Video lottery system with improved site controller and validation unit
First Claim
1. A video lottery system for playing electronic games on multiple video lottery terminals, said system comprising:
- a central computer, located at a central site, for managing said video lottery system;
at least one gaming site remotely located from said central computer, said gaming site including;
a plurality of video lottery terminals for playing electronic games and for generating cash tickets representing an amount won during said games, said terminals being separated into at least two groups, each group including at least one terminal;
multiple ring devices for controlling and managing said terminals, said multiple ring devices including one site controller for each group of terminals, anda communications network for connecting said site controllers to one another and for connecting each site controller to a corresponding group of said terminals, each site controller including means for authorizing terminals within said corresponding group to generate said cash tickets, each site controller including means for validating every cash ticket generated within said video lottery system.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A video lottery system for playing electronic games on multiple video lottery terminals. The system includes a central computer at a central site and at least one gaming site remotely located from the central computer. The gaming site includes a plurality of video lottery terminals which play games and generate cash tickets representing an amount won during game play. The terminals are organized into groups, each of which is managed by a site controller connected thereto. The site controllers communicate with one another via a site management ring. A unique communications protocol used on the management ring allows multiple types of logical devices (also called ring devices) to communicate with one another along the ring. Each site controller authorizes terminals within a corresponding group of terminals to generate cash tickets and is capable of validating every cash ticket generated within the video lottery system. The site controllers emulate several logical devices including a cash ticket validation console, a terminal polling device and a ring issuing device. The site controllers and terminals communicate via encrypted messages for security purposes. This encryption system uses multiple encryption and decryption keys at each terminal and site controller. The site controllers perform triple redundancy information storage to ensure the integrity of the ticketing information therein.
949 Citations
59 Claims
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1. A video lottery system for playing electronic games on multiple video lottery terminals, said system comprising:
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a central computer, located at a central site, for managing said video lottery system; at least one gaming site remotely located from said central computer, said gaming site including; a plurality of video lottery terminals for playing electronic games and for generating cash tickets representing an amount won during said games, said terminals being separated into at least two groups, each group including at least one terminal; multiple ring devices for controlling and managing said terminals, said multiple ring devices including one site controller for each group of terminals, and a communications network for connecting said site controllers to one another and for connecting each site controller to a corresponding group of said terminals, each site controller including means for authorizing terminals within said corresponding group to generate said cash tickets, each site controller including means for validating every cash ticket generated within said video lottery system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A communications protocol within a video lottery system for playing electronic games upon multiple video lottery terminals at a gaming site, said gaming site including multiple types of logical devices, connected to said terminals, for managing and obtaining gaming information from said terminals and from other logical devices, said logical devices being connected to a site management ring and communicating with one another along said management ring, said communications protocol comprising:
multiple sets of data packets used for communication between said logical devices along said site management ring, each set of data packets corresponding to one type of logical device, each data packet being transmitted by a source logical device to a destination logical device, each data packet including a header segment uniquely identifying source and destination logical devices, and including a data segment containing information for the destination logical device, said header segment having a uniform format for all logical devices, said data field having a different format for each logical device. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 55, 56, 57)
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50. A video lottery site controller for managing and controlling video lottery terminals playing electronic games at a gaming site, said terminals generating a cash ticket, representing an amount won during said games, only after receiving an authorization number from said site controller, said site controller comprising:
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a CPU for controlling said site controller, terminal input means for receiving commands from said terminals, said commands including a cash ticket request from a first terminal seeking authorization to generate a cash ticket, means for generating a random security code, authorization means for generating an authorization number comprising said random security code, and terminal output means for transmitting commands to said terminals, said commands including a cash ticket response to said first terminal, said cash ticket response comprising said authorization number and authorizing said first terminal to generate said cash ticket. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 58, 59)
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Specification