Gaming machine power fail enhancement

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.

1 . An operating system for a gaming system, the operating system including: 
 a data producer which generates non-reproducible data relating to a transaction carried out in respect of the gaming system;    a data consumer in communication with the data producer for storing data relating to the non-reproducible data; and    a game controller 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.    
   
   
       2 . The operating system of  claim 1  in which the gaming system is a stand-alone gaming machine.  
   
   
       3 . The operating system of  claim 2  in which the data producer is a peripheral device of the gaming machine.  
   
   
       4 . The operating system of  claim 3  in which the peripheral device is selected from the non-exhaustive group of a bank note acceptor, a coin hopper, a coin acceptor, a printer, an electromechanical meter and combinations of the aforegoing.  
   
   
       5 . The operating system of  claim 1  in which the data producer includes a memory means in which the non-producible data, which arises from an event that has occurred at the data producer, are stored.  
   
   
       6 . The operating system of  claim 5  in which the non-reproducible data relating to the transaction are fed to the game controller as a transaction message.  
   
   
       7 . The operating system of  claim 6  in which the transaction message from the data producer includes transaction identification data which are unique to the transaction that has occurred at the data producer.  
   
   
       8 . The operating system of  claim 6  in which the transaction message includes data relating to an identity of the data producer.  
   
   
       9 . The operating system of  claim 1  in which the data consumer is meter random access memory (RAM) of the gaming machine.  
   
   
       10 . The operating system of  claim 9  in which the RAM forms part of a meter RAM controller board, the controller board including a transaction processor and a power status indicator.  
   
   
       11 . The operating system of  claim 10  in which the power status indicator forms part of a power supply unit of the meter RAM controller board.  
   
   
       12 . The operating system of  claim 9  in which the RAM includes multiple meter RAM chips for data redundancy.  
   
   
       13 . The operating system of  claim 1  in which the gaming system is a distributed gaming system comprising at least one gaming machine communicating with a server.  
   
   
       14 . The operating system of  claim 13  in which the data producer is a peripheral device of the at least one gaming machine.  
   
   
       15 . The operating system of  claim 14  in which the peripheral device is selected from the non-exhaustive group of a bank note acceptor, a coin hopper, a coin acceptor, a printer, an electromechanical meter and combinations of the aforegoing.  
   
   
       16 . The operating system of  claim 13  in which the data consumer and the game controller are constituted by the server.  
   
   
       17 . The operating system of  claim 16  in which the data consumer comprises a hard disk drive and associated software.  
   
   
       18 . The operating system of  claim 17  in which the data consumer further includes a power supply with a power status indicator.  
   
   
       19 . The operating system of  claim 1  in which the transaction-based protocol is a USB protocol.  
   
   
       20 . A method of operating a gaming system, the method including: 
 generating non-reproducible data relating to a transaction carried out in respect of the gaming system;    storing data relating to the non-reproducible data; and    using a transaction-based protocol in a game controller to effect communication between a data producer that generated the non-reproducible data and a data consumer in which the data relating to the non-reproducible data are stored.    
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 20  which includes, when an event occurs at the data producer, storing the non-reproducible data relating to the transaction associated with the event in a non-volatile memory of the data producer.  
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 21  which includes, when the event occurs, generating a transaction message at the data producer and supplying the transaction message to a game controller of the gaming system, the transaction message including a transaction-ID relating to an identity of the transaction and a producer-ID relating to the data producer of the gaming system at which the transaction occurred.  
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 22  which includes, when the transaction message is received by the game controller, updating a memory of the game controller.  
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 23  in which the data consumer is a meter of the gaming system and in which the method includes using the game controller to calculate new meter values for the data consumer.  
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 24  which includes creating a new transaction message, incorporating the same transaction-ID and producer-ID, at the game controller and forwarding the new transaction message to the data consumer to update meter values in the data consumer.  
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 25  which includes, after processing of the message, returning an acknowledgement message, with the same transaction-ID and producer-ID, from the data consumer to the game controller.  
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 26  which includes passing the transaction-ID and the producer-ID in the acknowledgment message from the game controller to the data producer at which the event occurred.  
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 27  which includes deleting the original non-reproducible data from a memory means of the data producer when the data producer receives the acknowledgment with the same transaction-ID from the game controller.  
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 20  which includes using a USB protocol as the transaction-based protocol.  
   
