Gaming Board Set and Gaming Kernel for Game Cabinets
The present invention is a method and apparatus enabling a low cost hardware upgrade path and low cost processor board retrofit for gaming machines. The enabling features include a two-board set made up of an industry standard form factor processor board (a single board system, able to support an operating system) coupled to an I/O adapter board, and further having a specially architected game kernel based on a UNIX-compatible operating system. The game kernel provides a consistent API to game applications, enabling quick and easy use of new hardware features while providing backward compatibility for existing game applications.
1 . A method of operating a wagering game including the steps of:
receiving a first input/output (I/O) signal at a first layer indicating a wager has been made by a player;
bridging communication with the first layer and a third layer using a gaming kernel at a second layer, the communication bridging step including the steps of:
evaluating whether the first I/O signal is formatted in accordance with a wagering game routine at the third layer;
transferring the first I/O signal to the third layer in a format correctly readable by the wagering game routine.
2 . The method as in claim 1 , the first I/O signal including a number of lines wagered and a wager amount per line.
3 . The method as in claim 1 further including the steps of:
obtaining a game outcome using the wagering game routine at the third layer;
transmitting a second I/O signal to the gaming kernel based on the game outcome;
evaluating the outcome signal with the gaming kernel; and
transferring the second I/O signal to the first layer in a format correctly useable by an I/O element connected to the first layer.
4 . The method as in claim 1 further including the steps of:
modifying one or more I/O elements connected to the first layer;
loading a library component associated with the one or more I/O elements onto the second layer.
5 . A method of installing a wagering game onto a gaming machine including the steps of:
loading a wagering game module onto a processing unit at a third layer;
loading a library onto a gaming kernel at a second layer, the library including I/O device specific information;
accessing and identifying I/O devices connecting to a first layer using the gaming kernel; and
bridging communication between the wagering game module and the I/O devices through the gaming kernel.
6 . The method of claim 5 further including the steps of:
modifying one or more I/O elements connected to the first layer;
loading a library component associated with the one or more I/O elements onto gaming kernel at the second layer.
7 . The method of claim 5 further including the steps of:
modifying one ore more processing unit elements connected to the first layer;
loading a library component associated with the one or more processing unit elements onto gaming kernel at the second layer.
8 . A method of upgrading an existing gaming cabinet including the steps of:
loading a wagering game module onto a processing unit at a third layer;
loading a library onto a gaming kernel at a second layer, the library including I/O device specific information;
accessing and identifying I/O devices connecting to a first layer using the gaming kernel; and
bridging communication between the wagering game module and the I/O devices through the gaming kernel.
9 . The method of claim 8 further including the steps of:
modifying one or more I/O elements connected to the first layer;
loading a library component associated with the one or more I/O elements onto gaming kernel at the second layer.
10 . The method of claim 8 further including the steps of:
modifying one ore more processing unit elements connected to the first layer;
loading a library component associated with the one or more processing unit elements onto gaming kernel at the second layer.