Method and apparatus for data communication in a gaming system

• US 20060059421A1
• Filed: 09/10/2004
• Published: 03/16/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Benbrahim, Jamal, Kiely, Daryn G., Price, Derrick
• Granted Patent: US 7,480,857 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/273
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/258 Data format conversion from or to a database

Abstract

In a method for configuring a first computing device to send or receive formatted data is provided, wherein the formatted data includes a plurality of formatting tags, an indication of a set of formatting tags recognized by a second computing device may be received via a network. A mapping of identifiers to formatting tags in the set of formatting tags may be determined. At least one of an encoder, a decoder, and a parser of the first computing device may be configured with the mapping.

Claims

1. A method for configuring a first computing device to send or receive formatted data, the formatted data including a plurality of formatting tags, the method comprising:

receiving via a network an indication of a set of formatting tags recognized by a second computing device;

determining a first mapping, the first mapping comprising a mapping of identifiers to formatting tags in the set of formatting tags;

configuring at least one of an encoder, a decoder, and a parser of the first computing device with the first mapping.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein determining the first mapping comprises generating the first mapping in response to receiving the indication of the set of formatting tags recognized by the second computing device.

3. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein determining the first mapping comprises selecting the first mapping from a set of mappings.

4. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the set of mappings comprises one mapping.

5. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein determining the first mapping comprises determining a mapping between an Extensible Markup Language (XML) tag and a first identifier.

6. A method as defined in claim 5, wherein determining the first mapping comprises determining a mapping between an Extensible Markup Language (XML) attribute and a second identifier.

7. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising determining a second mapping, the second mapping comprising a mapping of identifiers to the encrypted versions of formatting tags corresponding to the set of formatting tags;

wherein determining the first mapping comprises determining the first mapping based on the second mapping.

8. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein receiving the indication of the set of formatting tags comprises at least one of:

receiving the set of formatting tags;

receiving an identifier of the set of formatting tags;

receiving a set of encrypted versions of formatting tags in the set of formatting tags; and

receiving an identifier of the set of encrypted versions of formatting tags in the set of formatting tags.

9. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising transmitting to the second computing device an indication of the first mapping.

10. A method as defined in claim 9, wherein transmitting to the second computing device the indication of the first mapping comprises at least one of:

transmitting the first mapping;

transmitting an identifier of the first mapping;

transmitting a second mapping, the second mapping comprising a mapping of identifiers to the encrypted versions of the formatting tags in the set of formatting tags; and

transmitting an identifier of the second mapping.

11. A method as defined in claim 10, further comprising determining the second mapping.

12. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

identifying formatting tags from the set of formatting tags in formatted data to be sent to the second computing device; and

replacing each identified formatting tag in the formatted data to be sent with a corresponding identifier indicative of the formatting tag.

13. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

identifying identifiers in formatted data received from the second computing device via the network; and

replacing each identified identifier in the received formatted data with a corresponding formatting tag.

14. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

identifying identifiers in formatted data received from the second computing device via the network; and

parsing the received formatted data based on the identified identifiers.

15. A method for setting up a communication of formatted data between a first computing device and a second computing device, the formatted data including a plurality of formatting tags, the method comprising:

receiving via a network an indication of a set of encrypted versions of formatting tags recognized by the second computing device;

determining a first mapping, the first mapping comprising a mapping of identifiers to formatting tags corresponding to the set of encrypted versions of formatting tags recognized by the second computing device; and

configuring at least one of an encoder, a decoder, and a parser of the first computing device with the first mapping.

16. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein determining the first mapping comprises generating the first mapping in response to receiving the indication of the set of encrypted versions of formatting tags recognized by the second computing device.

17. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein determining the first mapping comprises selecting the first mapping from a set of mappings.

18. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the set of mappings comprises one mapping.

19. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein determining the first mapping comprises determining a mapping between an Extensible Markup Language (XML) tag and a first identifier.

20. A method as defined in claim 19, wherein determining the first mapping comprises determining a mapping between an Extensible Markup Language (XML) attribute and a second identifier.

