JP2018134222A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To appropriately transmit a command from a main control device to a peripheral control device while increasing communication speed.SOLUTION: A command for each transmission from a main control device includes: messages 1 to 4 that are a combination of main control data to be generated on the basis of game control processing to be executed in the main control device; and a combination of specific data 01H to 06H consecutive to the combination of the main control data and different form the combination of the main control data. In a program for executing presentation control processing in a peripheral control device, processing procedures are described for detecting a command for each transmission form the main control device by discriminating the combination of the main control data from the combination of the specific data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a spinning machine, other slot machines, pachinko machines and the like.

  In Patent Document 1, a command is generated by the main control device on the main side according to the game control status on the main side such as an internal lottery, and the rate is one out of two timer interrupts of a predetermined period, that is, interrupt 1 A game that can be transmitted to the peripheral control device on the sub-side via a FIFO transmission buffer with a first-in first-out (First In First Out) specification at intervals of the number of times, and appropriate presentation control according to the game control status on the main side can be performed The machine is listed. One command sent in one transmission process from the main to the sub is composed of telegrams 1 to 4 and serial data obtained by connecting these checksums, and the sub side detects the interval of serial data to be transmitted and sets 1 The specification is to determine the reception of the command.

JP 2013-144032 A

  By the way, if the command of the main control device is based on, for example, an internal lottery, the command is generated at random timing when the internal lottery processing is performed after exiting the start lever operation waiting loop process. For this reason, it is necessary to prepare a command storage buffer such as a ring buffer having a predetermined capacity (predetermined number of stages) for temporarily storing commands generated at random timing, in addition to the FIFO transmission buffer, in the read / write memory RWM of the main controller. . Even if the FIFO transmission buffer built in the CPU is used, after setting a command in the command storage buffer once, a two-stage process for transferring the command from the command storage buffer to the FIFO transmission buffer is required.

  The one described in the above document does not require an identification bit in the message, and can limit the numerical value that can be handled in one message. However, one command is sent from the FIFO transmission buffer to the sub-side at the rate of two times of timer interrupt processing. Therefore, the communication idling time is long and the communication speed is slow. In addition, with the main AT that takes over the so-called assist time AT that informs the player of the order and position of pressing the stop button in the main control device, it is necessary to send a plurality of commands to the sub-side when the start lever is operated. However, because the communication speed is slow, a larger command storage buffer that temporarily stores the command to be transferred to the FIFO transmission buffer is required. Combined with the specification for passing the command in two stages of the command storage buffer and the FIFO transmission buffer, There is also a risk of squeezing the main-side memory capacity that should be kept within a predetermined capacity according to the gaming machine rules.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a gaming machine capable of appropriately transmitting a command from a main control device to a peripheral control device while increasing the communication speed.

The reference numerals of the drawings are illustrated in parentheses for illustration.
A main controller (MC) for executing game control processing;
In a gaming machine comprising a peripheral control device (SC) that receives a command transmitted from the main control device and executes an effect control process,
A command for each transmission from the main control device includes a combination of main control data (message 1, message 2, message 3, message 4) generated based on the game control process executed by the main control device, and the main control device. Including a combination of specific data (01H, 02, 03H, 04H, 05H, 06H) that is different from the combination of the main control data and continues to the combination of control data,
Processing for detecting a command for each transmission from the main control device (MC) by distinguishing the combination of the main control data from the combination of the specific data in a program for executing the effect control processing of the peripheral control device (SC) Describes the procedure.

  As a result, each time a command is transmitted, the peripheral control device can detect the combination of the main control data by distinguishing the combination of the specific data from the combination of specific data, and between one command and another command for each transmission. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the necessity of providing an interval required in the past. Therefore, the idling time of communication can be shortened and the communication speed can be improved. In addition, as the communication speed is improved, the necessity of the command storage buffer having the number of stages exceeding the number of stages of the conventional FIFO transmission buffer can be eliminated, and the buffer capacity to be secured in the main controller and the instruction code required for the buffer operation can be reduced. While having these advantages, a command can be appropriately transmitted from the main control device to the peripheral control device.

