Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
TECHNIQUES OF SYNCHRONIZING COMMUNICATIONS OF GAMING
DEVICES FOR SHARED GAMING ACTIVITIES
This application is divided from Canadian Patent Application Serial No.
2883074 filed
on February 11, 2015.
BACKGROUND
Interest in electronic and computerized implementations of casino gaming
machines
has increased in recent years. For example, slot machines historically were
mechanical
devices ("steppers") with physical reels that were spun by pulling a lever on
the side of the
machine. Newer casino gaming machines are controlled by one or more computer
processors
that calculate outcomes of wagers provided to the machines. For example, a
computer
processer may randomly determine whether a wager is a winning or non-winning
wager, and
may additionally determine a value of a win. Additionally, or alternatively, a
wager placed
with a casino gaming machine may result in a win of a shared jackpot, such as
a progressive
jackpot. A progressive jackpot is one in which the value of the jackpot
increases a small
amount with each game that is played (e.g., played by any of a number of
players). At the
occurrence of a qualifying event, one of the players wins a jackpot, which may
be the money
present in the progressive jackpot pool or some other amount.
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In some cases, a casino gaming machine determines the outcome of a wager
without
communication with any other device. This allows for a fast determination of
the outcome
since a modern processor may make a random determination of whether a win has
occurred in
a short time scale. These cases are sometimes referred to as "machine
determined win" or
"MDW" cases. However, in an MDW scenario, the machine is acting independently
of other
gaming machines and consequently outcomes that involve actions of multiple
machines, such
as whether a progressive jackpot has been won, are difficult to perform. In
some cases,
therefore, a casino gaming machine may determine the outcome of a wager by
communicating with a server that determines the outcome. These cases are
sometimes
referred to as "centrally determined win" or "CDW" cases. In a CDW scenario,
outcomes that
involve actions of multiple machines can be performed since the server can
coordinate the
outcome at each of the gaming machines. However, this means that all
communications with
the server should occur within a short time scale, since players at a number
of gaming
machines are waiting for the result of their collective wagers and the outcome
should be
reported at each of the machines in a synchronized fashion.
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SUMMARY
The present application relates generally to techniques of synchronizing
devices
participating in a shared gaming activity.
According to some aspects, a method for synchronizing a casino game playable
at a
plurality of gaming devices is provided, comprising receiving, by a server
comprising at least
one processor, an indication of a wager from at least one of the plurality of
gaming devices,
sending, by the server, an instruction to execute a bonus game having a
duration to at least a
first gaming device and a second gaming device of the plurality of gaming
devices, and
sending, by the server within the duration of the bonus game, game outcome
determinations
to at least the first and second gaming devices, the sending comprising
sending a first game
outcome determination to the first gaming device through wired communication
channels, and
sending a second game outcome determination to the second gaming device
through at least
one wireless communication channel, wherein the game outcome determinations
are based at
least in part on the received indication of the wager.
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According to some aspects, a server system for synchronizing a casino game
playable
at a plurality of gaming devices is provided, the server system comprising at
least one
communication interface configured to communicate with the plurality of gaming
devices, at
least one processor, and at least one processor-readable storage medium
comprising
processer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one
processor to
receive, via the at least one communication interface, an indication of a
wager from at least
one of the plurality of gaming devices, send, via the at least one
communication interface, an
instruction to execute a bonus game having a duration to at least a first
gaming device and a
second gaming device of the plurality of gaming devices, and send, via the at
least one
communication interface within the duration of the bonus game, game outcome
determinations to at least the first and second gaming devices, the sending
comprising sending
a first game outcome determination to the first gaming device through wired
communication
channels, and sending a second game outcome determination to the second gaming
device
through at least one wireless communication channel, wherein the game outcome
determinations are based at least in part on the received indication of the
wager.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Various aspects and embodiments will be described with reference to the
following
figures. It should be appreciated that the figures are not necessarily drawn
to scale. In the
drawings, each identical or nearly identical component that is illustrated in
various figures is
represented by a like numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component
may be labeled in
every drawing.
FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative system suitable for practicing techniques for
synchronizing devices participating in a shared gaming activity, according to
some
embodiments;
FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative system in which several devices participate in
a shared
gaming activity via a centrally determined win server, according to some
embodiments;
FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an illustrative method of synchronizing a shared
gaming
activity with multiple devices by a server, according to some embodiments;
FIGs. 4A-C depict illustrative techniques of synchronizing devices
participating in a
shared gaming activity based on the latency of each device, according to some
embodiments;
FIGs. 5A-D depict illustrative techniques of synchronizing devices
participating in a
shared gaming activity based on a schedule, according to some embodiments;
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FIG. 6 depicts an illustrative technique of synchronizing devices
participating in a
shared gaming activity by entering a unique gaming sequence, according to some
embodiments;
FIG. 7 depicts an illustrative electronic gaming interface, according to some
embodiments;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating an illustrative cabinet housing a
casino
gaming machine in accordance with some embodiments; and
FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a computing system environment on which
various
embodiments may be implemented.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
An electronic gaming machine, sometimes referred to as an "EGM," which
includes
casino gaming machines, may engage in machine determined win (or "MDW")
scenarios
and/or centrally determined win (or "CDW") scenarios. Thus an EGM may quickly
process
wagers from a player in MDW scenarios and/or may participate in shared gaming
activities,
such as progressive or other jackpots, in CDW scenarios. However,
participation in CDW
scenarios conventionally limits the EGM to use cases in which all of the EGMs
participating
in the same shared gaming activity have a low latency connection to the server
making an
outcome determination (e.g., which participants have won a prize, how much the
prize is,
etc.). If the latency of this connection were higher, win conditions might be
determined at
the server before all the wagers are received from the EGMs, potentially
leading to players
missing out on winning a prize when they legitimately participated in the
shared activity.
Accordingly, providing an indication of an outcome of a shared gaming activity
to all
participants at substantially the same time is important.
The inventors have recognized and appreciated that gaming activities using non-
casino devices, such as personal computers and mobile devices, have become
more popular
in recent years. However, such devices tend to have much higher communication
latencies
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with remote servers than can be provided for in a casino environment (e.g.,
because the
devices connect to a remote server via the Internet, rather than using a
dedicated, high speed
connection to a nearby server). Consequently, participation of non-casino
devices in shared
jackpot activities has generally been considered impractical, since the
latencies inhibit the
providing of outcomes to each of these devices at substantially the same time.
