Gaming machine update and mass storage management

• US 8,033,913 B2
• Filed: 09/09/2005
• Issued: 10/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Brosnan, William, LeMay, Steven, Bolton, Paul, Breckner, Robert, Nelson, Dwayne, Chen, Xuedong, Cockerille, Warner
• Primary Examiner(s): Suhol; Dmitry
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hsu; Ryan
• Application Number:
  US11/223,755
• Publication Number:
  US 20060035713A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,223 Days
• Field of Search: 463/16, 463/40, 463/42, 709/221, 709/222
• US Class Current: 463/29
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/323 wherein the player is informed, e.g. advertisements, odds, instructions

Abstract

Different mechanisms are provided to enable a gaming machine to download files/images, move/copy the files/images from one folder to another without breaking authentication, and resume interrupted file manipulation operations such as move/copy operations and/or download operations which have been interrupted by a power hit. In this way, the technique of the present invention is able to provide a self-diagnostic system for ensuring authenticated, atomic transactions, and for automatically handling detected error conditions. Additionally the technique of the present invention is able to provide a mechanism for seamlessly updating gaming machine components at runtime. This may include, for example, the automatic mounting and/or unmounting of selected games to/from the gaming machine memory during runtime.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating dynamic configuration of a gaming machine configured to receive a wager on a game of chance, the method comprising:

mounting a first game into memory of the gaming machine during runtime of the gaming machine, wherein runtime of the gaming machine includes enabling executing and processing of software code of the first game by utilizing a first executable space configured to store the software code of the first game being executed;

receiving game mounting instructions for mounting a second game into the gaming machine memory by utilizing a second executable space or sufficient other memory to receive and temporarily store software code of the second game while the software code of the first game is being executed in the first executable space;

automatically mounting the second game into the gaming machine memory in response to said game mounting instructions;

wherein the mounting of the second game occurs during runtime of the gaming machine;

wherein mounting includes expanding all directories contained within a game, comparing the directories and their contents with trusted gaming information, and loading the expanded directories and contents thereof into the gaming machine memory;

receiving game removal instructions for removing the first game from the gaming machine memory;

automatically removing a first portion of components associated with the first game from the gaming machine memory in response to said game removal instructions, wherein the removing of the first portion of components occurs during runtime of the gaming machine; and

retaining a second portion of components associated with the first game in the gaming machine memory after the removal of the first portion of components, wherein the second portion of components is used by the second game.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second games are concurrently mounted into the gaming machine memory.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving game unmounting instructions for unmounting the first game from the gaming machine memory; and

automatically unmounting the first game from the gaming machine memory in response to said game unmounting instructions;

wherein the unmounting of the first game occurs during runtime of the gaming machine.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

automatically removing the second portion of components from the gaming machine memory in response to determining that the second portion of components is no longer needed, wherein the removing of the second portion of components occurs during runtime of the gaming machine.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the runtime of the gaming machine occurs after an operating system of the gaming machine has been booted up.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

dynamically mounting the second game without rebooting the operating system.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the gaming machine includes non-volatile memory for storing accumulated system data, the method further comprising:

mounting the second game while preserving a first portion of accumulated system data stored in the non-volatile memory.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the first portion of accumulated system data includes gaming machine accounting data tracked over a first time period.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the first portion of accumulated system data includes meter data tracked over a first time period.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining, before the mounting of said second game, whether the second game is compatible with a first portion of system components currently installed at the gaming machine.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the first portion of system components includes the gaming machine operating system.

47. The method of claim 1, wherein the second portion of components comprises a presentation component associated with the first game, and the presentation component is retained for subsequent use by the second game.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the presentation component is used by the second game to display graphical game play history.

12. A method for facilitating dynamic configuration of a gaming machine configured to receive a wager on a game of chance, the method comprising:

mounting a first game into memory of the gaming machine during runtime of the gaming machine, wherein runtime of the gaming machine includes enabling executing and processing of software code of the first game by utilizing a first executable space configured to store the software code of the first game being executed;

wherein mounting includes expanding all directories contained within a game, comparing the directories and their contents with trusted gaming information, and loading the expanded directories and contents thereof into the gaming machine memory;

receiving game unmounting instructions for unmounting the first game from the gaming machine memory

automatically removing a first portion of components associated with the first game from the gaming machine memory in response to said game unmounting instructions, wherein the removing of the first portion of components occurs during runtime of the gaming machine; and

retaining a second portion of components associated with the first game in the gaming machine memory after the removal of the first portion of components; and

automatically removing the second portion of components from the gaming machine memory when a new game has been successfully mounted in the gaming machine.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the unmounting of the first game occurs during runtime of the gaming machine.

14. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

receiving game mounting instructions for mounting a second game into the gaming machine memory; and

automatically mounting the second game into the gaming machine memory in response to said game mounting instructions by utilizing a second executable space or sufficient other memory to receive and temporarily store software code of the second game while the software code of the first game is being executed in the first executable space;

wherein the mounting of the second game occurs during runtime of the gaming machine.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the runtime of the gaming machine occurs after an operating system of the gaming machine has been booted up.

16. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

dynamically unmounting the first game without rebooting the operating system.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein the gaming machine includes non-volatile memory for storing accumulated system data, the method further comprising:

unmounting the first game while preserving a first portion of accumulated system data stored in the non-volatile memory.

49. The method of claim 12, wherein the gaming machine is located in a jurisdiction in which historical data relating to removed games is not required to be retained once a new game has been mounted in the gaming machine, and the second portion of components comprises historical data relating to the first game.

18. A method for facilitating dynamic configuration of a gaming machine configured to receive a wager on a game of chance, the method comprising:

downloading a first image from a remote server, wherein the first image includes a first portion of update information to be used for updating system-related information stored at the gaming machine;

storing the downloaded first image in memory at the gaming machine;

dynamically updating, during runtime of the gaming machine, a first portion of the system-related information using the first portion of update information wherein runtime of the gaming machine includes enabling executing and processing of software code of a first game by utilizing a first executable space configured to store the software code of the first game being executed,

wherein the first game is mounted in the memory, and the first game uses a first portion of components included in the first image;

receiving game mounting instructions for mounting a second game into the memory by utilizing a second executable space or sufficient other memory to receive and temporarily store software code of the second game while the software code of the first game is being executed in the first executable space;

automatically mounting the second game into the memory in response to said game mounting instructions;

wherein the mounting of the second game occurs during runtime of the gaming machine;

wherein mounting includes expanding all directories contained within a game, comparing the directories and their contents with trusted gaming information, and loading the expanded directories and contents thereof into the gaming machine memory;

receiving game removal instructions for removing the first game from the memory;

automatically removing the first portion of components included in the first image from the memory in response to said game removal instructions, wherein the removing of the first portion of components occurs during runtime of the gaming machine; and

retaining a second portion of components included in the first image in the memory after the removal of the first portion of components, wherein the second portion of components is used by the second game.

19. The method of claim 18:

wherein the first portion of system-related information is used for initializing at least one system-related component of the gaming machine; and

wherein the updating of the first portion of system-related information results in an update of the at least one system-related component.

20. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

authenticating the first image during runtime of the gaming machine.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein the runtime of the gaming machine occurs after an operating system of the gaming machine has been booted up.

22. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

detecting a first error relating to the downloaded first image;

determining that a cause of the first error relates to an incomplete transaction associated with the downloaded first image; and

automatically initiating first error handling response in response to the detecting of the first error, wherein the first error handling response includes initiating completion of the of the incomplete transaction associated with the downloaded first image.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the error occurred as a result of a temporary power loss at the gaming machine.

24. A gaming machine configured to receive a wager on a game of chance, the gaming machine comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one interface configured to provide a communication link to at least one other network device in the data network; and

memory;

the gaming machine being configured to;

receive game mounting instructions to mount a first game into memory of the gaming machine during runtime of the gaming machine, wherein runtime of the gaming machine includes enabling executing and processing of software code of the first game by utilizing a first executable space configured to store the software code of the first game being executed;

wherein game mounting instructions include expanding all directories contained within a game, comparing the directories and their contents with trusted gaming information, and loading the expanded directories and contents thereof into the gaming machine memory;

mount a first game into memory of the gaming machine during runtime of the gaming machine;

receive game mounting instructions for mounting a second game into the gaming machine memory by utilizing a second executable space or sufficient other memory to receive and temporarily store software code of the second game while the software code of the first game is being executed in the first executable space; and

automatically mount the second game into the gaming machine memory in response to said game mounting instructions;

wherein the mounting of the second game occurs during runtime of the gaming machine;

receive game removal instructions for removing the first game from the gaming machine memory; and

automatically remove a first portion of components associated with the first game from the gaming machine memory in response to said game removal instructions, wherein the removing of the first game occurs during runtime of the gaming machine; and

retain a second portion of components associated with the first game in the gaming machine memory after the removal of the first portion of components, wherein the second portion of components is used by the second game.