  The combination of the specific data has a data length (6 bytes) longer than the data length (5 bytes) of the data length (4 bytes) of the main control data and the data length (1 byte) of the checksum part. .

  As a result, even if the main control data part takes an arbitrary value and may match completely with the corresponding part of the combination of specific data, the data length of the main control data and the data length of the checksum part are The combination of the main control data can be clearly distinguished from the combination of the specific data by the specific data portion exceeding the combined data length. Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the peripheral control device from misidentifying the main control data.

The perspective view of this invention gaming machine. The block diagram of the control apparatus of a gaming machine. The processing flow figure of command transmission / reception.

  FIG. 1 shows a swivel game machine to which the present invention is applied. The swivel type gaming machine is generally called a pachislot machine. In 1985, after revisions to the gaming machine rules, that is, the National Public Safety Commission Regulation No. 1 on January 30, 2004 (2004), 2 It is a slot machine that conforms to the National Public Safety Commission Regulation No. 4 “Rules for Game Machine Approval and Type Approval” on May 12. Hereinafter, terms and their technical contents are in accordance with the existing game machine rules.

  The gaming machine housing 8B includes a honeycomb rear cabinet 8R, a cabinet frame 8W, and door-shaped upper and lower front cabinets 8E and 8F. The upper front cabinet 8E has an upper liquid crystal display device 71 for displaying moving images and the like in full color, a dot matrix display device 73 in a searchlight style, and 21 frames or 20 frames on the outer periphery of each reel band 10L, 10C, 10R. 3 reels 1L, 1C, 1R that are arranged to face the display window 80 reel panel 8, upper left movable lamp E1 with unfolded and retractable combination lamps e1-3, and upper right movable lamp with the same combination lamps e4-6 The lower left movable lamp E3 having the lamp E2, the same set lamps e7 to 9, the lower right movable lamp E4 having the same set lamps e10 to 12, the upper left lamp E5, the upper right lamp E6, and the portal lamps E7 to E11 surrounding the reel panel 8 Prepare.

  In the lower front cabinet 8F, a lower liquid crystal display device 72 (movable vision ATV) for displaying a moving image or the like in cooperation with the upper liquid crystal display device 71 which also serves as an operation unit 8S and a lower liquid crystal button AB for production, Side lamps E12 and E13 are provided. Reference numerals 91 to 94 denote speakers for outputting BGM and various sound effects, 8M denotes a medal payout port, and 8G denotes a medal tray. Inside the housing 8B is incorporated a woofer 90 that generates vibrations by reproducing heavy bass such as “do, do, do, doo”.

  The operation unit 8S includes a medal slot 2i as a game medium, a start button bi, up / down / left / right movement buttons b1 to 4 and an end button bo for customizing the actual machine, and an electromagnetic storage of the game medium. A specified number required for one game from a credit, for example, a bet button 3 for dropping three medals, a settlement button 4 for dropping a medal remaining on the credit or the like to a medal tray 8G, a predetermined number of medals being inserted, and each reel 1L, 1C, 1R Start lever 5 that serves as a start switch for rotating the wheel, left / middle / right stop buttons 6L, 6C, and 6R that serve as stop switches for individually stopping the corresponding reels, a reject button 2R that is pressed when the inserted medal is jammed, and an operation hole 8K for the door key Is provided.