While MDW
activities may be performed on non-casino devices, large wins such as jackpots
have
particular security concerns due to their large payouts and consequently they
should be
identified under the supervision of a central server, and not on a personal
device that isn't
directly under a casino's control. For example, a device such as a personal
computer could
be "hacked" in a way that a casino gaming machine could not, such that the
personal
computer is able to spoof the winning of a prize. Thus, there may be concerns
that a jackpot
win may not be legitimate unless it has been determined by a coordinating
server.
Accordingly, non-casino devices have conventionally be excluded from shared
jackpot
activities.
The inventors have recognized and appreciated that, by using techniques to
compensate for latency, a centrally determined win system may be produced in
which
gaming devices exhibiting a wide range of communication latencies with a
server may
participate in a shared gaming activity in a synchronized fashion. Some or all
of the gaming
devices may additionally provide machine determined win activities in addition
to the
centrally determined win activities. Thereby, a wide range of gaming devices,
such as
casino gaming machines, personal computers and mobile devices, may
collectively
participate in shared gaming activities that involve wagering, such as
progressive or other
jackpots.
According to some embodiments, devices participating in a shared gaming
activity
are synchronized by determining a schedule for the gaming activity by the
server. The
schedule may indicate a future time at which a shared event, such as awarding
of a jackpot,
is to occur. By providing an indication of the schedule to each of the
participating devices,
and/or to devices having a low communication latency with participating
devices, the
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participating devices may present the shared event at substantially the same
time.
Accordingly, while the indication of the schedule for the shared event may
arrive at the
participating devices (and/or to those devices having a low communication
latency with
participating devices) at different times, presentation of the shared event
may be
synchronized across the participating devices. In cases where a schedule is
sent to a device
having a low communication latency with one or more participating devices, the
device may
transmit to the participating devices at the scheduled time such that the
participating devices
are able to present the shared event at substantially the same time as any
other participating
devices.
According to some embodiments, a schedule may be determined that indicates to
participating devices how a shared jackpot is progressing over time. Such a
schedule may
be based on extrapolation of any factors that lead to a determination of a
shared jackpot size.
For example, where each wager from a participating device increases the shared
jackpot by a
particular amount, an estimate of the shared jackpot at times in the future
may be determined
by extrapolating from the current jackpot size based on the number of
participating devices.
In some cases, the indication of how the shared jackpot is progressing over
time may not be
completely accurate, as by the time the indication has been received by
participating
devices, additional devices may have begun to participate and/or previously
participating
devices may have stopped participating. However, in many cases the rate of
change of a
shared jackpot may be sufficiently small that any lack of accuracy will not be
apparent to a
player when an indication of the shared jackpot is presented.
According to some embodiments, a schedule may indicate predetermined times at
which a shared event is permitted to occur, and which are synchronized across
the
participating devices. In some cases, the predetermined times are regularly-
spaced "ticks,"
and a shared event, such as a jackpot win, may occur at any one of these
times, but may not
occur at any other times. By quantizing the times at which shared events are
permitted to
occur, a central server may be provided with a greater window of time in which
to indicate
the shared event to participating devices (e.g., indicating to each device
that a jackpot was
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won, and indicating whether that device was a winner). Since each
participating device is
provided with the same schedule of predetermined times at which the shared
events may
occur, and since the devices are synchronized with respect to this schedule,
the central
server is provided with the window of time between adjacent predetermined
times to deliver
the indication of the shared event to all participating devices.
According to some embodiments, devices participating in a shared gaming
activity
are synchronized by selecting a time to transmit an indication of a shared
event on a device-
by-device basis. That is, the indications of a shared event may be sent from a
central server
or otherwise such that they arrive at substantially the same time at each
device. In some
embodiments, a central server may measure the latency of one or more network
hops
between the central server and each participating device such that
transmissions to the
participating device may be timed to arrive at their respective destinations
at substantially
the same time.
According to some embodiments, devices participating in a shared gaming
activity
are synchronized by initiating a unique gaming sequence at each of the
participating devices.
The unique gaming sequence, which may take the form of a "bonus game," for
example, has
an effect of holding players at the participating devices for a period of
time, being the period
of time it takes for the sequence to be completed. Thus, so long as the
central server is able
to transmit an indication of a shared event within that period of time to all
participating
devices, and each participating device receives its respective indication
during that time, and
at the end of the unique gaming sequence, each device will provide that
indication to
respective players at substantially the same time.
According to some embodiments, gaming devices participating in a shared gaming
activity may place wagers using non-cash currencies. Where non-casino gaming
devices
(e.g., mobile phones, personal computers, etc.) are participants in a shared
gaming activity,
the types of currencies that may be used for a particular activity may be
wider ranging than
those that might traditionally have been used in casino gaming. For example,
reward points
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associated with any suitable credit-based loyalty program may be used as a
currency, which
may include air miles, casino rewards (e.g., Total Rewards), etc.
Following below are more detailed descriptions of various concepts related to,
and
embodiments of, techniques of synchronizing devices participating in a shared
gaming
activity. It should be appreciated that various aspects described herein may
be implemented
in any of numerous ways. Examples of specific implementations are provided
herein for
illustrative purposes only. In addition, the various aspects described in the
embodiments
below may be used alone or in any combination, and are not limited to the
combinations
explicitly described herein.
FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative system suitable for practicing techniques for
synchronizing devices participating in a shared gaming activity, according to
some
embodiments. As discussed above, embodiments provide for a wide range of
devices to
collectively participate in a shared gaming activity. System 100 illustrates
one such system
in which two gaming devices 110 and 120 participate in a shared gaming
activity by
communicating with server 130, which coordinates the activity.
Server 130 may coordinate any suitable shared gaming activity by sending
and/or
receiving data from gaming devices 110 and 120, including any gaming activity
that
includes cooperation of and/or competition between participating players. Any
number of
gaming devices may participate in the shared gaming activity, and illustrative
gaming
devices 110 and 120 are depicted in system 100 merely as examples. According
to some
embodiments, server 130 may coordinate a shared gaming activity in which
gaming
outcomes are temporally tightly linked to actions of participants. For
example, the shared
gaming activity may include activities in which outcomes are to be provided to
participants
within a small time window after an action by a participant (e.g., a time
window of less than
three seconds, less than one second and/or less than a hundred milliseconds).
Gaming devices 110 and 120 may include any suitable device on which a gaming
application may be executed, including but not limited to: casino gaming
machines, personal
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computers, mobile devices (e.g., tablets, phones, etc.), lottery machines, or
combinations
thereof. According to some embodiments, gaming devices 110 and 120 are
different types
of gaming devices, for instance gaming device 110 may be a casino gaming
device and
gaming device 120 may be a mobile device.