   
       30 . A data storage sub-assembly for a gaming system, the sub-assembly including: 
 a data store for storing data relating to non-reproducible data relating to a peripheral device of the gaming system;    a transaction processor for processing the non-reproducible data relating to the peripheral device of the gaming system; and    a power status indicator for providing an indication of power status to the transaction processor.    
   
   
       31 . The sub-assembly of  claim 30  which includes a local power supply unit which receives power from a main power supply unit of the gaming system, the local power supply unit including the power status indicator for providing data relating to power status to the transaction processor.  
   
   
       32 . The sub-assembly of  claim 30  in which the data relating to the non-reproducible data includes information relating to an unique transaction identification means and an unique peripheral device identifier and, when the transaction processor receives a message relating to a transaction effected by or at the peripheral device is received the transaction processor uses the information to determine if that message had previously been received and the data contained in that message stored.  
   
   
       33 . 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; and    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 data recording operation in the event of a power failure.    
   
   
       34 . The sub-assembly of  claim 33  in which a plurality of electromechanical meters are mounted on a board with the local power supply unit, a power fail detect/warning means, a meter update means, a memory means and a communication means for communicating with a controller of the gaming system.  
   
   
       35 . The sub-assembly of  claim 34  in which the meter update means is operable to vary the sequence of power to the meters during the hold-up time.  
   
   
       36 . The sub-assembly of  claim 35  in which the meter update means is a microcontroller.  
   
   
       37 . The sub-assembly of  claim 34  in which the communication means makes use of a universal serial bus (USB) interface.  
   
   
       38 . The sub-assembly of  claim 33  in which an alteration in state of the at least one electromechanical meter when it records data relating to transactions occurring in the gaming system constitutes non-reproducible data to be stored in a data consumer of the gaming system.  
   
   
       39 . 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.    
   
   
       40 . The method of  claim 39  in which the status indicator is a flag and in which the method includes examining the status of the flag every time power is restored after a power failure to determine if the power failure interrupted a meter update.  
   
   
       41 . The method of  claim 39  which includes, if there has been an interruption to the meter update, using the contents at the second data storage location to restore the original meter data.  
   
   
       42 . The method of  claim 41  which includes writing the data at the second data storage location to the first data storage location to overwrite any data at the first data storage location potentially corrupted due to the power failure.  
   
   
       43 . The method of  claim 40  which includes, once an updated transaction has been received by the memory device and a backup copy has been made, changing the flat status to “updating”.  
   
   
       44 . The method of  claim 43  which includes processing the transaction and, when complete, changing the flag status to “not updating”.  
   
   
       45 . 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; and    an update status indicator for indicating the status of updating data at the first data storage location.    
   
   
       46 . The data updating arrangement of  claim 45  in which the update status indicator is in the form of an update status flag which indicates the status of a meter update at the first data storage location.  
   
   
       47 . The data updating arrangement of  claim 46  in which the status flag takes one of two states, either “updating” or “not updating”.  
   
   
       48 . 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 by means of 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.    
   
   
       49 . The gaming machine of  claim 48  in which the data storage sub-assembly includes a local power supply which receives power from a main power supply of the gaming machine.  
   
   
       50 . The gaming machine of  claim 49  in which the local power supply communicates with the dedicated controller of the data storage sub-assembly to alert the controller of the data storage means to a power fail event to enable the controller to effect recording of data during a hold-up time of the local power supply.  
   
   
       51 . The gaming machine of  claim 48  in which the transaction-based protocol is a USB protocol.