Executing multiple applications and their variations in computing environments

• US 8,556,698 B2
• Filed: 08/01/2007
• Issued: 10/15/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Cockerille, Warner R., Rowe, Richard E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Suhol, Dmitry
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hsu, Ryan
• Application Number:
  US11/832,138
• Publication Number:
  US 20070270212A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,267 Days
• Field of Search: 463/16, 463/20, 463/25, 463/29
• US Class Current: 463/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/658 Incremental updates; Differential updates
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/445 Program loading or initiating bootstrapping G06F9/4401; security arrangements for program loading or initiating G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3225 Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users

Abstract

Techniques for execution of multiple application programs and their variations are disclosed. One or more individual application program components that are determined to be already stored and/or loaded into memory are not loaded into memory again, thereby allowing the associated application program to be executed without unnecessarily reloading the one or more individual application program components into memory. Generally, by keeping track and/or predicting of the application components loaded into memory, it can be determined whether to load or unload a particular application program component. In addition, data that can readily identify the application components that are not already into memory can be provided as differential application data for loading various application programs and their variations to facilitate switching between and/or concurrently running multiple application programs and their variations.

Claims

1. A gaming machine, comprising:

a primary memory of the gaming machine operable to load a first gaming application program and a second gaming application program for execution by one or more processors, the first gaming application program and the gaming second application program being different application programs;

a non-volatile memory of the gaming machine configured to store the first gaming application program including one or more first gaming application program components and the second gaming application program including one or more second gaming application program components; and

the one or more processors of the gaming machine configured to;

cause one or more first gaming application program components to load into the primary memory from the non-volatile memory so that the first gaming application program can be executed by the one or more processors, wherein each of the one or more first gaming application program components is associated with a different portion of the first gaming application,

identify the second gaming application program that includes one or more second gaming application program components required to be loaded in the primary memory for execution of the second gaming application program by the one or more processors, wherein each of the one or more second gaming application program components is associated with a different portion of the second gaming application,

determine whether each one of the one or more second gaming application program components of the second gaming application program are loaded in the primary memory by comparing the one or more first gaming application program components of the first gaming application program loaded in the primary memory with the one or more second gaming application program components of the second gaming application program so that the second gaming application program can be executed by the one or more processors, and

cause at least one gaming application program component of the one or more second gaming application program components of the second gaming application program not to be loaded into the primary memory from the non-volatile memory when it is determined that the at least one gaming application program component is already loaded into the primary memory and consequently available for execution by the one or more processors.

2. A method for loading an application program stored in a nonvolatile memory of a gaming machine into a primary memory of the gaming machine for execution by the gaming machine operating in a gaming environment, comprising:

identifying the gaming application program that includes one or more gaming application program components required to be loaded in the primary memory for execution of the gaming application program by one or more processors of the gaming machine, wherein each of the one or more gaming application program components is associated with a different portion of the gaming application program;

determining whether each one of the one or more gaming application program components of the gaming application program are loaded in the primary memory so that the gaming application program can be executed by the one or more processors by comparing the one or more gaming application program components of the gaming application program with one or more another gaming application program components of an another gaming application program that was previously executed by the one or more processors, the gaming application program and the another gaming application program being different application programs; and

not loading at least one gaming application program component of the one or more gaming application program components of the gaming application program into the primary memory from the non-volatile memory when the determining determines that the at least one gaming application program component is already loaded into the primary memory and consequently available for execution by the one or more processors.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining of whether each one of the one or more gaming application components of the gaming application program are loaded in the primary memory includes determining whether the one or more gaming application program components of the gaming application program are stored in the primary memory as a result of loading the another gaming application program.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining of whether each one of the one or more gaming application components of the gaming application program are loaded in the primary memory includes one or more of the following:

determining whether each one of the one or more gaming application program components have been loaded into the primary memory as a result of loading the gaming another application program;

determining whether each one of the one or more gaming application program components have been loaded into the primary memory as a result of a previous loading of the gaming application program; and

determining whether each one of the one or more gaming application program components have been loaded into the primary memory as a result of another one or more gaming application programs being previously executed prior to execution of the gaming application program.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining of whether each one of the one or more gaming application components of the gaming application program are loaded in the primary memory is performed based on differential application data that indicates whether one or more gaming application program components of the gaming application program is to be loaded in the primary memory for execution by the one or more processors.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the differential application data identifies one or more gaming application program components of the gaming application program that have been already loaded in the primary memory as a result of execution of one or more other gaming application programs.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the differential application data identifies one or more gaming application program components that the gaming application program has in common with another gaming application program that has been loaded in the primary memory.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the differential application data identifies one or more gaming application components for unloading from the primary memory or overwriting in the primary memory.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the differential application data describes the differences between the gaming application program and one or more other gaming applications programs with respect to their individual gaming application program components.

10. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining the differential application data.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining of whether each one of the one or more gaming application components of the gaming application program are loaded in the primary memory is performed based on differential application data that identifies one or more gaming application components of the gaming application program to be unloaded from the primary memory for execution by the one or more processors.

12. The method of claim 2, wherein the gaming application program pertains to a game.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the game is a game of chance.

14. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining of whether each one of the one or more gaming application components of the gaming application program are loaded in the primary memory is performed at runtime during the execution of one or more other gaming application programs.

15. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining of whether each one of the one or more gaming application components of the gaming application program arc loaded in the primary memory includes comparing the one or more gaming application components with components of one or more other gaming application programs.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the comparing is performed during the runtime of the one or more other gaming application programs.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

generating differential application data based on the comparing of the one or more gaming application components with components of one or more other gaming application programs; and

storing the differential application data for subsequent execution.

18. A method for loading an application program stored in a non-volatile memory of a gaming machine into a primary memory of the gaming machine for execution by the gaming machine, wherein the gaming machine is operating in a gaming environment, comprising:

identifying the gaming application program that includes one or more gaming application program components required to be loaded in the primary memory for execution of the gaming application program by one or more microprocessors of the gaming machine, wherein each of the one or more gaming application program components is associated with a different portion of the gaming application program;

determining the difference between the one or more gaming application program components of the gaming application program and one or more another gaming application program components of an another gaming application program that previously executed or currently being executed by the one or more microprocessors to determine whether at least one of the one or more gaming application program components of the gaming application program need not be loaded into the primary memory for execution by the one or more microprocessors, the gaming application program and the another gaming application program being different gaming application programs;

not loading the at least one gaming application program component of the one or more gaming application program components of the gaming application program into the primary memory from the non-volatile memory when the determining determines not to load the at least one gaming application program component into the primary memory.

19. A method for executing a gaming application program stored in a non-volatile memory of a gaming machine and loaded into a primary memory of the gaming machine for execution by the gaming machine, comprising:

identifying the gaming application program for execution by the gaming machine, wherein the gaming application program includes a plurality of individual gaming application components, wherein each of the plurality of individual gaming application components is associated with a different portion of the gaming application, and wherein execution of the gaming application program requires that the plurality of individual gaming application components be loaded into the primary memory from the non-volatile memory;

determining, based on another gaming application program that was previously executed, differential application data that identifies one or more of the plurality of individual gaming application components of the gaming application program that are loaded into the primary memory as a result of execution of the another gaming application program, the another gaming application program and the gaming application program being different gaming application programs;

determining based on the differential application data whether at least one of the one or more individual gaming application components is loaded into the primary memory and consequently need not be loaded into the primary memory again in order to execute the gaming application program;

causing at least one individual gaming application component of the gaming application program not to be loaded into the primary memory when the determining determines that the at least one of the one or more individual gaming application component is already loaded into the primary memory; and

executing the gaming application program without loading the at least one individual gaming application component when the determining determines that the at least one individual gaming application program is loaded into the primary memory.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the differential application data includes a loading counter that provides a current loading status for the plurality of individual gaming application components of the gaming application or an indication as to whether to load one or more of said plurality of individual gaming application components of the gaming application.

21. A gaming machine configured to provide multiple games for one or more players, comprising:

a primary memory operable to load a first gaming program and a second gaming program for execution by one or more processors of the gaming machine;

a non-volatile memory configured to store the first gaming program including one or more first gaming program components and the second gaming program including one or more second gaming program components, wherein each of the one or more first gaming program components is associated with a different portion of the first gaming program, wherein each of the one or more second gaming program components is associated with a different portion of the second gaming program, and wherein the first gaming program and the second gaming program are different gaming programs; and

the one or more processors configured to;

cause the one or more first gaming program components of the first gaming program to load into the primary memory from the non-volatile memory so that first gaming program can be executed by the one or more processors,

identify the second gaming program for execution by the one or more processors, wherein execution of the second gaming program requires that the one or more second gaming components be stored into the primary memory for execution by the one or more processors,

determine differential data indicating one or more of the first gaming program components that are stored in the primary memory to be used for execution by the one or more processors of the second gaming program,

determine based on the differential data whether at least one of the one or more first gaming components that corresponds to at least one of the one or more second gaming components is loaded into the primary memory and consequently the at least one of the one or more second gaming components does not need to be loaded into the primary memory in order to execute the second gaming program,

cause at least one second gaming program component of the second gaming program not to be loaded into the primary memory when the determining determines that at least one of the one or more first gaming components that corresponds to the at least one of the one or more second gaming program components is already loaded into the primary memory, and

executing the second gaming program without loading the at least one second gaming component when the determining determines that at least one of the one or more first gaming components that corresponds to the at least one second gaming program component is loaded into the primary memory.