  Also, the credit display DL1 for displaying the current number of credits also serves as the main monitor MA for displaying the number of payout medals by winning and displaying the code (number etc.) of the instruction information signal when the instruction function by the so-called assist time AT is activated. The payout indicator DL2, using the dot, lights up when there is an advantageous section from the next game determined to shift to the advantageous section enabling the assist time AT, and the normal section from the next game after the advantageous section has ended Section indicator Ek to be turned off, 1 to 3 lamps EL1 to 3 that are turned on each time one, two, or three medals are applied, bet lamp ELb to be turned on when a receiving medal is accepted, start A combination of a start lamp ELs that is turned on when the lever 5 can be operated and a re-playing operation symbol is displayed, It includes a game basic lamps 30 including replay lamp ELr for lighting when motion.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the control device CN incorporated in the gaming machine housing 8B is a main control device corresponding to a so-called main board on the main side that executes game control processing including timer interrupt processing to advance the game. MC includes a peripheral control device SC corresponding to a so-called sub-side peripheral board that receives a command transmitted from the main control device MC according to the one-way communication specification and executes an effect control process accompanying the progress of the game. The one-way communication specification refers to a communication specification that satisfies “not capable of receiving a signal transmitted by a peripheral board” defined in the gaming machine rules for the main board.

  The main control device MC includes a main CPU incorporating a ROM and an RWM. The main CPU is composed of a Z80 compatible chip, applies a predetermined game machine expansion specification to the basic Z80 specification, and is used in a system clock operating environment of 12 MHz, for example. The input port I1 is connected to the index sensors 11L, 11C, 11R (IDs) of each reel, the stop buttons 6L, 6C, 6R, the bet button 3, the settlement button 4, the start lever 5, and the medal selector 2 downstream of the insertion slot 2i. Insertion sensor SEN0 and passing sensors SEN1, 2 provided, R chute sensor SEN3 provided for R chute taking over medals from medal selector 2, payout sensor SEN4 provided at the outlet of medal payout device HP, surplus exceeding bucket capacity of medal payout device HP Overflow sensor SEN5 provided in the auxiliary storage for storing medals thrown into the door, door opening / closing switch Si1 for detecting the opening of the front cabinets 8E, 8F, and setting change switch Si2 for setting the combination of the winning probability at the internal lottery in six steps of high and low Etc. You have entered the issue.

  From the output port O1, via the LED driver Dr0, the stop indicators 61, 62, 63 incorporated in each stop button, that is, the red LEDs 61R, 62R, 63R that are turned on when the stop cannot be displayed and the blue LEDs 61B, 62B that are turned on when the stop is displayed. 63B, stepping motors 12L, 12C, 12R (SM) for directly connecting the drive shafts SH to the respective reels via the motor driver Dr1, the game basic lamps 30 via the LED driver Dr2, and the medals via the solenoid driver Dr3 The blocker solenoid 28s for projecting the blocker claw portion 28 for releasing the medal from the selector 2 controls the medal payout motor HPm of the medal payout device HP via the motor driver Dr4.

  Each index sensor IDs detects an on-edge and an off-edge of a semicircular belt-shaped index ID (1Li, 1Ci, 1Ri) attached to the inner side of each reel every half circle, and the detection of the first on-edge or off-edge is in a steady rotation state. After each reel, the lighting of the red LEDs 61R, 62R, 63R of the stop indicators 61, 62, 63 is changed to the lighting of the blue LEDs 61B, 62B, 63B, and the operation of the stop buttons 6L, 6C, 6R can be accepted. To.

  Each stepping motor SM has a permanent magnet built-in type rotor Rm having a large number of rotor teeth on the outer periphery of the iron core, and a plurality of sets of magnetic poles having a plurality of stator teeth on the inner periphery of the magnetic pole. (A bar phase (inverted phase of A)) and D-phase (B bar phase (inverted phase of B)) windings, and a stator Sw. 1-2 phase that alternately repeats one-phase excitation to be performed and two-phase excitation to turn on one winding and another adjacent winding every one interrupt time by a timer interrupt, for example, t = 1.49 ms Due to the excitation, the excitation pulse is displaced by a half step angle (one step angle by two-step update) by one step update of the excitation pulse, and rotated once by 504 step update. Further, forward rotation and reverse rotation are made possible by changing the step update direction of the excitation pulse.