Either, both or neither of gaming devices 110 and 120 may present one or more
gaming activities to a user of the respective gaming device, in addition to
the shared gaming
activity coordinated by server 130. For example, gaming devices 110 and/or 120
may
present one or more MDW gaming activities to users of those devices, such as
MDW
activities that involve wagering. Such MDW gaming activities may or may not be
associated with the shared gaming activity. In some cases, playing of an MDW
gaming
activity at gaming device 110 and/or gaming device 120 may inherently result
in
participation with a shared gaming activity coordinated by server 130.
Additionally, or
alternatively, playing of an MDW gaming activity at gaming device 110 and/or
gaming
device 120 may be a requirement for participation with a shared gaming
activity coordinated
by server 130. For example, where the shared gaming activity includes a
progressive
jackpot, a wager for an MDW gaming activity at a gaming device may contribute
to the
progressive jackpot, and/or may cause the player that placed the wager to
become eligible to
be awarded the progressive jackpot.
Gaming devices 110 and 120 may each communicate with server 130 via
communication channels 115 and 125, respectively, which may include any number
of
wired or wireless communication channels. As used herein, the term
"communication
channel" refers to a logical or physical link between devices. According to
some
embodiments, gaming devices 110 and/or 120 may communicate with server 130 via
only
wired communication channels. For example, a gaming device may be a casino
gaming
device and may communicate with a local casino controller (e.g., a floor
controller) via a
first wired communication channel, which communicates with a casino server via
a second
wired communication channel, which communicates with server 130 via a third
wired
communication channel. This is merely one such example of a series of wired
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communication channels between a gaming device and server 130, however, as any
suitable
collection of communication channels may generally be used. According to some
embodiments, gaming devices 110 and/or 120 may communicate with server 130 via
at least
one wireless communication channel. For example, a gaming device may
communicate
with server 130 via a local wireless device, such as a router. According to
some
embodiments, gaming devices 110 and/or 120 may communicate with server 130 via
the
Internet.
According to some embodiments, gaming devices 110 and 120 may send indications
of wagers to server 130. This may include indications of wagers placed within
MDW
gaming activities provided by gaming device 110 and/or gaming device 120. For
example,
an indication of a wager placed within an MDW gaming activity at a respective
gaming
device may be sent to server 130 so that the wager may contribute or otherwise
affect a
shared jackpot to be later awarded by server 130. Additionally, or
alternatively, indications
of wagers being placed to a shared gaming activity provided by server 130 may
be sent from
gaming device 110 and/or gaming device 120 to the server. For example, an
indication of a
wager being placed for a lottery or keno game provided by server 130 may be
sent to the
server to place that wager within the game.
According to some embodiments, server 130 may determine an outcome of a shared
gaming activity. For example, an outcome may include determining one or more
prizes to
be given to one or more participants in the shared gaming activity. Such a
determination
may be made in response to received indications of wagers from one or more
participants,
when particular events occur, and/or otherwise. According to some embodiments,
server
130 may send an indication of an outcome of a shared gaming activity to gaming
devices
110 and/or 120. For example, when a recipient of a prize for a shared jackpot
is determined,
an indication of a win may be sent to the recipient's gaming device, and in
some cases, an
indication of a non-win may also be sent to one or more other gaming devices.
According to some embodiments, server 130 may determine a schedule for a
shared
gaming activity. As discussed above, a schedule may compensate for latency of
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communications between server 130 and each of gaming devices 110 and 120 by
enabling
the gaming devices to present the occurrence of a shared event at
substantially the same
time. Determination of a schedule may be based on any number of indications of
wagers
received by the server that relate to the shared gaming activity, and in some
cases the server
may utilize historical data describing received indications of wagers (which
may include
records of the indications themselves and/or data derived from the
indications) to determine
the schedule. Server 130 may provide an indication of the determined schedule
and/or may
provide instructions based on the determined schedule to gaming device 110 and
gaming
device 120 in any suitable way.
According to some embodiments, server 130 may measure latencies of
communication between the server and each of gaming devices 110 and 120. This
may
include a measurement of the total latency (e.g., time to destination and/or
round trip time)
and/or may include measurements of latency for one or more network hops
between the
server 130 and the respective gaming device. Such measurements may be made a
number of
times (e.g., periodically) such that an average measurement may be obtained
and/or so that a
recent estimate of the latency of communication may be obtained.
According to some embodiments, server 130 may send an instruction to initiate
a
unique gaming sequence to gaming devices 110 and 120. As discussed above, a
unique
gaming sequence may have an effect of holding players at the gaming devices
giving the
server a time window in which to provide an outcome to the gaming devices such
that, at the
end of the gaming sequence, the gaming devices may present the outcomes at
substantially
the same time. In some cases, a number of unique gaming sequences may be
utilized for a
shared gaming activity and the instruction sent by server 130 may indicate
which of the
unique gaming sequences is to be initiated. Additionally, or alternatively,
the unique
gaming sequence initiated by the server 130 may be randomly selected, either
for gaming
devices 110 and 120 as a whole, or for each of the gaming devices
independently.
According to some embodiments, server 130 may perform tracking of players
participating in a shared gaming activity via gaming devices such as gaming
devices 110
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and 120. This may include authentication of user credentials with the server
to identify a
player (e.g., which may allow the player to access previously stored funds),
and/or to log
gaming activities of users over time.
FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative system in which several devices participate in
a shared
gaming activity via a centrally determined win server, according to some
embodiments.
System 200 includes five gaming devices, namely mobile device 210, personal
computer
220 and casino gaming machines 260, 270 and 280. It will be appreciated that,
in general, a
system may include any number of any type of gaming devices, and that system
200
includes these five illustrative gaming device merely as one example of such a
system.
Centrally determined win server 240 coordinates one or more shared gaming
activities in
which gaming devices 210, 220 and 260-280 participate.
In the example of FIG. 2, mobile device 210 and personal computer 220
communicate with server 240 via the Internet, whereas casino gaming machines
260-280
communicate with server 240 via a wide area network 250. As discussed above,
techniques
described herein may be used to synchronize gaming devices when participating
in a shared
gaming activity. Accordingly, system 200 may be configured, using the
techniques
described herein, to present an outcome of the shared gaming activity to
gaming devices
210, 220 and 260-280 at substantially the same time even though the
communications
latency between devices 210 and 220 with server 240 may be expected to be
significantly
greater than the latency of devices 260-280 with the server.
Mobile device 210 may include any suitable handheld computing device,
including
any tablet, mobile phone, PDA, etc. Personal computer 220 may include any
general
purpose computer. Mobile device 210 and personal computer 220 may each include
one or
more dedicated applications that provide access to a shared gaming activity
coordinated by
server 240, and/or may provide access to the shared gaming activity via
browser software
(e.g., a web browser). In addition, either, both, or neither of mobile device
210 and personal
computer 220 may provide MDW gaming capabilities (e.g., wagering activities in
which an
outcome can be determined without communication with server 240). Such MDW
gaming
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activities may, or may not, be related to the shared gaming activity
coordinated by server
240, as discussed above.
