Patent Publication Number: US-2020282305-A1

Title: Gaming system and gaming table

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 108107235, filed on Mar. 5, 2019. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a gaming system, and more particularly, to a gaming system and a gaming table for card games. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     A typical card game can usually be played with multiple players, but it is not easy to gather multiple players for the card game in a modern busy life. For example, a mahjong game can be played only with four players sitting around the same mahjong table, but there is often a “three players yet missing one” situation since in many cases it is not easy to gather four players. 
     With the development of science and technology, many online card games have been developed. By gathering and matching players via the Internet, these online card games can meet the needs of playing games anytime and anywhere. However, although the game may be played anytime and anywhere through the online games, the user can only operate virtual cards through a touch screen or a mouse in lack of interactions with physical cards such as drawing, discarding, etc. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A gaming system in an embodiment of the invention includes a plurality of gaming cards and a processor. Each of the gaming cards has a recognition code. The processor is configured to: generate a correspondence between the recognition codes of the gaming cards and a plurality of card faces; obtain an image of the gaming card placed in a recognition area; recognize the recognition code in the image to generate game data according to a recognition result and the correspondence; and generate the game screen according to the game data. 
     A gaming table in an embodiment includes a display, an invisible light source, an image capturing device and a processor. The display includes a recognition area, and is configured to display a first game screen. The invisible light source is configured to emit an invisible light towards the recognition area. The image capturing device is configured to capture a recognition code image of the gaming card formed by a reflected light of the invisible light. The processor is coupled to the display, the invisible light source and the image capturing device, and configured to: generate a correspondence between a plurality of recognition codes and a plurality of card faces; recognize the recognition code image, and obtain a recognition result; generate first game data according to the recognition result and the correspondence; and generate the first game screen according to the first game data. 
     To make the above features and advantages of the disclosure more comprehensible, several embodiments accompanied with drawings are described in detail as follows. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a schematic diagram of a gaming system in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a schematic diagram of an external appearance of a gaming card in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a block diagram of a gaming card in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an explosion diagram of an outer casing of a gaming card in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 5A  illustrates a schematic diagram of a back surface layer in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 5B  illustrates a schematic diagram of a first transparent dark color based layer in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 6A  illustrates a schematic diagram of a front surface layer in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 6B  illustrates a schematic diagram of a second transparent dark color based layer in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 7A  illustrates a side perspective view of a gaming card in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 7B  illustrates a front view of a gaming card in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 8A  and  FIG. 8B  illustrate schematic diagrams of a cheating prevention method in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 9  illustrates a schematic diagram of a charging device in an embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts. 
     The gaming system proposed by the embodiments of the invention is applicable to playing cards, mahjong tiles or other card games for one to many people. Nonetheless, the following embodiments are exemplified with mahjong tiles played by one person, but the invention is not limited thereto. It is worth noting that, herein, the term “user” refers to the person who uses the gaming system, and the term “players” refers to other players who participating in a card game with the user. Therefore, for the user, the term “players” refers to virtual characters. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a schematic diagram of a gaming system in an embodiment of the invention. With reference to  FIG. 1 , a gaming system  10  can be used for playing card games. 
     In some embodiments, the gaming system  10  includes a processor  110 , a first communication module  120 , a display  130 , an image capturing device  140 , an invisible light source  150  and a plurality of gaming cards  200  (only one gaming card  200  is illustrated in  FIG. 1 ). Among them, the processor  110  is coupled to the first communication module  120 , the display  130 , the image capturing device  140  and the invisible light source  150 . For instance, the processor  110 , the first communication module  120 , the display  130 , the image capturing device  140  and the invisible light source  150  may be integrated as a gaming table (e.g., a mahjong table) so the user can treat the display  130  as a gaming environment (e.g., a mahjong table top) and perform a game operation (e.g., shuffling, building, drawing or playing) for the cards in the card game on the display  130 . Accordingly, the display  130  can display a game screen (e.g., a game animation, a game option, cards discarded by other players or a dialog) according to a current game status. 
