Wireless wagering system

• US 8,574,079 B2
• Filed: 11/13/2008
• Issued: 11/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Igt Canada Solutions Ulc (GTECH SpA)
• Original Assignee: Spielo International Canada ULC (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Russell, Patrick Gene
• Primary Examiner(s): Suhol, Dmitry
• Assistant Examiner(s): YEN, JASON TAHAI
• Application Number:
  US12/270,483
• Publication Number:
  US 20090163277A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,818 Days
• Field of Search: 463/20, 463 36- 37, 463/39, 463/25, 463/29, 200/310, 320/108, 342/734, 345/158, 345/168, 361/683, 455/522, 455572-573
• US Class Current: 463/39
• 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 17/3234 about the performance of a gaming system, e.g. revenue, diagnosis of the gaming system

Abstract

A wireless wagering system includes a wireless game control and a video wagering terminal. The wireless game control can include a button configured to receive game-play input from a game player, a battery configured to supply power to the wireless game control, and a first transceiver configured to transmit a master data packet from the wireless game control to a video wagering terminal, wherein the master data packet has a payload which includes information related to a voltage and a charging status of the battery.

Claims

1. A wireless wagering system, comprising:

a video wagering terminal, comprising;

a cradle configured to receive a wireless game control and provide a power transmission interface between the wireless game control and the video wagering terminal when the wireless game control is in the cradle, wherein the cradle is configured to;

receive the wireless game control without regard to a rotational orientation of the wireless game control, and

enable liquid spilt into the cradle to drain out of the cradle from a plurality of drainage openings;

a terminal transceiver configured to receive a master data packet from the wireless game control;

a power supply and battery-charging circuit configured to supply power to the wireless game control and charge the battery of the wireless game control through the power transmission interface when the wireless game control is in the cradle, wherein the power transmission interface is an inductive power transmission interface;

wherein the wireless game control comprises;

a button configured to receive game-play input from a game player;

a battery configured to supply power to the wireless game control;

a first transceiver configured to transmit the master data packet from the wireless game control to the video wagering terminal, wherein the master data packet has a payload which includes first information related to a voltage of the battery and second information indicating a charging status of the battery, wherein the information indicating a charging status of the battery is determined at least in part by a measurement of electric current coming into the battery.

2. The wireless wagering system of claim 1, wherein the wireless game control further comprises:

a first processor configured to monitor the battery and generate the information related to the voltage and charging status of the battery included in the master data packet.

3. The wireless wagering system of claim 1, the video wagering terminal further comprising:

a video display screen configured to provide information to the game player; and

a second processor configured to;

process the master data packet received from the wireless game control and generate the information for display to the game player on the video display screen, the generated information including;

a first indicator to be displayed at least when the wireless game control is not in the cradle, the first indicator displaying a representation of a charge remaining on the battery, wherein the second processor controls the generation of the first indicator in response to information in the master data packet related to the voltage of the battery; and

a second indicator to be displayed at least when the wireless game control is in the cradle, the second indicator displaying a representation of the charging status of the battery and being generated by the second processor based on the information in the master data packet related to the charging status of the battery.

4. The wireless wagering system of claim 3, wherein the first indicator includes a plurality of battery status indicator levels configured to indicate a plurality of different levels of charge remaining on the battery.

5. The wireless wagering system of claim 3, wherein the first indicator includes a message advising the game player to place the wireless game control in the cradle, the message being generated by the second processor in response to a determination, based on information in the master data packet, that the voltage of the battery has dropped below a predetermined level.

6. The wireless wagering system of claim 1, the wireless game control further comprising:

an analog-to-digital converter configured to convert an analog measurement of the voltage of the battery to a digital representation suitable for transmission as the information related to the voltage of the battery in the master data packet.

7. The wireless wagering system of claim 1, wherein the first processor is configured to initiate transmission of the master data packet upon:

receipt of every game-play input from the game player, and

periodically at the end of predetermined periodic time period.

8. The wireless wagering system of claim 1, wherein the first transceiver is configured to:

transmit the master data packet on a predetermined one of a plurality of RF channels;

encode the master data packet using a pseudo-random noise (PN) code;

generate a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) value for the master data packet using a CRC seed value; and

transmit the master data packet using a custom addressing protocol.

9. The wireless wagering system of claim 2, further comprising:

a speaker configured to generate an alarm;

a processor configured to monitor a measure of the distance of the wireless game control from the video wagering terminal and control the speaker to sound the alarm in response to the measure indicating the wireless game control is beyond a predetermined distance from the video gaming terminal, wherein the first transceiver is configured to send a master data packet to a second transceiver of the video wagering terminal, and receive a slave data packet from the second transceiver in response to the second transceiver receiving the master data packet and wherein the processor is configured to determine the distance measure based on not receiving the slave data packet within a predetermined elapsed time after sending the master data packet.