According to some embodiments, mobile device 210 and/or personal computer 220
may provide authentication credentials to server 240 to identify a user
accessing the
respective device. For example, software executed by a device that provides
access to the
shared gaming activity may request login information for a user, and this
login information
may be authenticated by server 240 or otherwise before providing access to the
activity.
Centrally determined win server 240 may perform tracking of users
participating in the
shared gaming activity, as discussed above.
Casino gaming machines 260, 270 and 280 may include any gaming machines
located within a casino or within different casinos. An example of such a
gaming machine
is discussed below in relation to FIG. 8. The casino gaming machines 260-280
may
communicate with server 240 via wide area network 250, which may be connected
to one or
more local area networks in which one or more of the casino gaming machines
are located.
For example, the casino gaming machines 260-280 may be part of a casino's
local area
network, which has a local controller through which the devices communicate
with the wide
area network and server 240.
According to some embodiments, gaming devices 210, 220 and 260-280 may send
indications of wagers to server 240. As discussed above in relation to FIG. 1,
such
indications may relate to wagers placed for MDW and/or CDW games (e.g., a
local game
for which a wager contributes to a progressive jackpot and/or a lottery or
keno game
provided by the server). The indications may be sent from each device using
the same, or
using different message protocols and/or message data formats. For example, an
application
executing on mobile device 210 may produce an indication of a wager having a
first
.. message data format and may transmit the indication to server 240 using a
first message
protocol. Casino gaming device 260, on the other hand, may produce an
indication of a
wager using a different message data format and/or may transmit its indication
to server 240
using a different message protocol. Server 240 may accordingly be configured
to receive
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-12-01
and interpret messages provided via any of multiple message protocols and/or
in any of
multiple message data formats.
According to some embodiments, centrally determined win server 240 may
determine an outcome of a shared gaming activity, such as a progressive
jackpot or a lottery
prize. The server may send indications of the determined outcome to any one or
more of
gaming devices 210, 220 and 260-280, and may do so based on message data
formats and/or
message protocols being used by the destination gaming device, as discussed
above.
According to some embodiments, server 240 may perform one or more techniques
for synchronizing the server with gaming devices 210, 220 and, 260-280,
including but not
limited to, determining a schedule for a shared gaming activity, measuring
latencies of
communication between the server 240 and one or more of gaming devices 210,
220 and
260-280, and/or sending an instruction to initiate a unique gaming sequence to
one or more
of gaming devices 210, 220 and 260-280.
FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative method of synchronizing a shared gaming
activity with
multiple devices by a server, according to some embodiments. Method 300 may be
performed by a server coordinating one or more shared gaming activities, such
as server 130
shown in FIG. 1 and/or server 240 shown in FIG. 2.
In act 302, an indication of player action is received from a gaming device.
The
player action may include any action taken by a player at a gaming device
wherein the
player is, or may subsequently, participate in a shared gaming activity being
coordinated by
the server executing method 300. According to some embodiments, the indication
of player
action includes an indication of a wager placed at a gaming device. As
discussed above, an
indication of a wager may relate to a wager placed for an MDW and/or a CDW
game (e.g., a
local game for which a wager contributes to a progressive jackpot and/or a
lottery or keno
game provided by the server). According to some embodiments, an indication of
player
action received in act 302 indicates the status of a player within a shared
gaming activity
being coordinated by the server executing method 300. For example, the
indication of
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player action may include an indication that a player is joining the shared
gaming activity or
that a player is leaving the shared gaming activity.
In act 304, a status of a shared gaming activity being coordinated by the
server
executing method 300 is sent to a first gaming device that is participating in
the shared
gaming activity. The status may include an outcome of the shared gaming
activity, such as
an indication that the first gaming device has, or has not, won a prize (e.g.,
a jackpot).
According to some embodiments, the status may include a schedule for the
shared gaming
activity and/or an instruction to initiate a unique gaming sequence. According
to some
embodiments, sending of the status in act 304 may be performed based on a
measure of
communication latency between the server executing method 300 and the first
gaming
device. For example, sending of the status may be timed based on the latency
so as to arrive
at the first gaming device at a particular time. Sending of the status in act
304 is performed
via first communication channels, which may include any number of wired and/or
wireless
communication channels.
In act 306, the status of the shared gaming activity sent in act 304 is sent
to a second
gaming device participating in the shared gaming activity. According to some
embodiments, sending of the status in act 306 may be performed based on a
measure of
communication latency between the server executing method 300 and the second
gaming
device. For example, sending of the status may be timed based on the latency
so as to arrive
at the second gaming device at a particular time. Sending of the status in act
306 is
performed via second communication channels, which may include any number of
wired
and/or wireless communication channels.
According to some embodiments, the first and second gaming devices to which
the
status is sent in acts 304 and 306 may be different types of gaming devices.
For example,
the first gaming device may be a casino gaming machine and the second gaming
device may
be a mobile device. According to some embodiments, the first and second
communication
channels are a different set of communication channels. For example, the first
communication channels may include at least one wireless communication channel
whereas
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the second communication channels may be composed only of wired communication
channels.
As discussed above, the inventors have recognized and appreciated that one
technique for synchronizing devices participating in a shared gaming activity
may be
performed by measuring the communication latency of the devices. FIGs. 4A-C
depict
illustrative techniques for synchronizing such devices based on the measured
latency of each
device, according to some embodiments. System 400 shown in FIG. 4A illustrates
three
gaming devices 401A-C which communicate with a centrally determined win server
430 via
respective sets of communication channels 402A-C. Each set of communication
channels,
which may each include any number of wired and/or wireless communication
channels, is
associated with a latency that represents the time for communication to
propagate from the
server to a respective gaming device (one-way latency).
The latencies of each set of communication channels 402A-C may have been
determined in any suitable way, including by measuring the one-way and/or
round-trip
latencies between a respective gaming device and the server 430 any number of
times. For
example, each of latencies A, B and C used in the example of FIGs. 4A-C may
represent a
minimum observed one-way latency, a maximum observed one-way latency or an
average
observed one-way latency from the server 430 to a respective gaming device
based on some
number of latency measurements. Latencies may be measured by server 430 or
otherwise
.. using any suitable tool, including but not limited to ping, paketto,
traceroute, NetPert etc.
Latencies A, B and C used in the example of FIGs. 4A-C are shown in FIG. 4B.
