Granted Patent B2

US 9,076,289 · App. 13/713,008 · Granted Jul 7, 2015

Abstract

Claims (82)

1. A method of operating a wagering game system, the wagering game system including one or more sound controllers dedicated to controlling presentation of sounds associated with a casino wagering game via a sound presentation device associated with the wagering game system, said method comprising:

receiving sound content for presentation via the sound presentation device associated with the wagering game system;

evaluating, by at least one of the one or more sound controllers, an audio characteristic of the sound content against a sound presentation tolerance of the sound presentation device;

based on the evaluating of the audio characteristic, determining, by at least one of the one or more sound controllers, that at least a portion of the sound content is presentable via the sound presentation device without exceeding the sound presentation tolerance; and

providing the at least a portion of the sound content for presentation via the sound presentation device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sound content is received from a source that is external to the wagering game system, and wherein, prior to being received the sound content is not configured for presentation via the sound presentation device according to the sound presentation tolerance.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the audio characteristic comprises one of more of a frequency value, a volume level, a power level, and a duration.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining, based on the evaluating of the audio characteristic, that presentation of an additional portion of the sound content would exceed the sound presentation tolerance of the sound presentation device;

modifying a portion of the audio characteristic associated with the additional portion of the sound content to be within the sound presentation tolerance of the sound presentation device; and

after the modifying of the portion of the audio characteristic associated with the additional portion of the sound content, providing the additional portion of the sound content for concurrent presentation with the at least a portion of the sound content via the sound presentation device.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

prior to the providing the at least a portion of the sound content for presentation via the sound presentation device, determining that presentation of the at least a portion of the sound content would overlap in presentation with a scheduled presentation of additional sound content, wherein the additional sound content is associated with a wagering game event of a wagering game application presented via the casino wagering game; and

computing a priority of presentation for the sound content in relation to the additional sound content based on a significance of the wagering game event.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising causing suppression of presentation of either the at least a portion of the sound content or the additional sound content based on the priority of presentation.

7. The method of claim 5 further comprising one or more of modifying volume levels of the at least a portion of the sound content and the additional sound content in proportion to the priority of presentation and selecting a location for presentation of the one or more of the sound content and the additional sound content based on the priority of presentation.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the computing the priority of presentation for the sound content and the additional sound content comprises:

evaluating a first significance value of the sound content against a second significance value of the additional sound content; and

determining, based on evaluation of the first significance value against the second significance value, the priority of presentation.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the one or more of the sound content and the additional sound content comprise metadata that indicates one or more of the first significance value, the second significance value, a type of sound, a type of event, an origin of a sound file, a win amount, a description of a gaming accomplishment associated with a sound, a frequency value, a power level, a duration, a file marker, a leader tone, a trailer tone, and a file name.

10. The method of claim 5 further comprising

prior to the providing the at least a portion of the sound content for presentation via the sound presentation device, determining, based on the priority of presentation, that the additional sound content should be presented prior to presentation of the at least a portion of the sound content;

storing the at least a portion of the sound content in a buffer in response to determining that the additional sound content should be presented prior to presentation of the at least a portion of the sound content; and

providing the at least a portion of the sound content for presentation, from the buffer, after the additional sound content has been presented.

11. One or more non-transitory, machine-readable storage media having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a set of one or more sound controllers of a wagering game system cause the set of one or more sound controllers to perform operations comprising:

receiving sound content for presentation via a sound presentation device associated with the wagering game system, wherein the sound content is received from a source that is external to the wagering game system, wherein the sound content is not configured for presentation according to a sound presentation tolerance of the sound presentation device, and wherein the set of one or more sound controllers are dedicated to controlling presentation of sounds associated with one or more casino wagering games;

evaluating an audio characteristic of the sound content against the sound presentation tolerance;

determining, based on evaluation of the audio characteristic, that presentation of at least a portion of the sound content would exceed the sound presentation tolerance;

modifying the audio characteristic of the sound content to meet the sound presentation tolerance; and

after modifying the audio characteristic of the sound content, providing the at least a portion of the sound content for presentation via the sound presentation device.

12. The one or more non-transitory, machine-readable storage media of claim 11 , wherein the operation for modifying the audio characteristic of the sound content to meet the sound presentation tolerance of the sound presentation device includes an operation comprising removing at least one frequency of the sound content, wherein the at least one frequency is within a frequency range that, when played, would exceed a power usage limit of the sound presentation device.

13. The one or more non-transitory, machine-readable storage media of claim 11 , wherein the operation for modifying the audio characteristic of the sound content to meet the sound presentation tolerance of the sound presentation device comprises reducing one or more of a volume level, a power level, and a duration of the sound content.

14. The one or more non-transitory, machine-readable storage media of claim 11 , said operations further comprising:

prior to the providing the at least a portion of the sound content for presentation via the sound presentation device, determining that presentation of the at least a portion of the sound content would overlap in presentation with a scheduled presentation of additional sound content configured for presentation via the sound presentation device, wherein the additional sound content is associated with a wagering game event of a wagering game application presented via the wagering game system; and

computing a priority of presentation for the sound content in relation to the additional sound content based on a significance of the wagering game event.

15. The one or more non-transitory, machine-readable storage media of claim 14 , said operations further comprising;

prior to the providing the at least a portion of the sound content for presentation via the sound presentation device, determining, based on the priority of presentation, that the additional sound content should be presented prior to presentation of the at least a portion of the sound content;

storing the at least a portion of the sound content in a buffer in response to determining that the additional sound content should be presented prior to presentation of the at least a portion of the sound content; and

providing the at least a portion of the sound content for presentation, from the buffer, after the additional sound content has been presented.