21. A method as defined in claim 15, further comprising determining a second mapping, the second mapping comprising a mapping of identifiers to encrypted versions of formatting tags in the set.

22. A method as defined in claim 15, further comprising transmitting to the second computing device an indication of the first mapping.

23. A method as defined in claim 22, wherein transmitting to the second computing device the indication of the first mapping comprises at least one of:

transmitting the first mapping;

transmitting an identifier of the first mapping;

transmitting a second mapping, the second mapping comprising a mapping of identifiers to encrypted versions of formatting tags in the set; and

transmitting an identifier of the second mapping.

24. A method as defined in claim 23, wherein determining the first mapping comprises determining the first mapping based on the second mapping.

25. A gaming system apparatus, comprising:

a network interface device to communicatively couple to a plurality of gaming machines via a communication link;

a controller operatively coupled to the network interface device, the controller comprising;

a processor;

a memory operatively coupled to the processor;

a negotiator to receive via the communication link an indication of a set of formatting tags recognized by a computing device separate from the gaming apparatus;

a mapping determiner to determine a mapping of identifiers to formatting tags in the set of formatting tags; and

at least one of an encoder capable of being configured to encode formatted data based on the mapping, a decoder capable of being configured to decode encoded formatted data based on the mapping, and a parser capable of being configured to parse encoded formatted data based on the mapping.

26. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 25, wherein the negotiator is configured to send to the separate computing device, via the network interface device, an indication of the mapping.

27. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 25, wherein the controller is programmed to implement the negotiator.

28. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 25, wherein the controller is programmed to implement the mapping determiner.

29. A gaming system apparatus, comprising:

a network interface device to communicatively couple to a plurality of gaming machines via a communication link;

a controller operatively coupled to the network interface device, the controller comprising;

a processor;

a memory operatively coupled to the processor; and

a negotiator to receive via the communication link a set of encrypted versions of formatting tags recognized by a computing device separate from the gaming apparatus;

a mapping determiner to determine a first mapping based on the set of encrypted versions of formatting tags recognized by the separate computing device, the first mapping comprising a mapping of identifiers to formatting tags corresponding to the set of encrypted versions of formatting tags; and

at least one of an encoder capable of being configured to encode formatted data based on the first mapping, a decoder capable of being configured to decode encoded formatted data based on the first mapping, and a parser capable of being configured to parse encoded formatted data based on the first mapping.

30. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 29, wherein the mapping determiner is configured to determine a second mapping comprising a mapping of identifiers to encrypted versions of formatting tags in the set of encrypted versions of formatting tags;

and

wherein the negotiator is configured to send to the separate computing device, via the network interface device, an indication of the second mapping.

31. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 29, wherein the controller is programmed to implement the negotiator.

32. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 29, wherein the controller is programmed to implement the mapping determiner.

33. A method for configuring a first computing device to send or receive formatted data, the formatted data including a plurality of formatting tags, the method comprising:

transmitting to a second computing device via a network an indication of a set of formatting tags recognized by the first computing device;

determining a first mapping, the first mapping comprising a mapping of identifiers to formatting tags in the set of formatting tags; and

configuring at least one of an encoder and a decoder of the first computing device with the first mapping.

34. A method as defined in claim 33, wherein the first mapping comprises a mapping between an Extensible Markup Language (XML) tag and a first identifier.

35. A method as defined in claim 34, wherein the first mapping comprises a mapping between an Extensible Markup Language (XML) attribute and a second identifier.

36. A method as defined in claim 33, further comprising receiving via the network an indication of the first mapping;

wherein determining the first mapping comprises determining the first mapping based on the indication of the first mapping.

37. A method as defined in claim 36, wherein receiving the indication of the first mapping comprises at least one of:

receiving the first mapping;

receiving an identifier of the first mapping;

receiving a second mapping, the second mapping comprising a mapping of identifiers to the encrypted versions of the formatting tags in the set of formatting tags; and

receiving an identifier of the second mapping.

38. A method as defined in claim 37, wherein determining the first mapping comprises determining the first mapping based on the second mapping.

