Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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MUI TI~DIA INTERACTIVE BETTING Gl~ TER15INaL
The present invention relates to betting game terminals
for games quch as lottery, lotto, totalizator or other
games, and more particularly relatQ~ to tQrminals
S permitting playing betting games in an instantaneous
manner. ~-
The games are authorized by the State ina3much as the
latter exert~ thereon an absolute control owing to the fact
that the wager~ are centralized or centralizable. -~
For thi~ purpo~e, the game terminals are usually part
of a betting game system for taking bets comprising a
network of game ~erminals placed on premises frequented by
betting game players who dQposit at thesQ centres betting
slips filled out by them and accompanied by the payments of
sums of money corresponding to the betting wagers.
In return, they receivQ a receipt that they keep until
the drawing.
The terminals are eiJcher connected through a
communication network to a central processing ~y~tem or a
server centre, or they stand alone.
~ eret~fore, the game player had to wait a certain
period of timQ until the date of the drawing to know the
result of his game.
Further, any game for which the game player used a game
terMinal required hereto~ore that the game player fill in a
game ~lip and receive a receipt, re~ulting in a large
con~umption o~ paper.
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Among the known game terminals there exi~it devices
employing a video monitor which display~ ~upierimposed video
planes the corresponding data of which are ~tored in
different memory area~.
The~e variou~ plane~ are for example:
a fixed plane having a window di~placeable on X and Y
axe~ relative to thi~ plane;
a plane in which per~onage~ move about;
a fixed plane placed in front of the preceding two
10 planeq.
Generally, the~e images are m~rely drawn and animated
image~.
In another known arrangement, the video image~ are
~tored in miemory area~ corre~ponding, a~ in the preceding
ca~e, to different di~play plane~ on the monitor and they
are tran~mitted to the di~play device via an appropriate
interface circuit.
In storage means ~uch a~ a di~k, the images are stored
in the compres~ed or noncompres~ed form.
For their display, the image file~ are read on the
di~k, then ~tored in a me ry o~ a card a~Yociated with a
video monitor, through a central proce~ing unit which
deco~pre~e3 them upon the reading thereof.
~he decompre~ed image~ are then transmitted to the -
25 di~play monitor by mean~ o~ an appropriate circui~. -
Such an arrangement permit~ a good definition of the
image but it require~ a large memory capacity for the
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storage of the images which renders this arrangement
costly .
It is moreover known to control by mean¢~ of a plurality
of video 3ignal ~ources the di3play of image¢~ on a monitor
¢craen by the in~etting of these ~ource3.
An object of the invention i-~ to provide a betting game
terminal which permit¢3 the user¢~ to play in an
instantaneous manner.
Another object of the invention is to provide a betting
game terminal which permits a considerable reduction in the
amount of paper used.
A further object of the invention is to provide an
interactive gamQ terminal which attract¢¢ players in that it
permits them to amu3e them~elves when filling in theix game
slip¢3.
The invention therefore provide¢3 a betting gamR
terminal for taking b¢2ts compri¢3ing at least one video
monitor with which are a~ociated means for i~suing
receipt~ against payment of a wager and ~alidation of a
game by the player on the monitor, at least one memo~y for
receiving at least image data, at lea¢~t one cen~ral uni~
for proce¢3sing game applications which may be selected,
corre~ponding operation program~, and mean¢3 for ~electing
game application~, characterized in that the mem~ry i~ a
single memory ¢3pace for the storage o~¢ compressed data of
images, program¢~, game applications, and in that the
terminal f¢urther comprise3 an acce3¢~ controller having a
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section adapted to ~elect the data stored in the memory
spaae and to ~witch the data to mean~ for demultiplexing
the image data, in turn connected to real-time image data
decompressing mean~, connected to image data proce~ing
means, multiplexing and/or mixing means being interpo~ed
between the video monitor and said image data processing
mean~, the acce3s controller further comprising a section
for controlling the multiplexing and~or mixing mean~..
