Peripheral Update Peripheral for Wagering Game Firmware
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wagering game machine operators face laborious and expensive processes when manually updating new game content across multiple machines, leading to repetitive and uninteresting gaming experiences for players.
Innovation Solution
A peripheral update peripheral (PUP) is introduced to update one or more peripheral devices of a wagering game machine, facilitating firmware updates through communication over power lines, communication networks, or wireless interfaces, reducing the need for CPU involvement and enabling automatic recognition and connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual delivery of content to each wagering game machine is used, then game content can be updated, but the process becomes laborious and expensive when deploying to scores of machines
Solution Approach 1:
A peripheral update peripheral (PUP) is introduced as an intermediary device that automatically distributes game content to multiple wagering game machines. The PUP receives content from a content server and automatically transfers it to connected peripheral devices across numerous machines, eliminating the need for manual content delivery to each individual machine.
Solution Approach 2:
The peripheral update peripheral enables self-service content updates by automatically recognizing connected peripheral devices, retrieving appropriate content from servers, and transferring updates without human intervention. The system autonomously manages the entire content deployment process across multiple machines.
2Reliability
If CPU is involved in peripheral device communication, then data can be transferred, but the update process becomes more complex and disrupts ongoing games
Solution Approach 1:
The update function is extracted from the wagering game machine's CPU and relocated to a dedicated peripheral update peripheral. This separate device handles all communication with peripheral devices, content retrieval, and data transfer operations, allowing the game CPU to remain focused on running games without interruption or added complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is segmented into distinct functional components: the wagering game machine's CPU for game execution, the peripheral update peripheral for content management, and the peripheral devices for content storage. This segmentation allows independent operation of each component without mutual interference.
3Ease of operation
If automatic recognition and connection is implemented, then update process is simplified, but communication infrastructure must support power line or wireless interfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The peripheral update peripheral is designed with multi-functional communication capabilities, supporting multiple communication protocols including power line communication, wireless interfaces, and wired connections. This universality allows the system to adapt to different peripheral devices and communication environments without requiring separate specialized hardware for each connection type.
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a peripheral update device. The peripheral update device includes at least one interface adapted to communicatively connect to at least one peripheral device of a wagering game machine and to an update device, the at least one interface adapted to receive a firmware update from the update device for a peripheral device of the at least one peripheral device. The peripheral update device further includes a processor being communicatively connected to the at least one interface and adapted to receive the transmitted firmware update via the at least one interface and further adapted to apply the received firmware update to the peripheral device via the at least one interface.