Latency C has the highest value of the three illustrative latencies, and
latency A the lowest
value. That is, communication from server 430 to gaming device C takes the
longest amount
of time, whereas communication from server 430 to gaming device A takes the
shortest
amount of time.
As discussed above, synchronization of devices participating in a shared
gaming
activity with a server may be performed by selecting a time to transmit an
indication of a
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shared event from the server on a device-by-device basis. That is, the
indications of a
shared event may be sent from a server 430 such that they arrive at
substantially the same
time at each of gaming devices 401A-C. As shown in FIG. 4C, an indication of a
shared
event may be sent to each of gaming devices 401A-C such that the indications
arrive at
substantially the same time by selecting the transmission times of the
indications based on
latencies associated with a respective gaming device. For example, since
latency C
associated with gaming device 401C is the highest latency, transmission of the
indication is
first made to gaming device 401C. At a later time, based on the observed
latencies,
transmission of the indication is made to gaming device 401A, and finally to
gaming device
401B. As shown in FIG. 4C, this results in arrival of the indications at all
three gaming
devices at substantially the same time.
As discussed above, the inventors have recognized and appreciated that one
technique for synchronizing devices participating in a shared gaming activity
may be
performed by sending a schedule to the devices. The schedule may indicate a
future time at
which a shared event, such as awarding of a jackpot, is to occur. By providing
an indication
of the schedule to each of the participating devices, and/or to devices having
a low
communication latency with participating devices, the participating devices
may identify the
occurrence of the shared event at substantially the same time. Method 500
shown in FIG.
5A may be performed by any suitable gaming device participating in a shared
gaming
.. activity. In method 500, the gaming device receives a schedule and presents
a shared
gaming activity based on the received schedule.
In act 502, a schedule is received from a server. According to some
embodiments,
the schedule may indicate predetermined times at which a shared event (e.g.,
awarding of a
prize) is permitted to occur. In some cases, the schedule may indicate a
regular pattern of
such times (e.g., every 30 seconds), which may mitigate or reduce the need for
the server to
indicate such predetermined times at future times (since the gaming device may
then predict
future times based on the pattern). As discussed above, this may provide the
server with a
wider time window in which to send an indication of a shared event to a number
of gaming
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devices and to have the gaming devices receive the indication than may
typically be
available in a CDW scenario.
According to some embodiments, the schedule received in act 502 may include an
indication of how a jackpot is to be presented over time. As discussed above,
such an
indication may be based on extrapolation of any factors that lead to a
determination of a
shared jackpot size. For example, a server sending the schedule to the gaming
device
performing method 500 may have extrapolated the jackpot size to future times
based on
factors that lead to determining the jackpot size (e.g., number of wagers
placed per second,
size of wagers, etc.). An indication of extrapolated values, which may include
instructions
to the gaming device as how to present the jackpot value over time, may be
sent to the
gaming device in act 502.
According to some embodiments, the schedule received in act 502 may include an
indication of a prize value. A server sending the schedule to the gaming
device performing
method 500 may have identified an amount of a prize to be subsequently awarded
to a
winning gaming device, which may or may not eventually turn out to be the
gaming device
performing method 500. Nonetheless, the award value may be indicated to the
gaming
device performing method 500 so that, for example, the gaming device may
display the
award value to a player in act 504.
According to some embodiments, the schedule received in act 502 may include an
indication of a prize award time at which a prize will be awarded for a shared
gaming
activity. Such an indication may, for example, indicate a time aligned with a
previously
indicated set of times at which a shared event is permitted to occur. In such
cases, the
indication of the prize award time may be received before the prize award time
and after a
time at which a shared event is permitted to occur that is previous to the
prize award time.
In some cases, the indication of the prize award time may be accompanied by an
indication
of whether the gaming device performing method 500 will, or will not, be
awarded the prize.
Such an indication may be held by the gaming device for a period of time until
presentation
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of the result of the prize award occurs (e.g., presenting that a winner was
selected and/or
whether the user of the gaming device was a winner).
In act 504, a shared gaming activity in which the gaming device performing
method
500 is participating is presented based on the schedule received in act 502.
Presenting may
include producing any visual and/or audible indications with the gaming device
such that
one or more aspects of the shared gaming activity are communicated to a user.
For example,
visual indications of an awarded prize amount, a prize amount that changes
over time, that a
prize has been awarded to the user, that a prize has not be awarded to the
user, a name of the
prize winner and/or combinations thereof may be presented to a user.
FIG. 5B illustrates a technique for presenting a prize amount that changes
over time
to a user of a gaming device participating in a shared gaming activity,
according to some
embodiments. In chart 510, a value of a prize that is presented to a user is
shown along the
vertical axis, and time is shown along the horizontal axis. In the example of
FIG. 5B, the
gaming device receives, at times marked "RS," a schedule from a server
coordinating the
shared gaming activity. As discussed above, such a schedule may include an
indication of
how a prize amount is predicted to change over time. Once the gaming device
receives the
rate of change of the prize amount, it presents the prize value based on this
rate of change
until a new schedule is received from the server. Thus, while no further
information may be
received by the gaming device between receipts of a schedule, the prize amount
may
nonetheless be automatically increased. As discussed above, this amount may
represent
some deviation from a correct amount in the prize pool, however in many cases
the
deviation may be sufficiently small so that a player will not be aware of it.
In the illustrative case shown in FIG. 5B, in the time window labeled "1" the
prize
value increases at a fixed rate indicated by the schedule received at the
beginning of that
time window. At a later time, being at the end of the time window "1" and the
beginning of
the time window labeled "2," a new schedule is received that indicates a
faster rate of
increase that was indicated by the previous schedule (e.g., perhaps as a
result of players
anticipating an upcoming jackpot award). At the end of the time window "2," a
jackpot is
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awarded and a schedule is received that indicates the prize value presented is
to return to
zero and begin increasing at a new rate (in time window "3").
FIG. 5C illustrates a technique for limiting awarding of a prize amount to
predetermined times, according to some embodiments. In chart 520, time is
shown along a
.. horizontal axis and times at which shared events in a shared gaming
activity are permitted to
occur are marked by broken lines. As discussed above, such predetermined times
may be
specified to a gaming device participating in the shared gaming activity as
part of a
transmitted schedule. Furthermore, the predetermined times may be synchronized
between
the gaming devices, which may for example be performed by synchronizing timers
of the
.. gaming devices (e.g., to within less than 100 milliseconds, or less than 10
milliseconds).
