EP1465127A2 - Système de communication pour machines de jeu - Google Patents

Système de communication pour machines de jeu Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1465127A2
EP1465127A2 EP04252032A EP04252032A EP1465127A2 EP 1465127 A2 EP1465127 A2 EP 1465127A2 EP 04252032 A EP04252032 A EP 04252032A EP 04252032 A EP04252032 A EP 04252032A EP 1465127 A2 EP1465127 A2 EP 1465127A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
transponder
gaming machine
gaming
machines
data
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP04252032A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP1465127A3 (fr
Inventor
Vincent Carmelo Bruzzese
Scott Paul Shelley
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Barcrest Group Ltd
Original Assignee
IGT UK Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by IGT UK Ltd filed Critical IGT UK Ltd
Publication of EP1465127A2 publication Critical patent/EP1465127A2/fr
Publication of EP1465127A3 publication Critical patent/EP1465127A3/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
    • G07F17/32—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for games, toys, sports, or amusements
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
    • G07F17/32—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for games, toys, sports, or amusements
    • G07F17/3225—Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users
    • G07F17/323—Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users wherein the player is informed, e.g. advertisements, odds, instructions
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
    • G07F17/32—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for games, toys, sports, or amusements
    • G07F17/3225—Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users
    • G07F17/3232—Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users wherein the operator is informed
    • G07F17/3234—Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users wherein the operator is informed about the performance of a gaming system, e.g. revenue, diagnosis of the gaming system

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to gaming establishments having a plurality of gaming machines and, in particular, to a communications and data transfer system for such gaming establishments.
  • Gaming machines such as poker or slot or fruit machines as the devices are termed in different jurisdictions, are now completely electronic and so the game or games which each machine is capable of playing is/are stored electronically within the machine. In addition, the history of the results of the games played is also stored electronically.
  • One of these functions is the downloading of the data and instructions constituting the operating software of a game or games. Not only is such data voluminous (typically approximately 30 - 100 Mb) and the downloading time correspondingly long (e.g. typically 1 - 5 minutes) but the link must be secure against criminal elements who may seek to tamper with such software.
  • the object of the present invention is therefore to provide a communication and data transfer system for gaming establishments which enables the status of gaming machines to be monitored and/or various operational control parameters of gaming machines to be changed, for example by authorised employees of the gaming establishment.
  • a communications and data transfer system for gaming establishments having a plurality of gaming machines arranged in proximity to each other, said system comprising a hand held portable transponder adapted to transmit and receive modulated electromagnetic radiation over a limited range which approximates to only the linear distance occupied by said gaming machines, said transponder further having a display means and input means, and each of said gaming machines includes a communication module connected with the electronic controller of each said gaming machine whereby identification and control signals for a specific one or ones of said plurality of adjacent gaming machines can be input to, and sent from, said transponder to the electronic controller of the selected gaming machine(s) and in reply thereto, status data of said selected gaming machine(s) can be sent to, or overwritten by, said transponder.
  • a prior art gaming machine 1 has a video screen 2 located between an upper panel 3 and a lower panel 4.
  • the screen 2 displays moving images (typically of rotating reels each of which carries symbols of various kinds), whilst the panels 3,4 carry artwork of various kinds which is fixed as to the information displayed.
  • the upper panel 3 displays the name of the game or games offered by the machine and is intended to attract a player to the machine.
  • the lower panel 4 typically sets out the table of winning combinations and information about the rules of the game which a player needs to know.
  • conventional items such as a coin receiving slot, bill receptacle, play and reserve buttons, and the like.
  • Fig. 2 which has a substantially conventional (lower) screen 12 and panel 14 but has an upper screen 13 instead of the upper panel 3.
  • the panel 14 sets out the table of winning combinations, etc and the conventional coin receiving slot etc. are not illustrated in Fig. 2.
  • the machine 11 is a multigame machine. Stored electronically within the machine 11 are several different games and for each game a different display for the upper screen 13 is stored. Changing the game played on the machine 11 enables the corresponding display to be viewed on the upper screen 13. Since the screen 13 has replaced the panel 3, the upper display can be animated, thereby making it both more attractive and more attention getting.
  • the number of machines 1, 11 which a particular gaming establishment can operate is strictly limited to machines which are able to offer a plurality of games. Thus multigame machines are of increased economic worth.
  • a multigame machine to have a mechanism by means of which one of the stored games within the machine can be selected for operation (or possibly a sub-range of the stored games).
  • a mechanism has been a combination of operator accessible buttons (for example located behind a lockable flap) and a menu which the operator is able to cause to be displayed on the screen 2, for example. It is clearly a time consuming activity to unlock the flap, push the required button or buttons to display the menu, follow the menu instructions with more button pushing, close and lock the flap, and then repeat the procedure with the next machine.
  • Fig. 3 illustrates a portion of such a gaming floor. For a small establishment there may be only the three illustrated rows 16 of machines 11 but for a large establishment there may be many such rows 16.
  • a personal digital assistant (PDA) 17 such as a PALM PILOT or IPAQ (Registered Trade Marks) or a custom made transponder, or similar, which as indicated in Fig. 4, is able to communicate with a communications module 18 which is connected with the electronic controller 19 of the gaming machine 11.
  • the electronic controller 19 is typically a central processing unit (CPU) of the machine 11.
  • the PDA 17 is equipped with a BLUETOOTH (Registered Trade Mark) module which enables remote communication over a relatively short range (typically 1 - 10 metres for class II and 10 - 100 metres for Class I).
  • the transmission can be either wireless or infrared and other similar devices such as BLUEFISH (Registered Trade Mark) disclosed in WO 01/54104 can be used instead.
  • BLUETOOTH device has the advantage of wide commercial acceptance.
  • Other wireless standards such as 802.11 ETHERNET, ZIG BEE or similar, can also be used.
  • Within the PDA 17 is a store of data including the numbers of various authorised employees each having an associated PIN number.
  • an employee enters his authorisation number followed by his PIN number to activate the PDA17.
  • the PDA 17 then communicates with all machines 11 in range and interrogates them to confirm an active status.
  • a list of all active machines 11 within range of the PDA17 then appears on the display screen of the PDA17.
  • the authorised employee is then able to select one or a group of machines 11 from those listed on the PDA display. Thus each machine is individually addressable or a group of machines are simultaneously addressable.
  • the PDA17 can then be used both to download commands to the addressed machine(s) 11 and to upload status information or upload responses to the commands.
  • a particular game from a suite of games present in all machines 11 can be selected. This simultaneously updates all machines to the desired game thereby enabling rapid game changes to suit a busy venue social program.
  • the game change-over can be programmed to operate at a specific time in the future (in conjunction with the CPU clock) or after a specified time delay.
  • the authorised employee can interrogate the machine, or each machine in turn, to ascertain various operational parameters such as rate of note rejects, rate of coin rejects, cash turnover ratio, and the like.
  • This enables the authorised employee to make various managerial decisions in addition to more routine functions such as "keying-off' a jackpot on a machine.
  • the credit value and security information are uploaded from the electronic controller 19 via the communications module 18 to the PDA17.
  • the PDA17 includes a printer which enables the authorised employee to print a small coupon or ticket which the winning player can redeem for cash at a change booth.
  • the machines 11 can call for assistance once a fault is detected by internal surveillance equipment.
  • any PDA17 in range of a given machine 11 can be advised that, for example, the cash tin is almost full, the hopper is almost empty, printer paper is low, various lamps and/or buttons have malfunctioned, and the like. This enables maintenance or preventative maintenance, to be carried out at the earliest opportunity. As a consequence machine downtime is reduced.
  • prior art machines require a significant amount of time for technicians to manually enter data, such as configuration data, into a machine.
  • data includes game type, percentage return, button panel layout, GMID number, house number and the like.
  • this data can be quickly downloaded to a particular machine 11, or a group of such machines 11.
  • diagnosis of any fault in the machine 11 can be speeded up by status data upload, especially in the case where the machine screen 2,12 has malfunctioned.
  • the PDA17 can also be used to check the integrity of gaming machine software even whilst a machine 11 is being played. For example, a cyclic redundancy check calculation of the machine program storage devices can be requested by the PDA17 without either the need to interrupt a player or the need for connection to any other system.
  • monitor systems which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
  • One aspect of such monitor systems is that they provide a player tracker function.
  • the above described communications system can provide a low cost "entry level" player tracker function for those venues having a relatively small number of gaming machines. This is achieved by the PDA17 being used to upload game results from the machines 11. This data is then able to be transferred to a personal computer, or similar, and manipulated at will.

