Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7951008?dq=5,742,735
Timestamp: 2014-07-13 07:01:07
Document Index: 634023855

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 2003270623', 'Application No. 2003270623', 'Application No. 2006249229', 'Application No. 2006249229', 'Application No. 79469', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 07751864', 'Application No. 03752329', 'Application No. 03752329', 'Application No. 2005106847']

Patent US7951008 - Non-volatile memory management technique implemented in a gaming machine - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign in<nobr>Advanced Patent Search</nobr>PatentsVarious embodiments of the present invention are directed to different techniques for managing the storage of accumulated information in selected non-volatile memory sources at a gaming machine. In one implementation of the present invention relates to a technique for automatically and dynamically swapping...http://www.google.com/patents/US7951008?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7951008 - Non-volatile memory management technique implemented in a gaming machineAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7951008 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 11/367,525Publication dateMay 31, 2011Filing dateMar 3, 2006Priority dateMar 3, 2006Also published asCA2644709A1, EP1999732A2, US20070207854, WO2007103170A2, WO2007103170A3Publication number11367525, 367525, US 7951008 B2, US 7951008B2, US-B2-7951008, US7951008 B2, US7951008B2InventorsBryan D. Wolf, Dwayne R. Nelson, James W. Stockdale, Steven G. LeMayOriginal AssigneeIgtExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (82), Non-Patent Citations (44), Referenced by (7), Classifications (17), Legal Events (1) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetNon-volatile memory management technique implemented in a gaming machineUS 7951008 B2Abstract Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to different techniques for managing the storage of accumulated information in selected non-volatile memory sources at a gaming machine. In one implementation of the present invention relates to a technique for automatically and dynamically swapping critical data and/or other game related information between the non-volatile RAM and the alternate storage (e.g., disk drive) of a gaming machine as new games are activated and/or existing games are deactivated at the gaming machine.
RELATED APPLICATION DATA This application is related to U.S. Pat. No. 6,804,763, filed Oct. 17, 2000, and titled HIGH PERFORMANCE BATTERY BACKED RAM INTERFACE, by Stockdale et al.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to non-volatile storage for gaming machines such as slot machines and video poker machines. More particularly, the present invention relates to hardware and methods for facilitating non-volatile memory management techniques implemented in a gaming machine.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Various aspects of the present invention are directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products for managing non-volatile memory resources at a gaming machine configured or designed to receive a wager on a game of chance. In at least one implementation, the gaming machine includes a first non-volatile memory source adapted to store accumulated information relating to activities at the gaming machine, and includes a second non-volatile memory source adapted to store accumulated information relating to activities at the gaming machine. In one implementation, the first non-volatile memory source corresponds to non-volatile RAM, and the second non-volatile memory source corresponds to disk drive or hard drive memory. A game activation request is received for activating or adding a first game at the gaming machine. In response to the game activation request, a memory allocation request is generated for allocating a first portion of memory space at the first non-volatile memory source. A determination is made as to whether there is sufficient memory space available at the first non-volatile memory source for allocating the first portion of memory space. A second game at the gaming machine may be identified for de-allocation in response to a determination that there is insufficient memory space available at the first non-volatile memory source for allocating the first portion of memory space. In one implementation, the second game has associated therewith a first existing allocated portion of memory space at the first non-volatile memory source. At least one procedure for de-allocating an existing allocated portion of memory space at the first non-volatile memory source may be automatically initiated in response to a determination that there is insufficient memory space available at the first non-volatile memory source for allocating the first portion of memory space. In at least one embodiment, a first existing allocated portion of memory space at the first non-volatile memory source may be de-allocated concurrently while preserving other existing allocated portion(s) of memory space at the first non-volatile memory source. In at least one implementation the accumulated information may include, for example, game history information, security information, accounting information, player tracking information, wide area progressive information, game state information, game usage information, game transactional information, game meter information, bonus of game information, player input information and/or other types of accumulated information which may be desired to be preserved in non-volatile memory.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an exemplary gaming machine 2 in accordance with a specific embodiment of the present invention.
As disclosed in related patent application Ser. No. 10/243,104, a method and apparatus are taught for dynamically downloading or removing a game(s) stored on a gaming machine without altering or deleting �critical data� unrelated to the added or removed game(s). The term critical data may be defined as data that records the past and present states of a gaming machine. Examples of such states include a game's history, accounting, security information, or the like. This type of critical data may be stored in a gaming machine's non-volatile memory. In one embodiment when downloading or removing a game(s) in a gaming machine occurs, critical data is added or removed by allocating or de-allocating memory space in a non-volatile random access memory (NV-RAM) of a gaming machine.