A better understanding of the invention will be had
from the following description which i~ given solely by way
of example with reference to the accompanying drawing~, in
which:
Fig. 1 is a block diagram o~ a gam~ terminal according
to the invention;
Fig. 2 i~. a block diagram of an alternative embodiment
of the game terminal shown in Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 i~ a block diagram of another alternative -
embodiment of the game terminal according to the invention;
Fig. 4 is a more detailed logic diagram illu~trating
the various functions of the gamQ ~erminal according to the
invention, and
F~g. 5 is a block diagram corre~.ponding to the logic
diagram shown in Fig. 4. ~-
An object o~ the invention i~ to provide a betting game
terminal comprising a video di3play device controlled by
mæan~ for producing a succe~.sion oi image ~equences
resulting from camera ~hot~ recon~tituting reality while
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introducing sequences having a random character in this
succe~sion of sequences.
The impression of reality is ob~ained with the aid of
sub-a~semblies of images and ~ound~ coming from real chots
and real sounds which become interleaved and/or ~ucceed one
another.
The reconstitution i~ achieved by the fact that the
~ucces~ion of sequence~ of images and ~ounds produce a
~ingle ~equence the ~ight of which give~ the impre~ion of
reality.
The random character, which may moreover be
interactive, i5 obtained by the fact that the sequQnces of
images and sounds may be combined infinitely, thereby
producing pseudo-real sequence~ by acting on certain
parameters.
Among the~e sequences, ~ome may be selected outside the
control of the player, which gives the random character to
the pre3ented sequences of images and sounds.
Another object of the invention is to permit obtaining
combination~ of natural images and computer-generated
images.
The betting game terminal for taking bet~ ~hown in Fig.
1 mainly comprises a circuit card 1 having a memory 2
con~tituted for example by a Fla~h memory and/or a DRAM for
the ~torage of compressed images and connected via a bus 3
to a cen~ral proce3~ing unit ~or CPU) 4 which comprise3 a
memory area 5 ~or the storage o~ the application~ to be
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carried out by the terminal and a memory area 6 for the
~torage of the operation program o~ the terminal. The
central proce~ing unit 4 i~ of the DOS or OS di~k
operating type of ~y~tem.
A receipt i~uing mean~ 4a is associated with the
central proces~ing unit 4.
The memory 2 of the card 1 i~ connected to a real-time
i ge and sound data decompressing unit 7 which in turn is
connected by its output to a multiplexing unit 8 for image
insetting and ~ound mi~ing.
The latter include~ an output connected to a video
monitor 9 and an output connected to a ~ound reproducing
device 10.
~ his card is completed by a circuit 11 connected
between the memory 2 and the multiplexing circuit 8 for the
purpo~e of tran~mitting thereto computer-generated image
data to b~ combined with image data coming from camera
shots .
The monitor 3creen i9 a~ociated with a touch-~en~itive
keyboard 12 connected to the central proces~ing unit 4.
Other ergonomic selecting mQans adapted to thi~ type of
application may al~o be employed.
The terminal who~e circuit i~ ~hown in Fig. 2 also
compri~e~ a Fla~h memory and a DRAM 2 for the storage of
compr~s~ed image and sound data.
A~ it~ output, the memory 2 i~ connected to a data
decompre~ing unit 7 which in turn is connected to a
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multiplexing unit 8 controlling a display monitor 9 and a
sound reproducing device lO.
The memory 2 is connected via a bus to the central
processing unit 4 which also controls the decompressing and
multiplexing units 7 and 8 and processes the in~tructions
coming ~rom the touch-sensitive screen 12.
Receipt issuing mean~ 4a are also associated with the
central unit 4.
This circuit differs from that shown in Fig. 1 in that
the DRAM memory 2a of the me ry 2 is connected to a CD-ROM
memory 13 for the storage of the compressed data.