     The processor  110  is configured to run program codes required by the card game, perform various determinations and calculations in the game, generate various game data, control signals required by the game, etc. The processor  110  may be a central processing unit (CPU) with dual-core, quad-core or eight-core, a system-on-chip (SOC), an application processor, a media processor, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor, a programmable logic device, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), other similar devices or a combination of the above devices, which are not particularly limited by the invention. 
     In some embodiments, the processor  110  will generate the game data. In detail, the game data includes any data related to the game, such as cards drawn or discarded by the user, a game flow, winning, losing and scoring of the game, but the invention is not limited thereto. 
     The first communication module  120  is configured to assist the processor  110  in communicating with devices other than processor  110 . The first communication module  120  may include, for example, a wired Ethernet module, wireless modules like a 3G module, a 4G module, a Bluetooth module, a Wi-Fi module, a LoRa module, a SIGFOX module, an NB-IoT module, or modules using other communication technologies or a combination of the above modules, which are not particularly limited by the invention. 
     In some embodiments, when another player simultaneously uses another gaming system similar to the gaming system  10  to play a multiplayer online game with the user of the gaming system  10 , the first communication module  120  can receive the game data from said another gaming system and send the game data to said another gaming system. In this way, the processor  110  can generate a game screen according to the received game data during the multiplayer online game. For instance, when said another player plays or discards the card, the game screen can display the card played or discarded by said another player. When the user plays or discards the card, the processor  110  may also accordingly generate the game data and send the generated game data to said another gaming system so said another gaming system can display the card played or discarded by the user. 
     In some embodiments, the processor  110  can directly or indirectly send the data to the gaming cards  200  through the first communication module  120 . For instance, the first communication module  120  may be directly connected to the gaming cards  200  in a wired manner, and the processor  110  may respectively specify the data to be sent to which one of the gaming cards. As another example, the gaming cards  200  may include one root gaming card and a plurality of end gaming cards, and a wireless transmission may be performed between the root gaming card and the end gaming cards The root gaming cards is responsible for wirelessly connecting with the first communication module  120  to obtain the data from the first communication module  120  so the root gaming card can then directly or indirectly send the data to the specified end gaming card. 
     The display  130  is configured to display the game screen. Here, the game screen displays all the information like animations, images or texts to be viewed by the player. Persons with ordinary skill in the art can design the game screen based on actual requirements, and thus the game screen is not further exemplified hereinafter. The display  130  may be various display screens like a liquid-crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED) or an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), which are not particularly limited by the invention. 
     In some embodiments, the display  130  includes recognition areas  131  to  135 . Specifically, the recognition areas  131  to  135  are areas that the gaming cards  200  can be recognized when being placed therein. For example, the recognition areas  131  to  135  may be directly labeled with stickers, printed on the display  130  or displayed by the display  130 , and the invention is not limited thereto. For instance, the recognition areas  131  to  134  are for placing a card pile for the user to draw cards, and the recognition area  135  is used for placing the cards in the hand of the user. 
     In some embodiments, the display  130  includes a touch element (not illustrated), and the touch element may be integrated with the display  130  to form a touch display. Here, the display  130  displays the game screen, and the touch element is configured to receive an external program touch command. For instance, the user of the gaming system  10  can provide an external program touch command through the touch element in order to perform program related operations like “dicing”, “friend invitation”, “friend confirmation”, “ending the game” or “playing again”. 
     In some embodiments, the gaming system  10  further includes a sound-receiver element (not illustrated), such as a microphone. For example, the sound-receiver element is coupled to the processor  110  and integrated with the gaming table that includes the processor  110 , the first communication module  120 , the display  130 , the image capturing device  140  and the invisible light source  150 . The user of the gaming system  10  can provide a game operation voice command through the sound-receiver element to perform the game operation like “Chow”, “Pong”, “Kong”, or “Winning”. Nonetheless, the implementations of the game operation are not particularly limited by the invention. In other embodiments, the gaming operations may also be determined automatically by, for example, the processor  110  (e.g., which are determined according to a game rule and a recognition code image of the gaming card captured by the image capturing device). 