  A game main program describing a game control process is provided on the ROM of the main CPU. In this program, a medal insertion means T for inserting a prescribed number of medals, and a random value extracted when the start lever 5 is operated. Depending on which winning area is classified in association with a lottery within the range of random numbers, either winning or replaying, winning or any winnings (including a continuous action device) Internal lottery means K for determining fraud, and rotating cylinder control means for accelerating all reels to the normal rotation side after the operation of the start lever 5 and 4.1 seconds from the start of the previous game to reach normal rotation Based on V1 and the operation of the corresponding stop button 6L, 6C, 6R under the lighting of the blue LEDs 61B, 62B, 63B of the stop indicators 61, 62, 63 for each rotating reel. We are building reel control means V which includes a rotation stopping device controller V2 for stopping individually.

  Further, if the game result is a win, the medal paying means M for paying out a medal of a predetermined payout number, if the game result is a re-game operation, the medal automatic insertion means N for automatically inserting a medal, and the game result fluctuates the probability of re-game. If there is a transition to the replay time RT or a transition to an active part, gaming state transition means J for transitioning the gaming state, each reel is reversely rotated at a predetermined probability determined for each winning combination by a predetermined freeze drawing, etc. A freeze lottery means W for determining whether or not a predetermined turning effect is determined, and a turning effect execution means Q for executing the turning effect related to the winning are constructed.

  Furthermore, the advantageous section transition determining means H1 for determining the transition to the advantageous section under the predetermined transition condition associated with the bag having no setting difference, and the additional number of continuous games of the assist time AT in the advantageous section under the predetermined additional condition. The addition control means H2 for determining, the advantageous section continuation managing means H3 for managing from the start to the end of the advantageous section, the instruction information signal by the assist time AT such as the correct pushing order for the pushing order small combination is managed by the main controller MC. Instruction information output means H4 is constructed which is output to the main monitor MA and output to the upper liquid crystal display device 71 managed by the peripheral control device SC.

  The peripheral control device SC includes a sub CPU having a ROM and an RWM. The sub CPU is composed of a 32-bit RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) chip microcomputer and is used in a system clock operating environment exceeding 200 MHz, for example. Under the control of the real-time operating system RTOS (Real-Time Operating System), the sub CPU controls the CPU time and priority assigned to tasks related to image production, audio production, etc., thereby performing appropriate and efficient parallel processing of tasks. It is possible.

  The sub CPU includes an input / output port I2 // such as a general-purpose port control function Po, an asynchronous serial UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter), a serial communication function Sr using a clock synchronous serial, and an I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) control function Ii. This is a microprocessor composed of an integrated chip SOC (System On a Chip) that integrates a dedicated control function for each target device for effect control together with a communication control function via O2.

  As a dedicated control function, a liquid crystal display function Sy1 for displaying moving images and the like on the upper and lower liquid crystal display devices 71 and 72, an audio output function Sy2 for outputting sound effects from the speakers 91 to 94 and / or the woofer 90, and various lamps E1 to E13 And the lighting control functions Sy3 for lighting the reel back lamps BL1 to 9 that illuminate the nine symbols facing the display window 80 from the back of the reel band, and the motors m1 to m4 for developing and storing the movable lamps E1 to E4 are driven. Various functions such as a motor control function Sy4 are built in. The RTC is a real-time clock that is backed up by the secondary battery Bt, so that during the game standby, a unified effect or the like in which butterflies soar from the lower liquid crystal display device 72 to the upper liquid crystal display device 71 at the same time can be performed between the same models. . A command transmitted from the main controller MC, a cross key unit BT, and signals of the lower liquid crystal button AB are input to the input port I2.

