PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-11075960-B2
Application Number: US-201715612794-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: User of identity services to auto-discover subscribers of social networking sites

Abstract:
Techniques are disclosed for initiating game sessions between subscribers to online gaming services when account IDs of those subscribers are unknown. Such techniques permit a first user to select a second user with whom to play a game from information readily at hand, such as a contact manager that the first user maintains. The first user&#39;s device may send a resolution request message to an identity services server that includes contact information of the second user. Contact information may include network-based information regarding the second user, such as the user&#39;s e-mail address or phone number. The identity services server may resolve the contact into an account ID. Thereafter, a game launch request may be sent to the game server, which includes the account identifier resolved by the identity services server. An invitation message may be sent to a terminal of the second user to participate in the game and the game may be started. These techniques do not require that the first user possess the second user&#39;s account ID at the game server.

Claims:
We claim: 
     
       1. A method of initiating an online game, the method comprising:
 displaying a user interface with candidate players; 
 receiving, from a user, a selection of a player from the candidate players; 
 responsive to the user selection of the player with whom to play a game, sending, to an identity server, a request to resolve contact information identifying the selected player into an account identifier; 
 receiving a response to the request from the identity server that includes the account identifier associated with the selected person, the account identifier representing an account stored by a game server; and 
 sending a game launch request to the game server to play a game with the user and the player, the game launch request including the account identifier. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 sending an invitation message to a terminal of the selected person to participate in the game. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 when an acceptance message is received in response to the invitation message, launching the game between the terminal of the selected person and a terminal at which the selection was made. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the invitation message is sent from a terminal of the person that made the selection to the terminal of the selected person. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the invitation message is sent from the game server to the terminal of the selected person. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the game is hosted by the game server. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising hosting the game by one of a terminal of the selected person and a terminal of a person who made the selection. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the resolution request message is sent from a terminal of a person who made the selection. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the resolution request message is sent from the game server. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the contact information of the selected player is stored locally by a terminal of the user who made the selection. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the contact information is stored by a social networking account associated with a person who made the selection. 
     
     
       12. A method of initiating an online game, the method comprising:
 responsive to a user selection of a person with whom to play a game, receiving a game launch request message by a game server that includes contact information identifying the selected person; 
 sending a request, to an identity server, to resolve the contact information into an account identifier of the selected person; and 
 receiving a response to the resolution request message from the identity server that includes an account identifier associated with the selected person, the account identifier representing an account stored by the game server. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 sending an invitation message to a terminal of the selected person to participate in the game. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 when an acceptance message is received in response to the invitation message, launching the game between the terminal of the selected person and a terminal of a person who made the selection of the selected person. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 12 , wherein the game is hosted by the game server. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 12 , further comprising hosting the game by a terminal of one of the selected person or the person who made the selection. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 12 , wherein the contact information is stored locally by a terminal of a person who made the selection. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 12 , wherein the contact information is stored by a social networking service of a person who made the selection. 
     
     
       19. A method of initiating an online game, the method comprising:
 receiving, from a first terminal, a resolution request message that includes contact information identifying a person, selected by a user of the first terminal to play a game with; 
 searching local stores to identify a user account associated with the received contact information identifying the selected person; 
 communicating with a second terminal associated with the user account, requesting account data of a service associated with the game; and 
 upon receipt of the requested account data from the second terminal, forwarding a response to the resolution request message that provides the requested account data. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 19 , further comprising storing the requested account data in the local stores. 
     
     
       21. A memory system storing program instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to:
 responsive to a user selection of a person with whom to play a game, send a resolution request message to an identity server that includes contact information identifying the selected person; 
 receive a response to the resolution request message from the identity server that includes an account identifier associated with the selected person, the account identifier representing an account stored by a game server; and 
 send a game launch request message to the game server, the game launch request message including the account identifier. 
 
     
     
       22. The memory system of  claim 21 , wherein the program instructions further cause the processing device to:
 send an invitation message to a terminal of the selected person to participate in the game. 
 
     
     
       23. The memory system of  claim 22 , wherein the program instructions further cause the processing device to:
 when an acceptance message is received in response to the invitation message, participate in the game with the terminal of the selected person. 
 