25. The gaming machine of claim 24 wherein the first and second games are concurrently mounted into the gaming machine memory.

26. The gaming machine of claim 24 being further configured to:

receive game unmounting instructions for unmounting the first game from the gaming machine memory; and

automatically unmount the first game from the gaming machine memory in response to said game unmounting instructions;

wherein the unmounting of the first game occurs during runtime of the gaming machine.

27. The gaming machine of claim 24 being further configured to:

automatically remove the second portion of components from the gaming machine memory in response to determining that the second portion of components is no longer needed, wherein the removing of the second portion of components occurs during runtime of the gaming machine.

28. The gaming machine of claim 24 wherein the runtime of the gaming machine occurs after an operating system of the gaming machine has been booted up.

29. The gaming machine of claim 24 being further configured to:

dynamically mount the second game without rebooting the operating system.

30. The gaming machine of claim 24 wherein the gaming machine includes non-volatile memory for storing accumulated system data, the gaming machine being further configured to:

mount the second game while preserving a first portion of accumulated system data stored in the non-volatile memory.

31. The gaming machine of claim 30 wherein the first portion of accumulated system data includes gaming machine accounting data tracked over a first time period.

32. The gaming machine of claim 30 wherein the first portion of accumulated system data includes meter data tracked over a first time period.

33. The gaming machine of claim 24 being further configured to:

determine, before the mounting of said second game, whether the second game is compatible with a first portion of system components currently installed at the gaming machine.

34. The gaming machine of claim 33 wherein the first portion of system components includes the gaming machine operating system.

35. A gaming machine configured to receive a wager on a game of chance, the gaming machine comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one interface configured or designed to provide a communication link to at least one other network device in the data network; and

memory;

the gaming machine being configured or designed to;

receive game mounting instructions to mount a first game into memory of the gaming machine during runtime of the gaming machine, wherein runtime of the gaming machine includes enabling executing and processing of software code of the first game by utilizing a first executable space configured to store the software code of the first game being executed;

wherein game mounting instructions include expanding all directories contained within a game, comparing the directories and their contents with trusted gaming information, and loading the expanded directories and contents thereof into the gaming machine memory;

receive game mounting instructions to mount a second game into the gaming machine memory by utilizing a second executable space or sufficient other memory to receive and temporarily store software code of the second game while the software code of the first game is being executed in the first executable space;

automatically mount the second game into the gaming machine memory in response to the game mounting instructions;

receive game unmounting instructions for unmounting the first game from the gaming machine memory;

automatically remove a first portion of components associated with the first game from the gaming machine memory in response to said game unmounting instructions, wherein the removal of the first portion of components occurs during runtime of the gaming machine; and

retain a second portion of components associated with the first game in the gaming machine memory after the removal of the first portion of components; and

remove the second portion of components from the gaming machine memory when u new the second game has been successfully mounted in the gaming machine, wherein the second portion of components comprises a presentation component associated with the first game, and the presentation component is retained for subsequent use by the second game.

36. The gaming machine of claim 35 wherein the unmounting of the first game occurs during runtime of the gaming machine.

37. The gaming machine of claim 35 being further configured to:

receive game mounting instructions for mounting the second game into the gaming machine memory; and

automatically mount the second game into the gaming machine memory in response to said game mounting instructions;

wherein the mounting of the second game occurs during runtime of the gaming machine.

38. The gaming machine of claim 35 wherein the runtime of the gaming machine occurs after an operating system of the gaming machine has been booted up.

39. The gaming machine of claim 35 being further configured to:

dynamically unmount the first game without rebooting the operating system.

40. The gaming machine of claim 35 wherein the gaming machine includes non-volatile memory for storing accumulated system data, the gaming machine being further configured to:

unmount the first game while preserving a first portion of accumulated system data stored in the non-volatile memory.

