operator may offer different conversion rates to the user
depending on whether the user pays the game operator directly
(e.g., purchases Reward Points from within Mafia Wars game using a
credit card), or through a third party (e.g., buys a gift card from
a store, and/or the like). In another example, the game operator
may offer different conversion rates to the user depending on
whether the user obtains the requested virtual currency through the
game operator's website (e.g., by playing FarmVille game on
FarmVille.com and purchasing the requested virtual currency from
within the game), or through a third party website (e.g., by
playing FarmVille game on Facebook and purchasing the requested
virtual currency from within the game). In one implementation, data
regarding adjustment to conversion rates associated with the
conversion channel may be stored in the Currency table group 1319f.
In one implementation, adjustments to conversion rates associated
with the conversion channel may be determined by game logic rules
(e.g., the user gains 10% more Reward Points when purchasing
through the iPhone Mafia Wars application than the base
amount).
[0084] In one embodiment, the user's characteristics that may
affect the conversion rate may be determined at 930. For example,
the user's progression through the game may be monitored (e.g., the
amount of time the user spent playing the game without increasing
the user's in-game level) and the user may get a more favorable
conversion rate (e.g., the user gains 40% more Reward Points than
the base amount) if the user seems to be stuck (e.g., the user did
not gain an in-game level after playing the game for 2 weeks). In
another example, the user's progression through the game compared
to other players may be monitored (e.g., the number of mouse clicks
it takes a user to complete a level may be compared to the number
of mouse clicks it takes other users to complete the same level on
average), and the user may get a more favorable conversion rate
(e.g., the user gains 30% more Reward Points than the base amount)
if the user performs more clicks than the average (e.g. 25% more
clicks) to complete the level (decrease game difficulty), and the
user may get a less favorable conversion rate (e.g., the user gains
30% less Reward Points than the base amount) if the user performs
fewer clicks than the average (e.g. 25% fewer clicks) to complete
the level (increase game difficulty). In one implementation, the
user's conversion rate may be progressively adjusted (e.g., using
predetermined rules, a mathematical function, and/or the like)
based on the difficulty the user is having progressing through the
level (e.g., if it takes 100 clicks on average to pass a level and
the user has made 150 clicks so far, the user may get an extra 25%
more Reward Points, if the user has made 200 clicks so far, the
user may get 40% more Reward Points). In yet another example, if
the user invites some number of friends in the user's social graph
(e.g., at least 10 friends) to play a game (e.g., Mafia Wars game),
the user may be rewarded with a more favorable currency conversion
rate (e.g., the user gains 25% more Reward Points than the base
amount). In yet another example, the user's in-game level may
affect the conversion rate (e.g., the user gains 1% more Reward
Points than the base amount for every 10 in-game levels level 22
user gains extra 2%, level 86 user gains extra 8%, and/or the
like). In one implementation, data regarding adjustments to
conversion rates due to user characteristics may be stored in the
Currency table group 1319f and adjustments associated with the user
may be determined based on data stored in the User table group
1319a, the Social Graph table group 1319b, the In-Game Data table
group 1319c, the Inter-Game Data table group 1319d, and/or the like
(e.g., using one or more SQL statements). For example, if the data
in the Currency table group 1319f specifies that inviting 10
friends to play a game improves the conversion rate by 25%, data in
the Social Graph table group 1319b may be checked to determine
whether the user invited 10 friends and should get the improved
conversion rate. In one implementation, adjustments to conversion
rates associated with the user's characteristics may be determined
by game logic rules (e.g., rules following the examples discussed
above).
[0085] At 935, the dynamic conversion rate between the requested
virtual currency type and the payment currency type may be
calculated. In one embodiment, this calculation may be based on the
game objectives associated with currency types, the conversion
channel (e.g., venue), the user's characteristics, and/or the like.
In one implementation, adjustments to the base conversion rate may
be aggregated to produce a dynamic conversion rate (e.g., if the
base conversion rate is 15,000 New York Dollars per 1 Reward Point,
and a level 86 (+8% or +1,200 New York Dollars) user is purchasing
New York Dollars through the iPhone Mafia Wars application (+10% or
+1,500 New York Dollars) the user's dynamic conversion rate may be
15,000+1,200+1,500=17,700 New York Dollars per 1 Reward Point).
[0086] FIG. 10 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating a transfer
eligibility determining component in one embodiment of the MIC
platform. In FIG. 10, a request to determine a user's eligibility
to receive a transfer of virtual currency is received at 1001. For
example, a user may receive a gift of virtual currency (e.g., a
gift from a friend in the user's social graph). In another example,
the user may win virtual currency (e.g., by winning a hand of poker
in Zynga Poker game, by spinning a Slot Machine in Mafia Wars game,
and/or the like).
[0087] The type of transfer may be determined at 1005. In one
embodiment, the transfer type may be a gift, game winnings, and/or
the like. In one implementation, the transfer type may be
determined based on transaction type, which may be retrieved from
the transaction details data structure using PHP (e.g.,
$TransactionType=$transactionDetails["TransactionType"];). For
example, the transaction type may indicate that the transaction is
a "gift."
[0088] If the transfer type is a gift, a determination may be made
at 1010 whether virtual currency of the requested type may be
gifted. For example, ordinary virtual currency (e.g., Bangkok Baht,
energy, and/or the like) may be gifted, while special virtual
currency (e.g., Royale poker chips, and/or the like) may not be
gifted. In one embodiment, information regarding which virtual
currency types may be gifted may be stored in the Currency table
group 1319f. In one implementation, this information may be
retrieved from the Currency table group 1319f using a SQL statement
(e.g., SELECT GiftEligibility FROM EligibilityTable WHERE
VCType=`VC Type requested`). In another embodiment, information
regarding which virtual currency types may be gifted may be
determined by game logic rules.
[0089] If the transferred virtual currency may be gifted, a
determination may be made at 1012 whether the user is allowed to
receive the transferred virtual currency as a gift. For example,
this determination may be made based on information regarding the
user (e.g., user's in-game level). In one embodiment, in-game data
(e.g., stored in In Game Data table group 1319c), social graph data
(e.g., stored in Social Graph table group 1319b), and/or the like
associated with the user may be analyzed to make this
determination. In one implementation, the user's in-game level,
properties, abilities, and/or the like may be used to determine
whether the user is allowed to receive the transferred virtual
currency as a gift. For example, a low level player who has not
unlocked Moscow area in Zynga Game Network's Mafia Wars game may
not be allowed to receive Moscow Rubles as a gift, while a high
level player who has unlocked the Moscow area may be allowed to
receive Moscow Rubles as a gift. In another implementation,
information regarding the user's social graph may be used to
determine whether the user is allowed to receive the transferred
virtual currency as a gift. For example, a user who sends gifts to
a specified number of friends (e.g., 20) may be rewarded by being
allowed to receive a larger amount (e.g., twice as large as
normally allowed) of virtual currency as a gift.
[0090] If the transfer type is game winnings, a determination may
be made at 1022 whether the user is allowed to receive the game
winnings. For example, this determination may be made based on
information regarding the user (e.g., user's in game level). In one
embodiment, in-game data (e.g., stored in In-Game Data table group
1319c), social graph data (e.g., stored in Social Graph table group
1319b), and/or the like associated with the user may be analyzed to
make this determination. In one implementation, the user's in-game
level, properties, abilities, and/or the like may be used to
determine whether the user is allowed to receive the game winnings.
For example, a low level player may not be allowed to receive a
special currency type (e.g., Royale poker chips) and may have to
forfeit that part of the game winnings, while a high level
character may be allowed to receive the special currency type and
may keep the entire game winnings. In another implementation,
information regarding the user's social graph may be used to
determine whether the user is allowed to receive the game winnings.
For example, a user who sends gifts to a specified number of
friends (e.g., 20) may be rewarded by being allowed to win a larger
amount (e.g., twice as large) of a special currency type (e.g.,
Royale poker chips) than normally allowed based on the user's
in-game level.
