Patent ID: 7819750

Claim:
A gaming machine comprising: a master gaming controller configured to i) generate a game of chance played on the gaming machine by execution of a plurality of gaming software modules and ii) communicate with a plurality of USB (Universal Serial Bus) gaming peripherals using USB-compatible communications; the plurality of USB gaming peripherals coupled to the gaming machine and in communication with the master gaming controller; a gaming operating system on the master gaming controller configured to load gaming software modules into a Random Access Memory (RAM) to be executed from a storage device and further configured to unload gaming software modules from the RAM; a USB device class manager loaded by the gaming operating system to configure a USB device interface wherein the USB device class manager is configured to: i) authorize communication connections between each of the plurality USB gaming peripherals and the master gaming controller; ii) receive information from each of the plurality of USB gaming peripherals that allows USB drivers associated with the plurality of USB gaming peripherals to be located; iii) locate a first USB driver compatible to provide communications between the master gaming controller and a first USB gaming peripheral wherein the first USB driver allows the master gaming controller to control at least one function of the first USB gaming peripheral via a USB device interface for the first USB gaming peripheral; iv) determine, prior to loading the first USB driver, whether the master gaming controller is authorized to control the at least one function of the first USB gaming peripheral, and further configured to access a list of approved USB gaming device interfaces, the list stored in the RAM, wherein the master gaming controller is authorized to control the at least one function when an entry that represents the USB device interface for the first USB gaming peripheral is present in the list of approved USB gaming device interfaces; and v) prevent communications using the first USB driver when the master gaming controller is not authorized to control the at least one function of the first USB gaming peripheral, and further configured to prevent the first USB driver from being loaded.