10. A wireless wagering system, comprising:

a wireless game control, comprising;

a button configured to receive game-play input from a game player, wherein the game-play input includes a sequence of a plurality of button-state transitions;

a first processor configured to monitor the game-play input and generate information related to a current button-state and information related to a current sum of the plurality of button-state transitions from a predetermined point in time, based on the game-play input; and

a first transceiver configured to transmit a master data packet from the wireless game control to a video wagering terminal, wherein the master data packet has a payload which includes the information related to the current button-state and the information related to the current sum of the plurality of button-state transitions from a predetermined point in time;

a second processor configured to receive the master data packet from the wireless game control and advance game-play according to the information related to the current button-state and the current sum of the plurality of button-state transitions;

wherein the video wagering terminal further comprising;

a cradle configured to receive the wireless game control, wherein the cradle is configured to receive the wireless game control without regard to a rotational orientation of the wireless game control, and enable liquid spilt into the cradle to drain out of the cradle from a plurality of drainage openings.

11. The wireless wagering system of claim 10, wherein the received game-play input includes a plurality of each of:

(i) a high-to-low button-state transition from an undepressed state to a depressed state, and

(ii) a low-to-high button-state transition from a depressed state to an undepressed state.

12. The wireless wagering system of claim 10, the wireless control device further comprising:

a case having;

a grip portion configured to be gripped by the hand of the game player,

a first end configured to connect to the button, and

a first length along a first longitudinal axis, intersecting the button, that is greater than a first width of the case perpendicular to the first longitudinal axis; and

a circuit board to which the first transceiver and the first processor are attached, the circuit board having a second length along a second longitudinal axis that is greater in magnitude than a second width of the circuit board perpendicular to the second longitudinal axis, wherein the second longitudinal axis also intersects the button and is parallel to the first longitudinal axis.

13. The wireless wagering system of claim 10, wherein the video wagering terminal comprises a current-limiting circuit configured to limit the current supplied by a power supply and charging circuit of the video wagering terminal in an event in which the cradle contains at least one of:

liquid, a coin, or an unintended foreign object other than the wireless game control.

14. The wireless wagering system of claim 10, wherein the video wagering terminal further comprises a second transceiver to receive the master data packet from the first transceiver.

15. The wireless wagering system of claim 10, wherein the information related to the current button-state is provided in a first byte of the master data packet and information indicating the current sum of the plurality of button-state transitions is provided in a second byte of the master data packet.

16. A wireless wagering system, comprising:

a wireless game control, comprising;

a button configured to receive game-play input from a game player;

a light-emitting diode (LED) configured to be selectively activated to back-light the button;

a first transceiver configured to receive a slave data packet from a video wagering terminal, wherein the slave data packet has a payload which includes information related to an activation status of the LED and an RF communication channel to be used by the first transceiver for communicating with the video wagering terminal;

a first processor configured to control the activation status of the LED and the communication channel used by the first transceiver in response to the information in the slave data packet;

a case having;

a grip portion configured to be gripped by the hand of the game player,

a first end configured to connect to the button, and

a first length along a first longitudinal axis that is greater than a first width of the case perpendicular to the first longitudinal axis, wherein the first longitudinal axis intersects the button; and

a circuit board to which the first transceiver and the first processor are attached, the circuit board having a second length along a second longitudinal axis that is greater in magnitude than a second width of the circuit board perpendicular to the second longitudinal axis, wherein the second longitudinal axis intersects the button and is parallel to the first longitudinal axis; and

a cradle configured to receive the wireless game control without regard to a rotational orientation of the wireless game control, and enable liquid spilt into the cradle to drain out of the cradle from a plurality of drainage openings.

17. The wireless wagering system of claim 16, further comprising:

the video wagering terminal, comprising;

a second transceiver configured to transmit the slave data packet to the first transceiver;

a second processor configured to;

determine whether the wireless game control is in the cradle;

generate information representing the activation status of the LED based on the determination of whether the wireless game control is in the cradle; and

control transmission of the slave data packet in response to the second transceiver receiving a master data packet.

18. The wireless wagering system of claim 17, wherein the second processor is configured to generate the information in the slave data packet related to the communication channel to be used by the first transceiver.

19. A wireless wagering system, comprising:

a wireless game control, comprising;

a button configured to receive game-play input from a game player;

a first transceiver configured to communicate with a video wagering terminal;

a speaker configured to generate an alarm at a predetermined volume;

a processor configured to monitor a measure of the distance of the wireless game control from the video wagering terminal and control the speaker to sound the alarm in response to the measure indicating the wireless game control is beyond a predetermined distance from the video gaming terminal, wherein the first transceiver is configured to send a master data packet to a second transceiver of the video wagering terminal, and receive a slave data packet from the second transceiver in response to the second transceiver receiving the master data packet and wherein the processor is configured to determine the distance measure based on not receiving the slave data packet within a predetermined elapsed time after sending the master data packet;

a cradle configured to receive the wireless game control without regard to a rotational orientation of the wireless game control, and enable liquid spilt into the cradle to drain out of the cradle from a plurality of drainage openings;

a second transceiver configured to communicate with the wireless game control; and

a power supply and battery charging circuit configured to supply power to the wireless game control and charge a battery of the wireless game control when the wireless game control is in the cradle.

20. The wireless wagering system of claim 19, wherein the first and second transceivers are configured to not successfully transmit master and slave data packets, respectively, beyond a predetermined distance.

21. The wireless wagering system of claim 20, wherein the predetermined distance is selected to represent the limit of the separation distance between the wireless game control and the video wagering terminal in which the wireless wagering system is functional to communicate game-play input from the wireless game control to the video wagering terminal.