Playing Card Shuffling With Independent CPUs for Arrangement Security

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional card shuffling systems are vulnerable to unauthorized access, allowing information about shuffled card arrangements to be stolen and potentially leading to cheating, as they rely on a single CPU for generating random numerical values.

Innovation Solution

A system using multiple shuffling devices connected in series, each controlled by independent CPUs and random generators, shuffles cards using sets of random numerical values generated independently, making it difficult to identify the specific arrangement even if information is stolen.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a single CPU generates random numerical values for card shuffling, then the shuffling process is simple and efficient, but the system becomes vulnerable to unauthorized access and information leakage about card arrangements

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesecurity of card arrangement informationVSAvoidnumber of CPUs and shuffling devices
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system divides the single CPU into multiple independent CPUs (first CPU, second CPU, etc.), each generating random numerical values independently. This segmentation ensures that even if one CPU is compromised, the card arrangement information remains secure because the random values from other CPUs cannot be used to determine the final arrangement.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

A card arrangement determination unit acts as an intermediary that receives random numerical values from multiple independent CPUs and combines them to determine the final card arrangement. This intermediary layer ensures that no single CPU has direct access to the complete arrangement information, enhancing security while maintaining system functionality.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If multiple shuffling devices with independent CPUs are used to enhance security, then the security against unauthorized access improves, but the device complexity and cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveresistance to unauthorized accessVSAvoidnumber of shuffling devices and controllers
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system employs multiple shuffling devices (first shuffling device, second shuffling device, etc.), each with its own independent CPU and random generator. This segmentation distributes the security risk across multiple independent components, making it significantly harder for unauthorized access to compromise the entire system.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Multiple shuffling devices are combined to work together on a single deck of cards. Each device contributes its independently generated random numerical values to determine the final card arrangement, merging their computational resources while maintaining independent security boundaries.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

3Object-affected harmful factors

If random numerical values are stolen from a single CPU, then the card arrangement can be easily identified and cheating becomes possible, but using multiple CPUs makes it difficult to identify which specific arrangement corresponds to stolen information

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedifficulty of identifying stolen card arrangementVSAvoidnumber of independent random generators
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The random value generation is segmented across multiple independent CPUs, each producing a portion of the information needed to determine card arrangement. If random values are stolen from one CPU, the attacker cannot reconstruct the complete arrangement because the other CPUs' random values are required and remain secure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system converts the potential harm of random value theft into a benefit by using multiple independent random generators. The theft of random values from one CPU actually enhances security because the combination of multiple independent random value sets makes it computationally infeasible to determine the final card arrangement even with partial information.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #22Blessing in disguise (Convert harm into benefit)

Data Source

PatentEP4162991B1Shuffling method of playing cards
Publication Date: 2025.07.16 ANGEL PLAYING CARDS CO LTD
  • EP4162991B1 patent drawingFigure 1(A)
  • EP4162991B1 patent drawingFigure 1(B)
  • EP4162991B1 patent drawingFigure 2

AI summary

A shuffling system of the present invention includes multiple shuffling devices which are connected in series to one another, and multiple CPUs which are independent from one another, and are connected with the respective multiple shuffling devices, in which each of the multiple CPUs is used to shuffle the cards across the multiple shuffling devices, so that the cards are arranged randomly, and further, even if the information about the shuffle in each shuffling device is stolen due to an unauthorized access to the multiple CPUs, or the like, it becomes difficult to identify shuffled cards to which the stolen information is allocated in all the shuffling devices, and therefore the possibility that the arrangement of the shuffled cards is recognized is reduced.