JP2003265810A - Command communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] In a gaming machine in which a main board and a sub board are connected by a communication line, command communication for accurately determining a noise situation and taking noise countermeasures according to the situation without receiving a signal from a receiving destination. Provide equipment. A gaming machine having a main board 1 and a sub board 2 connected by a serial communication line 31 and transmitting commands by communicating communication signals in one direction from the main board to the sub board. , Noise detector 13 and determination unit 1
4, a main board side terminal of the serial communication line 31 is connected to a noise detector, a noise state is detected from an electric signal of the serial communication line 31, and a noise level is determined based on the magnitude or frequency of the noise. The command signal is transmitted to the sub-board 2 by setting the communication speed or the number of repetitions corresponding to the determined noise level, and the noise level information is added to the command signal to notify the sub-board 1 To perform appropriate processing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a command communication device which suppresses electromagnetic noise generated in a communication line transmitting a control signal in an electric game machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In ball-ball type gaming machines such as pachinko machines and spinning drum type gaming machines such as pachi-slot machines, liquid crystal display devices, input devices, audio devices, and other features are provided to enhance the interest of the game. . For this reason, in addition to the control device for controlling the operation of the game machine, a control board for controlling the accessory device is provided, and the control boards are used by connecting each other with a communication line. In general, game machines are densely installed in a small area called a game island, and electric parts such as switches, motors, solenoids, and lamps, which are used in many things on game boards, cause electromagnetic noise. . In addition, in a game island for ball-and-ball type game machines, a long circulation path for the game balls to circulate is formed in the game island, and a ball polisher is installed in the path. It is charged because it moves and rubs or is polished with a ball polisher.

As described above, the gaming machine is installed in a place where static electricity or electromagnetic noise is always generated, and the communication line passing between the main control panel and the sub control panel easily induces noise.
The effect of noise cannot be ignored. It is also preferable to prevent malfunctions due to electromagnetic waves generated by an unauthorized athlete. In addition, in order not to gambling the gaming machine, there are various restrictions on the hardware and software of the gaming machine, so that it is not possible to give a signal from the outside to the main control panel that controls the winning probability. Therefore, the sub-control panel is not allowed to receive communication signals. Therefore, it is not possible to adopt a general method in which the signal received by the sub control panel is returned to confirm the influence of noise.

As shown in FIG. 4, the conventional command communication device has been designed to perform unidirectional communication by connecting a main board and a sub board installed in a gaming machine with a parallel communication line. The command generated by the control device on the main board is converted into an electric signal by the communication unit and supplied from the transmission unit to the parallel communication line via the output buffer. On the other hand, the sub-board captures an electric signal from the parallel communication line into the reception buffer and sends it to the reception unit, serializes it in the communication unit, converts it into a command signal, and transmits the restored command to each control circuit. Each device installed in the cabinet or door operates according to the program determined by the command, transmits various information to the player, and creates a fun atmosphere to promote the player's interest. To do.

When using a parallel communication line, it is necessary to provide a parallel electric wire cable having 12 or 20 cores for each peripheral device control circuit, which increases the man-hours required for installing and connecting the connector. Note that the number of required communication lines tends to become larger and larger in recent years due to the preference for complicated and sophisticated production. Conventionally, in order to prevent data errors in communication between circuit boards due to electromagnetic noise generated in a gaming machine, the same command is repeatedly sent from the occurrence of an event to the occurrence of the next event, and the communication check command BCC (bl
ock check character) has been used to make a confirmation check on the receiving side.

In particular, in order to restore the correct command even if there is noise in each heart on the assumption that the communication is one-way communication, a correct command is sent by sending a command signal a number of times to estimate the correct command. Will be adopted. Therefore, there has been a problem that the circuit configuration for performing these processes becomes complicated, and when these are realized by software, the software structure becomes complicated. In addition, since a multi-core communication cable is affected by external electromagnetic wave noise for each wire core, it is necessary to provide a detector for each wire core when observing the noise itself in the electric signal in the communication cable. It was not the target.