     
     
       24. The memory system of  claim 21 , wherein the game is hosted by the game server. 
     
     
       25. The memory system of  claim 21 , wherein the program instructions cause the processing device to host the game. 
     
     
       26. The memory system of  claim 21 , wherein the contact information is stored by the memory system. 
     
     
       27. The memory system of  claim 21 , wherein the program instructions cause the processing device to download the contact information from an online social networking service. 
     
     
       28. A terminal, comprising:
 a processing device, a transceiver, and a memory system in mutual communication, wherein: 
 the transceiver supports communication between the terminal and an identity server and between the terminal and a game server, and 
 the memory system stores program instructions that, when executed by processing device, cause the processing device to:
 displaying a user interface with candidate players; 
 receiving, from a user, a selection of a player from the candidate players; 
 responsive to the user selection of the player with whom to play a game, sending, to an identity server, a request to resolve contact information identifying the selected player into an account identifier; 
 receiving a response to the request from the identity server that includes the account identifier associated with the selected person, the account identifier representing an account stored by a game server; and 
 
 sending a game launch request to the game server to play a game with the user and the player, the game launch request including the account identifier. 
 
     
     
       29. The terminal of  claim 28 , wherein the program instructions further cause the processing device to:
 send, via the transceiver, an invitation message to a terminal of the selected person to participate in the game. 
 
     
     
       30. The terminal of  claim 29 , wherein the program instructions further cause the processing device to:
 when an acceptance message is received in response to the invitation message, participate in the game with the terminal of the selected person. 
 
     
     
       31. A computing device, comprising:
 a processing device, a transceiver, and a memory system in mutual communication, wherein: 
 the transceiver supports communication between the computing device and an identity server and between the computing device and a terminal, and 
 the memory system stores program instructions that, when executed by the processing device, cause the processing device to:
 receive, via the transceiver, a game launch request from the terminal, the game launch request including contact information specifying a person, selected by a user, with whom to play a game; 
 responsive to receiving the game launch request, send, via the transceiver, a resolution request message to the identity server that includes the contact information of the selected person; 
 receive, via the transceiver, a response to the resolution request message from the identity server that includes an account identifier associated with the selected person, the account identifier representing an account associated with the game; and 
 initiate, based on the account identifier, the game with a terminal of the selected person. 
 
 
     
     
       32. The computing device of  claim 31 , wherein the program instructions further cause the processing device to:
 send, via the transceiver, an invitation message to the terminal of the selected person to participate in the game. 
 
     
     
       33. The computing device of  claim 32 , wherein the game is initiated responsive to receiving an acceptance message in response to the invitation message. 
     
     
       34. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identity server stores the account identifier associated with the contact information of the selected person. 
     
     
       35. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the contact information comprises one or more attributes that correspond to identify of the selected person. 
     
     
       36. The method of  claim 35 , wherein the one or more attributes comprise an account identifier, a user number, an email address, a phone number, or other publicly available personal information. 
     
     
       37. The method of  claim 35 , wherein the one or more attributes are authentication attributes, comprising a text password, a biometric profile, or a gesture password. 
     
     
       38. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the contact information comprises one or more attributes that correspond to one or more terminals, associated with the selected person. 
     
     
       39. The method of  claim 38 , wherein the one or more attributes comprise information used to connect to the one or more terminals. 
     