     The image capturing device  140  is configured to obtain an image of the gaming card  200  placed in the recognition areas  131  to  135  of the display  130  through the display  130 . In particular, the image capturing device  140  has the ability to capture a recognition code  210  of the gaming card  200 . In some embodiments, the recognition code  210  of the gaming card  200  is printed by using an invisible ink (e.g., an infrared ink). In this case, the invisible light source  150  can emit an invisible light (e.g., an infrared light) towards the recognition areas  131  to  135  so the image capturing device  140  can capture a reflected light of the invisible light reflected by the gaming card  200  to obtain the image of the gaming card  200  that includes the recognition code image of the recognition code  210 . In this way, the user cannot see the recognition code  210  of the gaming card  200  during the game while the image capturing device  140  can capture the recognition code  210  of the gaming card  200 . 
     The gaming card  200  includes the recognition code  210 , a second communication module  220  and a display panel  230 , and the recognition codes  210  on the gaming cards  200  are different from each other. Specifically, the gaming card  200  is printed with the recognition code  210  without a card face. The processor  110  can generate a correspondence between the recognition codes of the gaming cards  200  and a plurality of card faces, and send the card faces to the corresponding gaming cards  200  according to the correspondence through the first communication module  120 . Then, after receiving the card face through the second communication module  220 , the gaming card  200  can display the card face through the display panel  230 . For instance, at a shuffling stage before a first-round game starts, the processor  110  can randomly generate the card faces corresponding to the recognition codes  210 , obtain a first correspondence between the recognition codes  210  and the card faces, and record the first correspondence for the first-round game. At the shuffling stage before the next-round game or a second-round game starts, the processor  110  can randomly generate the card faces corresponding to the recognition codes  210 , obtain a second correspondence between the recognition codes  210  and the card faces, and record the second correspondence for the second-round game. The first correspondence is different from the second correspondence, that is, the card face corresponding to the gaming card  200  with the same recognition code  210  will be changed in each round of the game. 
     The gaming card  200  will be further described below with reference to  FIG. 2  to  FIG. 7B .  FIG. 2  illustrates a schematic diagram of an external appearance of a gaming card in an embodiment of the invention. 
     With reference to  FIG. 2 , in some embodiments, the gaming card  200  is implemented as, for example, an appearance of the mahjong tile, and one of surfaces (e.g., a front surface) of the gaming card  200  includes a first area R 1  (e.g., a center area) and a second area R 2  (e.g., a peripheral area surrounding the center area). The display panel  230  corresponds to the first area R 1 , and the recognition code  210  corresponds to the second area R 2 . Further, the first area R 1  does not overlap with the second area R 2 , that is, the recognition code  210  and the display panel  230  of the gaming card  200  are not shielded from each other. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a block diagram of a gaming card in an embodiment of the invention. 
     With reference to  FIG. 3 , in some embodiments, the gaming card  200  includes the recognition code  210 , the second communication module  220 , the display panel  230 , a control circuit  240 , a prompt element  250 , a battery  260  and an outer casing  270 . Among them, the second communication module  220 , the display panel  230 , the prompt element  250  and the battery  260  are coupled to the control circuit  240 ; the battery  260  is configured to provide power required by each element in the gaming card  200 ; the outer casing  270  is printed with the recognition code  210  and configured to accommodate the second communication module  220 , the display panel  230 , the control circuit  240 , the prompt element  250  and the battery  260 . 
     The recognition code  210  is, for example, a one-dimensional barcode, a quick response code (QR Code), or other types of codes. The invention is not limited in this regard, and persons with ordinary skill in the art can design the recognition code  210  based on actual requirements. In some embodiments, the recognition code  210  is invisible under a visible light. For instance, the recognition code  210  may be printed on the outer casing  270  by using the invisible ink. 
     The second communication module  220  is wirelessly coupled to the first communication module  210  and thereby wirelessly coupled to the processor  110 . In some embodiments, the second communication module  220  is configured to receive information of the card face and the control signal from the processor  110 , but the invention is not limited thereto. The second communication module  220  is, for example, the 3G module, the 4G module, the Bluetooth module, the Wi-Fi module, the LoRa module, the SIGFOX module, the NB-IoT module, or modules using other wireless communication technologies or a combination of the above modules, which are not particularly limited by the invention. 