In the example of FIG. 5C, a schedule is received by the gaming device
subsequent
to permitted time 521 and prior to the next permitted time that indicates a
prize is to be
awarded at the next permitted time (labeled as "Prize Award Time"). As
discussed above,
the schedule may in some cases further include a prize amount and/or an
indication of
whether the user of the gaming device won the prize or not. While the gaming
device
receives the prize award details at the time indicated in FIG. 5C, it does not
present any
details of the prize award to the user of the device, but rather waits until
the prize award time
shown in the figure to present the details. Accordingly, where other gaming
devices are
synchronized to use the same times at which shared events may occur, other
gaming devices
.. receiving the prize award details between permitted time 521 and the prize
award time will
present the details of the prize award at substantially the same time.
FIG. 5D illustrates a "pull-tab" prize system that may be used in awarding of
a prize,
according to some embodiments. In cases described herein in which the awarding
of a prize
is known to occur at some future scheduled time (e.g., any examples discussed
above in
relation to FIGs. 5A-C), a pool of predetermined prize values may be selected,
such as those
shown in FIG. 5D. When a prize is awarded, it may be removed from the pool
until the pool
is emptied, at which point the pool is repopulated. Alternatively, a prize may
be awarded
more than once before it is removed from the pool. In either case, the total
awards that may
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be provided by the full pool is known ahead of time. Where prize awards may be
scheduled
in advance (even if only a matter of seconds in advance), it may be ensured
that the full pool
of prizes will be awarded within a particular fixed window of time (e.g., by
randomly
selecting scheduled prize award times within the fixed window). Accordingly,
the total
prize liability during a fixed window may be known, and prize amounts may be
set
accordingly to ensure a profit.
As discussed above, the inventors have recognized and appreciated that one
technique for synchronizing devices participating in a shared gaming activity
is to initiate a
unique gaming sequence at each of the participating devices. The unique gaming
sequence
has an effect of holding players at the participating devices for a period of
time, being the
period of time it takes for the sequence to be completed. FIG. 6 depicts an
illustrative use of
this technique, according to some embodiments.
In the example of FIG. 6, time increases in the downward direction along the
vertical
axis. A server, shown at the left side of the figure, sends messages to two
gaming devices,
shown in the right side of the figure. In the example of FIG. 6, the two
gaming devices
exhibit different one-way communication latencies from the server to the
respective gaming
device, with gaming device 2 having a greater one-way communication latency.
At time 610, the server sends instructions to the two gaming devices to
initiate a
bonus game, being an example of a unique gaming sequence discussed above. The
bonus
game may be a sequence that will be executed by the gaming devices that takes
a known
length of time to complete (e.g., > 20 seconds). At time 612, gaming device 1
receives the
instruction and begins to execute the bonus game mode. At time 614, gaming
device 2
receives the instruction and begins to execute the bonus game mode, later than
the time at
which gaming device 1 begins the bonus game mode.
During the period in which gaming devices 1 and 2 are executing the bonus game
mode, the server sends an indication of whether each gaming device has won a
prize to each
device. Which gaming device has won a prize, if any, may be determined by the
server
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subsequent to, or prior to, time 610. In the example of FIG. 6, gaming device
2 is awarded a
prize, whereas gaming device 1 is not. At time 622, gaming device 1 receives
the indication
that it has not been awarded a prize, and at time 624 gaming device 2 receives
the indication
that it has been awarded a prize. Subsequent to time 624, each of gaming
devices 1 and 2
complete executing the bonus game mode, at which time each gaming device may
present
indications of the bonus game outcome. For example, gaming device 1 may
indicate that it
was not awarded a prize, whereas gaming device 2 may indicate that it was
awarded a prize.
Accordingly, the bonus game mode provides an extended time window in which a
game outcome determination may be communicated to gaming devices. According to
some
embodiments, the bonus mode may prohibit users of the gaming devices from
cashing out or
otherwise ceasing their participation in the shared gaming activity to ensure
that they remain
connected to or physically present at the gaming device until the bonus mode
has completed.
FIG. 7 depicts an illustrative electronic gaming interface, according to some
embodiments. Interface 700 includes pay lines 710 and progressive jackpot
indication 720.
The interface 700 may be displayed in any suitable way on any suitable gaming
device,
including on a casino gaming machine, on a personal computer and/or on a
mobile device.
In some cases, the progressive jackpot indication may be displayed on a
different display to
pay lines 710, such as a display within a casino cabinet that displays pay
lines 710 and/or on
a display external to the cabinet (e.g., an overhead display in a casino).
FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of an illustrative cabinet 10 housing a casino
gaming machine in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrative cabinet 10,
as depicted
in FIG. 8, includes a display 12, a second display 14, a coin slot 22, a coin
tray 32, a card
reader slot 34, a keypad 36, and player control buttons 39.
Display 12 may include at least one three-dimensional (3D) display for
displaying
3D images of one or more 3D environments (e.g., virtual or real-world 3D
environments).
Embodiments of the 3D display device may be implemented using any suitable
type of
display component, including, without limitation, a thin film transistor (TFT)
display, a
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liquid crystal display (LCD), a cathode ray tube (CRT) display, a light-
emitting diode (LED)
display, and/or an organic LED (OLED) display.
Second display 14 may provide game data or other information in addition to
the
information provided by display 12. Display 14 may provide static information,
such as an
advertisement for the game, the rules of the game, pay tables, pay lines,
and/or other
information, and/or may even display the main game or a bonus game along with
display 12.
Alternatively, the area for display 14 may be a display glass for conveying
information
about the game.
Display 12 and/or display 14 may have a touch screen lamination that includes
a
transparent grid of conductors. A player touching the screen may change the
capacitance
between the conductors, and thereby the X-Y location of the touch on the
screen may be
determined. A processor within cabinet 10 may associate this X-Y location with
a function
to be performed. There may be an upper and lower multi-touch screen in
accordance with
some embodiments.
A coin slot 22 may accept coins or tokens in one or more denominations to
generate
credits within the casino gaming machine for playing games. An input slot 24
for an optical
reader and printer may receive machine readable printed tickets and may output
printed
tickets for use in cashless gaming.
A coin tray 32 may receive coins or tokens from a hopper (not shown) upon a
win or
upon the player cashing out. However, in some embodiments, the casino gaming
machine
may not pay in cash, but may only issue a printed ticket for cashing in
elsewhere.
Alternatively, a stored value card may be loaded with credits based on a win,
or may enable
the assignment of credits to an account associated with a computer system,
which may be a
computer network-connected computer system.
A card reader slot 34 may accept any of various types of cards, such as smart
cards,
magnetic strip cards, and/or other types of cards conveying machine readable
information.
