Peripheral Management Device for Gaming Machine Virtualization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gaming machines face challenges in providing new services and attracting players due to regulatory, maintenance, and cost-related issues, limiting their ability to offer innovative gaming experiences.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that allows a gaming machine to communicate with a portable electronic device using a peripheral management device, enabling remote peripheral functionality and fund transfers, which extends the gaming environment to the player's device, allowing it to serve as a display, input, or storage, and facilitates seamless interaction with gaming machines without physical proximity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If new services are presented on gaming machines, then player attraction and gaming experience are improved, but cost and maintenance burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a peripheral management device as an intermediary between the gaming machine and peripheral devices. This mediator handles the complexity of managing multiple peripheral devices (displays, keypads, ticket printers) separately from the core gaming machine, allowing new services to be added through peripheral devices without increasing the complexity of the gaming machine itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the gaming environment into core gaming machine functions and peripheral device functions. The peripheral management device further segments the control and management of these peripherals, allowing independent updates and additions of services through peripheral devices without affecting the core gaming machine system.
2Ease of operation
If physical proximity to gaming machine is required, then device simplicity is maintained, but player freedom and accessibility are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The peripheral management device serves multiple functions: it manages local peripheral devices connected to the gaming machine, manages remote peripheral devices accessible via network, and coordinates between them. This multi-functionality allows players to access gaming services either locally or remotely through their portable devices, greatly enhancing accessibility without requiring fundamental changes to the gaming machine architecture.
3Adaptability or versatility
If remote peripheral devices are used, then player freedom is improved, but communication complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The peripheral management device acts as an intermediary that handles all communication complexity between the gaming machine, local peripherals, and remote peripherals. It receives commands from the gaming machine, determines whether to execute them locally or forward them to remote devices, and manages the communication protocols, thereby shielding the gaming machine from communication complexity while enabling location-flexible gaming.
4Reliability
If local peripheral devices are used, then system reliability is maintained, but operational flexibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically switches between local and remote peripheral device modes based on player needs and system state. The peripheral management device can route commands to local devices for reliable execution or to remote devices for location-flexible access, allowing the system to adapt its configuration dynamically while maintaining reliability through the coordinated management of both local and remote resources.
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, a peripheral management device may have a controller configured to communicate with a gaming machine and a portable electronic device. The controller may be configured to: (i) receive a peripheral data packet from a gaming machine processor, the peripheral data packet including at least one command; (ii) determine whether to process the peripheral data packet on at least one peripheral device of the gaming machine or at least one virtual peripheral device of the portable electronic device; (iii) generate an instructional data packet for the at least one virtual peripheral device if the peripheral data packet is determined to be processed on the at least one virtual peripheral device; and (iv) transmit the instructional data packet to the portable electronic device.