AU7937901A - Gaming hardware simulator - Google Patents

Description

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AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Applicant(s): INTERNATIONAL GAME TECHNOLOGY Invention Title: GAMING HARDWARE SIMULATOR The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: I 1 GAMING HARDWARE SIMULATOR CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is related to commonly-owned co-pending patent application entitled "Processing Platform for a Gaming Machine" and assigned Serial No. 09/338,286, filed on June 22, 1999.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to gaming machines and more particularly to a gaming machine architecture which includes a gaming subsystem implemented as a standard S 15 add-on card which, in one embodiment is adapted to be received in a standard expansion slot in a general purpose computer. The gaming subsystem add-on card facilitates the development, upgrading and testing of new gaming machines. The gaming machine subsystem add-on card can also be used to form a gaming machine simulator which facilitates software development for new gaming machines without the regulatory restrictions associated with current practice in which the gaming machine software is developed and tested with an actual gaming machine.

2. Description of the Prior Art Modern video gaming machines are known to be configured in a manner, similar to that of a general purpose computer, and include devices, such as, a microprocessor, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), one or more mass storage devices,

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I~ 1 a video display controller, sound generation hardware, etc. In addition to the above-mentioned devices, typically found in virtually all general purpose computers, additional proprietary devices are required in gaming machines due to regulatory requirements, security requirements or to improve the reliability of the system. These additional devices are known to include a battery back up RAM memory (known as static RAM or SRAM), additional ROM, additional or unique serial communication channels, bit level input/output interfaces, security monitoring circuitry, non-volatile storage memory, such as electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), and mass storage write protection circuits. The proprietary components may not be available in a commercial, industrial or consumer grade personal computer, but are required to create a video gaming machine that is compliant with gaming regulations and thus results in a proprietary architecture for such gaming machines.

Such gaming machines formed with a proprietary platform are relatively complicated to update. In particular, such gaming machines may require to be updated for various purposes including keeping up with advancements in computer technology. Currently i• 5 as computer and related software advancements are made, gaming machine manufacturers must o 0* constantly upgrade the proprietary gaming architecture which requires a relatively extensive °00 engineering effort, time consuming regulatory submissions and testing. As such, the constant re-design and-engineering results in diverse implementations of regulated machine functions that are fundamental to any gaming machine and are relatively expensive to implemept.

Another problem associated with gaming machines with proprietary architecture relates to game software development. In particular, the development of gaming software is accelerating at a rapid pace. Key to the development of new gaming software is the ability to develop and test the software on a target platform video gaming machine) as much as possible. As the demand for games accelerates, the demand increases for more engineers to develop software for the games. Unfortunately, third party developers are unable to fill this need because of the cost of the hardware and the severe regulatory restrictions imposed. In particular, modern video gaming machines are known to cost thousands of dollars. In addition, the export as well as ownership of such gaming machines is severely limited in several states and countries. As such, since the gaming machine software is normally developed on actual video gaming machines, third party developers are virtually precluded S rl from developing software for such machines. Thus there is a need for an improved gaming machine architecture which facilitates the development upgrading and software development new gaming machines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly, the present invention relates to an open architecture for gaming machines that includes a gaming subsystem implemented as an add-on card which enables the hardware functionality of a gaming machine to be implemented on a standard general purpose computer platform. In one embodiment, the add-on card is compatible with a standard bus interface, such as a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus interface. As such, gaming machine upgrades are greatly facilitated relative to current technology. In accordance with another aspect of the invention an add-on card is provided that can be connected to a standard personal computer to form a gaming machine simulator to enable third party software developers to develop game software for gaming machines without an actual gaming machine.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING These and other advantages of the present invention will be readily understood oooo• with reference to the following specification an attached drawing wherein: Fig. 1 is an exemplary block diagram for an open architecture gaming machine in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a detailed block diagram of the gaming machine subsystem in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of switch box for emulating various gaming machine input/output functions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to an open architecture for gaming machines in which the gaming machine hardware is separated from the general computing system hardware. The gaming machine hardware is implemented as an add-on card and in one embodiment is adapted to be received in a standard expansion slot on a general purpose computer. An important advantage of such an architecture is that the add-on card installed into I,1 a personal computer eliminates the expense of having an actual gaming machine to facilitate third party development of gaming software. In addition, the architecture mentioned above also facilitates updates of various gaming machines to new general computing platforms. As such, a single add-on may be used on multiple general computing platforms to facilitate the development of such gaming machines on multiple platforms.

