Gaming machine power fail enhancement
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A meter sub-assembly for a gaming system, the meter sub-assembly including:
- at least one electromechanical meter which records data relating to transactions occurring in the gaming system;
a local power supply unit associated with said at least one electromechanical meter, the local power supply unit being powered by a power supply unit of the gaming machine and the local power supply unit providing sufficient hold-up time to enable said at least one electromechanical meter to complete a meter update data recording operation in the event of a power failure; and
a power fail detect/warning means for detecting failure of the power supply unit of the gaming machine and for providing a warning of predefined duration, the duration of the warning being reduced to that of a single memory write by allowing the meter update to fail, wherein when power is restored, any failed meter updates are detected and undone.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An operating system for a gaming system includes a data producer which generates non-reproducible data relating to a transaction carried out in respect of the gaming system. A data consumer is in communication with the data producer for storing data relating to the non-reproducible data. A game controller is in communication with the data producer and the data consumer which effects communications between the data producer and the data consumer by means of a transaction-based protocol. The invention also relates to the use of data storage device for a gaming system that includes a local power supply.
48 Citations
17 Claims
-
1. A meter sub-assembly for a gaming system, the meter sub-assembly including:
-
at least one electromechanical meter which records data relating to transactions occurring in the gaming system; a local power supply unit associated with said at least one electromechanical meter, the local power supply unit being powered by a power supply unit of the gaming machine and the local power supply unit providing sufficient hold-up time to enable said at least one electromechanical meter to complete a meter update data recording operation in the event of a power failure; and a power fail detect/warning means for detecting failure of the power supply unit of the gaming machine and for providing a warning of predefined duration, the duration of the warning being reduced to that of a single memory write by allowing the meter update to fail, wherein when power is restored, any failed meter updates are detected and undone. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A method of updating data on meter RAM of a gaming system, the method including:
-
creating a backup copy of original meter data and storing the backup copy in a predetermined, second data storage location of a memory device of the meter; receiving new meter data and overwriting the original meter data at an original, first data storage location of the memory device; and prior to implementing the action of overwriting the data, changing the status of a status indicator, wherein a failure of a power supply associated with the meter is detected and a warning of predefined duration is then provided, the duration of the warning being reduced to that of a single memory write by allowing the overwriting of the meter to fail, wherein when power is restored, any failed overwriting of the meter is detected and undone. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A data updating arrangement for meter RAM of a gaming system, the data updating arrangement including:
-
a memory device including a first data storage location for storing original meter data; and
a second data storage location for storing a backup copy of the original meter data and for enabling new meter data to be written to the first data storage location; andan update status indicator for indicating the status of updating data at the first data storage location, wherein the update status indicator works with the memory device to detect failure of a power supply associated with the memory device and to provide a warning of predefined duration, the duration of the warning being reduced to that of a single memory write by allowing the data update to fail, wherein when power is restored, any failed data updates are detected and undone. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
-
-
16. An electronic gaming machine which includes:
-
a game controller board including a game controller;
at least one peripheral device by means of which a game transaction is effected,said at least one peripheral device communicating with the game controller using a transaction-based protocol; and a data storage sub-assembly for storing data relating to said transaction, the data storage sub-assembly communicating with the peripheral device and the game controller by means of the transaction-based protocol, the data storage sub-assembly including a data store for storing data relating to said at least one peripheral device, and a dedicated controller for controlling operation of the data store, the data storage sub-assembly to include a local power supply which receives power from a main power supply of the gaming machine, wherein the local power supply communicates with the dedicated controller of the data storage sub-assembly to alert the controller of the data storage sub-assembly to a power fail event to enable the controller to effect recording of data during a hold-up time of the local power supply, the alert providing a warning of predefined duration, the duration of the warning to be reduced to a single memory write by allowing the meter update to fail, wherein when power is restored, any failed meter update is detected and undone. - View Dependent Claims (17)
-
Specification