Remote management of a gaming machine through error notification and execution of a repair application
View Patent ↗Systems, apparatus and methods for remote management of a gaming machine are described herein. In some embodiments, an apparatus includes a host platform having a host processor controlled by a host operating system. The host platform has a host storage and a host power state, wherein the host processor is to execute instructions that includes a wagering game. The apparatus also includes a subsystem that is operable independent of the host operating system and the host power state. The subsystem includes a processor that is separate from the host processor. The subsystem also includes a nonvolatile data store that is separate from the storage of the host platform.
1. An apparatus comprising:
a host platform having a host processor controlled by a host operating system, the host platform having a host storage and a host power state, wherein the host processor is operable to execute instructions that includes a wagering game; and
a subsystem that is operable independent of the host operating system and the host power state, wherein the subsystem includes a processor that is separate from and operates independent of the host processor and a nonvolatile data store that is separate from the host storage, the subsystem operable to:
transmit an error notification in the host platform over a network to a master marc server;
receive a repair communication from the master game server; and
execute a repair application within the subsystem, wherein execution of the repair application causes a reboot of the host platform.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the nonvolatile data store is operable to store an identification of the wagering game.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the nonvolatile data store is operable to store an identification of a version of the wagering game.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the nonvolatile data store is operable to store an identification of the host platform.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the nonvolatile data store is operable to store firmware-resident asset identifiers.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the host processor is operable to execute instructions to store a log entry in the nonvolatile data store for a loggable event in the apparatus.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the loggable event includes corruption of data in the host storage.
8. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the loggable event includes an installation of a new version of the host operating system.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein an installation date and an installation time of the new version of the host operating system is stored in the nonvolatile data store.
10. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the loggable event includes an award above a monetary amount in the wagering game.
11. The apparatus of claim 6 , therein the loggable event service outage.
12. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein storage of the log entry in the nonvolatile data store triggers an error indication for diagnosis to the master game server.
13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the subsystem further includes a power module that operates independent of a power module for the host platform.
14. An apparatus comprising:
a host platform having a host processor controlled by a host operating system, the host platform having a host storage and a host power module with a host power state, wherein the host processor is operable to execute instructions that includes a wagering game; and
a subsystem that is operable independent of the host operating system and the host power state, wherein the subsystem includes:
a processor that is separate from and operates independent of the host processor;
a nonvolatile data store that is separate from the host storage; and
a subsystem power module with a subsystem power state, the subsystem power module configured to operate independent of the host power module;
the subsystem being operable to:
transmit an error notification in the host platform over a network to a master game server;
receive a repair communication from the master game server; and
execute a repair application within the subsystem, wherein execution of the repair application causes a reboot of the host platform.
15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the subsystem includes an external interface operable to provide connection to one or more remote applications.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the external interface includes an administration interface operable to allow management of the subsystem by the one or more remote applications.
17. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the external interface is operable to authenticate messages from the one or more remote applications.
18. A gaming machine comprising:
a host platform having a host power supply, a host storage, and a host processor controlled by a host operating system, wherein the host processor is operable to execute instructions that includes a wagering game;
a subsystem that is operable independent of the host operating system, wherein the subsystem includes:
a processor that is separate from and operates independent of the host processor;
a nonvolatile data store that is separate from the host storage;
a subsystem power supply that is operable independent of the host power supply; and
an external interface operable to provide connection to a network;
the subsystem being operable to:
transmit an error notification in the host platform over the network to a master game server;
receive a repair communication from the master game server; and
execute a repair application within the subsystem, wherein execution of the repair application causes a reboot of the host platform; and
a system bus operably coupling the host platform to the subsystem.
19. The gaming machine of claim 18 , wherein the host platform further includes a management agent operable to provide connection to a network.
20. The gaming machine of claim 19 , wherein one or more of the host platform and the subsystem receives instructions from a remote application.