In general, the functions of a gaming machine can be divided into a gaming subsystem and a general computing platform as set forth in Tables 1 and 2 below..

TABLE 1 GAMING SUBSYSTEM *C°o o *o oooeo Game Play System Game Accounting Gaming Machine Access Input/Output Control Random number generation Game authentication algorithm pay table information TABLE2 GENERAL COMPUTING PLATFORM

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Player visual display and attract animation Audio player feedback and attraction Real-time video presentations Commercial operating systems An exemplary block diagram for a gaming machine in accordance with the present invention in which the gaming subsystem hardware is separated from the general computing hardware as set forth in Tables 1 and 2 is illustrated in Fig. 1. A block diagram of the gaming subsystem add on card in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in Fig. 2. A block diagram of gaming machine input/output emulator used to emulate gaming machine user inputs and machine outputs is illustrated in Fig. 3. The gaming machine I/O emulator as well as the add-on card enable third party developers to develop new software for the gaming machines without the regulatory requirements or cost of a gaming machine.

Referring to Fig. 1, an exemplary block diagram for a gaming machine in accordance with the present invention is generally identified with the reference numeral 100.

The gaming machine 100 includes a gaming machine subsystem, generally identified with the reference numeral 102 and a general computing, subsystem, shown within the dashed box, identified with the reference numeral 104. As mentioned above, the gaming subsystem 102 is segregated from the general computing subsystem 104. As such, the gaming subsystem 102 as configured may be coupled to Peripheral Component Interface (PCI) bus 110 in a similar manner as other standard peripherals. In particular, in one embodiment the gaming subsystem 102 may be configured as a standard expansion card, adapted to be received in a standard PCI expansion slot for a personal computer.

The general computing subsystem 104 described and illustrated is merely exemplary. The principles of the present invention are applicable to virtually any general computing platform. The general computing subsystem 104 includes a microprocessor 106, i" "for example, an AMD Model No.K6-2, an optional cache memory 108, a system bus 110, PCI bus 112, a bus controller 114, a video subsystem 116, an audio subsystem 118 and a network *oooo subsystem 120. The bus controller 114, for example, a Model No. M1541 manufactured by Acer Labs Inc. controls the data transfer between the system bus 110 and the PCI bus 112.

The video subsystem 116 includes a video controller 122, for example, as manufactured by Imagination Technology. The video controller 122 is used to drive various types of displays, such as liquid crystal and cathode ray tube displays, used in various gaming machines, as indicated by the arrow 128. The video subsystem 116 also includes a video random access memory (RAM), such as synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM). The video controller 122 and SDRAM 124 are coupled to the system bus and bus controller 114 via interface, such as an interface known as the Advanced Graphics Port (AGP).

The audio subsystem includes an audio controller 130, such as a Model No. 4D- WAVE-NX, manufactured by Trident Microsystems. The audio controller 130 is used to convert digital data signals from the PCI bus 112 to analog signals suitable for driving one or more speakers. The audio controller 130 may also be used to control the analog signals from the microphone to the speakers.

The network subsystem 120 may include a network controller 132, such as a model No. N82558 as manufactured by Intel Inc. The network controller 132 may be used to allow the gaming machine 100 to be networked with other gaming machines to combine payouts and produce a single larger jackpot. Such network gaming systems are known in the art as progressive systems. Examples of such progressive gaming systems are disclosed in commonly-owned U.S. Patent Application Nos. 5,766,076 and 5,855,515, hereby incorporated by reference.