The memory 2 of thi~ arrangement is considered as a
virtual disk seen by the central processing unit 4 and
con~equently as being part of the me ry of the central
proce~sing unit, and aq a memory ~een by the decompre~ing
unit 7.
The circuit of the terminal ~hown in Fig. 3 mainly
differs from the circuit ~hown in Fig. 1 by the fact that
it~ memory 2 ha~ a virtual area i4 for the ~torage of i ge
and sound data sharQd with a memory area 15 of the central
processing unit 4, and a management circuit 16 having a
double acce~ interpo~ed between the CPU 4 and the memory 2
on one hand and between the memory 2 and the decompressing
circuit 7 on the other hand.
Thi~ arrangement ensure~ a rapid ~low of data between
th~ video memory 2 and the multiplexing unit 8 ~hown in
heavy line in Fig. 3 and a controlled flow o~ in~truction~
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on one hand between the memory 2 and the central proces~ing
unit 4 and on the other hand between the latter and the
decompre~sing circuit 7 and the multiplexing unit 8 ~hown
in double line in Fig. 3.
There will now be described in more detail the logic
diagram o~ the interactive betting game terminal for taking
bet~ according to the invention ~hown in Fig. 4.
This ~tructural block diagram must be read from the
csntre indicating the general function o~ the de~cribed
device toward the periphery ~y succe~ive concentric layer~
which give more and m~re detailed indication~ of the - --
structure of the device. --
The terminal repre~ented in thi~ way compri~es a memory --
space 20 for the ~torage of image, ~ound and instruction
15 data. -~
This memory qpace compri~es a Flash memory and/or a ,~-
~tatic or dynamic RAM and/or a ROM and/or a disk mQmory. ~--
A~ociated with thi~ memory ~pace 20 i3 an acce3s
controller 21 which may be con~tituted by a microproce~sor,
by a cabled logic or by a combination o~ ~uch arrangement~
and which comprise3 a section 22 controlling direct acces~
to a CD-ROM, a section 23 controlling access to a disk, a
~ection 25 con~rolling acce~s ko image data proce~ing
means, and a section 26 controlling access to ~ound data
proce~ing mQans.
The ~ection~ 25 and 26 controlling acce~s to the video
and ~ound data processing mean~ o~ the acces~ controller 21
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are connected respectively to a video demultiplexor 27 and
to a sound data demultiplexor 28.
The video demultiplexor 27 is connected to a real-time
decompre~ing unit 30 which i~ in turn connected to
S circuits 31 for processing video data 1 to n coming from
camera ~hot~ for the purpose of di~playing different plane~
of images con~tituting scene~ to be represented on the
monitor~, and to circuit~ 32 for proce~ing computer-
generated video data 1 to n or videographic adaptors for
the purpo~e of combininq them in corre~ponding image plane~
with video data coming from real camera shot~. Connected
to the proce~ing circuit~ 31, 32 i~ a video ~ignal
multiplexor 33 at the output~ o~ which axe connected
digital-to-analog converter~ 34 connected to a~ many video
monitors 35 as the terminal has screen~
The sound ~ignal demultiplexor 28 i~ connected to a
real-time decompre~ing unit 28a connected to circuit~ 36
for proce~sing ~ound data 1 to n o~ corre~ponding recorded
~ound ~ources and circuit~ 37 ~or proce3~ing computer-
generated sound data of a plurality of ~ource~ 1 to n.
~ he proce~ing circuit~ 36, 37 are connected to anaudio signal multiplexor 38 which i~ in turn connected to
digital-to-analog converters 39 the number of which i~
equal to the number of sound reproducing device~ 40 the
te~minal po~se~e~.
The acce~ controlling ~ection 22 i~ connected to a CD-
RO~ reader 42.
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The acce~s control section 23 i~ connected to a disk
reader 43.