[0091] If a determination at 1010, 1012, or 1022 is negative, the
transfer eligibility determining component determines that the user
is ineligible to receive a transfer of virtual currency at 1030.
Otherwise, the transfer eligibility determining component
determines that the user is eligible to receive a transfer of
virtual currency at 1040.
[0092] FIG. 11 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating a user
account modifying component in one embodiment of the MIC platform.
In FIG. 11, a request to modify a user's account to reflect the
acquisition of virtual currency may be received at 1101. For
example, the user may acquire virtual currency by receiving an
award of virtual currency (e.g., time based award, incentive based
award, event based award, and/or the like). In another example, the
user may acquire virtual currency by purchasing virtual currency
(e.g., using other virtual currency, using real currency, and/or
the like). In yet another example, the user may acquire virtual
currency by receiving a transfer of virtual currency (e.g., a gift
from a friend, game winnings, and/or the like).
[0093] The user's account may be credited with the virtual currency
type and amount acquired at 1105. For example, the user's account
may be credited with 100 Reward Points purchased by the user with a
Credit Card. In one embodiment, the type and amount of acquired
virtual currency may be determined by the MIC platform as discussed
in FIG. 1 at 105 and 110. In one embodiment, the user's account may
be credited by updating the User table group 1319a. In one
implementation, the User table group 1319a may be updated using a
SQL statement (e.g. UPDATE CurrencyTable SET
VCAmount=VCAmount+`virtual currency amount determined at 110` WHERE
user_UID=`UID of the user` AND VCType=`virtual currency type
determined at 105`).
[0094] A determination may be made at 1110 whether the acquired
virtual currency type has special persistent properties associated
with it (e.g., it is a special virtual currency). For example, a
special virtual currency type may have dynamic history associated
with it (e.g., a Royale poker chip may carry a history of the
people who have lost the chip prior to the current owner gaining
it). In another example, a special virtual currency type may have
special benefits associated with it (e.g., special mana that allows
the user to cast otherwise unavailable spells). In one embodiment,
the determination at 1110 may be made based on data stored in the
Currency table group 1319f. In one implementation, this information
may be retrieved from the Currency table group 1319f using a SQL
statement (e.g., SELECT SpecialVC FROM CurrencyTable WHERE
VCType=`VC Type of acquired virtual currency`). In another
embodiment, the determination may be made based on game logic
rules.
[0095] If the acquired virtual currency is a special virtual
currency, special persistent properties associated with the virtual
currency may be updated at 1115. For example, the history
associated with a Royale poker chip may be updated to reflect that
the user won the Royale poker chip. In another example, the amount
of special mana associated with a virtual currency piece may be
updated according to game rules (e.g., the virtual currency piece
starts out with 10 mana upon winning from another player, and
increases by 1 mana each time the virtual currency piece is used in
battle). In one embodiment, the special persistent properties
associated with the virtual currency may be updated by updating the
User table group 1319a (e.g., using one or more SQL
statements).
[0096] At 1120, the user account modifying component may determine
whether the acquired virtual currency allows the user to level up
or to access new upgrades, abilities, good, areas, and/or the like.
For example, the user may have to acquire a predetermined (e.g.,
based on in-game rules) amount of premium virtual currency (e.g.,
credit virtual currency, special virtual currency, and/or the like)
to progress to the next user in-game level (e.g., progress from
level 99 to level 100 in Zynga Game Network's Mafia Wars game). In
another example, the user may have to acquire one or more premium
virtual currency pieces to gain access to new upgrades (e.g., a
special virtual currency piece that allows the user to upgrade
properties in Cuba in Zynga Game Network's Mafia Wars game beyond
level 30), new abilities (e.g., a special Royale poker chip that
grants ability for a friend of the user who is not playing, but who
is in the user's social graph, to see the user's cards and the
cards dealt to provide advice in Zynga Poker game), new goods
(e.g., 100 Lucky Horseshoes to buy a Tree House in Zynga Game
Network's FrontierVille game), new areas (e.g., 10 Las Vegas Chips
to access Las Vegas area in Zynga Game Network's Mafia Wars game),
new perks (e.g., purchase 100 Reward Points to become a Gold Player
and get access to Gold Level rewards). In one embodiment, the
user's in-game level may be increased based on the determination
that the user acquired premium virtual currency. In one embodiment,
the user may be granted access to new upgrades, abilities, good,
areas, perks and/or the like. In one implementation, the user
interface may be modified to facilitate access (e.g., a button to
purchase an upgrade may be changed from being "non-clickable" to
being "clickable"). In another implementation, the user may be
prompted to facilitate a purchase (e.g., a pop up dialog presenting
the user with an opportunity to purchase an item).
[0097] The user's leader board information associated with the
acquired virtual currency may be updated at 1130. For example, a
leader board (e.g., a ranked display of player status that is
visible within a game or within the infrastructure of the game
operator to the player and/or to other players) associated with the
acquired virtual currency type may be updated to reflect the new
amount of the acquired virtual currency type owned by the user. In
one implementation, a leader board may display information
regarding the various virtual currency types tracked by the leader
board. In another implementation, multiple leader boards may exist
for different virtual currency types. In one embodiment, the leader
board associated with the acquired virtual currency type may be
updated upon execution of the transaction (e.g., whenever a player
gains new virtual currency), periodically (e.g., every 5 minutes),
and/or the like. In another embodiment, the leader board associated
with the acquired virtual currency type may be updated when viewed
by a user. In one embodiment, a leader board associated with a
virtual currency type may be updated (e.g., using one or more SQL
statements, PHP statements, and/or the like) to indicate the
ranking of players with respect to amounts of the virtual currency
type owned by each player (e.g., a player with the largest amount
of the virtual currency type may be ranked first, a player with the
second largest amount of the virtual currency type may be ranked
second, etc.).
[0098] FIG. 12 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating game area
access determination in one embodiment of the MIC platform. In one
embodiment, a game area may include areas, items, upgrades,
abilities, perks and/or the like. In FIG. 12 a request to access a
game area may be received at 1201. For example, a user may wish to
access Las Vegas area in Zynga Game Network's Mafia Wars game. In
one embodiment, access request details may be included in an access
request details data structure included as part of the request. For
example, the access request details data structure may be passed in
as an argument to a function written in the PHP programming
language (e.g., the access request details data structure may
include a variety of fields such as the unique ID (UID) of a user
associated with the request, UID of a game area to be accessed,
and/or the like). In one implementation, access request details may
be retrieved from the access request details data structure using
PHP (e.g., $UserUID=$accessRequestDetails ["UserUID"];
$GameAreaUID=$ accessRequestDetails ["GameAreaUID"];).
[0099] In one embodiment, the user may have to possess a
predetermined (e.g., based on in-game rules) amount of a virtual
currency type (e.g., ordinary virtual currency, premium virtual
currency, and/or the like) to access the game area, which may be
determined at 1210. For example, the user may have to possess 10
Las Vegas Chips to access Las Vegas area in Zynga Game Network's
Mafia Wars game. In another example, the user may have to possess
100,000 New York Dollars to purchase an Automatic Rifle in Zynga
Game Network's Mafia Wars game. In one implementation, information
regarding virtual currency type and amount the user may have to
possess to access the game area may be retrieved from the In-Game
Data table group 1319c using a SQL statement (e.g., SELECT VCType,
VCAmount FROM GameAreasAccess WHERE GameAreaUID=`UID for a game
area from the access request details data structure`). A
determination may be made whether the user has enough of the
required virtual currency type to access the game area at 1212. In
one implementation, the user's current currency amount may be
retrieved from the User table group 1319a using a SQL statement
(e.g., SELECT VCAmount FROM UserCurrencyTable WHERE
user_UID=`User's UID` AND VCType=`VC Type required`) and compared
to the information determined at 1210. If the determination at 1212
indicates that the user does not have enough virtual currency to
access the game area, a determination may be made at 1214 whether
the virtual currency type may be purchased. In one implementation,
this determination may be made based on information stored in the
Currency table group 1319f and retrieved using a SQL statement
(e.g., SELECT CanBePurchased FROM Currencies WHERE VCType=`VC Type
required`). In another implementation, this determination may be
made based on game logic rules (e.g., Las Vegas Chips may not be
purchased). If the determination at 1214 indicates that the virtual
currency may be purchased, purchase of the required virtual
currency may be facilitated at 1216. For example, a pop up window
may be displayed to the user presenting the user with an
opportunity to purchase the required virtual currency.