     The display panel  230  is configured to display the card face, and is, for example, an electronic paper or a display screen like the liquid-crystal display (LCD), the light-emitting diode (LED) or the organic light-emitting diode (OLED). The invention is not limited in this regard. For instance, if the gaming system  10  runs the poker game, the display panel  230  may display the card face containing the suit (e.g., spade, heart, diamond and club) and the number (e.g., A, 1, 2, . . . , K); if the gaming system  10  runs a mahjong game, the display panel  230  may display the card face containing the mahjong suit (as shown by  FIG. 2 ). 
     The control circuit  240  is responsible for the overall operation of the gaming card  200 . The control circuit  240  may be the central processing unit (CPU) with dual-core, quad-core or eight-core, the system-on-chip (SOC), the application processor, the media processor, the microprocessor, the digital signal processor, the programmable logic device, the application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), the programmable logic device (PLD), other similar devices or a combination of the above devices, which are not particularly limited by the invention. In some embodiments, when receiving the card face of the gaming card  200  through the second communication module  220 , the control circuit  240  uses the display panel  230  to display the received card face. 
     The prompt element  250  is configured to send a prompt signal. In some embodiments, the prompt element  250  is a light-emitting prompt element like an LED light, which is used to send different prompt signals by bright, dark or flashing state of the LED light. In other embodiments, the prompt element  250  may also be, for example, a speaker or other types of elements for sending the prompt signal through sounds or other forms, but the invention is not limited thereto. 
     In some embodiments, the processor  110  sends the control signal to one of the gaming cards  200  (a.k.a. a concerned gaming card  200 ) according to the game data through the first communication module  120  so the gaming card  200  that receives the control signal through the second communication module  220  can send the prompt signal according to the control signal. For instance, when it is the turn of the user to draw the card from the card pile, the processor  110  can send the control signal to the gaming card  200  (e.g., the concerned gaming card  200 ) that should be drawn by the user according to the game data (e.g., the game rule), and the LED light in the concerned gaming card  200  will flash according to the control signal so as to prompt the user to draw the concerned gaming card  200  that flashes. 
     The battery  260  is configured to provide power required by the gaming card  200 . The battery  260  may be a chargeable lithium battery, but the invention is not limited thereto. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates an explosion diagram of an outer casing of a gaming card in an embodiment of the invention. 
     With reference to  FIG. 4 , in some embodiments, the outer casing  270  is composed of a lateral shell  271 , a front surface layer  272 , a transparent window  273 , a back surface layer  274  and a light guiding layer  275 . As shown by  FIG. 4 , the front surface layer  272  and the transparent window  273  cover one side of the lateral shell  271 , and the light guiding layer  275  and the back surface layer  274  sequentially covers another side of the lateral shell  271 , so as to form an accommodating space of the outer casing  270 . 
       FIG. 5A  illustrates a schematic diagram of a back surface layer in an embodiment of the invention;  FIG. 5B  illustrates a schematic diagram of a first transparent dark color based layer in an embodiment of the invention. 
     With reference to  FIG. 5A , in a sequence from the outside of the gaming card  200 , the back surface layer  274  includes a first transparent dark color based layer  2741 , a first recognition code layer  2743  and a first shielding layer  2745 . With reference to  FIG. 5B , the first transparent dark color based layer  2741  does not include a hollow area. In some embodiments, the first transparent dark color based layer  2741  is made of, for example, a transparent black acrylic. At a position corresponding to the second area R 2 , the first recognition code layer  2743  includes the recognition code  210 , which is printed between the first transparent dark color based layer  2741  and the front surface layer  272 . The first shielding layer  2745  is configured to shield the invisible light emitted by the invisible light source  150  to prevent a recognition accuracy from being reduced by the invisible light penetrated into the gaming card  200 . 
       FIG. 6A  illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating a front surface layer in an embodiment of the invention;  FIG. 6B  illustrates a schematic diagram of a second transparent dark color based layer in an embodiment of the invention. 
