Data pattern verification in a gaming machine environment

1 . A method of detecting at least one anomaly associated with gaming data, the gaming data being associated with a first gaming machine configured or designed to receive a wager on a game of chance, the method comprising:

selecting a first portion of gaming data for analysis, the first portion of gaming data corresponding to a first data pattern;

selecting a first comparison pattern relating to the first data pattern;

comparing the first comparison pattern to a first portion of the first data pattern; and

determining, based at least in part on the comparison of the first comparison pattern to the first portion of the first data pattern, whether at least one anomaly has been detected in association with the first data pattern.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the game of chance is at least one of: a video slot game, a mechanical slot game, a lottery game, a video poker game, a video black jack game, a video card game, a video bingo game, a video keno game, and a video pachinko game.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first comparison pattern is certified for execution on the gaming machine in one or more gaming jurisdictions by a regulatory entity within each of the gaming jurisdictions.

4 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

processing selected portions of data stored in memory of the gaming machine to thereby generate the first portion of gaming data.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the first portion of gaming data corresponds to raw data residing in at least one memory location of the gaming machine.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the first comparison pattern corresponds to a valid comparison pattern, the method further comprising:

comparing the valid comparison pattern with the first portion of the first data pattern; and

identifying a first anomaly in response to a determination that the first portion of the first data pattern does not match the valid comparison pattern.

7 . The method of claim 6 wherein the valid comparison pattern corresponds to a second portion of authenticated gaming data.

8 . The method of claim 1 wherein the first comparison pattern corresponds to an invalid comparison pattern, the method further comprising:

comparing the invalid comparison pattern with the first portion of the first data pattern; and

identifying a first anomaly in response to a determination that the first portion of the first data pattern matches the invalid comparison pattern.

9 . The method of claim 8 wherein the invalid comparison pattern corresponds to data which is known or suspected to be invalid.

10 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

initiating a first anomaly handling procedure in response to a determination that a first anomaly has been detected in association with the first data pattern.

11 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

initiating a first anomaly handling procedure in response to a determination that a first anomaly has been detected in association with the first data pattern;

wherein the first anomaly handling procedure includes preserving states of selected processes of the gaming machine.

12 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

initiating a first anomaly handling procedure in response to a determination that a first anomaly has been detected in association with the first data pattern;

wherein the first anomaly handling procedure includes halting execution of selected processes of the gaming machine.

13 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

initiating a first anomaly handling procedure in response to a determination that a first anomaly has been detected in association with the first data pattern;

wherein the first anomaly handling procedure includes:

storing information relating the first anomaly and associated first data pattern.

14 . The method of claim 1 wherein the first portion of gaming data corresponds to executable code to be implemented at the gaming machine

15 . The method of claim 1 wherein the first portion of gaming data corresponds to executable code to be implemented at a peripheral device associated with the gaming machine

16 . The method of claim 1 wherein the first portion of gaming data corresponds to non-executable data for use by at least one gaming machine component.

17 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

detecting a first anomaly associated with the first data pattern;

wherein the first anomaly relates to detection of a virus associated with the first data pattern.

18 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

detecting a first anomaly associated with the first data pattern;

wherein the first anomaly relates to detection of rogue code associated with the first data pattern.

19 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

detecting a first anomaly associated with the first data pattern;

wherein the first anomaly relates to detection of corrupted data associated with the first data pattern.

20 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

detecting a first anomaly associated with the first data pattern;

wherein the first anomaly relates to detection of at least one unauthorized command associated with the first data pattern.

21 . The method of claim 20 wherein the at least one unauthorized command relates to a device access operation.

22 . The method of claim 20 wherein the at least one unauthorized command relates to a bus access operation.

23 . The method of claim 20 wherein the at least one unauthorized command relates to a driver access operation.

24 . The method of claim 20 wherein the at least one unauthorized command relates to a memory access operation.

25 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

acquiring pattern ID information relating to the first data pattern; and

retrieving the first comparison pattern using the pattern ID information.

26 . The method of claim 25 further comprising:

providing at least a portion of the pattern ID information to a trusted entity; and

receiving pattern comparison information relating to the pattern ID information from the trusted entity;

wherein the pattern comparison information includes information relating to a first location for accessing the first comparison pattern.

27 . The method of claim 1 wherein the first portion of game data corresponds to gaming data stored in the gaming machine RAM; and

wherein the comparison pattern corresponds to gaming data stored at a trusted memory source.

28 . The method of claim 1 wherein the first portion of game data corresponds to gaming data stored in memory of the gaming machine; and

wherein the comparison pattern corresponds to gaming data stored at a local trusted memory source.

29 . The method of claim 1 wherein the first portion of game data corresponds to gaming data stored in memory of the gaming machine; and

wherein the comparison pattern corresponds to gaming data stored at a remote trusted memory source.

30 . The method of claim 1 wherein the first portion of game data corresponds to gaming data stored at a peripheral device associated with the gaming machine; and

wherein the comparison pattern corresponds to gaming data stored at a trusted memory source.

31 . A gaming machine adapted to detect at least one anomaly associated with gaming data, the gaming machine being further adapted to receive a wager on a game of chance, the gaming machine comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one interface; and

memory;

the gaming machine being configured or designed to:

select a first portion of gaming data for analysis, the first portion of gaming data corresponding to a first data pattern;

select a first comparison pattern relating to the first data pattern;

compare the first comparison pattern to a first portion of the first data pattern; and

determine, based at least in part on the comparison of the first comparison pattern to the first portion of the first data pattern, whether at least one anomaly has been detected in association with the first data pattern.