[0100] In one embodiment, the user may have to possess
predetermined (e.g., based on in-game rules) items to access the
game area, which may be determined at 1220. For example, the user
may have to possess one or more Untraceable Cell Phones to perform
a New York job in Zynga Game Network's Mafia Wars game. In another
example, the user may have to possess a variety of items to upgrade
a Weapons Depot property in Zynga Game Network's Mafia Wars game.
In one implementation, information regarding items the user may
have to possess to access the game area may be retrieved from the
In-Game Data table group 1319c using a SQL statement (e.g., SELECT
ItemsList FROM GameAreasAccess WHERE GameAreaUID=`UID for a game
area`). A determination may be made whether the user has the items
required to access the game area at 1222. In one implementation,
the user's items may be retrieved from the User table group 1319a
using a SQL statement (e.g., SELECT COUNT(ItemUID) FROM
UserItemsTable WHERE user_UID=`User's UID` AND ItemUID=`UM of the
required item`) and compared to the information determined at 1220.
If the determination at 1222 indicates that the user does not have
the items to access the game area, a determination may be made at
1224 whether a required item may be purchased. In one
implementation, this determination may be made based on information
stored in the In-Game Data table group 1319c and retrieved using a
SQL statement (e.g., SELECT CanBePurchased FROM Items WHERE
ItemUID=`UID of the required item`). In another implementation,
this determination may be made based on game logic rules (e.g., the
item may be purchased with Reward Points). If the determination at
1224 indicates that the item may be purchased, purchase of the
required item may be facilitated at 1226. For example, a pop up
window may be displayed to the user presenting the user with an
opportunity to purchase the required item. In another example, a
pop up window may be displayed to the user presenting the user with
an opportunity to purchase virtual currency (e.g. credit virtual
currency) that may be used to purchase the required item.
[0101] In one embodiment, the user may have to reach a
predetermined (e.g., based on in-game rules) in-game level to
access the game area, which may be determined at 1230. For example,
the user may have to reach level 35 to access Cuba area in Zynga
Game Network's Mafia Wars game. In another example, the user may
have to reach level 10 in Zynga Game Network's Mafia Wars game and
level 4 in Zynga Game Network's FarmVille game to gain access to a
special weapon in Zynga Game Network's Mafia Wars game. In one
implementation, information regarding an in-game level the user may
have to reach to access the game area may be retrieved from the In
Game Data table group 1319c using a SQL statement (e.g., SELECT
PlayerLevel FROM GameAreasAccess WHERE GameAreaUID=`UID for a game
area`). A determination may be made whether the user has reached
the in-game level required to access the game area at 1232. In one
implementation, the user's in-game level may be retrieved from the
User table group 1319a using a SQL statement (e.g., SELECT
UserLevel FROM Users WHERE user_UID=`User's UID`) and compared to
the information determined at 1230. If the determination at 1232
indicates that the user has not reached the in-game level to access
the game area, a determination may be made at 1234 whether the
required in-game level may be reached with a purchase. In one
implementation, this determination may be made based on information
stored in the In-Game Data table group 1319c and retrieved using a
SQL statement (e.g., SELECT CanBePurchased FROM Levels WHERE
LevelUID=`UID of the required level`). In another implementation,
this determination may be made based on game logic rules (e.g., a
level may be reached by paying level number (e.g., 5) times 10
Reward Points--level 5*10=50 Reward Points). If the determination
at 1234 indicates that the in-game level may be reached with a
purchase, such a purchase may be facilitated at 1236. For example,
a pop up window may be displayed to the user presenting the user
with an opportunity to pay Reward Points to reach the required
in-game level. In another example, a pop up window may be displayed
to the user presenting the user with an opportunity to purchase
virtual currency (e.g. credit virtual currency) that may be used to
reach the required in-game level.
[0102] If a determination at 1214, 1224, or 1234 is negative, the
user may be denied access to the requested game area at 1240.
Otherwise, the user may be granted access to the requested game
area at 1250.
MIC Controller
[0103] FIG. 13 illustrates inventive aspects of a MIC controller
1301 in a block diagram. In this embodiment, the MIC controller
1301 may serve to aggregate, process, store, search, serve,
identify, instruct, generate, match, and/or facilitate interactions
with a computer through a variety of information technologies,
and/or other related data.
[0104] Typically, users, which may be people and/or other systems,
may engage information technology systems (e.g., computers) to
facilitate information processing. In turn, computers employ
processors to process information; such processors 1303 may be
referred to as central processing units (CPU). One form of
processor is referred to as a microprocessor. CPUs use
communicative circuits to pass binary encoded signals acting as
instructions to enable various operations. These instructions may
be operational and/or data instructions containing and/or
referencing other instructions and data in various processor
accessible and operable areas of memory 1329 (e.g., registers,
cache memory, random access memory, etc.). Such communicative
instructions may be stored and/or transmitted in batches (e.g.,
batches of instructions) as programs and/or data components to
facilitate desired operations. These stored instruction codes,
e.g., programs, may engage the CPU circuit components and other
motherboard and/or system components to perform desired operations.
One type of program is a computer operating system, which, may be
executed by CPU on a computer; the operating system enables and
facilitates users to access and operate computer information
technology and resources. Some resources that may be employed in
information technology systems include: input and output mechanisms
through which data may pass into and out of a computer; memory
storage into which data may be saved; and processors by which
information may be processed. These information technology systems
may be used to collect data for later retrieval, analysis, and
manipulation, which may be facilitated through a database program.
These information technology systems provide interfaces that allow
users to access and operate various system components.
[0105] In one embodiment, the MIC controller 1301 may be connected
to and/or communicate with entities such as, but not limited to:
one or more users from user input devices 1311; peripheral devices
1312; an optional cryptographic processor device 1328; and/or a
communications network 1313.
[0106] Networks are commonly thought to comprise the
interconnection and interoperation of clients, servers, and
intermediary nodes in a graph topology. It should be noted that the
term "server" as used throughout this application refers generally
to a computer, other device, program, or combination thereof that
processes and responds to the requests of remote users across a
communications network. Servers serve their information to
requesting "clients." The term "client" as used herein refers
generally to a computer, program, other device, user and/or
combination thereof that is capable of processing and making
requests and obtaining and processing any responses from servers
across a communications network. A computer, other device, program,
or combination thereof that facilitates, processes information and
requests, and/or furthers the passage of information from a source
user to a destination user is commonly referred to as a "node."
Networks are generally thought to facilitate the transfer of
information from source points to destinations. A node specifically
tasked with furthering the passage of information from a source to
a destination is commonly called a "router." There are many forms
of networks such as Local Area Networks (LANs), Pico networks, Wide
Area Networks (WANs), Wireless Networks (WLANs), etc. For example,
the Internet is generally accepted as being an interconnection of a
multitude of networks whereby remote clients and servers may access
and interoperate with one another.
[0107] The MIC controller 1301 may be based on computer systems
that may comprise, but are not limited to, components such as: a
computer systemization 1302 connected to memory 1329.