In certain embodiments, the accumulative portions of the game may be divided into various subsets of data or derived components distinguished based on content. For example, one subset or derived component may be deemed particularly important for long-term storage and referred to as �permanent� or �global� data. Examples of global data include: cash received into the gaming machine; cash paid out of the gaming machine; number of games played; that a particular game was resident and/or played on a particular terminal at one time in the past; and the like. Examples of derived global data include, for example, win/loss ratios, average payback, and the like. Obviously, designating particular accumulative data as �permanent� is a choice made based upon the importance attached to that data by the particular gaming establishment or regulatory body having control or jurisdiction.
Some accumulative data may be designated as critical data or critical game information. The designation of some accumulative data as �critical� is dependent upon the requirements of controlling entities such as casinos and governmental bodies. In typical cases, critical data may comprise one or more of game history information, security information, accounting information, player tracking information, wide area progressive information and game state information. A few specific examples of critical data may include, for example, one or more of the following: (1) Main door/prop door/Cash door openings and closings, (2) Bill insert message with the denomination of the bill, (3) Hopper tilt, (4) Bill jam, (5) Reel tilt, (6) Coin in and Coin out tilts, (7) Power loss, (8) Card insert, (9) Card removal, (10) Jackpot, (11) Abandoned card (12) querying the non-volatile memory for the current credit available on the gaming machine, (13) reading the credit information from a player's card, (14) adding an amount of credits to the gaming machine, (15) writing to a player's card via the card reader and the device drivers to deduct the amount added to gaming machine from the card and (16) copying the new credit information to the non-volatile memory. Such information may be required to be kept by, for example, various gaming regulatory bodies (e.g., the Nevada Gaming Commission) for a period of time; e.g., 75 game plays after the information was accumulated.
As illustrated in the example of FIG. 3, NV-RAM 310 may be used to store a variety of accumulated game information, critical data and/or other types of state information relating to current or past states of the gaming machine. Such information may relate to system-wide (e.g., �global�) data (e.g., 308) and/or game specific data (e.g., 311 a, 311 b, 311 c, etc.).
According to a specific embodiment, accumulated information may include critical data that is considered to be highly important. For example, accumulated information may include information related to the current or previous state(s) of a gaming machine. Examples of accumulated information include: game history information, security information, accounting information, player tracking information, wide area progressive information, game state information, game usage information, game transactional information, game meter information, bonus of game information, player input information, and/or any �critical� game related data. Accumulated information such as the amount of funds credited to or paid out from a gaming machine may be stored permanently in NV-RAM 310 as accounting information. This critical accounting information would reflect its current and prior states over successive rounds of play. To the casino owner, this information may be important in determining the casino's profitability.
Although the examples of FIGS. 10 and 11 are described with respect to storing and accessing game history data, it will be appreciated that the technique of the present invention may also be used for managing, storing and/or accessing other types of accumulated information/information such as, for example: game history information, security information, accounting information, player tracking information, wide area progressive information, game state information, game usage information, game transactional information, game meter information, bonus of game information, player input information, license information, and/or any �critical� game related data.
According to a specific embodiment, in the event of a power loss at the gaming machine, the NV-RAM Manager may check the current operation information stored in the NV-RAM to determine whether an operation was in progress when the power was lost to the gaming machine. When an operation was not in progress, for instance as a result of a planned shutdown of the gaming machine, the NV-RAM manager may begin accepting requests for operation (e.g. function requests) from clients. However, when the current operation information stored in the NV-RAM indicates that an operation was in progress, the NV-RAM Manager determines whether the operation may be completed. If the operation may be completed, the NV-RAM Manager completes the operation. For instance, if the NV-RAM manager was in the process of re-naming a file but the power was lost prior to completion of the operation, the NV-RAM manager may rename the file to complete the operation. If it is determined that the operation may not be completed, the NV-RAM manager may �roll back� the operation to thereby return the NV-RAM to a valid state prior to the execution of the operation was being performed when the power failure occurred. After the operations stored in the NV-RAM are either executed or �rolled back�, the NV-RAM Manager may begin accepting requests for operation from clients.
According to a specific embodiment, a �roll back� may scenario may be described as follows. The gaming software decides to start a game. After an initial determination that a game can start, a list of transactions may be built. The list of transactions may include: 1) record the game to be played, 2) recording the new state of the game, 3) recording the amount of money to be played, 4) recording the amount of money to be subtracted from the players money and 5) notifying the event manager that a game has begun. Normally, these operations would all be completed at once. However, due to the dynamic nature of the system, it is possible that at the last moment, the game can not begin. For instance, an eminent power interruption may prevent the game from beginning. In this example, when the gaming software notifies the event manager that a game is about to be initiated, it may receiving a reply from the operating system not to initiate the game (e.g. power failure detected). In this example, the operations in the transaction list that have been recorded for execution were based upon the assumption that a game would be initiated. If the operations are executed and a game is not initiated, the gaming machine may be left in an incorrect state. For instance, subtracting the player money without initiating a game would be unacceptable to the player or the operator of the gaming machine. Thus, in response to the denial of game play, all the operations are rolled backed. Thus, none of the operations are executed on the transaction list, a game is not played, and the gaming machine is placed in a state before the transaction list was constructed in anticipation of a game play.
According to specific embodiments, the gaming machine RAM will contain at least a portion of the state information relating to the current state of a gaming machine. In order to effectively preserve the current state of the gaming machine (e.g., to allow the current state to be resumed after a power failure, or to allow a �roll back� operation to be performed), at least a portion of the state information stored at the gaming machine RAM must be saved in non-volatile memory (e.g., NV-RAM). According to different embodiments, the Game Manager and/or NV-RAM Manager may be configured or designed to identify the relevant state information (e.g., accumulated information, critical data, global data, etc.) in the gaming machine RAM, and to take appropriate action for saving the identified relevant state information in the NV-RAM. In at least one implementation, jurisdictional gambling rules/regulations may affect the determination of which information in the gaming machine RAM is to be stored in the NV-RAM.
In one embodiment, the game software host 1202 may also be a game software configuration-tracking host 1213. The function of the game software configuration-tracking host is to keep records of software configurations and/or hardware configurations for a plurality of devices in communication with the host (e.g., denominations, number of paylines, paytables, max/min bets). Details of a game software host and a game software configuration host that may be used with the present invention are described in co-pending U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,077, by Rowe, entitled, �Gaming Terminal Data Repository and Information System,� filed Dec. 21, 2000, which is incorporated herein in its entirety and for all purposes.
When a trusted information source 1204 is in communication with a remote device via a network, the remote device will employ a verification scheme to verify the identity of the trusted information source. For example, the trusted information source and the remote device may exchange information using public and private encryption keys to verify each other's identities. In another embodiment of the present invention, the remote device and the trusted information source may engage in methods using zero knowledge proofs to authenticate each of their respective identities. Details of zero knowledge proofs that may be used with the present invention are described in US publication no. 2003/0203756, by Jackson, filed on Apr. 25, 2002 and entitled, �Authentication in a Secure Computerized Gaming System, which is incorporated herein in its entirety and for all purposes.
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No. 11/879,463.Referenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS8142291 *Oct 2, 2007Mar 27, 2012Wms Gaming, Inc.Control of reconfigurable gaming machinesUS8303418 *Feb 12, 2008Nov 6, 2012Wms Gaming Inc.Flex-time scheduling of electronic gaming machinesUS8323109 *Feb 9, 2009Dec 4, 2012Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty LimitedSession monitoring on gaming machinesUS20070060356 *Nov 14, 2006Mar 15, 2007Adc Technology Inc.Interactive communication system for communicating video game and karaoke softwareUS20090203430 *Feb 7, 2008Aug 13, 2009IgtHybrid memory system and spin-buffer journaling in a gaming machineUS20090253515 *Feb 9, 2009Oct 8, 2009John Francis Cromwell Carr-GregSession monitoring on gaming machinesUS20100203954 *Feb 12, 2008Aug 12, 2010Wms Gaming Inc.Flex-time scheduling of electronic gaming machines* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification463/43, 463/24, 711/170, 711/165, 463/29International ClassificationG06F12/00, A63F13/00Cooperative ClassificationG06F12/12, G07F17/3241, G06F12/08, G07F17/32, G07F17/3202European ClassificationG07F17/32, G06F12/08, G06F12/12, G07F17/32H, G07F17/32CLegal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionMar 3, 2006ASAssignmentOwner name: IGT, NEVADAFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:WOLF, BRYAN D.;NELSON, DWAYNE R.;STOCKDALE, JAMES W.;ANDOTHERS;REEL/FRAME:017645/0991;SIGNING DATES FROM 20060124 TO 20060213Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:WOLF, BRYAN D.;NELSON, DWAYNE R.;STOCKDALE, JAMES W.;ANDOTHERS;SIGNING DATES FROM 20060124 TO 20060213;REEL/FRAME:017645/0991RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services©2012 Google