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ICE 2005 GSA – An Introduction. Hex or Text? - the choice is yours. Gaming Standards Association 2005 ... The Year of Implementation. Agenda. What is GSA? What are Gaming Standards? GSA’s three standards: BOB, S2S & GDS GSA Certification Moving from the drawing board to the gaming floor
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Hex or Text? - the choice is yours Gaming Standards Association 2005 ... The Year of Implementation
Agenda • What is GSA? • What are Gaming Standards? • GSA’s three standards: BOB, S2S & GDS • GSA Certification • Moving from the drawing board to the gaming floor • Q & A
Our Mission GSA is an international trade association representing gaming manufacturers, suppliers, operators and regulators. We facilitate the identification, definition, development, promotion, and implementation of open standards to enable innovation, education, and communication for the benefit of the entire industry.
2004 Board Of Directors Chair Gregg Solomon Mandalay Resort Group Vice Chair Mark Lipparelli Bally Gaming and Systems Secretary John Boushy Harrah’s Entertainment Treasurer Fred Lychock R. Franco USA Kent Young Aristocrat Technologies Joe Bailo Atronic Americas Val Levitan CashCode Company Derrik Khoo eGenting Steve Sutherland Konami Gaming Lyle Bell Seminole Tribe of Florida Jon Berkley TransAct Technologies Rob Siemasko WMS Gaming
Association Milestones 1996 - Gaming Manufacturers Association (GAMMA) was incorporated; providing an open forum to create common solutions for the gaming industry 2000 - Operators invited to join the organization, to ensure that the solutions created were acceptable to all 2001 - GAMMA becomes the Gaming Standards Association, signifying a broadening of the organization’s scope 2002 - Regulatory Advisory Committee created to offer regulators a means of early review and comment 2004 - Formal standards are released for GDS, BOB, and S2S 2004 - BOB and GDS simulators are developed to help manufacturers implement the new protocols
What are GSA Standards? • Open standards or protocols that enable communication between peripherals, gaming machines, and systems • Eliminate the need for incompatible, proprietary languages • Based on industry standard protocols: Ethernet, TCP/IP, XML, SOAP, USB
Voucher Manager Kiosks CoinAcceptor S2S S2S GDS BOB CoinHopper Player Tracking Point ofSale GameControl S2S NoteAcceptor Slot Accounting Coin/BillCounters Printer S2S TouchScreen Class IIServers Progressive Game & Peripherals Game to Systems System to System Enable Communication on Three Levels
Why Were They Developed? • To provide a standardized method for communication • To address the problem of having >30 different “languages” on the gaming floor • To enable operators to have valuable business information about patron activity
How Were They Developed? • Developed by members of Gaming Standards Association (GSA): • Operators • Manufacturers • Regulators • Suppliers • Cross-pollination of ideas • Much richer protocols than can be developed by one company alone
Why Are Standards Important? • Unlinked systems do not provide “big picture” view of operations • Proprietary interfaces are costly & inefficient • Changing one part requires changing another • Cost of switching vendors can be prohibitive • Need to access multiple systems to gain accurate customer intelligence
Investment Protection • Open standards are typically more robust • Developed by many different companies, not just one • Continuous improvement of standards • Workgroups have a continuing agenda • Smooth migration path to new functionality while protecting existing equipment investment • Bank by bank migration strategy for BOB • A new GDS device can be introduced in a single EGM • S2S protocols can be initially used for new systems
Gaming Device Standard (GDS) Protocol CoinAcceptor GDS CoinHopper GameControl NoteAcceptor Printer TouchScreen EGM to Peripherals protocol
Benefits of GDS • Standardized communications between EGM and its peripheral devices • Can easily change between peripherals from different vendors • Plug and Play USB communication • Peripheral device provides detailed information to EGM • Coupled with BOB, peripheral device info is sent to the host systems • Device commands (and code) can be sent from host systems through the EGM to the peripheral device
GDS Workgroup Update • First device protocols are complete • Note Acceptor • Coin Acceptor • Coin Hopper • Development suite is complete • Next projects: • Touch Screen device • Note Acceptor code download • Printer interface and template download
Best of Breed (BOB) Protocol Vouchers BOB CoinAcceptor Player Tracking CoinHopper GameControl Slot Accounting NoteAcceptor Printer Progressives TouchScreen Wagering Accounts EGM BOB Host Systems
What Is BOB? • The industry’s protocol for the networked casino floor environment • Communications between EGMs and back-end servers • Based on current, proven technology standards; XML, SOAP, Web Services, etc. • Expandable from low-speed (BOB messages between an EGM and SMIB over a serial link) to very high-speed communications (EGM to multiple back-end servers over Ethernet) • Consists of three independent components: • BOB Message Standards • BOB Transport Standards • BOB Configuration Standards
Benefits of BOB • Single method of communication between an EGM and one or more Hosts • Yield management for multi-game cabinets • Rich information about EGM and its peripherals • Easy to add new applications to the casino • Standardized transport methods allow use of “off the shelf” development tools • Manufacturers can now focus on content