Fig. 2 represents an exemplary block diagram of a gaming machine subsystem 102. The gaming subsystem 102 includes its own data and address buses ("card bus"), generally identified with the reference numeral 136. As mentioned above, the gaming subsystem 102 may be configured as a standard expansion card. As shown, the gaming machine subsystem 102 includes a PCI interface device 134, for example a PLX Technology, model number PCI9050, for controlling communication between the PCI bus 110 (Fig. 1) and the card buses 136.

S" The gaming machine subsystem 102 may also include various electronic memory devices, such as a RAM 138, for example, 4 Mbytes of static RAM (SRAM), coupled to a backup battery 140 forming a shadow RAM. The shadow RAM 140 is coupled! to the card bus 136. Additional SRAM sockets 142 may be provided to facilitate memory expansion.

The SRAM 138 may be used to store critical data, such as, game statistics and game history 0 information. The gaming machine subsystem 102 may also include flash ROM 132. As is known in the art, such flash ROM 144 is an in circuit erasable and programmable device and retains the contents when power is removed from the circuit. The flash ROM 144 may be used to develop extended basic input/output (BIOS) firmware, not common to personal S° computing platforms for the purposes of gaming subsystem initialization, an initial bootstrap loader for the gaming subsystem operating system as well as specific operating routines used by the gaming software, such as random number generation and code integrity checking routines.

The gaming machine subsystem 102 may also include a provision for bidirectional communication between the gaming subsystem 101 and other devices, for example, a four channel universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) with a plurality ofRS-232 serial ports 146 to provide serial communication capability for various systems, such as player tracking hardware, low speed LAN/WAN communication and various peripheral devices. In particular, the UART 146 may be coupled to a ticket printer, bill validator or touch screen on the video monitor (not shown). The UARTs 146 are compatible with RS 232 signaling levels.

Additional external hardware may be connected to the UARTs 146 to translate the RS 232 signal levels to other communication standards, such as RS 485, fiber optics, etc.

The gaming subsystem 102 may also include one or more mass storage devices 148 and 150, such as a hard-drive or compact disc read only memory CD-ROM, or the like.

A mass storage write protect controller 152 may be used to control data communication between the system 136 and the mass storage devices 148 and 150. The mass storage write protect controller 152 prevents data from being written to mass storage devices 148 and 150 except under rigidly controlled circumstances to prevent a gaming machine program from being altered in an effort to gain unfair advantage. The mass storage write protect controller 152 is described in co-pending application Serial No. 09/338,262, filed June 22, 1999, entitled "Mass Storage Data ProtectionSystem for a Gaming Machine", herein incorporated by reference.

The mass storage write protect controller 216 may be connected to an IDE controller normally available in a general computing subsystem. This allows the i many industry standard mass storage devices to function with the mass storage write protect controller 216.

20 As shown in Fig. 2, an interface 154 may be used to connect the card bus 136 to a proprietary subsystem 155. The proprietary subsystem 155 may include various proprietary and non-proprietary gaming devices, such as, a bit level input/output device 156, a security device 158 and a gaming system data storage system 160. The gaming system data storage system 160 may also include, for example, a controller 161 and an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM).

The specific implementation and nature of the proprietary devices is not critical to the practice of the invention. It is only critical the gaming subsystem 102 hardware be segregated from the general computing subsystem 104 hardware for example, by implementing the gaming subsystem 102 hardware as one or more add-on cards that are adapted to be connected to a general computing subsystem by way of a standard interface, such as a standard expansion slot on a general computing subsystem 104. Alternatively, it is also contemplated that the gaming subsystem 102 add-on card be connected to the general computing system 104 in other ways. For example, the gaming subsystem 102 add-on card may be implemented as an add-on card with an edge connector adapted to be connected to the general computing subsystem 104 by way of a mating connector in communication with said general computing subsystem 104.

