Linking Component Emulates Protocols for Cashless Gaming
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Cash-only gaming machines are cumbersome and costly to maintain, hinder player mobility, and lack the ability to provide additional services like player tracking, while retrofitting machines for cashless gaming and tracking requires expensive software updates and re-certification, disrupting game performance and player experience.
Innovation Solution
A linking component is introduced between the game processor and peripheral devices in gaming machines, emulating communication protocols to enable cashless gaming and additional services like player tracking without modifying the game software or processor, allowing seamless transition to cashless play and service provision.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If cashless gaming and player tracking services are added to existing gaming machines, then additional services and cashless gaming capability are provided, but software modification and re-certification are required which increases cost and complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a linking component as an intermediary device that interfaces between the game processor and peripheral devices. This mediator translates communication protocols and enables cashless gaming functionality without requiring modifications to the sealed game processor or its certified software, thus resolving the contradiction between adding adaptability and avoiding complexity increase
2Adaptability or versatility
If game software is modified to provide cashless gaming, then cashless gaming is enabled, but game performance may change requiring re-certification
Solution Approach 1:
The linking component acts as a buffer between the game processor and external systems, translating cashless gaming transactions into formats the original game software can process. This ensures the sealed, certified game software runs unchanged, maintaining reliable and consistent game performance while still enabling cashless gaming through the intermediary layer
3Reliability
If cash-only gaming machines are used, then game performance is stable and certified, but maintenance costs are high and player mobility is hindered
Solution Approach 1:
The linking component enables cashless gaming functionality to be added to existing machines without modifying the certified game processor, thus maintaining stable and certified game performance. Simultaneously, it reduces operational costs by eliminating the need for physical cash handling while preserving the reliability of the original game system
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus consistent with the present invention provide additional services, such as cashless gaming and player tracking, at a gaming machine. One such gaming machine includes a game processor, a peripheral device, and a linking component connected between the game processor and the peripheral device. The linking component emulates or relays communication signals sent between the game processor and the peripheral device using the communication protocol used for communication between the game processor and the peripheral device.