METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR INTERFACING WITH A THIRD-PARTY APPLICATION

• US 20130035157A1
• Filed: 09/12/2012
• Published: 02/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: LITTLE, William C., LeMAY, Steven G., COCKERILLE, Warner R. IV, DE WAAL, Daniel, ROWE, Richard E., WEBER, Reid M., MARCU, Adrian R., BEAULIEU, Nicole M., GIPP, David A., MANFREDI, Vincent S., BULLARD, Bryan, SCHNEIDER, Richard J., RUSSELL, Glen Keith, GRAHAM, Jacob, SCHLOTTMANN, Gregory A., WILLIAMS, David C., LARSEN, Kurt M., YI, Jae Man, PETERSEN, Erik B., HIGGINS, Kevin, PARROTT, Gregory H., SALLS, David L.
• Granted Patent: US 9,685,034 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/29
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/34 Betting or bookmaking, e.g. Internet betting
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3227 Configuring a gaming machine, e.g. downloading personal settings, selecting working parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/323 wherein the player is informed, e.g. advertisements, odds, instructions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers

Abstract

A system for interfacing with a third-party application is described. The system includes a third-party device, a server-based system configured to communicate with the third-party device, and a gaming device configured to communicate with the server-based system to display content of the product or service. The gaming device is configured to generate an outcome of a wager-based game independent of the content that is displayed.

Claims

1. A system for interfacing with a third-party application, said system comprising:

a third-party device;

a server-based system configured to communicate with said third-party device, wherein said server-based system includes a content approval server configured to receive a request to approve content of a product or service from the third party device, said content approval server configured to approve the content based on a set of predetermined policies; and

a gaming device configured to communicate with said server-based system to display the content of the approved product or service, said gaming device configured to generate an outcome of a wager-based game independent of the content that is displayed.

2. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said third-party device is operated by the third-party user other than a gaming device user controlling said gaming device,

wherein said third-party device is controlled by a third-party user that is other than a server-based system user controlling said server-based system.

3. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said server-based system includes a media manager server,

said third-party device is configured to request a specific set of commands from said server-based system, and

said media manager server is configured to send the specific set of commands to said third-party device upon receiving an authentication of said third-party device.

4. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said server-based system includes a media manager server,

the set of predetermined policies are developed by a gaming device user or a regulatory authority, and

said media manager server is configured to create an event identification (ID) of the content upon receiving a determination from said content approval server that the content is approved.

5. A system in accordance with claim 4, further comprising a floor controller, wherein said third-party device is configured to send a triggerevent command including a priority for displaying the content, the event ID and a gaming device ID identifying said gaming device to said media manager server,

said media manager server is configured to determine whether the event ID is valid upon receiving the event ID from said third-party device,

said media manager server is configured to access the content corresponding to the event ID upon determining that the event ID is valid,

said media manager server is configured to send the triggerevent command and the content to said floor controller,

said floor controller is configured to send the triggerevent command and the event representation to said gaming device having the gaming device ID, and

said gaming device is configured to display the content upon receiving the triggerevent command based on the priority.

6. A system in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a plurality of devices connected to said gaming device, wherein said third-party device is configured to request a specific set of commands from said server-based system,

the specific set of commands includes a runtask command to perform a task related to the devices connected to said gaming device,

the task includes a sequence for performing a plurality of events on said gaming device and said devices connected to said gaming device, and

the plurality of events are performed based on a plurality of conditions.

7. A system in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a protocol converter, wherein said third-party device comprises a third-party processor,

said third-party processor is configured to request a specific set of commands from said server-based system,

said gaming device is connected to a printer,

the specific set of commands includes a set of printer commands to determine whether said gaming device is connected to the printer and to determine whether the printer has a printer parameter,

said protocol converter is configured to convert the set of printer commands from a system-to-system (S2S) protocol to a game-to-system (G2S) protocol and send the set of printer commands to said gaming device,

said gaming device is configured to provide a set of responses to the set of printer commands to said third-party device via said server-based system, and

said third-party processor is configured to determine whether to use said printer upon receiving the responses.

8. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said third-party device comprises a third-party processor, said third-party system further comprises a redemption server configured to receive a command including a redemption request to redeem a voucher from said gaming device and determine whether the redemption request is designated to be sent to said third-party device,

said redemption server is configured to send the redemption request to said third-party device upon determining that the redemption request is designated to be sent to said third-party device,

said third-party processor is configured to approve or disapprove the redemption request and send a command including the approval or disapproval to said gaming device via said redemption server, and

said third-party processor is configured to deny the redemption request upon determining that the voucher is redeemed previously or a voucher identification of the voucher is invalid.

9. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said third-party device is configured to request a specific set of commands from said server-based system, wherein the specific set of commands includes a seteventsubscription command, wherein said third-party device is configured to send the seteventsubscription command to said server-based system to receive a notification of an occurrence of an event including the content on said gaming device.

10. A system in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a peripheral device connected to said gaming device,

wherein said third-party device comprises a third-party processor configured to request information regarding said gaming device and said peripheral device, and

the information includes a frequency of operation of said peripheral device or a color emitted by said peripheral device.

11. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said third-party device comprises a third-party processor configured to receive a notification of an input from a player playing a wager-based game at said gaming device or a notification of an occurrence of an event including the content at said gaming device,

said third-party device is configured to send a triggerevent command to said gaming device via said server-based system upon receiving the notification, and

the triggerevent command comprises an event ID of an event representation that has a graphical element different than a graphical element of the content.

12. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said third-party device is configured to request a specific set of commands from said server-based system,

said server-based system is configured to determine whether one of the commands received from said third-party device includes a request to send a complex command,

said server-based system is configured to determine whether a connection between said server-based system and said third-party device is lost for less than a period of time measured from the loss of connection,

said server-based system is configured to store all information designated to be sent to said third-party device upon determining that the connection is lost for less than the period of time,

said server-based system is configured to send the information to said third-party device upon determining that the connection is restored within the time period, and

said server-based system configured to not send the information to said third-party device upon determining that the connection is not restored within the time period.

13. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said third-party device comprises a third-party processor configured to request that a response to a command includes a simple command,

said server-based system is configured to determine whether a connection between said server-based system and said third-party device is lost before a time information in response to the command is to be sent to said third-party device, and

said server-based system is configured to delete the response from a queue upon determining that the connection is lost.

14. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said server-based system comprises a logging device configured to securely log content or a command, and

the command is communicated between said server-based system and said third-party device or between said gaming device and said server-based system.

15. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said gaming device is configured to determine whether a command sent by said third-party device comprises an instruction to change an outcome of a game played using a game interface on said gaming device, and

said gaming device is further configured to reject the command upon determining that the command comprises an instruction to change the outcome.

16. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said third-party device is configured to request a specific set of commands from said server-based system,

the specific set of commands includes a deductfromgamingdevice command and a watamount command, and

said third-party device is configured to send the deductfromgaming device command to said gaming device via said server-based system to deduct from said gaming device a number of credits specified in the watamount command.

17. A system in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a redemption server configured to receive a plurality of redemption requests from said gaming device and other gaming devices, and send the requests to a third-party controller of said third party device,

wherein said third-party controller is configured to determine whether a number of the redemption requests is exceeded, whether a time period for satisfying the redemption requests is expired, or whether a voucher identification associated with one of the redemption requests is received previously before receiving the one of the redemption requests, and

said third-party controller is configured to deny the redemption requests that exceed the number, that are received after expiration of the time period, or that include a voucher identification received previously.

18. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said server-based system is configured to maintain a separate queue for each of said third-party device and another third-party device, said server-based system is further configured to determine whether a connection is lost between said server-based system and said third-party device, and the loss of connection does not affect the queue for the other third-party device.

19. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said third-party device is configured to send a triggerevent command to trigger a display of an event representation on said gaming device,

said content approval server is configured to determine whether the event representation has a status of approved, disapproved, or pending a decision of approval or disapproval,

said content approval server is configured to not send the triggerevent command to said gaming device upon determining that the status is disapproved or pending, and

said content approval server is configured to send the triggerevent command to said gaming device upon determining that the status is approved.

20. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said third-party device configured to send a triggerevent command including an event expiration time period and an event identification of an event representation,

said server-based system is configured to determine whether the event expiration time period measured from a time of sending the triggerevent command has expired before the event representation is displayed on said gaming device or before the triggerevent command is sent to said gaming device,

said server-based system is configured to inform said third-party device that the event expiration time period has expired upon determining that the event expiration time period has expired, and

said server-based system is configured to not send the triggerevent command to said gaming device upon determining that the event expiration time period has expired.

21. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said third-party device is configured to send a command to said server-based system, and

the command includes an instruction that a request to the command be persisted by said server-based system until a command is received from said third-party device.

22. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said server-based system includes a media manager server,

said gaming device comprises a gaming display device configured to display the content and receive an input from a player playing a game,

said gaming device is configured to communicate information regarding the input via said media manager server to a third-party controller of said third party device, and

said third-party controller is configured to send a command including data in response to the information sent by said gaming device via said media manager server.

23. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said server-based system further comprises an account metering server, wherein said third-party device is configured to send a requesttransfer command to said server-based system to request a transfer of a number of credits from said gaming device to said account metering server,

said account metering server is configured to verify whether a credit meter of said gaming device has sufficient balance to transfer the number of credits,

said account metering server is configured to transfer the number of credits from said gaming device to said account metering server upon determining that the credit meter has the sufficient balance, and

said account metering server is configured to inform said third-party device of the completion of the transfer.

24. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said server-based system further comprises a graphical element creation server configured to associate a first file describing a functionality of a graphical element with a second file describing a look of the graphical element and a third file describing a look of the graphical element, and

the look described in the second file is different than the look described in the third file.

25. A system in accordance with claim 24, wherein the second file is presented to a player having a status different than a player presented with the third file.

26. A system in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a floor controller and a firewall server,

wherein said server-based system includes a media manager server,

said media manager server and said content approval server are configured to be accessible by a user for approving the content and electronically signing approved content,

said media manager server is configured to compile a first file describing a functionality of a graphical element, a second file describing a look of the graphical element, and the signature into a compiled file, and

said floor controller is configured to receive the compiled file via the firewall server.

27. A system for interfacing with a third-party application, said system comprising:

a third-party device;

a server-based system configured to communicate with said third-party device, wherein said server-based system includes a content approval server configured to receive a request to approve content of a product or service from the third party device, said content approval server configured to approve the content based on a set of predetermined policies; and

a gaming device configured to determine whether information is received from said third-party device,

wherein said gaming device is configured to determine whether the information is approved for display upon determining that the information is received from said third-party device, and

said gaming device is configured to not determine whether the information is approved upon determining that the information is not received from said third-party device.

28. A system in accordance with claim 27, wherein said gaming device is configured to not display the information upon determining that the information is received from said third-party device and is not approved for display.

29. A system in accordance with claim 27, wherein the information that is not received from said third-party device comprises a game code used to play a wager-based game, and

the information that is received from said third-party device comprises an event representation of a product or service offered by a third-party that is other than a manufacturer of said gaming machine.

30. A method for interfacing with a third-party application, said method comprising:

receiving, at a server-based system, a request to approve content of a product or service from a third-party device;

approving the content based on a set of predetermined policies; and

sending a command to a gaming device to display the approved content on said gaming device,

wherein the approved content is independent of content for generating a wager game at said gaming device.

31. A method in accordance with claim 30, further comprising:

receiving a request for a specific set of commands from said third-party device; and

sending the specific set of commands to said third-party device upon receiving an authentication of said third-party device.

32. A method in accordance with claim 30, wherein the set of predetermined policies are developed by a gaming device user or a regulatory authority.

33. A method in accordance with claim 30, further comprising creating an event identification of the content upon approving the content based on the set of predetermined policies.

34. A method in accordance with claim 30, further comprising determining and sending a set of commands to said third-party device, wherein said server-based system and said third-party device communicate using the set of commands.

35. A method for interfacing with a third-party application, said method comprising:

determining a set of commands to communicate with a third party user that offers a service or product to a player playing a wager-based game;

providing the set of commands to the third party user, wherein the third party user is other than a developer of the wager-based game;

communicating, by the third party user, with the gaming device to display a description of the product or service on the gaming device;

receiving a request to approve the content of the service or product;

approving the description of the service or product based on a set of policies developed by the developer or a regulatory authority; and

creating an event identification (ID) of the description upon receiving a determination that the content is approved.