Commands sent from the main controller MC and received by the peripheral controller SC include:
1) “Direction initialization command” based on power-on,
2) “Demo display command” based on the absence of game progress for a certain period of time,
3) “Medal insertion complete command” based on the completion of the specified number of medal insertions,
4) “Tonsen 籤 (conditional device) command” based on the internal lottery execution,
5) “Circulum rotation start command” based on starting of reels 1L, 1C, 1R,
6) “Rotation stop command” based on the operation of the stop buttons 6L, 6C, 6R,
7) “Checkout command” based on the operation of the checkout button 4
8) “Game result command” based on determination of game result,
9) “Medal payout completion command” based on medal payout completion,
10) “Game state command” based on transition of game state,
11) “Circulation effect command” based on freeze drawing,
12) “Section command” based on change of advantageous section or normal section,
13) “Instruction information command” based on the output of the instruction information signal in the advantageous section;
14) “Addition command” based on the determination of addition in the advantageous section;
15) “Error command” based on error occurrence,
16) "Direction return command" based on error cancellation
In the game main program and / or timer interrupt processing program of the main controller MC, etc., when exiting loop processing or shifting to specific processing based on external factors such as various switch operations or internal factors such as lottery processing It includes various items that are generated when

  The target device of the effect control by the sub CPU is a surface light source unit disposed behind the upper and lower liquid crystal display devices 71 and 72, and the LED backlight capable of adjusting the luminance by changing the duty ratio by pulse width modulation PWM. Display backlights 71B and 72B. The liquid crystal display devices 71 and 72 are controlled via the LCD drivers Dr5 and 6, and the backlights 71B and 72B are controlled via the LED drivers Dr7 and 8.

  The dot matrix display device 93 is controlled via a dedicated LED driver Dr9. The various lamps E1 to 13 and the reel back lamps BL1 to 9 are controlled via I2C specification LED drivers Dr10 to Dr14. The speakers 91 to 94 and the woofer 90 are controlled via amplifiers Dr15 and 16 with a digital / analog conversion function. The lower liquid crystal button locker AR that locks the lower liquid crystal button AB and prohibits its pressing is controlled via a solenoid driver Dr17.

  On the ROM of the sub CPU, a program for executing the effect control process is provided, and in this program, information on game control on the main side based on a command received from the main control device MC and / or the peripheral control device SC. Based on the current production control information, production state management means Z for managing the production state on the sub side is constructed. This effect state management means Z executes an effect that cooperates with a plurality of devices to be effected, or a single effect by a specific device, based on information on main game control and / or information on effect control. Production message determining means Y for determining the production message is included.

  Under the control of the production state management unit Z, the following units are constructed that operate based on the determination by the production message determination unit Y and the like. That is, the navigation according to the AT instruction information output from the AT instruction information output means H4 on the upper liquid crystal display device 71. For example, if the correct push order is “left middle right”, “123” or the like is displayed corresponding to the stop button position. The navigation means X1 and the voice navigation means X2 that informs by voice whether the stop button to be operated from the speakers 91 to 94 is left, middle or right in conjunction with the display navigation.

  Further, the image effect means X3 for changing and displaying the moving images and the like displayed on the liquid crystal display devices 71 and 72 and the dot matrix display device 73 according to the difference in the gaming state, the advantageous section / normal section, etc., and various lamps E1 to E1 in conjunction with this. 13 is a lamp effect means X4 for controlling the lighting and emission color, a sound effect means X5 for producing sound effects and BGM from the speakers 91 to 94, and a mechanism for controlling the deployment and storage of the movable lamps E1 to E4 by the motors m1 to m4. The production means X6, the vibration production means X7 for operating the woofer 90 in accordance with the pressing timing of the lower liquid crystal button AB, and the like are constructed.

  FIG. 3 shows a “command transmission process” on a game main program describing a game control process other than the timer interrupt process in the main controller MC, and a “timer interrupt in the main controller MC jumping from the game main program being executed. Process "and" command reception process "on the sub-side effect program describing the effect control process in the peripheral control device SC are shown. The “command transmission process” is called by a subroutine call instruction or the like after generating the various commands 1) to 16). The “timer interrupt process” is executed by the main controller MC every 1.49 ms. The “command reception process” is executed when a command is received in the FIFO reception buffer built in the sub CPU of the peripheral control device SC.