Computer Systemization
[0108] A computer systemization 1302 may comprise a clock 1330,
central processing unit ("CPU(s)" and/or "processor(s)" (these
terms are used interchangeable throughout the disclosure unless
noted to the contrary)) 1303, a memory 1329 (e.g., a read only
memory (ROM) 1306, a random access memory (RAM) 1305, etc.), and/or
an interface bus 1307, and most frequently, although not
necessarily, are all interconnected and/or communicating through a
system bus 1304 on one or more (mother)board(s) 1302 having
conductive and/or otherwise transportive circuit pathways through
which instructions (e.g., binary encoded signals) may travel to
effect communications, operations, storage, etc. Optionally, the
computer systemization may be connected to an internal power source
1386. Optionally, a cryptographic processor 1326 may be connected
to the system bus. The system clock typically has a crystal
oscillator and generates a base signal through the computer
systemization's circuit pathways. The clock is typically coupled to
the system bus and various clock multipliers that will increase or
decrease the base operating frequency for other components
interconnected in the computer systemization. The clock and various
components in a computer systemization drive signals embodying
information throughout the system. Such transmission and reception
of instructions embodying information throughout a computer
systemization may be commonly referred to as communications. These
communicative instructions may further be transmitted, received,
and the cause of return and/or reply communications beyond the
instant computer systemization to: communications networks, input
devices, other computer systemizations, peripheral devices, and/or
the like. Of course, any of the above components may be connected
directly to one another, connected to the CPU, and/or organized in
numerous variations employed as exemplified by various computer
systems.
[0109] The CPU comprises at least one high-speed data processor
adequate to execute program components for executing user and/or
system-generated requests. Often, the processors themselves will
incorporate various specialized processing units, such as, but not
limited to: integrated system (bus) controllers, memory management
control units, floating point units, and even specialized
processing sub-units like graphics processing units, digital signal
processing units, and/or the like. Additionally, processors may
include internal fast access addressable memory, and be capable of
mapping and addressing memory 529 beyond the processor itself;
internal memory may include, but is not limited to: fast registers,
various levels of cache memory (e.g., level 1, 2, 3, etc.), RAM,
etc. The processor may access this memory through the use of a
memory address space that is accessible via instruction address,
which the processor can construct and decode allowing it to access
a circuit path to a specific memory address space having a memory
state. The CPU may be a microprocessor such as: AMD's Athlon, Duron
and/or Opteron; ARM's application, embedded and secure processors;
IBM and/or Motorola's DragonBall and PowerPC; IBM's and Sony's Cell
processor; Intel's Celeron, Core (2) Duo, Itanium, Pentium, Xeon,
and/or XScale; and/or the like processor(s). The CPU interacts with
memory through instruction passing through conductive and/or
transportive conduits (e.g., (printed) electronic and/or optic
circuits) to execute stored instructions (i.e., program code)
according to conventional data processing techniques. Such
instruction passing facilitates communication within the MIC
controller and beyond through various interfaces. Should processing
requirements dictate a greater amount speed and/or capacity,
distributed processors (e.g., Distributed MIC), mainframe,
multi-core, parallel, and/or super-computer architectures may
similarly be employed.Alternatively, should deployment requirements
dictate greater portability, smaller Personal Digital Assistants
(PDAs) may be employed.
[0110] Depending on the particular implementation, features of the
MIC may be achieved by implementing a microcontroller such as
CAST's R8051XC2 microcontroller; Intel's MCS 51 (i.e., 8051
microcontroller); and/or the like. Also, to implement certain
features of the MIC, some feature implementations may rely on
embedded components, such as: Application-Specific Integrated
Circuit ("ASIC"), Digital Signal Processing ("DSP"), Field
Programmable Gate Array ("FPGA"), and/or the like embedded
technology. For example, any of the MIC component collection
(distributed or otherwise) and/or features may be implemented via
the microprocessor and/or via embedded components; e.g., via ASIC,
coprocessor, DSP, FPGA, and/or the like. Alternately, some
implementations of the MIC may be implemented with embedded
components that are configured and used to achieve a variety of
features or signal processing.
[0111] Depending on the particular implementation, the embedded
components may include software solutions, hardware solutions,
and/or some combination of both hardware/software solutions. For
example, MIC features discussed herein may be achieved through
implementing FPGAs, which are a semiconductor devices containing
programmable logic components called "logic blocks", and
programmable interconnects, such as the high performance FPGA
Virtex series and/or the low cost Spartan series manufactured by
Xilinx. Logic blocks and interconnects can be programmed by the
customer or designer, after the FPGA is manufactured, to implement
any of the MIC features. A hierarchy of programmable interconnects
allow logic blocks to be interconnected as needed by the MIC system
designer/administrator, somewhat like a one-chip programmable
breadboard. An FPGA's logic blocks can be programmed to perform the
function of basic logic gates such as AND, and XOR, or more complex
combinational functions such as decoders or simple mathematical
functions. In most FPGAs, the logic blocks also include memory
elements, which may be simple flip-flops or more complete blocks of
memory. In some circumstances, the MIC may be developed on regular
FPGAs and then migrated into a fixed version that more resembles
ASIC implementations. Alternate or coordinating implementations may
migrate MIC controller features to a final ASIC instead of or in
addition to FPGAs. Depending on the implementation all of the
aforementioned embedded components and microprocessors may be
considered the "CPU" and/or "processor" for the MIC.
Power Source
[0112] The power source 1386 may be of any standard form for
powering small electronic circuit board devices such as the
following power cells: alkaline, lithium hydride, lithium ion,
lithium polymer, nickel cadmium, solar cells, and/or the like.
Other types of AC or DC power sources may be used as well. In the
case of solar cells, in one embodiment, the case provides an
aperture through which the solar cell may capture photonic energy.
The power cell 1386 is connected to at least one of the
interconnected subsequent components of the MIC thereby providing
an electric current to all subsequent components. In one example,
the power source 1386 is connected to the system bus component
1304. In an alternative embodiment, an outside power source 1386 is
provided through a connection across the I/O 1308 interface. For
example, a USB and/or IEEE 1394 connection carries both data and
power across the connection and is therefore a suitable source of
power.
Interface Adapters
[0113] Interface bus(ses) 1307 may accept, connect, and/or
communicate to a number of interface adapters, conventionally
although not necessarily in the form of adapter cards, such as but
not limited to: input output interfaces (I/O) 1308, storage
interfaces 1309, network interfaces 1310, and/or the like.
Optionally, cryptographic processor interfaces 1327 similarly may
be connected to the interface bus. The interface bus provides for
the communications of interface adapters with one another as well
as with other components of the computer systemization. Interface
adapters are adapted for a compatible interface bus. Interface
adapters conventionally connect to the interface bus via a slot
architecture. Conventional slot architectures may be employed, such
as, but not limited to: Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP), Card Bus,
(Extended) Industry Standard Architecture ((E)ISA), Micro Channel
Architecture (MCA), NuBus, Peripheral Component Interconnect
(Extended) (PCI(X)), PCI Express, Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association (PCMCIA), and/or the like.
[0114] Storage interfaces 1309 may accept, communicate, and/or
connect to a number of storage devices such as, but not limited to:
storage devices 1314, removable disc devices, and/or the like.
Storage interfaces may employ connection protocols such as, but not
limited to: (Ultra) (Serial) Advanced Technology Attachment (Packet
Interface) ((Ultra) (Serial) ATA(PI)), (Enhanced) Integrated Drive
Electronics ((E)IDE), Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE) 1394, fiber channel, Small Computer Systems
Interface (SCSI), Universal Serial Bus (USB), and/or the like.
[0115] Network interfaces 1310 may accept, communicate, and/or
connect to a communications network 1313. Through a communications
network 1313, the MIC controller is accessible through remote
clients 1333b (e.g., computers with web browsers) by users 1333a.
Network interfaces may employ connection protocols such as, but not
limited to: direct connect, Ethernet (thick, thin, twisted pair
10/100/1000 Base T, and/or the like), Token Ring, wireless
connection such as IEEE 802.11a-x, and/or the like. Should
processing requirements dictate a greater amount speed and/or
capacity, distributed network controllers (e.g., Distributed MIC),
architectures may similarly be employed to pool, load balance,
and/or otherwise increase the communicative bandwidth required by
the MIC controller. A communications network may be any one and/or
the combination of the following: a direct interconnection; the
Internet; a Local Area Network (LAN); a Metropolitan Area Network
(MAN); an Operating Missions as Nodes on the Internet (OMNI); a
secured custom connection; a Wide Area Network (WAN); a wireless
network (e.g., employing protocols such as, but not limited to a
Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), I-mode, and/or the like);
and/or the like. A network interface may be regarded as a
specialized form of an input output interface. Further, multiple
network interfaces 1310 may be used to engage with various
communications network types 1313. For example, multiple network
interfaces may be employed to allow for the communication over
broadcast, multicast, and/or unicast networks.