     
       40. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 sending the identity server contact information of the user, including an authentication attribute of the user and an account identifier of the user, to be used by the identity server for identifying the user when responding to resolution request messages received from other users.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application benefits from priority of application Ser. No. 62/348,747, filed Jun. 10, 2016 and entitled “User of Identity Services to Auto-Discover Subscribers of Social Networking Sites,” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure relates to protocols for associating subscribers of social networking services when those services&#39; subscribers, according to account identifiers, may not be known to all subscribers. 
     Modern consumer computing systems provide their users with a wide variety of different networking services, such as online gaming and social networking sites. Oftentimes, the networking services require subscribers to enroll with the service and, in so doing, select account identifiers that are unique to each subscriber. Account identifiers are not always intuitive, either to the subscriber that selects them or to other subscribers that desire to interact with the selecting subscriber. Moreover, such networking services may require subscribers to develop associations with each other, whether they are through “friend requests,” “connection requests” or other invitation-based protocols, before the subscribers can interact with each other in the service. Thus, the process by which individual subscribers identify their social contacts on different networking sites, then associate with them, can be burdensome. 
     The present disclosure proposes techniques to overcome the burden associated with discovering subscribers on networking sites. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a communication flow for initiating gameplay according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates another communication flow for initiating gameplay according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a communication flow for initiating gameplay according to a further embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates another communication flow for initiating gameplay according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure provide techniques for initiating game sessions between subscribers to online gaming services when account IDs of those subscribers are unknown. Such techniques permit a first user to select a second user with whom to play a game. Responsive to the selection of the second user, a resolution request may be sent to an identity server that includes contact information of the selected user. A response to the resolution request from the identify server may be received that includes an account identifier associated with the selected user. The account identifier may represent an account stored by a game server. A game launch request may be sent to the game server. The game launch request may include the account identifier. These techniques do not require that the first user have direct access to the second user&#39;s account ID at the game server. 
     As used herein, a “user” may be considered broadly as any person associated with any system, device, or other component described herein, regardless of whether the person is directly interacting with the system, device, or other component at any given time. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a system  100  according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The system may include a plurality of terminals  110 - 130 , a game server  140  and an identity services server  150  provided in mutual connection by a network  160 . The terminals  110 - 130  and game server  140  may collaborate to run online games for users (not shown) at the terminals  110 - 130 . The game server  140  may include a database  145  of subscribers to its games, which typically include authentication data for the subscribers such as account IDs, passwords and the like that were created when users registered for gaming services of the game server  140 . The identity services server  150  may include its own identity repository  155  (e.g., a database) of identities, which may relate users to publically-available information of the subscribers (for example, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses). 
     In many implementations, the game server  140  may host game sessions and the terminals  110 - 130  may execute applications with terminal-specific elements of those sessions; for example, each terminal  110 ,  120 ,  130  may execute applications that display to their respective users that user&#39;s game experience and accept game input from the users to guide further gameplay. Other implementations find application with the present disclosure, however, including implementations that cause game sessions to be hosted by one or more of the terminals  110 - 130  themselves. The architecture of gameplay is immaterial to the present discussion. It is sufficient to note that the game server  140  governs admission of terminals to individual instances of the games. 
     In an embodiment, the game server  140  may be represented by an online multiplayer social gaming network such as the Apple Game Center service. Such gaming networks typically allow their subscribers to invite other subscribers to play a supported game, start a multiplayer game with subscribers, and track their performance through the games. Individual users typically become members of the network and become linked to other users through a connection protocol involving invitations and acceptances. Thus, as originally conceived, subscribers would enter games with other subscribers with whom they had already become linked; they would not enter into games with other users with whom they were not linked. According to the present disclosure, however, users of such gaming networks may establish game sessions with other users through an identity services server  150 . 