16. The one or more non-transitory, machine-readable storage media of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining that an additional sound content is scheduled to be presented via the sound presentation device concurrently with a presentation of the at least a portion of the sound content;

determining that concurrent presentation of the at least a portion of the sound content and the additional sound content would exceed the sound presentation tolerance; and

normalizing the concurrent presentation of the sound content and the additional sound content to meet the sound presentation tolerance.

17. A wagering game system comprising:

one or more sound controllers dedicated to controlling presentation of sounds associated with one or more casino wagering games; and

a memory unit configured to store instructions which, when executed by at least one of the one or more sound controllers, cause the wagering game system to

receive the sound content from a source external to the wagering game system,

evaluate an audio characteristic of the sound content against a sound presentation tolerance of a sound presentation device of the wagering game system,

determine, based on evaluation of the audio characteristic, that at least a portion of the sound content is presentable via the sound presentation device without exceeding the sound presentation tolerance of the sound presentation device,

determine that presentation of the at least a portion of the sound content would overlap with a presentation of additional sound content scheduled for presentation via the sound presentation device, and

determine a priority of presentation of the at least a portion of the sound content in relation to the additional sound content.

18. The wagering game system of claim 17 , wherein the instruction to determine the priority of presentation includes instructions which, when executed by the at least one of the one or more sound controllers, cause the wagering game system to

evaluate a significance of a wagering game event against a significance of the at least a portion of the sound content, wherein the wagering game event is associated with the additional sound content, and wherein the wagering game event is generated via a wagering game application presented via the wagering game system; and

compute the priority of presentation based on evaluation of the significance of the wagering game event against the significance of the at least a portion of the sound content.

19. The wagering game system of claim 17 , wherein the sound content is not optimized for presentation via the sound presentation device, wherein the additional sound content is wagering game sound content from a wagering game application, said additional sound content being configured for presentation via the sound presentation device.

20. A wagering game apparatus comprising:

one or more processors; and

a sound controller dedicated to controlling presentation of sounds associated with one or more casino wagering games, said sound controller configured, via use of at least one of the one or more processors, to

receive sound content via an audio feed from a source external to the wagering game apparatus, wherein the sound content is not configured for presentation via a sound presentation device associated with the wagering game apparatus,

evaluate an audio characteristic of the sound content against a sound presentation tolerance of the sound presentation device,

determine, based on evaluation of the audio characteristic against the sound presentation tolerance, that presentation of the sound content according to the audio characteristic would exceed the sound presentation tolerance,

modify the audio characteristic of the sound content to be within the sound presentation tolerance, and

present the sound content via the sound presentation device, subsequent to modification of the audio characteristic of the sound content.

21. The wagering game apparatus of claim 20 wherein the sound controller, configured to modify the audio characteristic, is further configured to one or more of filter a frequency of the sound content, reduce a power level of the sound content, reduce a volume level of the sound content, and decrease a duration or presentation of the sound content.

22. The wagering game apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the sound controller is further configured to embed tones in the sound content, wherein the tones cause the at least a portion of the audio characteristic to be within the sound presentation tolerance.

23. The wagering game apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the tones indicate one or more of a beginning of the sound content, an end of the sound content, an identifier for the wagering game apparatus, an identifier for a group of wagering game machines, an identifier for a specific section of a casino, a type of the sound content, a volume level of the sound content, a duration of the sound content, and a power level of the sound content.

24. The wagering game apparatus of claim 20 wherein the sound controller is further configured to

prior to presentation of the sound content, determine that presentation of the sound content would overlap in presentation with a scheduled presentation of additional sound content, wherein the additional sound content is associated with a wagering game event of a wagering game application presented via the wagering game apparatus;

compute a priority of presentation for the sound content based on evaluation of a significance of the wagering game event against a significance of the sound content; and

present the sound content according to the priority of presentation.

25. A wagering game apparatus dedicated to controlling presentation of sounds associated with one or more casino wagering games, said wagering game apparatus comprising:

means for receiving sound content, from a source external to the wagering game apparatus, to present via a sound presentation device associated with the wagering game apparatus;

means for determining, based on evaluation of a first audio characteristic of a first portion of the sound content against a sound presentation tolerance of the sound presentation device, that presentation of the first portion of the sound content would exceed the sound presentation tolerance of the sound presentation device;

means for determining, based on evaluation of a second audio characteristic of a second portion of the sound content against the sound presentation tolerance, that presentation of the second portion of the sound content would not exceed the sound presentation tolerance;

means for suppressing presentation of the first portion of the sound content in response to the determining that the presentation of the first portion of the sound content would exceed the sound presentation tolerance of the sound presentation device; and

means for presenting the second portion of the sound content in response to the determining that the presentation of the second portion of the sound content would not exceed the sound presentation tolerance.

26. The wagering game apparatus of claim 25 wherein the means for suppressing the first portion of the sound content comprises means for filtering frequencies of the sound content below approximately 200 hertz.

27. The wagering game apparatus of claim 25 wherein the sound content is for non-wagering game content that is not configured for presentation via the sound presentation device.

28. The wagering game apparatus of claim 25 further comprising:

means for determining that presentation of the second portion of the sound content conflicts with a scheduled presentation of additional sound content from a wagering game, wherein the additional sound content is associated with an event for the wagering game;

means for evaluating a significance of the sound content to a significance of the event; and

means for prioritizing presentation of the sound content and the additional sound content based on the evaluating.

Assignments (11)