A gaming machine input/output emulator, for example, as illustrated in Fig. 3, may be used in conjunction with the add-on card for provide an opportunity for third party software developers to develop and test all conditions generated on an actual gaming machine.

The gaming machine I/O emulator 164 may be used to emulate various gaming machine I/O devices on a standard gaming machine. For example, the gaming machine I/O emulator 164 may include a plurality of switches 166, lights 168 and mechanical counters 170. The switches 166 may be used to emulate switches on the front of a gaming machine, such as slot handle, coin acceptor, and play line buttons. The switches 166 may also be used to emulate switches that correspond tosecurity devices, not normally seen by the user including a tilt alarm, door alarms and coin jam indicator. The lights 168 may be used to emulate normal outputs, such as button lights, bells and coin release, as well as alarm condition indicators.

The mechanical counters 170 may be used to emulate the record of critical play history as required by most gaming authorities.

oo. Although described above in terms of the preferred embodiment, the present 0 invention is set forth with particularly in the appended claims. Such modificatins and .i alterations as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and familiar with the teachings of this application shall be deemed to fall within the spirit and scope of the S" invention.

Claims (20)

1. A gaming machine comprising: a general computing subsystem having a predetermined interface; and a gaming subsystem, segregated from said general computing subsystem and adapted to be connected to said predetermined interface.

2. The gaming machine as recited in claim 1, wherein said gaming subsystem is configured as an add-on card that is adapted to be connected to said predetermined interface.

3. The gaming machine as recited in claim 2, wherein said predetermined interface is a standard expansion slot.

4. The gaming machine as recited in claim 3, wherein said predetermined S"interface is a peripheral component interface (PCI).

5. The gaming machine as recited in claim 1, wherein said general computing subsystem includes a network controller for enabling said gaming machine to be networked with other external gaming machines.

6. A gaming subsystem for providing predetermined gaming functions, the gaming subsystem comprising: "gaming subsystem hardware for providing gaming functions; said gaming system hardware segregated from non-gaming function hardware and implemented as an add on card for general purpose computer.

7. The gaming subsystem as recited in claim 6, wherein said gaming subsystem hardware is implemented as an expansion card that is adapted to be received in a predetermined expansion slot.

8. The gaming subsystem as recited in claim 7, wherein said predetermined expansion slot is part of a peripheral component interface (PCI) bus.

9. A gaming machine hardware emulator for emulating gaming machine input/output devices comprising: a plurality of switches for emulating various input devices on a gaming machine; a plurality-of lights for emulating various output devices on a gaming machine; and a plurality of counters.

A method for fabricating a gaming machine comprising the steps of: a. identifying gaming functions and non-gaming functions; b. providing hardware for said gaming functions defining gaming hardware; c. providing hardware for said non-gaming functions, segregated from said hardware for said gaming functions, defining non-gaming hardware; and d. providing an interface between said gaming hardware and said non-gaming hardware.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein a standard interface is provided between said gaming hardware and said non-gaming hardware.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein a standard expansion slot S"i is provided and said gaming hardware is implemented as an expansion card that is compatible with said standard interface. oooo

13. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein said gaming hardwvare is provided as an add-on card.

14. An add-on board for forming a gaming machine simulator comprising: an electric circuit board configured with gaming machine functions, said electric circuit board including a first interface for interfacing with a general purpose computter.

The add-on board as recited in claim 14, wherein said electric circuit S•board including a second interface for interfacing with proprietary gaming function. *:bo dg i

16. A gaming machine substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

17. A gaming subsystem substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

18. A gaming machine hardware emulator, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

19. A method for fabricating a gaming 10 machine substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

20. An add-on board forming a gaming machine simulator, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 12th day of October 2001 a p p p INTERNATIONAL GAME TECHNOLOGY By their Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK