US 11,928,919 B2
Nodal networks for casinos and the like
Andrew J. Schwartz, Las Vegas, NV (US)
Assigned to Pavilion Payments Gaming Services, Inc., Las Vegas, NV (US)
Filed by Pavilion Payments Gaming Services, Inc., Las Vegas, NV (US)
Filed on Oct. 5, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/063,647.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/913,827, filed on Oct. 11, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2021/0110645 A1, Apr. 15, 2021
Int. Cl. G07F 17/32 (2006.01); H04L 67/1021 (2022.01); H04W 4/80 (2018.01)
CPC G07F 17/3223 (2013.01) [H04L 67/1021 (2013.01); H04W 4/80 (2018.02); G07F 17/3225 (2013.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A casino comprising:
a plurality of gaming machines arranged in banks of one or more gaming machines per bank; and
a nodal network of wireless transceivers, each bank of gaming machines having a wireless transceiver, wherein:
each wireless transceiver is within wireless communication range of at least one other wireless transceiver in the nodal network;
at least one wireless transceiver is a terminal transceiver configured to communicate with an external network cloud; and
a casino patron can use a casino app running on a mobile device to communicate with the external network cloud via the nodal network from any location within the casino at which the mobile device is within wireless communication range of a wireless transceiver in the nodal network, that wireless transceiver being a connected transceiver, wherein:
the mobile device transmits to the connected transceiver an outgoing message that is propagated wirelessly through the nodal network via zero, one, or more of the other wireless transceivers to the terminal transceiver and from the terminal transceiver to the external network cloud;
when the connected transceiver receives the outgoing message directly from the mobile device, the connected transceiver assigns a thread ID number to the outgoing message, saves the thread ID number as an existing thread in its list of threads, identifies itself as a node that started the thread, and re-broadcasts the outgoing message with the thread ID number; and
the mobile device receives from the connected transceiver an incoming message that has been transmitted from the external network cloud to the terminal transceiver and then propagated wirelessly through the nodal network via zero, one, or more of the other wireless transceivers to the connected transceiver.