Wireless Fund Transfer for Handheld Gaming Machines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Handheld gaming machines face challenges in accepting funds due to bulk and weight issues with bill acceptors, and existing methods lack security and transparency in digital funding, risking abuse and loss.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a remote server-based player account system that establishes a wireless link with handheld gaming machines, allowing fund transfers through portable data units, ticket scanning, and secure authorization, without physically storing funds on the device, ensuring secure and transparent transactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a bill acceptor/validator is incorporated in the handheld gaming machine, then the machine can accept funds directly, but the bulk and weight of the machine increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bill acceptor/validator is extracted from the handheld gaming machine and placed in a remote location. The machine now accepts funds through wireless communication with a remote server that hosts the bill acceptor, eliminating the physical bulk and weight while maintaining fund acceptance capability.
Solution Approach 2:
A remote server acts as an intermediary between the handheld gaming machine and the bill acceptor/validator. The server receives physical currency, validates it, and credits the player's account wirelessly, mediating the fund transfer without requiring the validator to be physically present in the portable device.
2Ease of operation
If funds are stored in digital form on the handheld gaming machine, then the machine can operate portably, but the risk of abuse or trickery and loss of funds increases
Solution Approach 1:
The actual fund storage is extracted from the handheld gaming machine and relocated to a secure remote server. The machine only holds a wireless communication interface and game software, while all monetary values are maintained in a secure digital ledger on the remote system, reducing security risks associated with local storage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous feedback mechanisms where the remote server monitors and verifies all fund transactions in real-time. Every credit, debit, and balance update is communicated between the server and machine, ensuring transparency and preventing unauthorized modifications or abuse.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for adding funds to a handheld gaming machine. The system includes a portable digital wallet that wirelessly communicates with a handheld gaming machine (“handheld”). The digital wallet stores an amount of funds or funds associated with a remotely stored player account, and is used by the player to add credits to a handheld. The credit meter may be stored remotely, though the player perceives that the funds are actually being transferred via the digital wallet. Other funding techniques include a kiosk that accepts cash or credit/debit cards and dispenses tickets or other media that encodes information representing an amount of funds. The player uses this media to add credits to the handheld. The media may be player-dependent such that the player's identity is somehow linked to the media or it may be player-agnostic such that the player's identity is not linked to the funds associated with the media.