Universal game server

• US 8,147,334 B2
• Filed: 09/04/2003
• Issued: 04/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Gatto, Jean-Marie, Brunet De Courssou, Thierry, Beney, Pierre-Jean
• Primary Examiner(s): MCCLELLAN, JAMES S
• Application Number:
  US10/656,631
• Publication Number:
  US 20050054445A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,134 Days
• Field of Search: 463/22, 463/24, 463/42, 463/40, 463/41, 463/29, 707/10, 709/203, 709/219, 709/226, 709/238, 709230-235, 718/104, 718/105
• US Class Current: 463/40
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3223 Architectural aspects of a gaming system, e.g. internal configuration, master/slave, wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3225 Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3241 Security aspects of a gaming system, e.g. detecting cheating, device integrity, surveillance computer security G06F21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3244 Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes

Abstract

A trusted disaster tolerant system architecture supporting concurrently a number of distributed online gaming operations such as slip-scan lottery, video lottery, fixed odd betting terminals, internet gaming, and interactive TV. A personality front end resolves the peculiarities of the various client systems before submitting the relevant transactional payload to a trusted transactional cache. A universal game random generator may be used either at the central game server or at each individual gaming machine, thus conferring a significant trust to the entire estate of gaming machines fitted with the game random generator. An auditable trusted log allows to rapidly resolve any dispute. The instant-draw model and the differed-draw model are supported. The system may advantageously be used in casino environments.

Claims

1. An online gaming system, comprising:

at least two central servers, each of the at least two servers being coupled to a communication network, and

at least one gaming machine coupled to the at least two central servers through the communication network in a client-server configuration in which each of the at least one gaming machine is a client to the at least two central servers, each of the at least one gaming machine being configured to play at least one game and to carry out a game transaction for each game played and to commit each game transaction to each of the at least two central servers by sending a separate instance of a single transaction packet from the at least one gaming machine to each of the at least two central servers, each separate instance of the single transaction packet sent to each of the at least two central servers including an identical inbound game payload wherein each of the at least two central servers, upon receipt of the inbound game payload from the gaming machine having sent the instance of the transaction packet, is configured to send a single outbound game payload to the gaming machine having sent the instance of the transaction packet, the outbound game payload enabling the gaming machine having sent the instance of the transaction packet to complete the game transaction and wherein the at least one gaming machine is configured such that a first arriving outbound payload received by the at least one gaming machine is effective to complete the game transaction, irrespective of when a second later arriving outbound payload is received by the at least one gaming machine.

2. The online gaming system according to claim 1, wherein each of the at least two central servers returns a game transaction commit acknowledgment to the at least one gaming machine.

3. The online gaming system according to claim 2, wherein the at least one gaming machine is configured to acknowledge to a player a validity of the game transaction upon receipt of at least one game transaction commit acknowledgment during a predetermined timeout period following the commit of the game transaction to each of the at least two central servers.

4. The online gaming system according to claim 1, wherein the inbound game payload includes at least one of a gaming machine ID, a user/player ID, a transaction GUID, a gaming machine originating/return address, a game ID, a game bet, and an amount wagered.

5. The online gaming system according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one gaming machine is configured to be an active participant in a fault tolerance of the online gaming system.

6. The online gaming system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one gaming machine is configured to record a synchronization log that includes identifiers of any transactions that were not acknowledged by a non-responding one of the at least two central servers after a predetermined timeout, the synchronization log being used to subsequently send the unacknowledged transactions to the non-responding one of the at least two central servers.

7. The online gaming system according to claim 6, wherein the non-responding one of the at least two central servers is configured to be synchronized by receiving the unacknowledged transactions directly from the at least one gaming machine subsequent to communication being re-established therewith.

8. The online gaming system according to claim 1, wherein the communication network is the Internet and wherein a protocol to transport a payload of each game transaction is UDP.

9. The online gaming system according to claim 1, wherein the at least two central servers and the at least one gaming machine are configured to support instant-draw and deferred-draw of random events.

10. The online gaming system according to claim 1, wherein the at least two central servers are geographically remote from one another.

11. The online gaming system according to claim 1, wherein the at least two central servers further comprise at least one of a trusted transactional cache, a business server and a logistic support server.

12. The online gaming system of claim 1 wherein the at least one gaming machine is configured to initiate and terminate the game transaction.

13. The online gaming system of claim 1 wherein, as between the at least one gaming machine and the at least two central servers, the at least one gaming machine is configured as sole master of the game transaction.

14. The online gaming system of claim 1 wherein, as between the at least one gaming machine and the at least two central servers, only the at least one gaming machine is configured for recovery from network communications errors occurring during the game transaction.

15. The online gaming system according to claim 1, wherein each of the at least two central servers includes a synchronization engine and wherein the non-responding one of the at least two central servers is configured to be synchronized by receiving the unacknowledged transactions directly from the synchronization engine of a responding one of the at least two central servers.

16. An online gaming system, comprising:

at least two central servers, each of the at least two servers being coupled to a communication network, each of the at least two central servers including a synchronization engine and

at least one gaming machine coupled to the communication network, each of the at least one gaming machine being configured to play at least one game and to carry out a game transaction for each game played and to commit each game transaction to each of the at least two central servers by sending a separate instance of a single transaction packet from the at least one gaming machine to each of the at least two central servers, each separate instance of the single transaction packet sent to each of the at least two central servers including an identical inbound game payload, wherein each of the two central servers are configured such that any transaction packet that is not acknowledged by a non-responding one of the at least two central servers is sent directly from the synchronization engine of a responding one of the at least two central servers to the synchronization engine of the non-responding central server.