     The identity services server  150  may represent one or more computing devices providing identity services. In particular, the identity services server  150  may maintain the identity repository  155  of the users. An identity may be associated with a user of one of the terminals  110 ,  120 ,  130  and may be used by a variety of network components (e.g., the game server  140  and the terminals  120 ,  130 ) to identify a user and/or an associated terminal  110  of a user. An identity may include a number of attributes relating to a user and/or its associated terminal  110  and, in fact, may associate attributes of a variety of terminals with a single user. An attribute of an identity may include a unique identifier, such as an account ID, a user number, an email address, or a phone number (e.g., a phone number associated with the user&#39;s terminal  110 ,  120 ,  130 ). The identity repository  155  may store several account IDs for individual users, each related to an account at a respective game server  140  (other servers not shown). An attribute also may relate to personal information about the user, such as the user&#39;s name or nickname/alias. An attribute may further relate to the terminal  110 ,  120 ,  130  associated with the user, including an IP (internet protocol) address, a MAC (media access control) address, a phone number, or other information that may be used to identify and/or connect to the terminal  110 ,  120 ,  130 . Such attributes may additionally reflect various characteristics of the terminal  110 ,  120 ,  130 , such as device type, hardware characteristics, operating system, connection capabilities (e.g., whether the terminal  110 ,  120 ,  130  is configured to establish a Bluetooth® connection), and applications (e.g., a particular multiplayer gaming application) installed on the terminal  110 ,  120 ,  130 . An identity may also include an authentication attribute, such as a text password, a biometric profile, or a gesture password. It will be appreciated that any of the aforementioned attributes may function as a unique identifier of an identity so long as said attribute is unique among the identities in the identity repository  155 . 
     In operation, a network component (e.g., a terminal  110 ) may transmit contact data to the identity services server  150 , whereupon the identity services server  150  receives the contact data. Upon receipt of the contact data, the identity services server  150  may cross-reference the contact data with the identities of the identity repository  155  and determine the identity corresponding to the contact data. Accordingly, one or more attributes of the identity may be transmitted back to the requesting network component. Any network component, whether they are individual terminals  110 ,  120 ,  130  or the game server  140 , may communicate with the identity services server  150  to resolve identities in this fashion. 
     In some aspects, for example where a user transmits his or her contact data, the user&#39;s terminal  110  may transmit an authentication attribute with or following the unique identifier. The provided authentication attribute may be checked by the identity services server  150  against the stored authentication attribute associated with the identity to ensure that the user has provided his or her correct authentication attribute. Upon this authentication, the user&#39;s identity, and attributes thereof, may be used in various functionalities of the user&#39;s terminal  110  such as to identify the user in a multiplayer gaming application executing on the user&#39;s terminal  110 . 
     In other aspects, for example where a user transmits another user&#39;s contact data, the requesting terminal  110  need not transmit an authentication attribute in concert with the unique identifier. In such an instance, the identity services server  150  may return back only a limited subset of the attributes of the identity corresponding to that contact data. As an example, a first user, via the first terminal  110 , may transmit contact data for the identity of a second user to the identity services server  150 . Based on the transmitted contact data, the identity services server  150  may determine the identity of the second user and return one or more attributes of the second user&#39;s identity to the first terminal  110 , such as an account ID. The attributes of the second user&#39;s identity may be used by the first terminal  110  (e.g., by the multiplayer gaming application executing on the first terminal  110 ) to facilitate multiplayer gameplay with the second user. In addition to the account ID, the attributes of the second user&#39;s identity may include an attribute (e.g., an IP address, MAC address, or other terminal identifier) usable to effectuate connection with the second terminal  120  used by the second user. Accordingly, the instance of the multiplayer gaming application executing on the first terminal  110  may connect to and establish a multiplayer game session with the instance of the multiplayer gaming application executing on the second terminal  120 . 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a communication flow  200  for initiating gameplay according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. According to the communication flow  200 , a user at a first application may identify other user(s) with which to play a game by making selection(s) from among contacts data stored by the user at a first terminal (box  210 ). The first terminal may issue a resolution request to an identity service, providing contact data of the selected contact(s) (msg.  220 ). The identity service may search its stores using the provided contact data for identities of other users of the identity service and send a response message providing account IDs that match to the provided contact data (msg.  230 ). Thereafter, the first terminal may send a game launch request to the game server (msg.  240 ) that includes account IDs of the contacts selected in box  210 . The game server may send invitation messages (msg.  250 ) to terminals of the selected contacts and, if the invitations are accepted (msg.  260 ), the game server may host the game (box  270 ). Thereafter, gameplay may proceed as dictated by the game. 
     The game initiation techniques illustrated in  FIG. 2  does not require users to become linked to each other prior to initiation of the game. In the illustrated embodiment, the game server may be configured to issue invitations in response to a game launch request that includes the account IDs of other user(s) who are to be invited to a game. In this manner, when a first user&#39;s terminal provides an account ID of another user who is to be included in the game, it impliedly signifies that that two users are socially linked with each other via a mechanism outside the domain of the game server. 