22. A gaming machine implemented method for executing multiple gaming application programs, comprising:

identifying, with one or more processors of the gaming machine, a gaming application program for execution, wherein execution of the gaming application program requires that one or more gaming application program components of the gaming application program be loaded in a primary memory of the gaming machine, wherein each of the one or more gaming application program components is associated with a different portion of the gaming application program;

determining with the one or more processors whether differential application data is available for the gaming application program, wherein the differential application data describes differences between the gaming application program components of the gaming application program and gaming application program components of another gaming application program that are known to be loaded in the primary memory, the gaming application program and the another gaming application program being different gaming application programs; and

loading, based on the differential application data, the gaming application program into the primary memory when the determining determines that the differential application data is available; and

executing with the one or more processors the gaming application program after the loading.

23. The gaming machine implemented method of claim 22, further comprising:

generating with the one or more processors differential application data that describes the differences between the gaming application program components of the gaming application and the gaming application program components that are known to be loaded in the primary memory.

24. The gaming machine implemented method of claim 23, further comprising:

generating with the one or more processors differential application data that describes the differences between the gaming application program components of the gaming application and the gaming application program components of the another gaming application program.

25. The gaming machine implemented method of claim 24, wherein the another gaming application program has been executed prior to execution of the gaming application program or the another gaming application program is to be executed concurrently with the gaming application program.

26. The gaming machine implemented method of claim 23,

wherein the differential application data identifies the one or more gaming application program components of the gaming application program that are known to be loaded in the primary memory as a result of execution or loading of the another gaming application program that was previously executed or being currently executed, and

further comprising not loading the one or more gaming application program components that are known to be loaded in the primary memory.

27. A gaming machine implemented method as recited in claim 22, wherein the differential application data identifies one or more gaming application program components of the gaming application program for loading into the primary memory.

28. The gaming machine implemented method of claim 22, further comprising:

determining whether it would be efficient to load the gaming application program selectively based on the differential application data when the determining determines that the differential application data is available; and

loading all of the gaming application program components of the gaming application program when the determining determines that it would not be efficient to load the gaming application program selectively based on the differential application data.

29. The gaming machine implemented method of claim 22,

wherein the gaming application program is packaged as a gaming application package, and

wherein the loading of all of the gaming application components loads the gaming application package in its entirety.

30. A non-transitory computer readable medium including computer program code for loading an application program into a primary memory for execution by a gaming machine operating in a gaming environment, comprising:

computer program code for identifying the gaming application program that includes one or more gaming application program components required to be loaded in the primary memory for execution of the gaming application program, wherein each of the one or more gaming application program components is associated with a different portion of the gaming application program;

computer program code for determining whether each one of the one or more gaming application program components of the gaming application program are loaded in the primary memory so that the gaming application program can be executed by the gaming machine by comparing the one or more gaming application program components of the gaming application program with one or more another gaming application program components of an another gaming application program that was previously executed by the computing system, the gaming application program and the another gaming application program being different gaming application programs; and

computer program code for not loading at least one gaming application program component of the one or more gaming application program components of the gaming application program into the primary memory when the determining determines that the at least one gaming application program component is loaded into the primary memory and consequently available for execution of the gaming application program.

31. A non-transitory computer readable medium including computer program code for providing multiple games on a gaming machine for play by one or more players, comprising:

computer program code for identifying a gaming program for execution by the gaming machine, wherein the gaming program includes a plurality of individual gaming components, wherein each of the plurality of individual gaming components is associated with a different portion of the gaming application, and wherein execution of the gaming program requires that the plurality of individual gaming components be loaded into a primary memory of the gaming machine for execution by the gaming machine;

computer program code for determining, based on another gaming program that was previously executed, differential data that can identify one or more of the plurality of individual gaming components of the gaming program which are loaded into the primary memory of the gaming machine as a result of execution of the another gaming program, the another gaming program and the gaming program being different gaming programs;

computer program code for determining based on the differential data whether at least one of the plurality of the individual gaming program components is loaded into the primary memory of the gaming machine; and

computer program code for causing at least one individual gaming component of the gaming program not to be loaded into the primary memory of the gaming machine when the determining determines that the at least one individual gaming program component is already loaded into the primary memory, thereby allowing the gaming machine to execute the gaming program without reloading the at least one individual gaming program component into the primary memory.