39. A method as defined in claim 33, wherein transmitting to the second computing device the indication of the set of formatting tags recognized by the first computing device comprises at least one of:

transmitting the set of formatting tags;

transmitting an identifier of the set of formatting tags;

transmitting a set of encrypted versions of formatting tags in the set of formatting tags; and

transmitting an identifier of the set of encrypted versions of formatting tags in the set of formatting tags.

48. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 39, wherein the controller is programmed to implement the negotiator.

49. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 39, wherein the controller is programmed to implement the at least one of the encoder, the decoder, and the parser.

40. A method for setting up a communication of formatted data between a first computing device and a second computing device, the formatted data including a plurality of formatting tags, the method comprising:

transmitting via a network an indication of a set of encrypted versions of formatting tags recognized by the first computing device;

determining a first mapping, the first mapping comprising a mapping of identifiers to formatting tags corresponding to the set of encrypted versions of formatting tags; and

configuring at least one of an encoder and a decoder of the first computing device with the first mapping.

41. A method as defined in claim 40, wherein the first mapping comprises a mapping between an encrypted version of an Extensible Markup Language (XML) tag and a first identifier.

42. A method as defined in claim 41, wherein the first mapping comprises a mapping between an encrypted version of an Extensible Markup Language (XML) attribute and a second identifier.

43. A method as defined in claim 40, further comprising receiving via the network an indication of the first mapping;

wherein determining the first mapping comprises determining the first mapping based on the indication of the first mapping.

44. A method as defined in claim 43, wherein receiving the indication of the first mapping comprises at least one of:

receiving the first mapping;

receiving an identifier of the first mapping;

receiving a second mapping, the second mapping comprising a mapping of identifiers to the encrypted versions of the formatting tags in the set of formatting tags; and

receiving an identifier of the second mapping.

45. A method as defined in claim 44, wherein determining the first mapping comprises determining the first mapping based on the second mapping.

46. A method as defined in claim 40, wherein transmitting via the network the indication of the set of formatting tags recognized by the first computing device comprises at least one of:

transmitting the set of formatting tags;

transmitting an identifier of the set of formatting tags;

transmitting a set of encrypted versions of formatting tags in the set of formatting tags; and

transmitting an identifier of the set of encrypted versions of formatting tags in the set of formatting tags.

47. A gaming apparatus, comprising:

a display unit;

a value input device;

a network interface device to couple to a communication link;

a controller operatively coupled to the display unit, the value input device, and the network interface device, the controller comprising a processor and a memory operatively coupled to the processor,

the controller being programmed to cause the display unit to generate a game display relating to one of the following games;

poker, blackjack, slots, keno or bingo, and

the controller being programmed to determine a value payout associated with an outcome of the game;

the controller further comprising;

a negotiator to send via the communication link an indication of a set of formatting tags recognized by the gaming apparatus;

a mapping determiner to determine a mapping of identifiers to formatting tags corresponding to the set of formatting tags; and

at least one of an encoder capable of being configured to encode formatted data based on the mapping, a decoder capable of being configured to decode encoded formatted data based on the mapping, and a parser capable of being configured to parse encoded formatted data based on the mapping.

50. A gaming apparatus, comprising:

a display unit;

a value input device;

a network interface device to couple to a communication link;

a controller operatively coupled to the display unit, the value input device, and the network interface device, the controller comprising a processor and a memory operatively coupled to the processor,

the controller being programmed to cause the display unit to generate a game display relating to one of the following games;

poker, blackjack, slots, keno or bingo, and

the controller being programmed to determine a value payout associated with an outcome of the game;

the controller further comprising;

a negotiator to send via the communication link a set of encrypted versions of formatting tags recognized by the gaming apparatus;

a mapping determiner to determine a mapping of identifiers to formatting tags corresponding to the set of encrypted versions of formatting tags; and

at least one of an encoder capable of being configured to encode formatted data based on a mapping, a decoder capable of being configured to decode encoded formatted data based on the mapping, and a parser capable of being configured to parse encoded formatted data based on the mapping.

51. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 50, wherein the controller is programmed to implement the negotiator.

52. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 50, wherein the controller is programmed to implement the at least one of the encoder, the decoder, and the parser.