[0116] Input Output interfaces (I/O) 1308 may accept, communicate,
and/or connect to user input devices 1311, peripheral devices 1312,
cryptographic processor devices 1328, and/or the like. I/O may
employ connection protocols such as, but not limited to: audio:
analog, digital, monaural, RCA, stereo, and/or the like; data:
Apple Desktop Bus (ADB), IEEE 1394a-b, serial, universal serial bus
(USB); infrared; joystick; keyboard; midi; optical; PC AT; PS/2;
parallel; radio; video interface: Apple Desktop Connector (ADC),
BNC, coaxial, component, composite, digital, Digital Visual
Interface (DVI), high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), RCA,
RF antennae, S-Video, VGA, and/or the like; wireless:
802.11a/b/g/n/x, Bluetooth, code division multiple access (CDMA),
global system for mobile communications (GSM), WiMax, etc.; and/or
the like. One typical output device may include a video display,
which typically comprises a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) or Liquid
Crystal Display (LCD) based monitor with an interface (e.g., DVI
circuitry and cable) that accepts signals from a video interface,
may be used. The video interface composites information generated
by a computer systemization and generates video signals based on
the composited information in a video memory frame. Another output
device is a television set, which accepts signals from a video
interface. Typically, the video interface provides the composited
video information through a video connection interface that accepts
a video display interface (e.g., an RCA composite video connector
accepting an RCA composite video cable; a DVI connector accepting a
DVI display cable, etc.).
[0117] User input devices 1311 may be card readers, dongles, finger
print readers, gloves, graphics tablets, joysticks, keyboards,
mouse (mice), remote controls, retina readers, trackballs,
trackpads, and/or the like.
[0118] Peripheral devices 1312 may be connected and/or communicate
to I/O and/or other facilities of the like such as network
interfaces, storage interfaces, and/or the like. Peripheral devices
may be audio devices, cameras, dongles (e.g., for copy protection,
ensuring secure transactions with a digital signature, and/or the
like), external processors (for added functionality), goggles,
microphones, monitors, network interfaces, printers, scanners,
storage devices, video devices, video sources, visors, and/or the
like.
[0119] It should be noted that although user input devices and
peripheral devices may be employed, the MIC controller may be
embodied as an embedded, dedicated, and/or monitor-less (i.e.,
headless) device, wherein access would be provided over a network
interface connection.
[0120] Cryptographic units such as, but not limited to,
microcontrollers, processors 1326, interfaces 1327, and/or devices
1328 may be attached, and/or communicate with the MIC controller. A
MC68HC16 microcontroller, manufactured by Motorola Inc., may be
used for and/or within cryptographic units. The MC68HC16
microcontroller utilizes a 16-bit multiply-and-accumulate
instruction in the 16 MHz configuration and requires less than one
second to perform a 512-bit RSA private key operation.
Cryptographic units support the authentication of communications
from interacting agents, as well as allowing for anonymous
transactions. Cryptographic units may also be configured as part of
CPU. Equivalent microcontrollers and/or processors may also be
used. Other commercially available specialized cryptographic
processors include: the Broadcom's CryptoNetX and other Security
Processors; nCipher's nShield, SafeNet's Luna PCI (e.g., 7100)
series; Semaphore Communications' 40 MHz Roadrunner 184; Sun's
Cryptographic Accelerators (e.g., Accelerator 6000 PCIe Board,
Accelerator 500 Daughtercard); Via Nano Processor (e.g., L2100,
L2200, U2400) line, which is capable of performing 500+MB/s of
cryptographic instructions; VLSI Technology's 33 MHz 6868; and/or
the like.
Memory
[0121] Generally, any mechanization and/or embodiment allowing a
processor to affect the storage and/or retrieval of information is
regarded as memory 1329. However, memory is a fungible technology
and resource, thus, any number of memory embodiments may be
employed in lieu of or in concert with one another. It is to be
understood that the MIC controller and/or a computer systemization
may employ various forms of memory 1329. For example, a computer
systemization may be configured wherein the functionality of
on-chip CPU memory (e.g., registers), RAM, ROM, and any other
storage devices are provided by a paper punch tape or paper punch
card mechanism; of course such an embodiment would result in an
extremely slow rate of operation. In a typical configuration,
memory 1329 will include ROM 1306, RAM 1305, and a storage device
1314. A storage device 1314 may be any conventional computer system
storage. Storage devices may include a drum; a (fixed and/or
removable) magnetic disk drive; a magneto-optical drive; an optical
drive (i.e., Blueray, CD ROM/RAM/Recordable (R)/ReWritable (RW),
DVD R/RW, HD DVD R/RW etc.); an array of devices (e.g., Redundant
Array of Independent Disks (RAID)); solid state memory devices (USB
memory, solid state drives (SSD), etc.); other processor-readable
storage mediums; and/or other devices of the like. Thus, a computer
systemization generally requires and makes use of memory.
Component Collection
[0122] The memory 1329 may contain a collection of program and/or
database components and/or data such as, but not limited to:
operating system component(s) 1315 (operating system); information
server component(s) 1316 (information server); user interface
component(s) 1317 (user interface); Web browser component(s) 1318
(Web browser); database(s) 1319; mail server component(s) 1321;
mail client component(s) 1322; cryptographic server component(s)
1320 (cryptographic server); the MIC component(s) 1335; and/or the
like (i.e., collectively a component collection). These components
may be stored and accessed from the storage devices and/or from
storage devices accessible through an interface bus. Although
non-conventional program components such as those in the component
collection, typically, are stored in a local storage device 1314,
they may also be loaded and/or stored in memory such as: peripheral
devices, RAM, remote storage facilities through a communications
network, ROM, various forms of memory, and/or the like.
Operating System
[0123] The operating system component 1315 is an executable program
component facilitating the operation of the MIC controller.
Typically, the operating system facilitates access of I/O, network
interfaces, peripheral devices, storage devices, and/or the like.
The operating system may be a highly fault tolerant, scalable, and
secure system such as: Apple Macintosh OS X (Server); AT&T Plan
9; Be OS; Unix and Unix-like system distributions (such as
AT&T's UNIX; Berkley Software Distribution (BSD) variations
such as FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and/or the like; Linux
distributions such as Red Hat, Ubuntu, and/or the like); and/or the
like operating systems. However, more limited and/or less secure
operating systems also may be employed such as Apple Macintosh OS,
IBM OS/2, Microsoft DOS, Microsoft Windows
2000/2003/3.1/95/98/CE/Millenium/NT/Vista/XP (Server), Palm OS,
and/or the like. An operating system may communicate to and/or with
other components in a component collection, including itself,
and/or the like. Most frequently, the operating system communicates
with other program components, user interfaces, and/or the like.
For example, the operating system may contain, communicate,
generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user,
and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses. The
operating system, once executed by the CPU, may enable the
interaction with communications networks, data, I/O, peripheral
devices, program components, memory, user input devices, and/or the
like. The operating system may provide communications protocols
that allow the MIC controller to communicate with other entities
through a communications network 1313. Various communication
protocols may be used by the MIC controller as a subcarrier
transport mechanism for interaction, such as, but not limited to:
multicast, TCP/IP, UDP, unicast, and/or the like.