The acce~ controller 21 further compri~es a section 44
controlling and demultiplexing program and application~
data which, a~ indicated by the arrow 45, en~ure~ the
control o~ the other sections 22, 25, 26 of the acce~s
controller 21 and that of the multiplexor~ 33 and 38 of the
image and ~ound data.
A~ociated with the section 44 controlling the program
and applications data is a bus arbitration circuit 46
connected to a central proces~ing unit 47.
In accordance with needs, a plurality of central units
~uch a~ the unit 47 may be connected to an arbitration bus
46.
La~tly, the device ~hown in Fig. 4 comprises an
exten~ion area 48 adapted to receive an additional
proces~ing and acce3~ control device.
Ths item~ of information ~or storage in the memory
space 20 are pre~ented coded in the form of a chain
compo~ed of a plurality of data fields.
~ ach ~ield corresponding to a type of data is of the
type predefinable by either a header or an associated tag.
Certain ~ields are compres~ed in accordance with
different proce~se~ which may be predictive, adaptive or
otherwi~e.
A~ mQn~ioned be~ore, data are recognized and ~orted by
the acce~ controller 21 which may be a microprocessor or a
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programmed logic or a mixture of ~uch arrangement~.
The operation of the multimedia interactive terminal
just de~cribed will now be explained in the following
example with reference to the diagram of Fig. 4.
When ~witched on, the central proce~ing unit 47 is
initialized.
The terminal can lmmediately ~end out image~ to the
video monitor or nitors 35 ~ince the imageq are already
~tored in the memory space 20.
Indeed, by means of the invention, the tran~fer
operations between the disk and the memory of the terminal
are eliminated.
~he images taken from the memory space 20 simply pa~
through the real-time decompre~sion circuit 30 and are
in3tantaneou~1y tran~mitted to the monitors 35.
While the interactive terminal send~ the images to the
monitor~, the central processing unit 47 can interrogate
the memory 20 a~ a virtual di~k of the arbitration bu~
circuit 46 and load the programs, the data, the image~, the
~ound~ nece~sary for the application ~elected by the player
in it~ own memory for the purpo~e of proces ing them and
thereby ensuring the initialization of the terminal for the
purpo~e of carrying out thi~ application.
The central proce~ing unit 47 drive~ the decompre~ion
circuit~ 30 and the multiplexor 33, 38 for insetting the
image and mixing the ~ound according to the program of ~he
applica~ion.
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The touch-sensitive screen shown at 12 in Fig~. 1 to 3
i~ u~ed for creating the interactivity in each application
the instruction~ of which are contained in the memory ~pace
20. -- -
Fig. 5 -4how~ the details of the block diagram of the
betting game terminal for taking bet~ according to the
invention.
The elements of thi~ diagram which corre~pond to those -
of the logic diagram shown in Fig. 4 are de~ignated by the
same reference numeral~.
The memory space 20 i~ connected to an acce~ -
controlling logic 21 which corresponds to the acce~s
controller 21 of the diagram shown in Fig. 4 and deliver~ -
to the memory ~pace pointer~ pl to pn.
15The logic 21 i9 connected at its output to a
demultiplexor 50 constituted either by a cabled logic, or
by a program which i~ adapted to ~elect in the ~tream of
data reaching it from ~he memory space via the addre~ing
logic which constitutes the acce~ controller 21, the
20 video, ~ound, program~ and applica~ion~ data. !',
This demultiplexor 50 corre~ponds to the demultiplexors
27, 28 and 45 of the diagram ~hown in Fig. 4.
The demultiplexor 50 compri~e~ output~ connected to
real-time video data decompres~ing circuits 30 which are in
turn connected to circuits 31, 32 ~or proce~ing natural
image data and computer-generated image data.
The output~ of the~e proce~ing circuit~ are co~nected
to an in~etting multiplexor 33 which i~ connected through
an analog converter 34 to a monitor 35 which represents in
Fig. 5 the monitors 35 shown in Fig. 4.
