Amusement devices: games – Including means for processing electronic data – Player-actuated control structure
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-06
2003-02-04
Harrison, Jessica (Department: 3713)
Amusement devices: games
Including means for processing electronic data
Player-actuated control structure
C463S038000, C463S039000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06514143
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a program executing system, a relay device, a manual controller, a recording medium, a program, and a program executing apparatus which are preferably applicable to an entertainment system such as a television game system or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Manual controllers that have heretofore been used with television game apparatus or the like have a control unit including direction buttons for indicating the directions in which to move a character in its entirety, i.e., four positive and negative directions along X- and Y-axes on the display screen of a television receiver, and control buttons for indicating movements of left and right arms and left and right legs of the character.
A manual controller with such a control unit with a plurality of buttons is connected to a television game apparatus, and sends control data of the control unit, indicative of whether the user has acted on any of the buttons or not, to the television game apparatus.
The television game apparatus has an image generator processor, and is connected to the television receiver that serves as a display monitor. Based on the content of control data sent from the manual controller, the image generator processor calculates and renders an image to be displayed in a next frame on the display screen of the television receiver.
The image calculated and rendered by the image generator processor is stored in a VRAM (video RAM). When a frame switching signal is generated based on a clock signal in the television game apparatus, the image stored in the VRAM is transferred from the television game apparatus as an NTSC television signal or the like and displayed on the display screen of the television receiver.
The television game apparatus performs a succession of processes (1)-(3), given below, in each frame, e.g., in {fraction (1/60)} second, as shown by an upper sequence
1
in
FIG. 19
of the accompanying drawings, for thereby displaying images based on control actions on the manual controller on the display screen on a real-time basis.
(1) The television game apparatus communicates with the manual controller during a time ta.
(2) The television game apparatus calculates a game image depending on communications with the manual controller during a time tb.
(3) The television game apparatus stores the calculated game image in the VRAM during a time tc.
Recently, with the advent of more sophisticated and complicated games, there have been a demand for more control units on manual controllers and a demand for control units with an ability to produce analog outputs, i.e., multigradation outputs, depending on the pressing force on buttons, rather than an ability to produce simple on/off outputs, e.g., binary outputs.
To meet the above demands, it is necessary to increase the amount of data, e.g., the number of bytes of data, transmitted from the manual controller to the television game apparatus.
However, if the amount of data transmitted from the manual controller to the television game apparatus is increased, then the times required to perform the above processes (1) and (2) are increased, resulting in a delay in the process (3).
When the process (3) is delayed, the image may be displayed too late for the new frame subsequent to the given period, i.e., {fraction (1/60)} second as shown by a lower sequence
2
in
FIG. 19
, with the result that the displayed image on the television receiver tends to be disturbed or slowed down like a slow-motion image.
If the rate of communications between the television game apparatus and the manual controller is to be increased, then the manual controller needs to have a higher-speed microcomputer and a higher-speed clock generator, and hence becomes more expensive to manufacture.
Increasing the rate of communications between the television game apparatus and the manual controller poses other problems in that since noise and unwanted radiation rise, some measures are necessary to reduce such noise and unwanted radiation, requiring an additional cost to manufacture the manual controller and the television game apparatus.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a program executing system, a relay device, a manual controller, a recording medium, a program, and a program executing apparatus which do not increase the time required to perform communications between a manual controller and an apparatus to which the manual controller is connected, which meet a demand for more control units and a demand for control units with an ability to produce analog outputs depending on the pressing force on buttons, rather than an ability to produce simple on/off outputs, and which makes it possible to perform wireless communications between the manual controller and the apparatus to which the manual controller is connected.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a program executing system comprises a program executing apparatus for reading and executing a program stored in a recording medium, and a manual controller connected to the program executing apparatus and having a plurality of control units, for sending a control request from the user as control data to the program executing apparatus in response to operation by the user of at least one of the control units, the program executing apparatus having means for sending transmission definition indication data defining a type of control data to be sent from the manual controller, to the manual controller when the program executing apparatus starts executing and/or is executing the program.
With the above arrangement, when the program executing apparatus starts executing and/or is executing the program, the program executing apparatus sends transmission definition indication data defining a type of control data to be sent from the manual controller, to the manual controller. Therefore, the amount of control data sent from the manual controller to the program executing apparatus can possibly be reduced when the program executing apparatus starts executing and/or is executing the program.
A relay device connected to the program executing apparatus for performing wireless communications between the program executing apparatus and the manual controller may be disposed between the program executing apparatus and the manual controller.
If the manual controller has a storage unit for storing the transmission definition indication data, then it is not necessary to send the transmission definition indication data from the program executing apparatus to the manual controller while the program is being executed unless the transmission definition indication data is changed.
If the program executing apparatus is to update or change the content of the transmission definition indication data defining a type of control data to be sent from the manual controller, then updating transmission definition indication data may be sent to the manual controller to update the content of the transmission definition indication data when the program executing apparatus is executing the program.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a program executing system comprises a program executing apparatus for reading and executing a program stored in a recording medium, a relay device connected to the program executing apparatus and having a first wireless communication unit, and a manual controller having a plurality of control units and a second wireless communication unit for communicating with the first wireless communication unit, for sending a control request from the user as control data to the relay device in response to operation by the user of at least one of the control units, the program executing apparatus having means for sending transmission definition indication data defining a type of control data to be sent from the manual controller via the relay device, to the relay device when the program executing apparatus starts executing and/or is executing the program.
With the above arrangement, when t
Akazawa Toru
Tanaka Makoto
Harrison Jessica
Lerner David Littenberg Krumholz & Mentlik LLP
Rada, II Alex F. R. P.
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
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