32 . The gaming machine of claim 31 , wherein the game of chance is at least one of: a video slot game, a mechanical slot game, a lottery game, a video poker game, a video black jack game, a video card game, a video bingo game, a video keno game, and a video pachinko game.

33 . The gaming machine of claim 31 , wherein the first comparison pattern is certified for execution on the gaming machine in one or more gaming jurisdictions by a regulatory entity within each of the gaming jurisdictions.

34 . The gaming machine of claim 31 being further configured or designed to:

process selected portions of data stored in the memory of the gaming machine to thereby generate the first portion of gaming data.

35 . The gaming machine of claim 31 wherein the first portion of gaming data corresponds to raw data residing in at least one memory location of the memory.

36 . The gaming machine of claim 31 wherein the first comparison pattern corresponds to a valid comparison pattern, the gaming machine being further configured or designed to:

compare the valid comparison pattern with the first portion of the first data pattern; and

identify a first anomaly in response to a determination that the first portion of the first data pattern does not match the valid comparison pattern.

37 . The gaming machine of claim 36 wherein the valid comparison pattern corresponds to a second portion of authenticated gaming data.

38 . The gaming machine of claim 31 wherein the first comparison pattern corresponds to an invalid comparison pattern, the gaming machine being further configured or designed to:

compare the invalid comparison pattern with the first portion of the first data pattern; and

identify a first anomaly in response to a determination that the first portion of the first data pattern matches the invalid comparison pattern.

39 . The gaming machine of claim 38 wherein the invalid comparison pattern corresponds to data which is known or suspected to be invalid.

40 . The gaming machine of claim 31 being further configured or designed to:

initiate a first anomaly handling procedure in response to a determination that a first anomaly has been detected in association with the first data pattern.

41 . The gaming machine of claim 31 being further configured or designed to:

initiate a first anomaly handling procedure in response to a determination that a first anomaly has been detected in association with the first data pattern;

wherein the first anomaly handling procedure includes preserving states of selected processes of the gaming machine.

42 . The gaming machine of claim 31 being further configured or designed to:

initiate a first anomaly handling procedure in response to a determination that a first anomaly has been detected in association with the first data pattern;

wherein the first anomaly handling procedure includes halting execution of selected processes of the gaming machine.

43 . The gaming machine of claim 31 being further configured or designed to:

initiate a first anomaly handling procedure in response to a determination that a first anomaly has been detected in association with the first data pattern;

wherein the first anomaly handling procedure includes:

store information relating the first anomaly and associated first data pattern.

44 . The gaming machine of claim 31 wherein the first portion of gaming data corresponds to executable code to be implemented at the gaming machine

45 . The gaming machine of claim 31 wherein the first portion of gaming data corresponds to executable code to be implemented at a peripheral device associated with the gaming machine

46 . The gaming machine of claim 31 wherein the first portion of gaming data corresponds to non-executable data for use by at least one gaming machine component.

47 . The gaming machine of claim 31 being further configured or designed to:

detect a first anomaly associated with the first data pattern;

wherein the first anomaly relates to detection of a virus associated with the first data pattern.

48 . The gaming machine of claim 31 being further configured or designed to:

detect a first anomaly associated with the first data pattern;

wherein the first anomaly relates to detection of rogue code associated with the first data pattern.

49 . The gaming machine of claim 31 being further configured or designed to:

detect a first anomaly associated with the first data pattern;

wherein the first anomaly relates to detection of corrupted data associated with the first data pattern.

50 . The gaming machine of claim 31 being further configured or designed to:

detect a first anomaly associated with the first data pattern;

wherein the first anomaly relates to detection of at least one unauthorized command associated with the first data pattern.

51 . The gaming machine of claim 50 wherein the at least one unauthorized command relates to a device access operation.

52 . The gaming machine of claim 50 wherein the at least one unauthorized command relates to a bus access operation.

53 . The gaming machine of claim 50 wherein the at least one unauthorized command relates to a driver access operation.

54 . The gaming machine of claim 50 wherein the at least one unauthorized command relates to a memory access operation.

55 . The gaming machine of claim 31 being further configured or designed to:

acquire pattern ID information relating to the first data pattern; and

retrieve the first comparison pattern using the pattern ID information.

56 . The gaming machine of claim 55 being further configured or designed to:

provide at least a portion of the pattern ID information to a trusted entity; and

receive pattern comparison information relating to the pattern ID information from the trusted entity;

wherein the pattern comparison information includes information relating to a first location for accessing the first comparison pattern.

57 . The gaming machine of claim 31 wherein the first portion of game data corresponds to gaming data stored in the gaming machine RAM; and

wherein the comparison pattern corresponds to gaming data stored at a trusted memory source.

58 . The gaming machine of claim 31 wherein the first portion of game data corresponds to gaming data stored in memory of the gaming machine; and

wherein the comparison pattern corresponds to gaming data stored at a local trusted memory source.

59 . The gaming machine of claim 31 wherein the first portion of game data corresponds to gaming data stored in memory of the gaming machine; and

wherein the comparison pattern corresponds to gaming data stored at a remote trusted memory source.

60 . The gaming machine of claim 31 wherein the first portion of game data corresponds to gaming data stored at a peripheral device associated with the gaming machine; and

wherein the comparison pattern corresponds to gaming data stored at a trusted memory source.

61 . The gaming machine of claim 31 further comprising:

a pattern comparator configured or designed to perform at least a portion of the comparison of the first comparison pattern to the first portion of the first data pattern; and

a pattern authenticator configured or designed to provide information relating to a first location for accessing the first comparison pattern.