17. The online gaming system according to claim 16, wherein each of the at least two central servers returns a game transaction commit acknowledgment to the at least one gaming machine.

18. The online gaming system according to claim 17, wherein the at least one gaming machine is configured to acknowledge to a player a validity of the game transaction upon receipt of a first arriving game transaction commit acknowledgment during a predetermined timeout period following the commit of the game transaction to each of the at least two central servers.

19. The online gaming system according to claim 16, wherein the game payload includes at least one of a gaming machine ID, a user/player ID, a transaction GUID, a gaming machine originating/return address, a game ID, a game bet, and an amount wagered.

20. The online gaming system according to claim 16, wherein the at least one gaming machine is configured to be an active participant in a fault tolerance of the online gaming system.

21. The online gaming system according to claim 16, wherein the non-responding one of the at least two central servers is configured to be synchronized by receiving the unacknowledged transactions directly from the at least one gaming machine subsequent to communication being re-established therewith.

22. The online gaming system according to claim 16, wherein the communication network is the Internet and wherein a protocol to transport a payload of each game transaction is UDP.

23. The online gaming system according to claim 16, wherein the at least two central servers the at least one gaming machine are configured to support instant-draw and deferred-draw of random events.

24. The online gaming system according to claim 16, wherein the at least two central servers are geographically remote from one another.

25. The online gaming system according to claim 16, wherein each of the at least two central servers comprises a trusted transactional cache, the trusted transactional cache being configured to process each committed game transaction received directly and independently from each of the at least one gaming machine, and to provide real time persistent storage and logging of aspects of each committed game transaction.

26. The online gaming system according to claim 16, wherein the at least two central servers further comprise at least one of a trusted transactional cache, a business server and a logistic support server.

27. The online gaming system of claim 16, wherein the at least one gaming machine is configured to initiate and terminate the game transaction.

28. The online gaming system of claim 16, wherein, as between the at least one gaming machine and the at least two central servers, the at least one gaming machine is configured as sole master of the game transaction.

29. The online gaming system of claim 16, wherein, as between the at least one gaming machine and the at least two central servers, only the at least one gaming machine is configured for recovery from network communications errors occurring during the game transaction.

30. A computer-implemented method of carrying out a game transaction, comprising the steps of:

providing at least two central servers;

providing a gaming machine configured to enable a game to be played;

coupling the gaming machine and each of the at least two provided central servers to a communication network in a client-server configuration in which the gaming machine is a client to the at least two central servers;

carrying out, in the gaming machine, a game transaction for each game played;

committing each game transaction to each of the at least two central servers by sending a separate instance of a single transaction packet from the at least one gaming machine to each of the at least two central servers, each separate instance of the single transaction packet sent to each of the at least two central servers including an identical inbound game payload;

returning, by each of the at least two central servers, a single outbound game payload to the gaming machine upon receipt of the inbound game payload from the gaming machine having sent the instance of the transaction packet, and

completing the game transaction, by the gaming machine, upon receipt of a first in time received outbound game payload from one of the at least two central server, irrespective of when a later in time outbound game payload is received from another one or ones of the at least two central servers.

31. A computer-implemented method of carrying out a game transaction, comprising the steps of:

providing at least two central servers;

providing a gaming machine configured to enable a game to be played;

coupling the gaming machine and each of the at least two provided central servers to a communication network

carrying out a game transaction for each game played;

committing each game transaction to each of the at least two central servers by sending, by the gaming machine, a separate instance of a single transaction packet from the gaming machine to each of the at least two central servers, each separate instance of the single transaction packet sent from the gaming machine to each of the at least two central servers including an identical inbound game payload;

completing the game transaction, by the gaming machine, upon receipt of a first in time received outbound game payload from one of the at least two central server, irrespective of when a later in time outbound game payload is received from another one or ones of the at least two central servers, and

recording, in the gaming machine, a synchronization log that includes identifiers of any transactions that were not acknowledged by a non-responding one of the at least two central servers after a predetermined timeout, the synchronization log being configured to enable the gaming machine to subsequently send the unacknowledged transactions to the non-responding one of the at least two central servers.

32. An online gaming system, comprising:

at least two central servers, each of the at least two servers being coupled to a communication network, and

at least one gaming machine coupled to the at least two central servers through the communication network in a client-server configuration in which each of the at least one gaming machine is a client to the at least two central servers, each of the at least one gaming machine being configured to play at least one game and to carry out a game transaction for each game played and to commit each game transaction to each of the at least two central servers by sending a separate instance of a single transaction packet from the at least one gaming machine to each of the at least two central servers, each separate instance of the single transaction packet sent to each of the at least two central servers including an identical inbound game payload wherein each of the at least two central servers, upon receipt of the inbound game payload from the gaming machine having sent the instance of the transaction packet, is configured to send a single outbound game payload to the gaming machine having sent the instance of the transaction packet, the outbound game payload enabling the gaming machine having sent the instance of the transaction packet to complete the game transaction and wherein the at least one gaming machine is configured such that a first arriving outbound payload received by the at least one gaming machine is effective to complete the game transaction, irrespective of when a second later arriving outbound payload is received by the at least one gaming machine, each of the at least two central servers comprising a trusted transactional cache that is configured to process each committed game transaction received directly and independently from each of the at least one gaming machine, and to provide real time persistent storage and logging of aspects of each committed game transaction.