     In one embodiment, a first terminal may store the account ID(s) of the selected user(s) locally in association with its contacts data. It is unnecessary to do so, however, or for the terminal to display the account ID of the selected user(s) to a user. In fact, in some embodiments, it may be advantageous not to publish the account ID(s) of the selected user(s) at the first terminal. Doing so may provide a level of privacy to the selected user(s) if, for example, they decline to participate in games with the user of the first terminal. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates another communication flow  300  for initiating gameplay according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. According to the communication flow  300 , a user at a first application may identify other user(s) with which to play a game by making selection(s) from among contacts data stored by the user at a first terminal (box  310 ). The first terminal may send a game launch request to the game server (msg.  320 ) that includes contact data of the contacts selected in box  310 . The game server may issue a resolution request to an identity service, providing contact data of the selected contact(s) (msg.  330 ). The identity service may search its stores using the provided contact data for identities of other users of the identity service and send a response message providing account IDs that match to the provided contact data (msg.  340 ). The game server may send invitation messages (msg.  350 ) to terminals of the selected contacts and, if the invitations are accepted (msg.  360 ), the game server may host the game (box  370 ). Thereafter, gameplay may proceed as dictated by the game. 
     The game initiation techniques illustrated in  FIG. 3  also do not require users to become linked to each other prior to initiation of the game. In the illustrated embodiment, the game server may be configured to issue resolution requests in response to a game launch request that includes contact data of other user(s) who are to be invited to a game. In this manner, when a first user&#39;s terminal provides contact data of another user who is to be included in the game, it impliedly signifies that that two users are socially linked with each other via a mechanism outside the domain of the game server. 
     In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 3 , resolution requests and responses are exchanged between the identity services server and the game server, rather than between the identity services server and user terminals as in  FIG. 2 . In this protocol, the account IDs of the user(s) selected for inclusion in a game are not presented to the first terminal. Keeping exchange of account IDs between the identity services server and the game server can provide a level of privacy protection to users whose identities are being resolved if, for example, they decline to participate in games with the user of the first terminal. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a communication flow  400  for initiating gameplay according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. According the communication flow, a user at a first application may identify other user(s) to play a game by making selection(s) from among contacts data stored by the user at a first terminal (box  410 ). The first terminal may issue a resolution request to an identity service, providing contact data of the selected contact(s) (msg.  420 ). The identity service may search its stores using the provided contact data for identities of other users of the identity service and send a response message providing account IDs that match to the provided contact data (msg.  430 ). The first terminal may send an invitation message (msg.  440 ) to a terminal of the other user, which if accepted (msg.  450 ) may initiate the game. 
     In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the first terminal may host the game (box  460 ). This may involve the first terminal requesting data for the game (msg.  470 ) which may be provided to the game server (msg.  480 ). The requests and replies illustrated in messages  470  and  480 , however, may be omitted in cases, for example, where the first terminal already stores application data and other programming that is necessary to host the game. Thereafter, gameplay may proceed as dictated by the game. 
     The game initiation techniques illustrated in  FIG. 4  also do not require users to become linked to each other prior to initiation of the game. In the illustrated embodiment, the game server may be configured to issue invitations in response to a game launch request that includes the account IDs of other user(s) who are to be invited to a game. In this manner, when a first user&#39;s terminal provides an account ID of another user who is to be included in the game, it impliedly signifies that that two users are socially linked with each other via a mechanism outside the domain of the game server. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a communication flow  500  for initiating gameplay according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. According to the communication flow  500 , a user at a first application may identify other user(s) with which to play a game by making selection(s) from among contacts data stored by the user at a first terminal (box  510 ). The first terminal may issue a resolution request to an identity service, providing contact data of the selected contact(s) (msg.  515 ). The identity service may search its stores using the provided contact data for identities of other users of the identity service (box  520 ). The identity service server may send a message to a terminal of the second user, using the second user&#39;s account information at the identity service server, that requests the second user&#39;s ID at the game server (msg.  525 ). Assuming the second user agrees to provide the requested information, the second user&#39;s terminal may send a response message to the identity service server that provides the game server ID (msg.  530 ). The identity service server may send a resolution response message to the first user&#39;s terminal that provides the game server ID (box  535 ). 
     Thereafter, the first user&#39;s terminal may send a game launch request to the game server that provides the account ID of the second user (msg.  540 ). The game server may authenticate the first and second users and initiate the game according to its protocols. For example, the game server may send an invitation message (msg.  545 ) to the second user&#39;s terminal and, in response to an acceptance message therefrom (msg.  550 ), the game server may host the game (box  555 ). Alternatively, another terminal may host the game as shown in box  560 . 
     The game initiation techniques illustrated in  FIG. 5  do not require an identity services server to store users&#39; identifiers at game servers in order to have them linked. However, if desired, the identity service servers may store users&#39; game server IDs as they receive response messages such as message  530 . In this manner, the identity services server may accumulate data of its users, which permits it to avoid sending repeated request messages  525  in further iterations of game play. Typically, the identity services server may operate according to privacy control settings, which may be entered by users of the identity services server&#39;s services and which may dictate to the identity services server whether or not to store such information about users. 