Likewise, the demultiplexor 50 compri~e~ sound data
outputs connected to real-tim~ sound data decompressing
circuit~ 28a which în turn are connected to natural sound
data procesYing circuits 36.
The demultiplexor 50 comprisQs a computer-generated
sound data output directly connected to a proce~sing
circuit 37 wi~hout passing through a decompression circuit.
The outputs of the proce3sing circuits 36, 37 are -~
connected to a multiplexor 38 the output of which is
connected via an analog converter 39 to sound reproducing
.
device~ 40. ~-
~he demultiplexor 50 further comprises program and
application outputs which are connected ~o central
, ~ -
processing unit~ 52 in turn connected via input/outpu~
logics 53, on one hand, to ~electing mean~ 54 which may be
for example the touch-sensitive screen 12 of the embodiment
shown in Figs. 1 to 3, a keyboard, a game joystick, a
sensor constituted for example by a ball which must be
struck by the player, a keyboard or other mean3, on the
other hand, to re3ult issuinq mean~ which may ~or example
drive the printer 4a of the embodiments shown in ~igs. 1 to
3 and la~tly to the access control section 44 of the
proqram and application data which control3 at it~ output
the address pointers pl to pn kransmitted to the mery
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space 20 and also the demultiplexor 50.
The central proce~sing unit~ 52 and their a~sociated
input/output logic~ 53 con~titute in fact the central
proce~sing unit 47 of the diagram shown in Fig. 4.
5~he arrangement ju~t described therefore permits
providing a multimedia interactive terminal which permit~
repre~enting on the video nitor ~creen or screPn~ in a
plurality of planes im~ge~ coming from real camera ~hots
and~or computer-generated im~ge~ and reproducing on one or
a plurality of sound reproducing devices natural ~ounds
from a recording and/or computer-generated sounds.
The applications ~tored in the memory ~pace 20 are for
example the rule~ of a plurality of gam~ the ~election of
which by the game player on the touch-sensitive ~creen of
the video monitor available to him cau~es to appear on the
~creen of the monitor either a game grid such a~ a lotto
grid that the player merely ha~ to fill in by bearing
against the boxe~ of the grid, or a ~cene repre~enting a
game ~ituation in which the player mN8t participate, for
example the goals of a football field, with a crowd of
spectators in the background, a goalkeeper in front of the
goal~ ready to ~top a shot, and on the penalty ~pot a ball
to be kicked by anokher player, these variou~ image~ being
real image~ taken from camera ~hot~, and ak the base of the
~cr~sn computer-generated Lmages ~howing ~he po~sibilities
open to the player ~or choosi~g various path~ for the ball
~o a~ to ~ry to "beat" the goalkeeper.
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When the player ha~ chosen the manner in which the ball
i~ to be kicked, the terminal, with the aid of the mean~
described hereinbefore, produce~ a sequence of -~hot_ at the
goal with the movement~ of the goalkeeper in accordance
with a prerQgulated path or a path detQrmined in a random
manner, a path of the ball corre~ponding to the choice of
the u~er of the terminal and sounds reproducing the impact
of the foot of the footballer on the ball, the pos~ible
~topping of the ball by the goalkeeper, the noise of the
crowd of ~pectator~ and ~o on.
Con~equently, the game terminal according to the
invention is in fact a multimedia interactive terminal.
Further, by providing the player with the equivalent of
a betting slip by mean~ of a simple display, the terminal
according to the invention re~ult~ in a conQiderable
economy of paper in that it avoid~ printing betting ~lip~.
When the player has played hi~ game and paid his bet,
it is then ~ufficient to provide him wi~h a receipt
corre~ponding to hi~ ~et and the wager paid.
In the case of immediate interactive game~, th0 player
could immediately receive a receipt and, on thi~ receipt,
the amount of hi3 winnings.
The terminal according to the invention may be either
in~erted in a network wi~h ~imilar terminals or as~ociated
with exi~ing game terminal~.