  In the “command transmission process”, every time the “timer interrupt process” is executed, an interrupt counter that is incremented by 1 in step S0 is acquired (step S1), and the value has changed, that is, at least from the previous time. It is determined whether or not an interrupt has occurred once and the interrupt counter has a different value from the previous time (step S2). Steps S1 and S2 constitute an interrupt counter determination step, which are executed under an interrupt permission state.

  Although not shown in the figure, in the “timer interrupt process”, after updating the interrupt counter, the internal registers of the main CPU being used are saved in the stack area for protection, and the input port I1 read process, game Lighting process of basic lamps 30, motor control process of stepping motor SM, management process of output port O 1, predetermined fraud monitoring process for goto action, etc., external signal that causes hall computer or the like to output a specific signal via external terminal board Output processing, switch and sensor monitoring processing, update processing of various internal timers, and the like are sequentially executed, the internal registers saved in the stack area are restored, the interrupt is permitted, and the processing before the interrupt is returned.

  In step S2, if the value of the interrupt counter is the same as the previous value and there is no change, and there is no interval for one interrupt, the determination is NO, and then in step S3, the power interruption notice interrupt Whether or not has occurred has been confirmed.

  The power interruption notice interrupt is performed by the power supply monitoring IC that is mounted on the main controller MC to confirm that the stable supply of normal voltage including power off, power outage (including momentary power outage), and abnormal voltage drop has been cut off. Detect and input a signal from the power supply monitoring IC from the external INT (maskable interrupt input terminal) of the main CPU, and in the interrupt enabled state, the external INT has a low level of a predetermined clock (for example, 4 clocks) or more. Occurs when a signal is received.

  When the power interruption notice interrupt is generated, actually, it jumps to the power interruption notice interrupt processing routine, and after executing predetermined processing in this power interruption notice interrupt processing routine, it enters an infinite loop. For this reason, when the power interruption notice interrupt is generated, step S3 is provided in the sense that the command transmission process ends at that point, but it may be omitted.

  Although not shown in the figure, in the power supply notice interrupt processing routine, the value of the program counter is saved in the stack area, and the value of the stack pointer indicating the stack area address of the save destination is saved in a specific address of the stack area for output. Clear the port, find and save the checksum within the specified range of the RWM for checking when the power is turned on, set the protection to protect the RWM, set the access prohibited state, and the backup that delays the power is exhausted It will go through an infinite loop until the power supply is stopped.

  It is a solid waiting period in which steps S1, S2, and S3 are looped until the interrupt counter is obtained in the interrupt counter determination step in steps S1 and S2 with a determination result indicating that there is an update from the previous value. There is a possibility of waiting for a time close to 1.49 ms at the maximum, but in the first place, since the command is generated in response to an operation by the player such as an operation of the start lever 5, there is no actual harm.

  If it is determined in step S2 that the value of the interrupt counter has changed from the previous time and at least one interrupt interval is determined to be YES, the interrupt is prohibited (step S4), and in command transmission step S5, The command is transmitted to the peripheral control device SC via the serial communication port of the main CPU. As the operation mode of the serial communication circuit SCU of the main CPU, two operation modes of a normal mode and a FIFO mode are prepared. When “0” is written in a specific bit of the communication setting register of the SCU, the normal mode is selected, and “1” ”Is selected, the FIFO mode is selected. When the FIFO mode is selected, a 64-byte FIFO can be used, but in the present embodiment, the normal mode is selected. Therefore, the command waiting for transmission is not stored, and only the current command is transmitted each time.