Incidentally, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-33311.
1 discloses an invention in which a circuit board is surrounded by a transparent cover so that an unauthorized tampering of a control circuit can be easily detected. In this document, however, a control circuit board used for various objects is disclosed. Is assembled on the back side of a conductive member that is grounded in common, to block electromagnetic noise generated by a front accessory and electromagnetic waves that are illegally applied from the outside. However, the above-cited invention does not recognize that the cable connecting the control boards to each other is susceptible to electromagnetic noise and is likely to cause erroneous command transmission, and does not take any measures against it. In addition, measures are taken when electric parts that generate electromagnetic waves are installed in front of the control circuit. For example, a pachislot game machine having arrangements such that they exist on both sides of a communication line is Not enough.

[0008]

Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to guide the communication line in a gaming machine in which a main board and a sub-board are connected by a communication line without receiving a signal from a receiver. It is to provide a command communication device capable of appropriately determining the situation of noise caused by noise and taking countermeasures depending on the situation.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a command communication device of the present invention comprises a main board and a sub-board connected by a serial communication line, and a communication signal is sent from the main board to the sub-board in a single direction. In a gaming machine that transmits commands by directional communication, the main board is equipped with a noise detector and a judgment unit, and the noise detector detects noise on the serial communication line by connecting the serial communication line to the noise detector in parallel. However, the determination unit determines the noise level. According to the command communication device of the present invention, since the main board side terminal of the serial communication line and the noise detector are directly connected, the noise induced in the serial communication line is directly taken into the noise detector for evaluation. Because you can
The noise level that affects the communication line can be easily determined.

In addition, the communication for connecting the main board and the sub-board has conventionally used a parallel signal line. However, connecting by a serial communication line is not only advantageous for inspection and maintenance, but also assembling. It is as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-309264 filed by the applicant of the present application that man-hours and costs are reduced and further expandability to the future is large. In the present invention, since the main board and the sub-board are connected by the serial communication line, in addition to the above advantages, the number of signal lines is significantly reduced, and the target of noise monitoring is a pair of signal lines. Since the noise on the line is directly detected, the noise level can be easily evaluated by a simple device. In addition, it is preferable to adopt a communication interface that complies with the RS-422 standard, which allows a plurality of connections.

In the command communication device of the present invention, the main board is classified into a plurality of stages based on the magnitude of the noise component contained in the electric signal on the serial communication line to determine the noise level, and the result is displayed on the sub-board. It may be transmitted. The noise level is determined based on the magnitude of noise or the frequency of occurrence. The representation of the noise level may be simplified as necessary. For example, if the noise level is classified into three levels of large, medium and small, the noise level determined by the control circuit of the main board can be transmitted to the sub-board side by securing 2 bits in the command signal. .

The main board processes so that the command signal can be accurately transmitted based on the determined noise level. As the transmission processing, the higher the noise level, the slower the communication speed may be adjusted so that the number of errors may be reduced, or the number of times of repeating the transmission of the same communication signal may be adjusted.
The sub-board processes the received command signal based on the noise level notified from the main board. For example, if the main board responds to a change in noise level due to a change in communication speed, the sub-board may perform processing corresponding to a change in communication speed based on the transmitted noise level. Further, when the command is repeatedly transmitted, the sub-board judges the received command by the majority rule, but upon receiving the notification of the noise level, the sub-board decides the number of the commands.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described below in detail based on embodiments with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a command communication device of this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a drawing for explaining a command configuration used in this embodiment, FIG. 3 is a table showing a method of expressing a noise level in this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the command communication device of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the command communication device of the present embodiment has a main board 1, a communication section 12 having a control section 11 and other circuits (not shown) and a transmission unit 16, and a transmission driver 15. A noise detector 13 and a judgment unit 14 are provided. The sub-board 2 includes a control circuit (not shown) that controls various devices mounted on the door, and a receiving unit 23.
The communication unit 21 having the above and the reception driver 22 are provided.

The transmission driver 15 on the main board and the reception driver 22 on the sub board are connected by a serial communication line 31. The terminal to which the serial communication line 31 is connected is connected to the noise detector 13, and the electric signal of the serial communication line 31 is directly input to the noise detector 13. It should be noted that the switches mounted on the door side, such as switches and sensors necessary for proceeding with the game, take in signals to the main board on the housing side via another communication path.