The card reader may read the inserted card for player and/or credit
information for cashless
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gaming. The card reader may read a magnetic code on a conventional player
tracking card,
where the code uniquely identifies the player to the host system. The code may
be cross-
referenced by the host system to any data related to the player, and such data
may affect the
games offered to the player by the casino gaming machine. The card reader may
also
include an optical reader and printer for reading and printing coded barcodes
and other
information on a paper ticket. A card may also include credentials that enable
the host
system to access one or more accounts associated with a user. The account may
be debited
based on wagers by a user and credited based on a win. As discussed above,
such accounts
may comprise cash or a non-cash currency.
A keypad 36 may accept player input, such as a personal identification number
(PIN)
and/or any other player information. A display 38 above keypad 36 may display
a menu for
instructions and/or other information, and/or may provide visual feedback of
the keys
pressed. The keypad 36 may be an input device such as a touchscreen, or
dynamic digital
button panel, in accordance with some embodiments.
Player control buttons 39 may include any buttons and/or other controllers
usable for
the play of the particular game or games offered by the casino gaming machine,
including,
for example, a bet button, a repeat bet button, a spin reels (or play) button,
a maximum bet
button, a cash-out button, a display pay lines button, a display payout tables
button, select
icon buttons, and/or any other suitable button(s). In some embodiments,
buttons 39 maybe
replaced by a touch screen with virtual buttons. In some embodiments,
touchless control
gesture functionality may replace or coexist with buttons 39.
FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a suitable computing system environment 900
on
which the technology described herein may be implemented. The computing system
environment 900 is only one example of a suitable computing environment and is
not
intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of
the technology
described herein. Neither should the computing environment 900 be interpreted
as having
any dependency or requirement relating to any one or combination of components
illustrated
in the illustrative operating environment 900.
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The technology described herein is operational with numerous other general
purpose
or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples
of well-
known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be
suitable for use
with the technology described herein include, but are not limited to, personal
computers,
server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,
microprocessor-
based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs,
minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that
include any
of the above systems or devices, and the like.
The computing environment may execute computer-executable instructions, such
as
program modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs,
objects,
components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement
particular
abstract data types. The technology described herein may also be practiced in
distributed
computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices
that are
linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing
environment,
program modules may be located in both local and remote computer storage media
including
memory storage devices.
With reference to FIG. 9, an illustrative system for implementing the
technology
described herein includes a general purpose computing device in the form of a
computer
910. Components of computer 910 may include, but are not limited to, a
processing unit
920, a system memory 930, and a system bus 921 that couples various system
components
including the system memory to the processing unit 920. The system bus 921 may
be any of
several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a
peripheral
bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of
example, and not
limitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA)
bus, Micro
Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics
Standards
Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus
also
known as Mezzanine bus.
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Computer 910 typically includes a variety of computer readable media. Computer
readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by computer 910
and
includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable
media. By way
of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprise computer
storage
media and communication media. Computer storage media includes volatile and
nonvolatile,
removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for
storage
of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures,
program modules or
other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM,
EEPROM,
flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD)
or other
.. optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk
storage or other
magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the
desired
information and which can accessed by computer 910. Communication media
typically
embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or
other data in
a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism
and includes
any information delivery media. The term "modulated data signal" means a
signal that has
one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to
encode information
in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media
includes wired
media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media
such as
acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of the any of
the above
should also be included within the scope of computer readable media.
The system memory 930 includes computer storage media in the form of volatile
and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) 931 and random access
memory (RAM) 932. A basic input/output system 933 (BIOS), containing the basic
routines
that help to transfer information between elements within computer 910, such
as during
start-up, is typically stored in ROM 931. RAM 932 typically contains data
and/or program
modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presently being operated on
by processing
unit 920. By way of example, and not limitation, FIG. 9 illustrates operating
system 934,
application programs 935, other program modules 936, and program data 937.
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The computer 910 may also include other removable/non-removable,
volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. By way of example only, FIG. 9
illustrates a
hard disk drive 941 that reads from or writes to non-removable, nonvolatile
magnetic media,
a magnetic disk drive 951 that reads from or writes to a removable,
nonvolatile magnetic
disk 952, and an optical disk drive 955 that reads from or writes to a
removable, nonvolatile
optical disk 956 such as a CD ROM or other optical media. Other removable/non-
removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media that can be used in the
illustrative
operating environment include, but are not limited to, magnetic tape
cassettes, flash memory
cards, digital versatile disks, digital video tape, solid state RAM, solid
state ROM, and the
like. The hard disk drive 941 is typically connected to the system bus 921
through a non-
removable memory interface such as interface 940, and magnetic disk drive 951
and optical
disk drive 955 are typically connected to the system bus 921 by a removable
memory
interface, such as interface 950.
The drives and their associated computer storage media discussed above and
illustrated in FIG. 9, provide storage of computer readable instructions, data
structures,
program modules and other data for the computer 910. In FIG. 9, for example,
hard disk
drive 941 is illustrated as storing operating system 944, application programs
945, other
program modules 946, and program data 947. Note that these components can
either be the
same as or different from operating system 934, application programs 935,
other program
modules 936, and program data 937. Operating system 944, application programs
945, other
program modules 946, and program data 947 are given different numbers here to
illustrate
that, at a minimum, they are different copies. A user may enter commands and
information
into the computer 910 through input devices such as a keyboard 962 and
pointing device
961, commonly referred to as a mouse, trackball or touch pad. Other input
devices (not
shown) may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner,
or the like.
These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit 920
through a user
input interface 960 that is coupled to the system bus, but may be connected by
other
interface and bus structures, such as a parallel port, game port or a
universal serial bus
(USB). A monitor 991 or other type of display device is also connected to the
system bus
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Date Recue/Date Received 2022-12-01
921 via an interface, such as a video interface 990. In addition to the
monitor, computers
may also include other peripheral output devices such as speakers 997 and
printer 996,
which may be connected through an output peripheral interface 995.
The computer 910 may operate in a networked environment using logical
connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer 980.
The remote
computer 980 may be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a
peer device or
other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements
described
above relative to the computer 910, although only a memory storage device 981
has been
illustrated in FIG. 9. The logical connections depicted in FIG. 9 include a
local area network
(LAN) 971 and a wide area network (WAN) 973, but may also include other
networks. Such
networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer
networks,
intranets and the Internet.