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Slot Machines And Peripheral Devices (AREA)
  • Pinball Game Machines (AREA)
EP04252032A 2003-04-03 2004-04-05 Système de communication pour machines de jeu Withdrawn EP1465127A3 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU2003901552 2003-04-03
AU2003901552A AU2003901552A0 (en) 2003-04-03 2003-04-03 Gaming machine communicating system

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1465127A2 true EP1465127A2 (fr) 2004-10-06
EP1465127A3 EP1465127A3 (fr) 2005-08-24

Family

ID=31500595

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP04252032A Withdrawn EP1465127A3 (fr) 2003-04-03 2004-04-05 Système de communication pour machines de jeu

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1465127A3 (fr)
AU (1) AU2003901552A0 (fr)
NZ (1) NZ532038A (fr)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6463327B1 (en) 1998-06-11 2002-10-08 Cprx Llc Stimulatory device and methods to electrically stimulate the phrenic nerve
US7883417B2 (en) 2000-04-07 2011-02-08 Igt Gaming machine communicating system
US7927211B2 (en) 2002-04-02 2011-04-19 Igt Gaming environment including portable transaction devices

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0015081A1 (fr) 1979-02-13 1980-09-03 Barcrest Limited Machines pour l'amusement
EP1004970A2 (fr) 1998-10-14 2000-05-31 International Game Technology Méthode de téléchargement de données pour dispositif de jeux

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE4205098C3 (de) * 1992-02-20 2002-01-24 Ralf Haarmann Spielautomat
US7147558B2 (en) * 2000-03-22 2006-12-12 Wms Gaming Inc. System and method for dispensing gaming machine credits in multiple different media of monetary exchange

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0015081A1 (fr) 1979-02-13 1980-09-03 Barcrest Limited Machines pour l'amusement
EP1004970A2 (fr) 1998-10-14 2000-05-31 International Game Technology Méthode de téléchargement de données pour dispositif de jeux

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6463327B1 (en) 1998-06-11 2002-10-08 Cprx Llc Stimulatory device and methods to electrically stimulate the phrenic nerve
US7883417B2 (en) 2000-04-07 2011-02-08 Igt Gaming machine communicating system
US7927211B2 (en) 2002-04-02 2011-04-19 Igt Gaming environment including portable transaction devices

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP1465127A3 (fr) 2005-08-24
NZ532038A (en) 2005-10-28
AU2003901552A0 (en) 2003-05-01

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