The control unit 11 controls the game played on the gaming machine, controls the winning probability, determines winning or losing, and other substantial parts of the game, determines an event according to the development of the game, and requires it. Command is selected, a bit array corresponding to the command is formed, and the command is supplied to the communication unit 12. The communication unit 12 converts the bit array representing the command supplied from the control unit 11 into an electric signal, and then the transmission unit 1
The signal is converted into an electric signal at 6 and sent to the transmission driver 15. The transmission driver 14 receives an electric signal representing a command from the transmission unit 16 and converts the electric signal into a serial signal and sends the serial signal to the serial communication path 31.

The noise detector 13 includes a serial communication line 31.
It is an instrument for inputting an electric signal propagating through a to evaluate the state of noise induced in the serial communication line 31 from the electric waveform. The noise level can be evaluated based on the magnitude of noise, the frequency of occurrence, and the like. Also, the representation of the noise level may be simplified as necessary.
For example, by using the guaranteed value for the noise magnitude defined for the communication interface, it is determined that the noise level is high when noise with a magnitude of 10% or more of the guaranteed value appears at regular intervals, and the noise level is not less than In addition, it may be determined that the noise level is in the middle when the noise of less than 10% appears, and the noise level is low when only the noise of the guaranteed value or less appears.

Alternatively, by observing the appearance frequency of noise exceeding a specific level, for example, when noise is observed for a time of 30 seconds or more per minute, the noise level is large, and when a time of 10 seconds or more and less than 30 seconds is observed. Noise level during
If it is 10 seconds or less, it may be determined that the noise level is low.
The control unit 11 performs signal processing based on the determination result of the noise condition, and carries the command signal with the information designating the processing method transmitted to the sub-board 2 side. For example, if the noise level is classified into three levels of large, medium and small, the noise level determined by the control circuit of the main board can be transmitted to the sub-board side by securing 2 bits in the command signal. .

The reception driver 22 of the sub-board 2 converts the electric signal supplied from the serial communication line 31 into an electric signal representing a command and supplies the electric signal to the reception unit 23 of the communication section 21. The receiving unit 23 restores the command of the bit array from the electric signal representing the command and sends it to each device control circuit (not shown). The device control circuit drives a lamp, a liquid crystal display device, a speaker, etc. in accordance with a program specified in response to a command to transmit information to the player or to enhance the atmosphere of the game. In addition,
When the communication processing suitable for the noise situation is performed, the command is restored using a predetermined processing method based on the noise information attached to the command signal.

The processing method using the command communication device according to this embodiment will be described more specifically below. The command communication device transmits a command signal from the main board 1 to the sub-board 2 through the serial communication line 31, but the communication line is difficult to insulate against noise and has a long path. Even with sufficient protection, erroneous information is likely to be transmitted to the sub-board via the communication line. However, in the command communication device of the present embodiment, the conductor is directly connected to the noise detector 13 from the terminal of the serial communication line 31 that is transmitted from the main board 1 to the sub-board 2. Therefore, when the electric signal in the serial communication line 31 is affected by the electromagnetic wave noise, the electric signal containing noise is simultaneously input to the noise detector 13.

Therefore, the noise detector 13 can detect the noise by measuring the electric signal of the serial communication line 31. The detected noise is sent to the determination unit 14 as information on the magnitude and duration or frequency, and the noise level is determined here. The noise situation can be judged in detail, but if it is intended to ensure the reliability of communication, it can be classified into three levels, for example, the noise level is high, low, or intermediate. It is enough.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the noise condition is judged based on the magnitude or frequency of occurrence of noise. For example, the guaranteed value of noise defined for the communication interface is used, and 10% or more of the guaranteed value is maintained at regular intervals. When a noise of size of appears, it is determined that the noise level is large, and when noise of a size greater than or equal to the guaranteed value and less than 10% appears, it is determined to be in the noise level, and only noise of the guaranteed value or less appears. It is determined that the noise level is low. Alternatively,
Observing the appearance frequency of noise exceeding a specific level, for example, the noise level is large when noise is observed for 30 seconds or more per minute, and the noise level is observed when observed for a time of 10 seconds or more and less than 30 seconds, If it is 10 seconds or less, it may be determined that the noise level is low. The determination result is the control unit 11
Be transmitted to.