Information Server
[0124] An information server component 1316 is a stored program
component that is executed by a CPU. The information server may be
a conventional Internet information server such as, but not limited
to Apache Software Foundation's Apache, Microsoft's Internet
Information Server, and/or the like. The information server may
allow for the execution of program components through facilities
such as Active Server Page (ASP), ActiveX, (ANSI) (Objective-) C
(++), C# and/or .NET, Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts,
dynamic (D) hypertext markup language (HTML), FLASH, Java,
JavaScript, Practical Extraction Report Language (PERL), Hypertext
Pre-Processor (PHP), pipes, Python, wireless application protocol
(WAP), WebObjects, and/or the like. The information server may
support secure communications protocols such as, but not limited
to, File Transfer Protocol (FTP); HyperText Transfer Protocol
(HTTP); Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS), Secure Socket
Layer (SSL), messaging protocols (e.g., America Online (AOL)
Instant Messenger (AIM), Application Exchange (APEX), ICQ, Internet
Relay Chat (IRC), Microsoft Network (MSN) Messenger Service,
Presence and Instant Messaging Protocol (PRIM), Internet
Engineering Task Force's (IETF's) Session Initiation Protocol
(SIP), SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions
(SIMPLE), open XML-based Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol
(XMPP) (i.e., Jabber or Open Mobile Alliance's (OMA's) Instant
Messaging and Presence Service (IMPS)), Yahoo! Instant Messenger
Service, and/or the like. The information server provides results
in the form of Web pages to Web browsers, and allows for the
manipulated generation of the Web pages through interaction with
other program components. After a Domain Name System (DNS)
resolution portion of an HTTP request is resolved to a particular
information server, the information server resolves requests for
information at specified locations on the MIC controller based on
the remainder of the HTTP request. For example, a request such as
http://123.124.125.126/myInformation.html might have the IP portion
of the request "123.124.125.126" resolved by a DNS server to an
information server at that IP address; that information server
might in turn further parse the http request for the
"/myInformation.html" portion of the request and resolve it to a
location in memory containing the information "myInformation.html."
Additionally, other information serving protocols may be employed
across various ports, e.g., FTP communications across port 21,
and/or the like. An information server may communicate to and/or
with other components in a component collection, including itself,
and/or facilities of the like. Most frequently, the information
server communicates with the MIC database 1319, operating systems,
other program components, user interfaces, Web browsers, and/or the
like.
[0125] Access to the MIC database may be achieved through a number
of database bridge mechanisms such as through scripting languages
as enumerated below (e.g., CGI) and through inter-application
communication channels as enumerated below (e.g., CORBA,
WebObjects, etc.). Any data requests through a Web browser are
parsed through the bridge mechanism into appropriate grammars as
required by the MIC. In one embodiment, the information server
would provide a Web form accessible by a Web browser. Entries made
into supplied fields in the Web form are tagged as having been
entered into the particular fields, and parsed as such. The entered
terms are then passed along with the field tags, which act to
instruct the parser to generate queries directed to appropriate
tables and/or fields. In one embodiment, the parser may generate
queries in standard SQL by instantiating a search string with the
proper join/select commands based on the tagged text entries,
wherein the resulting command is provided over the bridge mechanism
to the MIC as a query. Upon generating query results from the
query, the results are passed over the bridge mechanism, and may be
parsed for formatting and generation of a new results Web page by
the bridge mechanism. Such a new results Web page is then provided
to the information server, which may supply it to the requesting
Web browser.
[0126] Also, an information server may contain, communicate,
generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user,
and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses.
User Interface
[0127] The function of computer interfaces in some respects is
similar to automobile operation interfaces. Automobile operation
interface elements such as steering wheels, gearshifts, and
speedometers facilitate the access, operation, and display of
automobile resources, functionality, and status. Computer
interaction interface elements such as check boxes, cursors, menus,
scrollers, and windows (collectively and commonly referred to as
widgets) similarly facilitate the access, operation, and display of
data and computer hardware and operating system resources,
functionality, and status. Operation interfaces are commonly called
user interfaces. Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) such as the Apple
Macintosh Operating System's Aqua, IBM's OS/2, Microsoft's Windows
2000/2003/3.1/95/98/CE/Millenium/NT/XP/Vista/7 (i.e., Aero), Unix's
X-Windows (e.g., which may include additional Unix graphic
interface libraries and layers such as K Desktop Environment (KDE),
mythTV and GNU Network Object Model Environment (GNOME)), web
interface libraries (e.g., ActiveX, AJAX, (D)HTML, FLASH, Java,
JavaScript, etc. interface libraries such as, but not limited to,
Dojo, jQuery(UI), MooTools, Prototype, script.aculo.us, SWFObject,
Yahoo! User Interface, any of which may be used and) provide a
baseline and means of accessing and displaying information
graphically to users.
[0128] A user interface component 1317 is a stored program
component that is executed by a CPU. The user interface may be a
conventional graphic user interface as provided by, with, and/or
atop operating systems and/or operating environments such as
already discussed. The user interface may allow for the display,
execution, interaction, manipulation, and/or operation of program
components and/or system facilities through textual and/or
graphical facilities. The user interface provides a facility
through which users may affect, interact, and/or operate a computer
system. A user interface may communicate to and/or with other
components in a component collection, including itself, and/or
facilities of the like. Most frequently, the user interface
communicates with operating systems, other program components,
and/or the like. The user interface may contain, communicate,
generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user,
and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses.
Web Browser
[0129] A Web browser component 1318 is a stored program component
that is executed by a CPU. The Web browser may be a conventional
hypertext viewing application such as Microsoft Internet Explorer
or Netscape Navigator. Secure Web browsing may be supplied with 128
bit (or greater) encryption by way of HTTPS, SSL, and/or the like.
Web browsers allowing for the execution of program components
through facilities such as ActiveX, AJAX, (D)HTML, FLASH, Java,
JavaScript, web browser plug-in APIs (e.g., FireFox, Safari
Plug-in, and/or the like APIs), and/or the like. Web browsers and
like information access tools may be integrated into PDAs, cellular
telephones, and/or other mobile devices. A Web browser may
communicate to and/or with other components in a component
collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. Most
frequently, the Web browser communicates with information servers,
operating systems, integrated program components (e.g., plug-ins),
and/or the like; e.g., it may contain, communicate, generate,
obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data
communications, requests, and/or responses. Of course, in place of
a Web browser and information server, a combined application may be
developed to perform similar functions of both. The combined
application would similarly affect the obtaining and the provision
of information to users, user agents, and/or the like from the MIC
enabled nodes. The combined application may be nugatory on systems
employing standard Web browsers.
Mail Server
[0130] A mail server component 1321 is a stored program component
that is executed by a CPU 1303. The mail server may be a
conventional Internet mail server such as, but not limited to
sendmail, Microsoft Exchange, and/or the like. The mail server may
allow for the execution of program components through facilities
such as ASP, ActiveX, (ANSI) (Objective-) C (++), C# and/or .NET,
CGI scripts, Java, JavaScript, PERL, PHP, pipes, Python,
WebObjects, and/or the like. The mail server may support
communications protocols such as, but not limited to: Internet
message access protocol (IMAP), Messaging Application Programming
Interface (MAPI)/Microsoft Exchange, post office protocol (POP3),
simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), and/or the like. The mail
server can route, forward, and process incoming and outgoing mail
messages that have been sent, relayed and/or otherwise traversing
through and/or to the MIC.
[0131] Access to the MIC mail may be achieved through a number of
APIs offered by the individual Web server components and/or the
operating system.
[0132] Also, a mail server may contain, communicate, generate,
obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data
communications, requests, information, and/or responses.
Mail Client
[0133] A mail client component 1322 is a stored program component
that is executed by a CPU 1303. The mail client may be a
conventional mail viewing application such as Apple Mail, Microsoft
Entourage, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express, Mozilla,
Thunderbird, and/or the like. Mail clients may support a number of
transfer protocols, such as: IMAP, Microsoft Exchange, POP3, SMTP,
and/or the like. A mail client may communicate to and/or with other
components in a component collection, including itself, and/or
facilities of the like. Most frequently, the mail client
communicates with mail servers, operating systems, other mail
clients, and/or the like; e.g., it may contain, communicate,
generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user,
and/or data communications, requests, information, and/or
responses. Generally, the mail client provides a facility to
compose and transmit electronic mail messages.