     With reference to  FIG. 6A , in a sequence from the outside of the gaming card  200 , the front surface layer  272  includes a second transparent dark color based layer  2721 , a second recognition code layer  2723  and a second shielding layer  2725 . With reference to  FIG. 6B , at position corresponding to the first area R 1 , the second transparent dark color based layer  2721  includes the hollow area, and the transparent window  273  is disposed on the hollow area. In some embodiments, the second transparent dark color based layer  2721  is made of, for example, a transparent black acrylic. At a position corresponding to the second area R 2 , the second recognition code layer  2723  includes the recognition code  210 , which is printed between the second transparent dark color based layer  2721  and the back surface layer  274 . The second shielding layer  2725  is configured to shield the invisible light emitted by the invisible light source  150  to prevent the recognition accuracy from being reduced by the invisible light penetrated into the gaming card  200 . 
     When the display panel  230  is disposed in the accommodating space of the outer casing  270  at a position corresponding to the transparent window  273 , the content displayed by the display panel  230  may be viewed from the outside of the gaming card  200 , the recognition code  210  and the display panel  230  do not shield each other, and the transparent window  273  can prevent the display panel  230  from being scratched. 
     With reference to  FIG. 4 , the light guiding layer  275  is disposed between the lateral shell  271  and the back surface layer  274 , and configured to guide the prompt signal emitted by the prompt element  250  to the outside of the outer casing  270  when the prompt element  250  is disposed in the outer casing  270 . 
       FIG. 7A  illustrates a side perspective view of a gaming card in an embodiment of the invention;  FIG. 7B  illustrates a front view of a gaming card in an embodiment of the invention. 
     With reference to  FIG. 7A , the recognition code  210  is printed on a surface of the second transparent dark color based layer  2721  of the front surface layer  272  facing the accommodating space, and the recognition code  210  is also printed on a surface of the first transparent dark color based layer  2741  of the back surface layer  274  facing the accommodating space. In some embodiments, starting from one side of the front surface layer  272 , the display panel  230 , the second communication module  220 , the battery  260  and the control circuit  240  are disposed in the accommodating space in that sequence. The prompt element  250  is disposed above the battery  260  in the space between the second communication module  220  and the control circuit  240 . In this way, all the elements of the gaming card  200  may be well placed in the accommodating space of the outer casing  270 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 7B , in some embodiments, a charging interface  280  is, for example, exposed outside on the lateral shell  271 , coupled to the control circuit  240 , and configured to charge the battery  260 . In particular, in some embodiments, in correspondence to the charging interface  280 , an alignment magnet  290  is further disposed on the lateral shell  271  and configured to ensure that the charging interface  280  can maintain a correct connection direction when charging. 
     In the foregoing embodiments, the gaming system  10  includes the processor  110 , the first communication module  120 , the display  130 , the image capturing device  140 , the invisible light source  150  and the gaming cards  200 . Nonetheless, in some embodiments, the gaming system  10  only includes the processor  110  and the gaming cards  200 , and runs the game together other elements like the first communication module  120 , the display  130 , the image capturing device  140 , the invisible light source  150 , etc. In other words, the gaming system  10  including the processor  110  and the gaming cards  200  can run the game together the existing elements like the first communication module  120 , the display  130 , the image capturing device  140 , the invisible light source  150 , etc. 
     In some embodiments, the gaming system  10  is applicable to, for example, the multiplayer online game. Since each player does not get in touch with all the cards in the multiplayer card game, a gaming card quantity of the gaming cards  200  may be less than a card quantity of a deck of cards. For instance, since a mahjong set includes a total of 144 mahjong tiles, 44 tiles are sufficient as the gaming card quantity of the gaming cards  200  when the gaming system  10  is used by one layer, and 76 tiles are sufficient as the gaming card quantity of the gaming cards  200  when the gaming system  10  is used by two layers. The tiles that will not be touched by the user during the game may be displayed by the display  130  as a replacement to the physical gaming cards  200 . As another example, a deck of gaming cards includes 52 cards (e.g., 13 cards for each of the four suits) or 54 cards, the gaming card quantity of the gaming cards  200  may be less than 52 since not all 52 of the cards will be touch by one player who uses the gaming system  10  to play the poker game. 