  The command data to be sent in one transmission process by the execution of step S5 specifies the command type and content such as the above 1) to 16) generated based on the game control process executed by the main controller MC. 1 (1 byte), telegram 2 (1 byte), telegram 3 (1 byte), and telegram 4 (1 byte) include a combination of 4-byte main control data. Further, it includes a combination of specific data of 6 bytes, for example, 01H, 02H, 03H, 04H, 05H, and 06H, which is continuous prior to the combination of the main control data and is different from the combination of the main control data. Furthermore, a checksum following the main control data is included. The checksum is the lower 1 byte of the result of adding all the specific data 01H to 06H and the main control data telegrams 1 to 4.

  The telegram 1 designates the command type such as 1) to 16), and the telegrams 2 to 4 designate the contents (numerical values) of the telegram 1. The telegrams 1 to 4 basically accept any value from 00H to FFH. The combination of the specific data is 6 bytes, and is longer than 5 bytes of the electronic messages 1 to 4 + checksum. Therefore, even if the electronic messages 1 to 4 + checksum becomes 01H, 02H, 03H, 04H, 05H, the 6th byte of the specific data With 06H, the peripheral control device SC on the receiving side can clearly distinguish the combination of main control data from the combination of specific data.

  One command transmission in the command transmission step S5 is performed in units of 11 bytes. However, since transmission from the serial communication port of the main CPU follows the asynchronous serial UART, a start bit “0” (L level) is placed at the beginning of each 1 byte, and a stop bit “1” (H level) is placed at the end. It is added. Accordingly, each of the specific data 01H to 06H, the main control data telegrams 1 to 4 and the checksum has a 10-bit structure.

  The baud rate of the serial communication port of the main CPU is set to, for example, 12 [MHz] ÷ (8 × 16) = 93750 [bps] from the system clock of 12 MHz, and each 10 bits including the start bit and the stop bit Transmission takes about 107 μs. Therefore, one command transmission in the command transmission step S5 is 107 μs × 11 = 1.177 ms, and is completed in a time shorter than the interrupt time 1.49 ms. Therefore, the command can be transmitted every interrupt time, the communication speed can be doubled as compared with the case where one command is transmitted with two interrupts, and the idling time of communication can be shortened.

  In the command transmission step S5, command data to be transmitted at one time consisting of 01H to 06H of specific data, messages 1 to 4 of main control data, and checksum is set in the serial communication port of the main CPU, and processing is performed on the main CPU. I leave it to you. For this reason, it is not necessary to wait 1.177 ms in the command transmission step S5, and the processing ends instantaneously. After exiting step S5 instantaneously, the interrupt is permitted (step S6), the command transmission process is terminated, and the process returns to the calling source routine.

  The peripheral control device SC performs command reception processing by a polling method. For example, the sub CPU receives a maximum of four 10-bit data per timer interrupt processing for every 521 μs, for example, and the maximum for each interrupt. Command data for 4 bytes is stored in the built-in FIFO reception buffer of the sub CPU. One byte of 11 bytes is stored in the reception buffer as continuous data. The baud rate of the sub CPU is set to 92727 [bps], for example, and an error from the baud rate of the main CPU is suppressed to a minimum of about 1.09%.

  In the “command reception process” on the sub-side effect program, received data is acquired from the built-in FIFO reception buffer of the sub CPU (S10), and consecutive 6 bytes are combinations of specific data, that is, 01H, 02H, 03H, 04H, 05H. , 06H or not (S11). If noise occurs during communication and some error message is inserted before 01H without any data, or if a similar error message is inserted between 01H and 06H, the process proceeds to step S11. The determination is a non-matching NO determination. In this case, the received data search start pointer is incremented by 1 (S12), and the process from step S11 is repeated until there is no data at the pointer position (S13).

  If YES in step S11, it is determined that there is a match with the combination of specific data. In step S14, the received specific data 01H to 06H and the received subsequent telegrams 1 to 4 are all added, and the lower 1 of this addition result The byte is checked against the received checksum value. If the two match by this collation, the received checksum value is determined to be normal. If the checksum value is normal (YES in S14), the received telegrams 1 to 4 are registered in the RWM on the sub side as regular commands (S15), and the command reception process ends.