Cryptographic Server
[0134] A cryptographic server component 1320 is a stored program
component that is executed by a CPU 1303, cryptographic processor
1326, cryptographic processor interface 1327, cryptographic
processor device 1328, and/or the like. Cryptographic processor
interfaces will allow for expedition of encryption and/or
decryption requests by the cryptographic component; however, the
cryptographic component, alternatively, may run on a conventional
CPU. The cryptographic component allows for the encryption and/or
decryption of provided data. The cryptographic component allows for
both symmetric and asymmetric (e.g., Pretty Good Protection (PGP))
encryption and/or decryption. The cryptographic component may
employ cryptographic techniques such as, but not limited to:
digital certificates (e.g., X.509 authentication framework),
digital signatures, dual signatures, enveloping, password access
protection, public key management, and/or the like. The
cryptographic component will facilitate numerous (encryption and/or
decryption) security protocols such as, but not limited to:
checksum, Data Encryption Standard (DES), Elliptical Curve
Encryption (ECC), International Data Encryption Algorithm (IDEA),
Message Digest 5 (MD5, which is a one way hash function),
passwords, Rivest Cipher (RC5), Rijndael, RSA (which is an Internet
encryption and authentication system that uses an algorithm
developed in 1977 by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman),
Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA), Secure Socket Layer (SSL), Secure
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS), and/or the like. Employing
such encryption security protocols, the MIC may encrypt all
incoming and/or outgoing communications and may serve as node
within a virtual private network (VPN) with a wider communications
network. The cryptographic component facilitates the process of
"security authorization" whereby access to a resource is inhibited
by a security protocol wherein the cryptographic component effects
authorized access to the secured resource. In addition, the
cryptographic component may provide unique identifiers of content,
e.g., employing and MD5 hash to obtain a unique signature for an
digital audio file. A cryptographic component may communicate to
and/or with other components in a component collection, including
itself, and/or facilities of the like. The cryptographic component
supports encryption schemes allowing for the secure transmission of
information across a communications network to enable the MIC
component to engage in secure transactions if so desired. The
cryptographic component facilitates the secure accessing of
resources on the MIC and facilitates the access of secured
resources on remote systems; i.e., it may act as a client and/or
server of secured resources. Most frequently, the cryptographic
component communicates with information servers, operating systems,
other program components, and/or the like. The cryptographic
component may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or
provide program component, system, user, and/or data
communications, requests, and/or responses.
The MIC Database
[0135] The MIC database component 1319 may be embodied in a
database and its stored data. The database is a stored program
component, which is executed by the CPU; the stored program
component portion configuring the CPU to process the stored data.
The database may be a conventional, fault tolerant, relational,
scalable, secure database such as Oracle or Sybase. Relational
databases are an extension of a flat file. Relational databases
consist of a series of related tables. The tables are
interconnected via a key field. Use of the key field allows the
combination of the tables by indexing against the key field; i.e.,
the key fields act as dimensional pivot points for combining
information from various tables. Relationships generally identify
links maintained between tables by matching primary keys. Primary
keys represent fields that uniquely identify the rows of a table in
a relational database. More precisely, they uniquely identify rows
of a table on the "one" side of a one-to-many relationship.
[0136] Alternatively, the MIC database may be implemented using
various standard data-structures, such as an array, hash, (linked)
list, struct, structured text file (e.g., XML), table, and/or the
like. Such data-structures may be stored in memory and/or in
(structured) files. In another alternative, an object-oriented
database may be used, such as Frontier, ObjectStore, Poet, Zope,
and/or the like. Object databases can include a number of object
collections that are grouped and/or linked together by common
attributes; they may be related to other object collections by some
common attributes. Object-oriented databases perform similarly to
relational databases with the exception that objects are not just
pieces of data but may have other types of functionality
encapsulated within a given object. If the MIC database is
implemented as a data-structure, the use of the MIC database 1319
may be integrated into another component such as the MIC component
1335. Also, the database may be implemented as a mix of data
structures, objects, and relational structures. Databases may be
consolidated and/or distributed in countless variations through
standard data processing techniques. Portions of databases, e.g.,
tables, may be exported and/or imported and thus decentralized
and/or integrated.
[0137] In one embodiment, the database component 1319 includes
several table groups 1319a-f comprising of one or more tables in
various implementations. A User table group 1319a includes fields
such as, but not limited to: a user_UID, VCType, VCAmount, and/or
the like. The User table group may support and/or track multiple
entity accounts on a MIC. A Social Graph table group 1319b includes
fields such as, but not limited to: a user_UID, FriendsCount,
and/or the like. The Social Graph table group may support and/or
track social graph data on a MIC. An In-Game Data table group 1319c
includes fields such as, but not limited to: a user_UID,
VCAwardTime, VCAwardAmount, and/or the like. The In-Game Data table
group may support and/or track in-game data on a MIC. An Inter-Game
Data table group 1319d includes fields such as, but not limited to:
a user_UID, GamesPlayingList, and/or the like. The Inter Game Data
table group may support and/or track inter-game data on a MIC. A
Third Party table group 1319e includes fields such as, but not
limited to: an incentive_UID, IncentiveLink, and/or the like. The
Third Party Data table group may support and/or track third party
incentives on a MIC. A Currency table group 1319f includes fields
such as, but not limited to: a VCType, ConversionRate, and/or the
like. The Currency table group may support and/or track multiple
currency types on a MIC.
[0138] In one embodiment, the MIC database may interact with other
database systems. For example, employing a distributed database
system, queries and data access by search MIC component may treat
the combination of the MIC database, an integrated data security
layer database as a single database entity.
[0139] In one embodiment, user programs may contain various user
interface primitives, which may serve to update the MIC. Also,
various accounts may require custom database tables depending upon
the environments and the types of clients the MIC may need to
serve. It should be noted that any unique fields may be designated
as a key field throughout. In an alternative embodiment, these
tables have been decentralized into their own databases and their
respective database controllers (i.e., individual database
controllers for each of the above tables). Employing standard data
processing techniques, one may further distribute the databases
over several computer systemizations and/or storage devices.
Similarly, configurations of the decentralized database controllers
may be varied by consolidating and/or distributing the various
database components 1319a-f. The MIC may be configured to keep
track of various settings, inputs, and parameters via database
controllers.
[0140] The MIC database may communicate to and/or with other
components in a component collection, including itself, and/or
facilities of the like. Most frequently, the MIC database
communicates with the MIC component, other program components,
and/or the like. The database may contain, retain, and provide
information regarding other nodes and data.
The MICs
[0141] The MIC component 1335 is a stored program component that is
executed by a CPU. In one embodiment, the MIC component
incorporates any and/or all combinations of the aspects of the MIC
that was discussed in the previous figures. As such, the MIC
affects accessing, obtaining and the provision of information,
services, transactions, and/or the like across various
communications networks.
[0142] The MIC component may transform user transaction request
input via various MIC components into transaction result output,
and/or the like and enables use of the MIC. In one embodiment, the
MIC component 1335 takes inputs (e.g., user transaction request
220, and/or the like), and transforms the inputs via various
components (e.g., AED 1323a, ICF 1323b, TPIM 1323c, PED 1323d,
VCCED 1323e, RCCED 1323f, CRD 1323g, TED 1323h, UAM 1323i, and/or
the like), into outputs (e.g., transaction request 222, virtual
currency, user, in-game, and inter-game data 224, request for
social graph data 226, response with social graph data 228, request
to confirm fulfillment of incentive conditions 230, confirmation
response 232, payment information 234, virtual currency data 236,
transaction response 238, transaction result output 240, and/or the
like), as shown in the figures and throughout the
specification.