     How each element in the gaming system  10  cooperates with each other to run the game will be described with reference to the embodiments as follows. 
     When the game starts, the processor  110  generates the correspondence between the gaming cards  200  and the card faces so as to determine the card faces corresponding to the gaming cards  200  in this round of the game. During the game, the processor  110  obtains the recognition code images of the gaming cards  200  in the recognition areas  131  to  135  through the image capturing device  140 , and recognizes the recognition codes  210  in the recognition code images to generate a recognition result. According to the recognition result and the correspondence between the gaming cards  200  and the card faces, the processor  110  can learn of the game operation of the user during the game. In this way, the processor  110  can generate first game data according to the game operation of the user during the game, and generate a first game screen to be displayed by the display  130  according to the first game data. 
     In addition, in the multiplayer online game, the processor  110  may also receive second game data from another gaming system, and the processor  110  may also generate second game screen to be displayed by the display  130  according to the second game data. 
     In some embodiments, the gaming system  10  has one player and includes 44 gaming cards  200 , and the user may use the gaming system  10  to play a single player game. Before the game starts, the user may place 7 gaming cards  200  in each of the recognition areas  131  to  134 , and place 16 gaming cards  200  in the recognition area  135 . When the game starts, the processor  110  randomly generates 44 card faces corresponding to 44 recognition codes of the 44 gaming cards  200  to obtain the correspondence, and this correspondence determines the card faces corresponding to the gaming cards  200  in this round of the game. 
     During the game, the processor  110  obtains the recognition code images of the gaming cards  200  in the recognition areas  131  to  135  through the image capturing device  140 , and recognizes the recognition codes  210  in the recognition code images to generate a recognition result. According to the recognition result and the correspondence, the processor  110  can learn of the game operation of the user during the game. For instance, the processor  110  can learn of which gaming card  200  is added to or removed from which of the recognition areas  131  to  135 , so as to learn that the game operation of the user is drawing, playing or “Chow”. 
     The processor  110  can generate the first game data according to the game operation of the user during the game, and generate the first game screen to be displayed by the display  130  according to the first game data. For instance, after learning the game operation of the user, the processor  110  can generate the first game data according to the game operation of the user together with the game rule. In addition, according to the game operation of the user, the processor  110  may further calculate the game operation of the other players by using, for example, an artificial intelligence technology, so as to further generate the subsequent game screen to be displayed by the display  130 . 
     In some embodiments, the gaming system  10  has one player and includes 44 gaming cards  200 , and the user may use the gaming system  10  to play the multiplayer online game with three other players. Before the game starts, the user may place 7 gaming cards  200  in each of the recognition areas  131  to  134 , and place 16 gaming cards  200  in the recognition area  135 . When the game starts, the processor  110  communicates with other gaming systems through the first communication module  120  to assign 44 card faces among 144 card faces in the mahjong set to the user of the gaming system  10 , and randomly generates the correspondence between the 44 recognition codes  210  of the 44 gaming cards  200  of the gaming system  10  and the assigned 44 card faces in this round of the game. 
     Similarly, during the game, the processor  110  obtains the recognition code images of the gaming cards  200  in the recognition areas  131  to  135  through the image capturing device  140 , recognizes the recognition codes  210  in the recognition code images to generate a recognition result, and learns of the game operation of the user during the game according to the recognition result and the correspondence. The processor  110  can generate the first game data according to the game operation of the user during the game, generate the first game screen to be displayed by the display  130  according to the first game data, and send the first game data to another gaming system. In addition, during the game, the processor  110  also receives the second game data from the other gaming systems through the first communication module  120 , and generates the second game screen to be displayed by the display  130  according to the second game data. 
     For instance, after learning the card discarded by the user, the processor  110  can generate the first game data according to such game operation, and generate the first game screen according to the game data (e.g., the game screen that instructs the next player to move). Further, the processor  110  also sends the first game data to the other gaming systems to inform the other gaming system of the card discarded by the user. Similarly, the second game data can also inform the processor  110  of the cards discarded by the other players in the other gaming systems so the processor  110  can generate the second game screen regarding the cards discarded by the other players and display the same on the display  130 . 