The control unit 11 performs a process according to the noise level determined by the determination unit 14. For example, when the noise level is high, the command is repeatedly transmitted five times, when the noise level is medium, the command is transmitted three times, and when the noise level is low, the command is transmitted once. The correct information can be restored according to the judgment used. Alternatively, the influence of noise may be eliminated by adjusting the communication speed. For example, when the noise level is low, select a relatively high communication speed, when the noise level is medium, change the communication speed to medium, and when the noise level is high, the communication speed is sufficiently low. The command can be transmitted correctly.

Further, the main board 1 incorporates the noise level information into the command and transmits it to the sub-board 2, so that the sub-board 2 can judge the configuration of the received signal according to the noise level and perform the correct processing. For example, when the same command is sent many times, the sub-board 2 must determine the correct command based on the majority rule, but the sub-board 2 determines the number of command repetitions according to the noise level notified from the main board 1. And restore the original command.
Further, when selecting the communication speed, it is necessary to perform the restoration process according to the selected communication speed.

The command structure used in the present embodiment has a form in which noise level data is added to the end of a normally used command as shown in FIG. In addition,
The noise level data expresses the noise level by a binary number, and can be expressed by 2 bits as shown in FIG. 3 in the case of evaluating in three levels of large, medium and small. The number of bits required for the command differs depending on the content,
For the sake of simplicity, the number of bytes is increased or decreased, and the first byte includes information specifying the command length. Further, in order to utilize existing communication procedures and circuit elements as much as possible, it is preferable to configure the entire command signal to be transmitted by adding noise level data in byte units.

As described above, since the noise data is incorporated in the command, no extra command communication is required. When the technical idea of the present invention is applied to a device using a parallel communication line, error detection circuits corresponding to the number of cores of the communication line are required, but the command communication device of the present embodiment. Since the serial communication line is used, one set of circuits for detecting a command error occurring in the communication line is sufficient, and therefore can be used very easily.

[0027]

As described above, the command communication device of the present invention accurately grasps the noise state in the gaming machine,
It is possible to perform processing according to the noise level.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a command communication device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a command configuration example used in this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a table showing an example of a noise level expression method in the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a conventional command communication device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Main board 11 Control unit 12 Communication unit 13 noise detector 14 Judgment section 15 Transmission driver 16 transmission units 2 sub board 21 Communications Department 22 Receive driver 23 Receiving unit 31 serial communication line

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A main board and a sub-board connected by a serial communication line are provided, and a command signal generated by a control unit provided on the main board is unidirectionally transmitted from the main board to the sub-board to issue a command. In the gaming machine for transmitting, the main board is provided with a noise detector and a judging section, the serial communication line is connected in parallel to the noise detector, and the noise detector detects a noise level in the serial communication line, A command communication device, wherein a judgment unit judges the noise level of the serial communication line based on the degree of the detected noise level. 2. The command communication device according to claim 1, wherein the noise level is classified into a plurality of stages based on the magnitude of the noise and judged, and the judgment result is transmitted to the sub-board. . 3. The noise level is classified into a plurality of stages based on the ratio of noise exceeding a predetermined level for each predetermined communication time, and the judgment result is transmitted to the sub-board. The command communication device according to claim 1, which is characterized in that. 4. The command communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication speed is adjusted based on the determined noise level. 5. The command communication device according to claim 4, wherein the sub-board performs processing corresponding to a change in communication speed based on the transmitted noise level. 6. The command communication device according to claim 1, wherein the number of times that the same communication signal is repeatedly transmitted is adjusted based on the determined noise level. 7. The command communication device according to claim 6, wherein the sub-board performs a process corresponding to the number of repetitions of the communication signal based on the transmitted noise level.