USER INTERFACE FOR MANAGING NETWORK DOWNLOAD AND CONFIGURATION TASKS

• US 20090276715A1
• Filed: 04/30/2008
• Published: 11/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LNW Gaming Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Bally Gaming Incorporated (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Inventors: Kelly, Bryan, Arbogast, Christopher P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,856,657 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/736
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display

Abstract

A user interface for management of network operations, particularly networked electronic gaming machines, the user interface including operation assignment interfaces, each assignment interface providing information about the respective operation, a calendar interface on which the assignment interfaces are provided, the calendar interface providing at least date and time information, and at least one graphical linking indicator that provides visual relational information of related operations.

Claims

1. A computer-readable medium whose contents enable a computing device to display on a display device a user interface by performing a method comprising:

generating a display of the user interface that includes operation assignment interfaces, each assignment interface providing information about an operation, a calendar interface that provides at least date and time information, and at least one graphical linking indicator that provides visual relational information of related operations, the user interface configured to enable scheduling of operations through the assignment interfaces on the calendar interface.

2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 wherein the assignment interface provides information about at least one of an assignment identifier, status of the related operation, an error indicator, and a start time.

3. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 wherein the assignment interface enables a user to display information about the operation of selected devices coupled to the network.

4. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 wherein the assignment interface comprises a user-activated tooltip.

5. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 wherein the calendar interface comprises a timeline displaying at least one of a date and time, and a graphical indicator interposed on the timeline to indicate at least one of current date and time.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 5 wherein the calendar interface, assignment interface, and graphical linking indicator can be scrolled while the timeline remains visible during scrolling.

7. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 comprising a tool bar displaying at least one filter of one from among display detail, range of displayed date or time, and operation status of an assignment.

8. The computer-readable medium of claim 7 wherein the tool bar further comprises a cancel selection icon that enables a user to cancel selected assignments.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 wherein assignment interfaces for recurring operations are displayed in horizontal alignment at a top region of the calendar interface and assignment interfaces for non-recurring operations are displayed below the assignment interfaces for recurring operations in a column format.

10. A system, comprising:

a network of devices;

a display device; and

a processor coupled to the network of devices and the display device and configured to generate a user interface on the display device for display and user management of network operations, the user interface including assignment interfaces, each assignment interface providing information about an associated operation, a calendar interface on which the assignment interfaces are displayed, the calendar interface providing at least date and time information, and at least one graphical linking indicator that provides visual relational information of related operations.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the assignment interface provides information about at least one of an assignment identifier, operation status, an error indicator, and a start time.

12. The system of claim 10 wherein the assignment interface provides information about selected devices coupled to the network.

13. The system of claim 10 wherein the assignment interface comprises a user-activated tooltip.

14. The system of claim 10 wherein the calendar interface comprises a timeline displaying at least one of a date and time, and a graphical indicator interposed on the timeline to indicate at least one of current date and time.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the calendar interface, assignment interface, and graphical linking indicator can be scrolled while the timeline remains visible during scrolling.

16. The system of claim 10 comprising a tool bar displaying at least one filter of one from among display detail, range of displayed date or time, and operation status of an assignment.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the tool bar further comprises a cancel selection that enables a user to cancel selected assignments.

18. The system of claim 10 wherein assignment interfaces for recurring operations are displayed in horizontal alignment at a top region of the calendar interface and assignment interfaces for non-recurring operations are displayed below the assignment interfaces for recurring operations in a column format.

19. The system of claim 10 wherein the processor comprises a computer-readable medium and the computer-readable medium has instructions stored thereon that when executed cause the processor to generate the user interface.

20. A method of providing a user interface for management of network operations, the method comprising:

presenting a time line along a time line axis with information that is indicative of at least one of dates or time; and

for each of a number of operations, presenting a respective assignment icon with a start point of the assignment icon positioned along the time line axis at a point that is indicative of a time that an operation represented by the assignment icon is scheduled to start.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

for at least two of the operations that reoccur over time, presenting a linking icon between at least two assignment icons that visually represent a relational connection between the at least two operations associated with the at least two assignment icons that reoccur over time.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein presenting a linking icon between the assignment icons that represent the at least two operations that reoccur over time includes presenting a line that extends from at least proximate a finish of a first one of the assignment icons to at least proximate a start of a second one of the assignment icons.

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

for at least two of the operations that are logically connected, presenting a multi-operation linking icon between the assignment icons that represent the at least two operations that are logically connected.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein presenting a multi-operation linking icon between the assignment icons that represent the at least two operations that are logically connected includes presenting a line that extends from at least proximate a start of a first one of the assignment icons to at least proximate a start of a second one of the assignment icons.

25. The method of claim 20 wherein presenting a respective assignment icon includes presenting the respective assignment icon with a start marker extending perpendicular to the time line axis and with a termination marker extending perpendicular to the time line axis.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

presenting the termination marker at a point along the time line axis indicative of an extended time; and

presenting an extension icon proximate one of the assignment icons where a termination time of the assignment represented by the assignment icon has been extended.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein presenting an extension icon includes presenting a line extending between the start marker and the termination marker.

28. The method of claim 20, further comprising, in response to a positioning of a cursor over a selected assignment icon, presenting detailed information about at least one aspect associated with the selected assignment icon.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein presenting detailed information about at least one aspect associated with the selected assignment icon includes presenting a list of devices affected by the operation represented by the selected assignment icon.

30. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

scrolling across a display of the assignment icons in a direction perpendicular to the time line axis in response to a user input while maintaining the display of the time line axis.

31. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

presenting a current time icon positioned along the time line axis at a point that is indicative of at least one of a current date and a current time.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein presenting a current time icon includes presenting a line extending perpendicular to the time line axis.

33. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

controlling a resolution of the time line that is presented based on a user selected input indicative of a level of presentation detail.

34. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

controlling a length of the time line that is presented in response to a user selected input indicative of a range of time line length.

35. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

in response to a user input indicative of operations to present that correspond to a user identified operation status, selecting a subset of all of the operations for the presenting of a respective assignment icon in which the associated operation is in the subset are each operation currently logically associated with the status.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein presenting a respective assignment icon includes presenting a human-readable title that is logically associated with the operation.

37. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

color coding the assignment icons based on a respective assignment type logically associated with the operation represented by the assignment icon.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising:

determining the assignment type logically associated with the operation based at least in part on a title logically associated with the assignment icon.

39. The method of claim 37, further comprising:

stopping the presenting of a selected one of the assignment icons in response to a user input indicative of deletion of the operation represented by the selected assignment icon associated with the operation.