[0143] The MIC component enabling access of information between
nodes may be developed by employing standard development tools and
languages such as, but not limited to: Apache components, Assembly,
ActiveX, binary executables, (ANSI) (Objective-) C (++), C# and/or
.NET, database adapters, CGI scripts, Java, JavaScript, mapping
tools, procedural and object oriented development tools, PERL, PHP,
Python, shell scripts, SQL commands, web application server
extensions, web development environments and libraries (e.g.,
Microsoft's ActiveX; Adobe AIR, FLEX & FLASH; AJAX; (D)HTML;
Dojo, Java; JavaScript; jQuery(UI); MooTools; Prototype;
script.aculo.us; Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP); SWFObject;
Yahoo! User Interface; and/or the like), WebObjects, and/or the
like. In one embodiment, the MIC server employs a cryptographic
server to encrypt and decrypt communications. The MIC component may
communicate to and/or with other components in a component
collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. Most
frequently, the MIC component communicates with the MIC database,
operating systems, other program components, and/or the like. The
MIC may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide
program component, system, user, and/or data communications,
requests, and/or responses.
Distributed MICs
[0144] The structure and/or operation of any of the MIC node
controller components may be combined, consolidated, and/or
distributed in any number of ways to facilitate development and/or
deployment. Similarly, the component collection may be combined in
any number of ways to facilitate deployment and/or development. To
accomplish this, one may integrate the components into a common
code base or in a facility that can dynamically load the components
on demand in an integrated fashion.
[0145] The component collection may be consolidated and/or
distributed in countless variations through standard data
processing and/or development techniques. Multiple instances of any
one of the program components in the program component collection
may be instantiated on a single node, and/or across numerous nodes
to improve performance through load-balancing and/or
data-processing techniques. Furthermore, single instances may also
be distributed across multiple controllers and/or storage devices;
e.g., databases. All program component instances and controllers
working in concert may do so through standard data processing
communication techniques.
[0146] The configuration of the MIC controller will depend on the
context of system deployment. Factors such as, but not limited to,
the budget, capacity, location, and/or use of the underlying
hardware resources may affect deployment requirements and
configuration. Regardless of if the configuration results in more
consolidated and/or integrated program components, results in a
more distributed series of program components, and/or results in
some combination between a consolidated and distributed
configuration, data may be communicated, obtained, and/or provided.
Instances of components consolidated into a common code base from
the program component collection may communicate, obtain, and/or
provide data. This may be accomplished through intra-application
data processing communication techniques such as, but not limited
to: data referencing (e.g., pointers), internal messaging, object
instance variable communication, shared memory space, variable
passing, and/or the like.
[0147] If component collection components are discrete, separate,
and/or external to one another, then communicating, obtaining,
and/or providing data with and/or to other component components may
be accomplished through inter-application data processing
communication techniques such as, but not limited to: Application
Program Interfaces (API) information passage; (distributed)
Component Object Model ((D)COM), (Distributed) Object Linking and
Embedding ((D)OLE), and/or the like), Common Object Request Broker
Architecture (CORBA), local and remote application program
interfaces Jini, Remote Method Invocation (RMI), SOAP, process
pipes, shared files, and/or the like. Messages sent between
discrete component components for inter application communication
or within memory spaces of a singular component for intra
application communication may be facilitated through the creation
and parsing of a grammar. A grammar may be developed by using
standard development tools such as lex, yacc, XML, and/or the like,
which allow for grammar generation and parsing functionality, which
in turn may form the basis of communication messages within and
between components. For example, a grammar may be arranged to
recognize the tokens of an HTTP post command, e.g.:
[0148] w3c-post http:// . . . Value1
where Value1 is discerned as being a parameter because "http://" is
part of the grammar syntax, and what follows is considered part of
the post value. Similarly, with such a grammar, a variable "Value1"
may be inserted into an "http://" post command and then sent. The
grammar syntax itself may be presented as structured data that is
interpreted and/or otherwise used to generate the parsing mechanism
(e.g., a syntax description text file as processed by lex, yacc,
etc.). Also, once the parsing mechanism is generated and/or
instantiated, it itself may process and/or parse structured data
such as, but not limited to: character (e.g., tab) delineated text,
HTML, structured text streams, XML, and/or the like structured
data. In another embodiment, inter-application data processing
protocols themselves may have integrated and/or readily available
parsers (e.g., the SOAP parser) that may be employed to parse
(e.g., communications) data. Further, the parsing grammar may be
used beyond message parsing, but may also be used to parse:
databases, data collections, data stores, structured data, and/or
the like. Again, the desired configuration will depend upon the
context, environment, and requirements of system deployment. The
following resources may be used to provide example embodiments
regarding SOAP parser implementation:
[0149] http://www.xay.com/perl/site/lib/SOAP/Parser.html
[0150]
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/tivihelp/v2r1/index.jsp?to-
pic=/com.ibm.IBMDI.doc/referenceguide295.htm
[0151] and other parser implementations:
[0152]
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/tivihelp/v2r1/index.j
sp?topic=/com.ibm.IBMDI.doc/referenceguide259.htm
[0153] all of which are hereby expressly incorporated by
reference.
[0154] In order to address various issues and advance the art, the
entirety of this application for APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS
FOR A MULTI-LEVEL IN GAME CURRENCY PLATFORM (including the Cover
Page, Title, Headings, Field, Background, Summary, Brief
Description of the Drawings, Detailed Description, Claims,
Abstract, Figures, Appendices, and otherwise) shows, by way of
illustration, various embodiments in which the claimed invention(s)
may be practiced. The advantages and features of the application
are of a representative sample of embodiments only, and are not
exhaustive and/or exclusive. They are presented only to assist in
understanding and teach the claimed principles. It should be
understood that they are not representative of all claimed
inventions. As such, certain aspects of the disclosure have not
been discussed herein. That alternate embodiments may not have been
presented for a specific portion of the invention or that further
undescribed alternate embodiments may be available for a portion is
not to be considered a disclaimer of those alternate embodiments.
It will be appreciated that many of those undescribed embodiments
incorporate the same principles of the invention and others are
equivalent. Thus, it is to be understood that other embodiments may
be utilized and functional, logical, organizational, structural
and/or topological modifications may be made without departing from
the scope and/or spirit of the disclosure. As such, all examples
and/or embodiments are deemed to be non-limiting throughout this
disclosure. Also, no inference should be drawn regarding those
embodiments discussed herein relative to those not discussed herein
other than it is as such for purposes of reducing space and
repetition. For instance, it is to be understood that the logical
and/or topological structure of any combination of any program
components (a component collection), other components and/or any
present feature sets as described in the figures and/or throughout
are not limited to a fixed operating order and/or arrangement, but
rather, any disclosed order is exemplary and all equivalents,
regardless of order, are contemplated by the disclosure.
Furthermore, it is to be understood that such features are not
limited to serial execution, but rather, any number of threads,
processes, services, servers, and/or the like that may execute
asynchronously, concurrently, in parallel, simultaneously,
synchronously, and/or the like are contemplated by the disclosure.
As such, some of these features may be mutually contradictory, in
that they cannot be simultaneously present in a single embodiment.
Similarly, some features are applicable to one aspect of the
invention, and inapplicable to others. In addition, the disclosure
includes other inventions not presently claimed. Applicant reserves
all rights in those presently unclaimed inventions including the
right to claim such inventions, file additional applications,
continuations, continuations in part, divisions, and/or the like
thereof. As such, it should be understood that advantages,
embodiments, examples, functional, features, logical,
organizational, structural, topological, and/or other aspects of
the disclosure are not to be considered limitations on the
disclosure as defined by the claims or limitations on equivalents
to the claims. It is to be understood that, depending on the
particular needs and/or characteristics of a MIC individual and/or
enterprise user, database configuration and/or relational model,
data type, data transmission and/or network framework, syntax
structure, and/or the like, various embodiments of the MIC, may be
implemented that enable a great deal of flexibility and
customization. For example, aspects of the MIC may be adapted for
non-game use. While various embodiments and discussions of the MIC
have been directed to using multiple types of virtual currency in
games, however, it is to be understood that the embodiments
described herein may be readily configured and/or customized for a
wide variety of other applications and/or implementations.
* * * * *
References