41. A gaming machine configured to receive a wager on a game of chance, the gaming machine comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one interface configured or designed to provide a communication link to at least one other network device in the data network; and

memory;

the gaming machine being configured or designed to;

download a first image from a remote server, wherein the first image includes a first portion of update information to be used for updating system-related information stored at the gaming machine;

store the downloaded first image in memory at the gaming machine; and

dynamically update, during runtime of the gaming machine, a first portion of the system-related information using the first portion of update information,

wherein a first game is mounted in the memory according to game mounting instructions previously received during runtime of the gaming machine, and the first game uses a first portion of components included in the first image, wherein runtime of the gaming machine includes enabling executing and processing of software code of a game by utilizing a first executable space configured to store the software code of the game being executed;

wherein game mounting instructions include expanding all directories contained within a game, comparing the directories and their contents with trusted gaming information, and loading the expanded directories and contents thereof into the gaming machine memory;

receive game mounting instructions for mounting a second game into the memory by utilizing a second executable space or sufficient other memory to receive and temporarily store software code of the second game while the software code of the first game is being executed in the first executable space;

automatically mount the second game into the memory in response to said game mounting instructions;

wherein the second game is mounted during runtime of the gaming machine;

receive game removal instructions for removing the first game from the memory;

automatically remove the first portion of components included in the first image from the memory in response to said game removal instructions, wherein the removal of the first portion of components occurs during runtime of the gaming machine; and

retain a second portion of components included in the first image in the memory after the removal of the first portion of components, wherein the second portion of components is used by the second game.

42. The gaming machine of claim 41:

wherein the first portion of system-related information is used for initializing at least one system-related component of the gaming machine; and

wherein the updating of the first portion of system-related information results in an update of the at least one system-related component.

43. The gaming machine of claim 41 being further configured to:

authenticate the first image during runtime of the gaming machine.

44. The gaming machine of claim 41 wherein the runtime of the gaming machine occurs after an operating system of the gaming machine has been booted up.

45. The gaming machine of claim 41 being further configured or designed to:

detect a first error relating to the downloaded first image;

determine that a cause of the first error relates to an incomplete transaction associated with the downloaded first image; and

automatically initiate first error handling response in response to the detecting of the first error, wherein the first error handling response includes initiating completion of the of the incomplete transaction associated with the downloaded first image.

46. The gaming machine of claim 45 wherein the error occurred as a result of a temporary power loss at the gaming machine.

50. A method of downloading program images to an electronic gaming machine, the method comprising:

receiving game mounting instructions for mounting a game into a memory of the gaming machine;

downloading an image from a remote server in response to receiving the game mounting instructions;

storing the image in a group of files comprising at least a first file and a second file, wherein at least a portion of the image is stored in each of the files in the group, and the files are stored on a file system of a storage medium;

wherein the group of files is associated with a first storage area in the file system;

moving the group of files from the first storage area to a second storage area in the file system;

authenticating the group of files;

moving the group of files from the second storage area to a third storage area in the file system in response to successful authentication of the files;

receiving the image of the game from the group of files; and

mounting the image of the game in the memory of the gaming machine during runtime of the gaming machine, wherein runtime of the gaming machine includes enabling executing and processing of software code of the game by utilizing a first executable space configured to store the software code of the first game being executed;

wherein mounting includes expanding all directories contained within a game, comparing the directories and their contents with trusted gaming information, and loading the expanded directories and contents thereof into the gaming machine memory;

receiving game mounting instructions for mounting a second game into the gaming machine memory by utilizing a second executable space or sufficient other memory to receive and temporarily store software code of the second game while the software code of the first game is being executed in the first executable space; and

automatically mounting the second game into the gaming machine memory in response to the game mounting instructions.

51. The method of claim 50, further comprising:

verifying the integrity of the first, second, and third storage areas; and

repairing at least one broken file pair when at least one broken file pair is found in at least one of the storage areas.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein verifying comprises searching for a first paired file from the group of files in one of the storage areas, wherein at least one second paired file from the group of files is located in a storage area different from that of the first paired file, and

repairing the at least one broken file pair comprises moving the first paired file to the storage area in which the second paired file is stored.

53. The method of claim 50, wherein the first, second, and third storage areas comprise folders in the file system.