     In some embodiments, during the game, the touch element of the display  130  can receive the external program touch command so the processor  110  can also generate the first game data according to the external program touch command. 
     In some embodiments, after generating the correspondence between the recognition codes  210  of the gaming cards  200  and the card faces, the processor  110  can send the card faces to the corresponding gaming cards  200 . After receiving the card face, the gaming card  200  displays the received card face on the display panel  230 . 
     In some embodiments, the processor  110  selects a time point for sending the card faces to the corresponding gaming cards  200  according to the game rule to avoid cheating. More specifically, the processor  110  sends the card faces to the gaming cards  200  that the user has right to know the card faces according to the game rule. In some embodiments, the processor  110  will send the card faces to the corresponding gaming cards right after determining the correspondence, and the control circuit  240  of the gaming card  200  only displays the card face through the display panel  230  only after receiving the control signal. 
       FIG. 8A  and  FIG. 8B  illustrate schematic diagrams of a cheating prevention method in an embodiment of the invention. 
     With reference to  FIG. 8A , card piles are placed in each of the recognition areas  131  to  134 , in which gaming cards  200 - 1  to  200 - 7  are placed in the recognition area  131 , for example, and gaming cards  200 - 8  to  200 - 14  are placed in the recognition area  134 , for example. Based on the game rule of mahjong, the gaming cards that the user has the right known are only the gaming cards that the user should obtain at the time (i.e., the concerned gaming card). 
     Assuming that the user should obtain the gaming card  200 - 2  at the time, the processor  110  will send the control signal to the gaming card  200 - 2  so the gaming card  200 - 2  can send the prompt signal (e.g., flashing by the LED light) according to the control signal. In this embodiment, after sending the control signal to the gaming card  200 - 2 , the processor  110  continues to recognize the recognition code  210  in the image captured by the image capturing device  140  until the recognition result indicates that the gaming card  200 - 2  already leaves the recognition area  131 . In other words, the card face corresponding to the gaming card  200 - 2  is sent to the gaming card  200 - 2  only after the recognition code image of the gaming card  200 - 2  in the recognition area  131  disappears, and the display panel  230  of the gaming card  200 - 2  only turns from a black screen to the card face only after the gaming card  200 - 2  receives the card face. 
     With reference to  FIG. 8B , in this embodiment, if the user obtains the gaming card  200 - 3  instead of the gaming card  200 - 2  when the user should really obtain the gaming card  200 - 2 , because the processor  110  has not send the card face of the gaming card  200 - 3  to the gaming card  200 - 3  yet, the display panel  230  of the gaming card  200 - 3  is unable to display the card face but maintained at the black screen. 
     In this way, since only the gaming card  200 - 2  that the user has the right to know displays the card face, the user may be prevented from cheating the game. 
       FIG. 9  illustrates a schematic diagram of a charging device in an embodiment of the invention. 
     With reference to  FIG. 9 , in some embodiments, the gaming system  10  further includes a charging device  300 . The charging device  300  includes a plurality of charging slots  311  corresponding to the gaming cards  200 . Each of the charging slots  311  can accommodate one of the gaming cards  200 . When one gaming card  200  is placed in the charging slot  311 , the charging slot  311  can charge that gaming card  200 . In some embodiments, each of the charging slots  311  is disposed corresponding to the charging interface  280  and of the alignment magnet  290  of the gaming card  200  to ensure that the gaming card  200  can be correctly charged after being inserted to the charging slot  311 . 
     In this embodiment, the charging device  300  is composed of two charging stands  310 , wherein each of the charging stands  310  includes the charging slots  311 . However, the number of the charging stands  310  is not particularly limited by the invention. Further, the invention does not limit the number of the charging slots  311  either, which may be changed by persons with ordinary skill in the art based on actual requirements. 
     In summary, the gaming system proposed by the embodiments of the invention can allow the user to interact with the physical cards in the single or multiplayer card games, and can provide good user experience with both convenience and entertainment taken into consideration. In some embodiments, with the specially designed signal transmission mechanism, the gaming system can prevent cheating and maintain gaming quality. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.