When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 910 is connected to
the
LAN 971 through a network interface or adapter 970. When used in a WAN
networking
environment, the computer 910 typically includes a modem 972 or other means
for
establishing communications over the WAN 973, such as the Internet. The modem
972,
which may be internal or external, may be connected to the system bus 921 via
the user
input interface 960, or other appropriate mechanism. In a networked
environment, program
modules depicted relative to the computer 910, or portions thereof, may be
stored in the
remote memory storage device. By way of example, and not limitation, FIG. 9
illustrates
remote application programs 985 as residing on memory device 981. It will be
appreciated
that the network connections shown are illustrative and other means of
establishing a
communications link between the computers may be used.
Having thus described several aspects of at least one embodiment, it is to be
appreciated that various alterations, modifications, and improvements will
readily occur to
those skilled in the art.
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Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of
this
disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the
disclosure. Further,
though advantages are indicated, it should be appreciated that not every
embodiment of the
technology described herein will include every described advantage. Some
embodiments
may not implement any features described as advantageous herein and in some
instances one
or more of the described features may be implemented to achieve further
embodiments.
Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of example
only.
The above-described embodiments of the technology described herein can be
implemented in any of numerous ways. For example, the embodiments may be
implemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof. When
implemented in
software, the software code can be executed on any suitable processor or
collection of
processors, whether provided in a single computer or distributed among
multiple computers.
Such processors may be implemented as integrated circuits, with one or more
processors in
an integrated circuit component, including commercially available integrated
circuit
components known in the art by names such as CPU chips, GPU chips,
microprocessor,
microcontroller, or co-processor. Alternatively, a processor may be
implemented in custom
circuitry, such as an ASIC, or semi-custom circuitry resulting from
configuring a
programmable logic device. As yet a further alternative, a processor may be a
portion of a
larger circuit or semiconductor device, whether commercially available, semi-
custom or
custom. As a specific example, some commercially available microprocessors
have multiple
cores such that one or a subset of those cores may constitute a processor.
Though, a
processor may be implemented using circuitry in any suitable format.
Further, it should be appreciated that a computer may be embodied in any of a
number of forms, such as a rack-mounted computer, a desktop computer, a laptop
computer,
.. or a tablet computer. Additionally, a computer may be embedded in a device
not generally
regarded as a computer but with suitable processing capabilities, including a
Personal
Digital Assistant (PDA), a smart phone or any other suitable portable or fixed
electronic
device.
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Also, a computer may have one or more input and output devices. These devices
can
be used, among other things, to present a user interface. Examples of output
devices that
can be used to provide a user interface include printers or display screens
for visual
presentation of output and speakers or other sound generating devices for
audible
presentation of output. Examples of input devices that can be used for a user
interface
include keyboards, and pointing devices, such as mice, touch pads, and
digitizing tablets.
As another example, a computer may receive input information through speech
recognition
or in other audible format.
Such computers may be interconnected by one or more networks in any suitable
.. form, including as a local area network or a wide area network, such as an
enterprise
network or the Internet. Such networks may be based on any suitable technology
and may
operate according to any suitable protocol and may include wireless networks,
wired
networks or fiber optic networks.
Also, the various methods or processes outlined herein may be coded as
software
that is executable on one or more processors that employ any one of a variety
of operating
systems or platforms. Additionally, such software may be written using any of
a number of
suitable programming languages and/or programming or scripting tools, and also
may be
compiled as executable machine language code or intermediate code that is
executed on a
framework or virtual machine.
In this respect, embodiments may be implemented as a computer readable storage
medium (or multiple computer readable media) (e.g., a computer memory, one or
more
floppy discs, compact discs (CD), optical discs, digital video disks (DVD),
magnetic tapes,
flash memories, circuit configurations in Field Programmable Gate Arrays or
other
semiconductor devices, or other tangible computer storage medium) encoded with
one or
.. more programs that, when executed on one or more computers or other
processors, perform
methods that implement the various embodiments discussed above. As is apparent
from the
foregoing examples, a computer readable storage medium may retain information
for a
sufficient time to provide computer-executable instructions in a non-
transitory form. Such a
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computer readable storage medium or media can be transportable, such that the
program or
programs stored thereon can be loaded onto one or more different computers or
other
processors to implement various embodiments as discussed above. As used
herein, the
term "computer-readable storage medium" encompasses only a non-transitory
computer-
.. readable medium that can be considered to be a manufacture (i.e., article
of manufacture) or
a machine. Alternatively or additionally, embodiments may be implemented as a
computer
readable medium other than a computer-readable storage medium, such as a
propagating
signal.
The terms "program" or "software" are used herein in a generic sense to refer
to any
to type of computer code or set of computer-executable instructions that
can be employed to
program a computer or other processor to implement various embodiments as
discussed
above. Additionally, it should be appreciated that according to one aspect of
this
embodiment, one or more computer programs that when executed perform methods
need not
reside on a single computer or processor, but may be distributed in a modular
fashion
amongst a number of different computers or processors to implement various
embodiments.
Computer-executable instructions may be in many forms, such as program
modules,
executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program modules
include
routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform
particular tasks or
implement particular abstract data types. Typically the functionality of the
program modules
may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.
Also, data structures may be stored in computer-readable media in any suitable
form.
For simplicity of illustration, data structures may be shown to have fields
that are related
through location in the data structure. Such relationships may likewise be
achieved by
assigning storage for the fields with locations in a computer-readable medium
that conveys
relationship between the fields. However, any suitable mechanism may be used
to establish
a relationship between information in fields of a data structure, including
through the use of
pointers, tags or other mechanisms that establish relationship between data
elements.
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Various embodiments may be used alone, in combination, or in a variety of
arrangements not specifically discussed in the embodiments described in the
foregoing and
is therefore not limited in its application to the details and arrangement of
components set
forth in the foregoing description or illustrated in the drawings. For
example, aspects
described in one embodiment may be combined in any manner with aspects
described in
other embodiments.
Also, the embodiments may be implemented as a method, of which an example has
been provided. The acts performed as part of the method may be ordered in any
suitable
way. Accordingly, embodiments may be constructed in which acts are performed
in an
order different than illustrated, which may include performing some acts
simultaneously,
even though shown as sequential acts in illustrative embodiments.
Further, some actions are described as taken by a "user." It should be
appreciated
that a "user" need not be a single individual, and that in some embodiments,
actions
attributable to a "user" may be performed by a team of individuals and/or an
individual in
combination with computer-assisted tools or other mechanisms.
Use of ordinal terms such as "first," "second," "third," etc., in the claims
to modify a
claim element does not by itself connote any priority, precedence, or order of
one claim
element over another or the temporal order in which acts of a method are
performed, but are
used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain name
from another
element having a same name (but for use of the ordinal term) to distinguish
the claim
elements.
Also, the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of
description
and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of "including," "comprising,"
or "having,"
"containing," "involving," and variations thereof herein, is meant to
encompass the items
listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. =
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