Granted Patent B2

US 9,122,492 · App. 13/280,930 · Granted Sep 1, 2015

Abstract

Claims (54)

1. A method for configuring a wagering game machine including a basic input/output system (BIOS), the method comprising:

initializing a processor and chipset residing on an embedded computer module residing in the wagering game machine, wherein the BIOS is a unitary component including code capable of configuring each of a plurality of embedded computer modules, and wherein the BIOS resides on a carrier board connected to the embedded computer module;

reading configuration information from a memory device onboard the embedded computer module;

identifying, by the BIOS based on the configuration information, the embedded computer module as a particular one of the plurality of embedded computer modules;

initializing, by the BIOS, input/output devices connected to the carrier board and the embedded computer module, wherein the initializing includes,

determining results for conditional statements in the code; based on the configuration information;

selecting, based on the results, one or more subroutines in the code, wherein the subroutines are configured to initialize the input/output devices;

launching, under control of the BIOS, an operating system in the wagering game machine;

presenting a wagering game on the wagering game machine, wherein the presenting utilizes information received from the input/output devices.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the embedded computer module conforms to a Computer-On-Module Express standard.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying includes:

reading configuration information from an electrically erasable programmable read only memory device residing on the embedded computer module, wherein the configuration information identifies the embedded computer module.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

detecting a signal indicating a group of one or more BIOS configuration options, where the group of BIOS configuration options indicates a configuration for one or more of the input/output devices, wherein the signal originates from a hardware component residing on the carrier board.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the initializing the input/output devices is based on the group of BIOS configuration options.

6. A method for initializing a wagering game machine, the method comprising:

launching, by an embedded computer module of the wagering game machine, a unitary BIOS capable of configuring input/output devices of a plurality of different embedded computer modules;

detecting an indication of BIOS configuration options, wherein the indication originates from a configuration module residing on the embedded computer module, and wherein the BIOS configuration options identify the embedded computer module as a particular one of the plurality of different embedded computer modules;

initializing, under control of the unitary BIOS, the input/output devices of the embedded computer module based on the BIOS configuration options,

wherein the initializing includes

determining results of conditional statements in code of the unitary BIOS:

selecting, based on the results, one or more subroutines in the code to initialize the embedded computer module;

launching an operating system using one or more of the input/output devices;

presenting a wagering game utilizing one or more of the input/output devices.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the indication of BIOS configuration options is a signal originating from the configuration module.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the configuration module produces the signal based, at least in part, on presence of a hardware strap residing on the configuration module.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the indication is a value written to a register of a processor residing on the embedded computer module.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the indication is a value written to a register residing in the configuration module.

11. An wagering game machine comprising:

a carrier board including a nonvolatile memory device, wherein the nonvolatile memory device includes a unitary basic input/output system (BIOS) code for initializing devices of a plurality of different Computer-On-Module (COMe) modules;

a COMe module of the plurality of different COMe modules, wherein the COMe module including,

a nonvolatile memory device including configuration information distinguishing the COMe module from a plurality of different COMe modules;

a processor configured to

execute the BIOS code, wherein execution of the BIOS code includes execution of instructions to

access the configuration information; and

evaluating, based on the configuration information, conditional statements in the unitary BIOS code to activate code configured to initialize the COMe module; and

initialize the COMe module using the code configured to initialize the COMe module;

execute wagering game code for presentation of wagering games on the wagering game machine.

12. The wagering game machine of claim 11 , wherein the carrier board includes a hardware device configured to provide a signal indicating user configurable BIOS options, and wherein the BIOS code is further configured to detect the signal and configure, based on the user configurable BIOS options, input/output devices of the wagering game machine.

13. The wagering game machine of claim 11 , wherein the carrier board includes a hardware device configured to indicate user selectable BIOS options based on one or more of presence of a hardware jumper and settings of switches.

14. The wagering game machine of claim 11 , wherein the configuration information includes one or more of a COMe module type, COMe module serial number, COMe module part number, and COMe option indicator.

15. The wagering game machine of claim 11 , wherein the BIOS code includes different code portions for each of the plurality of COMe modules.

16. A method for initializing a wagering game machine, the method comprising:

initializing, under control of a unitary basic input output system (BIOS), a processor and chipset residing on an embedded computer module residing in the wagering game machine;

identifying, under control of code in the unitary BIOS, a component residing in the wagering game machine, wherein the component can be one of a plurality of models, and wherein the unitary BIOS includes code for configuring each of the plurality models;

initializing, using code of the unitary BIOS configured for the particular one of the plurality of models, the component, wherein the initializing includes determining results of conditional statements in code of the unitary BIOS: selecting, based on the results, one or more subroutines in the code to initialize the component;

launching, under control of the unitary BIOS, an operating system in the wagering game machine;

presenting a wagering game on the wagering game machine, wherein the presenting utilizes information received from input/output devices.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the component is selected from embedded computer module, carrier board, and peripheral device.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the identifying includes:

reading configuration information from an electrically erasable programmable read only memory device residing on the embedded computer module, wherein the configuration information identifies the model of the component.

19. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

detecting a signal indicating a group of one or more BIOS configuration options, where the group of BIOS configuration options indicates a configuration for one or more input/output devices in the wagering game machine, wherein the signal originates from a hardware component residing on the carrier board.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the initializing the input/output devices is based on the group of BIOS configuration options.

Assignments (10)