  When a YES determination is made that there is no data at the pointer position in step S13, or when a NO determination is made that the checksum value is not normal in step S14, the received data in the FIFO reception buffer is cleared and discarded (S16). ).

  As described above, the command transmission is not performed in the timer interrupt process of the main controller MC, but in the game main program describing the game control process other than the timer interrupt process, the value of the interrupt counter is determined, and this interrupt is determined. Since the counter is executed after obtaining a determination result indicating that there is an update that has changed from the previous value, the buffer capacity to be secured in the main controller MC and the instruction code required for buffer operation can be reduced. Nevertheless, a command can be appropriately transmitted from the main control device MC to the peripheral control device SC at a predetermined timing separated by at least one interrupt time that the interrupt counter has changed from the previous value.

  In addition, the interrupt counter determination steps S1 and S2 are executed in the interrupt enabled state, and the command transmission step S5 is executed in the interrupt disabled state, and then the interrupt enabled state is set. For this reason, the solid waiting period until the interrupt counter obtains an updated determination result that has changed from the previous value is in an interrupt-enabled state, so when a power interruption notice interrupt occurs, the command is not transmitted, Power interruption notice interrupt processing is made appropriate. In addition, since the command transmission step S5 is executed in an interrupt disabled state, it is possible to avoid a situation in which a power failure is inserted during the transmission of one command and a communication error occurs. Even if a power interruption notice interrupt occurs during the execution of command transmission step S5, in the case of a normal power interruption other than a very short voltage drop, the interrupt permission state after execution of command transmission step S5 is appropriate. Power interruption notice interrupt processing is done.

  Further, each time a command is transmitted, the peripheral control device SC appropriately and reliably uses the specific data combination 01H to 06H so as to distinguish it from the specific data combination without misidentifying the combination of the main control data according to the telegrams 1 to 4. It is possible to detect and eliminate the need to provide an interval between one command for each transmission and another command.

  In the above embodiment, the combination of specific data is 01H to 06H. However, any combination of fixed values that can be identified by the peripheral control device SC may be used. Moreover, although the combination of specific data preceded the messages 1-4, it may be followed by the messages 1-4. Furthermore, the combination of the main control data is 4 bytes for messages 1 to 4, the checksum is 1 byte, and the combination of specific data is 6 bytes for 01H to 06H. The byte and checksum may be 1 byte, the combination of specific data may be 5 bytes from 01H to 05H, the combination of main control data is 2 bytes of telegrams 1 and 2, the checksum is 1 byte, and the combination of specific data May be 4 bytes from 01H to 04H. Further, without the checksum, the combination of the main control data may be 2 bytes of the telegrams 1 and 2, and the combination of the specific data may be 3 bytes of 01H to 03H.

1L, 1C, 1R; reel 2i; medal slot 2; medal selector 3; bet button, 4; checkout button, 5; start lever 6L, 6C, 6R; stop button (stop switch)
71; upper liquid crystal display device, 72; lower liquid crystal display device 73; dot matrix display device CN; control device, MC; main control device, SC;

Claims (2)

A main controller that executes game control processing;
In a gaming machine comprising a peripheral control device that receives a command transmitted from the main control device and executes an effect control process,
The command for each transmission from the main control device is continuous with the combination of the main control data generated based on the game control process executed by the main control device and the combination of the main control data, and the command of the main control data Including a combination and a combination of different specific data,
The program for executing the effect control process of the peripheral control device describes a processing procedure for detecting a command for each transmission from the main control device by distinguishing the combination of the main control data from the combination of the specific data. A gaming machine characterized by that.   The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the combination of the specific data has a data length longer than a data length obtained by combining a data length of the main control data and a data length of a checksum portion.

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