Core Classes 1) Device ownership & subscriptions 2) Communications 3) Meters & subscriptions 4) Cabinet Class 5) Processor Class Additional Classes 1) Coin Acceptor 2) Note Acceptor & Dispenser 3) Coin Hopper 4) Printer 5) Handpay 6) Progressive 7) Bonus 8) Player 9) Voucher 10) Wagering Account Transfer 11) Game Authentication Terminal The BOB Classes
Here is what is on the gaming floor today... [Looks like hex to me…]
Host Request <getMeters> <getPerfMeters meterName="coinIn" themeId = “sum” paytableId=”sum” denomId=“all” /> </getMeters> EGM Response <meterInfo metertype =“onDemand”> <perfMeter Metername="coinIn" denomid=”5” meterValue=“50015”/> <perfMeter Metername="coinIn" denomid=”25” meterValue=“1003525”/> <perfMeter Metername="coinIn" denomid=”100” meterValue=“2504100” /> </meterinfo> A BOB Meter Request [A little easier to understand]
BOB Objectives 2005 • EGM Configuration - BOB transport options • Peripheral code download (e.g. Note Acceptor) • Lottery extensions • Protocol Testers for self-certification and verification • EGM Configuration - EGM game & cabinet options • Central determination (Class II gaming) • EGM operating system and code download • Printer class - template and code download
System to System (S2S) Protocol S2S Voucher Manager Kiosks CoinAcceptor S2S CoinHopper Player Tracking Point ofSale GameControl S2S NoteAcceptor Slot Accounting Coin/BillCounters Printer S2S TouchScreen Class IIServers Progressive S2S EGM Host Systems and other S2S devices
Benefits of S2S • Standardizes communication between servers and devices • S2S is developed with GDS and BOB, so communication with a note acceptor is available to a back end server • Standard server protocols opens up new solutions (Class II) • Supports “plug and play” for systems and peripheral devices • Interfacing - all components speak the same language • Integrating - Custom solutions are developed for each new conversation • Standardization promotes portability, interoperability and reusability
S2S and Class II In a Class II environment, each manufacturer has their own server for central determination and other game functions The Problem: Three game manufacturers means • Three separate accounting reports, • Three player tracking feeds, and • Three voucher systems • vouchers are only redeemable on same manufacturer’s games • What about the cashier booth? (three redemption terminals…)
S2S and Class II - the solution Each host server now talks S2S to a central consolidation server, which provides • One accounting report • All vouchers are cleared through a central database • All systems communicate using common protocols • Happier casino management!
S2S Objectives 2005 • EGM Player Rating Configuration • Lottery & Central Determination • Point-of-Sale Integration
Aristocrat Asahi Seiko Bally Gaming & Systems CashCode Coin Mechanisms, Inc. Cirsa IGT JCM Konami Companies supporting GSA Standards • Mars • Mandalay Resort Group • MoneyControls • NRT • Revive Partners • Rocket Gaming • Seminole Tribe • WMS Gaming
Interoperability & Compliance Testing • The primary purpose: • Impartial testing facility - integrated testing of GSA standards • GSA compliance – independent testing by 3rd party against GSA pre-defined test scripts • Compliance testing NOT Regulatory Approval • Standards to be tested: • Best of Breed (BOB) • Gaming Device Standards (GDS) • System to System (S2S) • Future GSA technology standards
Benefits of GSA Compliance • For GSA Members and the Gaming Industry • Decreased time to market due to improved regulatory process • Plug and Play • More efficient casino floor installations • Reduced follow up service calls • For Regulators • Standardized protocols reduce the quantity and variety of required testing • Enables better forensic analysis to resolve disputes • Who will make it work? • The operators by requesting GSA compliance when making purchasing decisions
GSA SAS 6.01 Compliance • Current SAS implementations are all different • Interoperability Requirements Specification (Operator’s Checklist) Section 1: Minimum Required Accounting and Security Section 2: Advanced Accounting Section 3: Ticketing Section 4: Real Time Events Section 5: Progressives Section 6: System Bonusing Section 7: Cashless Section 8: Tournament Section 9: Authentication Section 10: Miscellaneous and Legacy Support
Why did we do this? 1) First implementation to validate the new protocols 2) To create a suite of tools usable by all to make it easier to build, test, and certify GSA Protocol implementations 3) To gain practical experience with the protocol Where are we today? 1) Version 1.1 of the Simulators is complete 2) All classes of the BOB protocol implemented and tested 3) Developer notes and lessons learned from the Sims are in progress, and will be distributed with the Suite BOB Protocol Simulators
Status of BOB • Data model and schemas are completed, documented, and a reference implementation has been written against the documentation • One transport profile is fully documented (SOAP and TCP/IP), a second is in progress (wbxml and PPP). Profile model is being adopted for flexibility. • Host and EGM Sims - complete for all BOB classes by end of year • BOB Sim intro session - December 16th • BOB technical working session - January 19 & 20 • BOB Interoperability event - mid July 2005
GSA Industry Support • All GSA standards are supported by tools • GSA tools available to date • BOB Host and EGM Simulators v1.1 • GDS (Host Simulator, Client Drivers, Sample Code) • SAS 6.01 Toolkit • GSA tools planned 2005 • BOB Sims updated • S2S Simulator • GDS Support for additional peripherals • SAS toolkit update • Change Management through GSA’s JIRA server • General Support through GSA Message Board
Reducing these ideas to practice • GSA protocols are complete • Created by industry experts for the gaming industry • Open vs. Proprietary solutions • Simulators are available • Experts are available • Mid-July Interoperability event • What are the next steps?