     Additionally, a first terminal may store the account ID(s) of the selected user(s) locally in association with its contacts data. It is unnecessary to do so, however, or for the terminal to display the account ID of the selected user(s) to a user. In fact, in some embodiments, it may be advantageous not to publish the account ID(s) of the selected user(s) at the first terminal. Doing so may provide a level of privacy to the selected user(s) if, for example, they decline to participate in games with the user of the first terminal. 
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram of a terminal  600  according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The terminal  600  may include a processor  610  and a memory  620 . The memory  620  may store program instructions that define an operating system  630  and various applications  640  that are executed by the processor  610 . For example, the applications  640  may include a gaming application  640 . 1  and a contacts manager  640 . 2 . The memory  620  also may store application data for each of the applications  640 . 1 ,  640 . 2 ,  640 . 3 . In the case of the contacts manager  640 . 2 , the memory  620  may store the e-mail addresses, phone numbers and other contact data that identifies users of other devices with whom a user of the terminal  600  may desire to play a game. The terminal  600  may execute still other applications  640 . 3  that have access to contact data of other users. In some cases, the contact data need not be stored on the terminal  600  itself. For example, the terminal  600  may execute a social networking application that links a user of the terminal  600  to other members of the social networking service. The social networking application may retrieve contact data of other users from an Internet source (not shown) rather than store the data locally on the terminal  600 . The principles of the present disclosure may use contact information of other users in the signaling protocols illustrated in  FIGS. 2-5 . 
       FIG. 6  also illustrates other components that may be common to terminals  600  that execute games. Such components may include user input/output devices  680  through which users may enter commands to the terminal  600  and affect gameplay, a display device  690  through which the terminal may render graphics output of the game, a speaker system  650  through which the terminal  600  may render audio output of the game, a transceiver system  660  through which the terminal  600  may communicate with wireless and/or wireline networks that provide communication connectivity to game servers, identity services servers and other terminals, and an audio-visual capture system  670  that may capture audio and/or video of an operator of the terminal  600 . 
     The terminal  600  may communicate with other system components, for example, other terminals, the game server and the identity services server, via a communication channel. The transceiver system  660  may communicate with a wide variety of wired or wireless electronic communications networks, such as, e.g., a wired/wireless local area network (LAN), a wired/wireless personal area network (PAN), a wired/wireless home area network (HAN), a wired/wireless wide area network (WAN), a campus network, a metropolitan network, an enterprise private network, a virtual private network (VPN), an internetwork, a backbone network (BBN), a global area network (GAN), the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, an overlay network, Near field communication (NFC), a cellular telephone network, a Personal Communications Service (PCS), using known protocols such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access), GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA network technologies, Long Term Evolution (LTE), 6G (5th generation mobile networks or 6th generation wireless systems), WiMAX, HSPA+, W-CDMA (Wideband Code-Division Multiple Access), CDMA2000 (also known as C2K or IMT Multi-Carrier (IMT-MC)), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, AirDrop, and/or the like, and/or a combination of two or more thereof. The NFC standards cover communications protocols and data exchange formats, and are based on existing radio-frequency identification (RFID) standards including ISO/IEC 14443 and FeliCa. The standards include ISO/IEC 18092[3] and those defined by the NFC Forum. 
     The foregoing discussion has described operation of the foregoing embodiments in the context of terminals and servers. Commonly, these terminals are provided as electronic devices such as personal computers, notebook computers, mobile computing platforms such as smartphones and tablet computers, dedicated gaming systems, portable media players, computer servers, and the like. As described, they may execute programs that are stored in memory of those devices and be executed by processors within them. Alternatively, they can be embodied in dedicated hardware components such as application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays and/or digital signal processors. And, of course, these components may be provided as hybrid systems that distribute functionality across dedicated hardware components and programmed general purpose processors, as desired. 
     Several embodiments of the disclosure are specifically illustrated and/or described herein. However, it will be appreciated that modifications and variations of the disclosure are covered by the above teachings and within the purview of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and intended scope of the disclosure.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20170602
Publication Date: 20210727
Grant Date: 20210727
Priority Date: 20160610
Inventors: HARRY, BEN
BERFIELD, ALAN
TRENH, JOHNNY
GARDNER, MEGAN
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "A63F13/85", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A63F2300/5566", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L67/141", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A63F13/85", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A63F13/795", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A63F13/35", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L67/141", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L65/1069", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A63F13/35", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A63F2300/5566", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L65/1069", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A63F13/795", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A63F13/85", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A63F13/35", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A63F2300/5566", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L65/1069", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L67/141", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A63F13/795", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 60574272