Amusement devices: games – Including means for processing electronic data – Data storage or retrieval
Reexamination Certificate
1997-11-28
2002-04-30
Harrison, Jessica J. (Department: 3713)
Amusement devices: games
Including means for processing electronic data
Data storage or retrieval
C463S040000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06379252
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a game program supply system supplying data of game programs of a plurality of terminal stations from a host station for writing the data in portable information storage media applied to game execution units in response to requests in the terminal stations, and a program rewrite system suitable for this game program supply system.
BACKGROUND TECHNIQUE
In case of supplying data (the so-called game software) of game programs for executing games in game machines or personal computers in a game-on-demand manner, it is conceivable to construct a system connecting a host station and a plurality of terminal stations with each other through a network of public lines or dedicated lines so that the terminal station sides present requests for data to the host station and the host station provides the data to the terminal stations making the requests each time fully in response to the requests.
In case of considering such case that a number of terminal stations simultaneously present requests to the host station in such a system, however, there arises such a problem that the terminal station sides cannot download the data from the host station side due to restriction of the line number, unless the line number of the public lines or dedicated lines is prepared in a number having a possibility of simultaneously presenting requests for data to the host station.
Further, there is also such a problem that, even if a line number capable of responding to requests of a number of terminal stations is ensured, the host station must simultaneously return responses to the respective terminal stations making the requests independently of each other when such requests concentrate, improvement of the throughput of the host station is required as the number of the terminal stations increases, and the data throughput required to the host station remarkably increases depending on the terminal station number and the line number.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the aforementioned problems, and aims at providing a game program supply system which can construct a game-on-demand system including a number of terminal stations with no excess of requirement to equipment of a network or data throughput of a host station, and a program rewrite system suitable for this game program supply system.
A game program supply system of a first invention comprises a host station which is a supplier of data of a game program and a plurality of terminal stations which are connected to the host station through a communication network to be supplied with the data of the game program from the host station through the communication network online while being separately supplied with the data of the game program offline too, and each of the plurality of terminal stations is formed to comprise readable/writable first storage means preserving the data of the data program online-supplied from the host station through the communication network, read-only second storage means to be separately supplied with the data of the game program offline, and write means writing the data of the game program stored in the first or second storage means into a portable information storage medium applied to a game execution unit.
A game program supply system of a second invention is so formed that writing preservation of the data with respect to the first storage means is managed by the host station.
A game program supply system of a third invention is so formed that the communication network includes a satellite communication network and a ground communication network, so that the host station supplies encrypted data of the game program to the terminal stations through the satellite communication network while supplying key information for decrypting the cryptogram through the ground communication network.
A game program supply system of a fourth invention comprises a POS system having a plurality of POS terminals and a game program data rewrite machine connected to each of the plurality of POS terminals, and the game program data rewrite machine is formed to comprise storage means for storing data of a game program, and write means writing the data of the game program stored in the storage means into a portable information storage medium applied to a game execution unit.
A game program supply system of a fifth invention is a game program supply system supplying data of a game program by a game program data rewrite machine, wherein the game program data rewrite machine comprises storage means for storing the data of the game program and write means writing the data of the game program stored in the storage means into a game cassette which is a portable information storage medium applied to a game execution unit, the game program includes game programs of a plurality of types of specifications responsive to the specification of the game cassette, and the information storage medium is formed to comprise specification selecting means in which operations responsive to the plurality of types of specifications are previously defined for implementing a specification suitable to the game program by executing the operation responsive to the written game program.
A game program supply system of a sixth invention is a game program supply system for supplying data of a game program by a game program data rewrite machine, wherein the game program data rewrite machine comprises storage means for storing the data of the game program, and write means writing the data of the game program stored in the storage means into a game cassette which is a portable information storage medium applied to a game execution unit, and the game cassette is formed to comprise a flash memory rewritably storing the game program, and an interface authorizing access between the flash memory and, the game program data rewrite machine and the game execution unit.
In a game program supply system of a seventh invention, the interface is formed to comprise a first interface dedicated to the game program data rewrite machine authorizing access between the flash memory and the game program rewrite machine, and a second interface dedicated to the game execution unit authorizing access between the flash memory and the game execution unit.
In a game program supply system of an eighth invention, the game cassette further comprises a security circuit provided between the flash memory and the first interface, and the security circuit is so formed as to store a previously determined key value specific to the game program data supplied from the game program data rewrite machine in advance of supply of the game program data to be rewritten in case of rewriting the data of the flash memory by the game program data rewrite machine, for performing a prescribed operation on the game program data thereafter supplied and authorizing writing of the game program data into the flash memory only when the value of the operation coincides with the key value.
A program rewrite system of a ninth invention is a system of rewriting data of a program into a rewrite medium which is a portable information storage medium by a rewrite machine, wherein the rewrite medium comprises a semiconductor memory rewritably storing the data of the program, a memory control part controlling an operation of the semiconductor memory, and a first operation circuit, the program data rewrite machine comprises a storage medium for storing the data of the program, write means writing the data of the program stored into the storage medium in the rewrite medium, a second operation circuit, and data set means, the data set means inputs common data into the first and second operation circuits in case of connecting the rewrite medium to the rewrite machine for performing rewriting of the program, and the memory control part is formed to authorize writing into the semiconductor memory only when data of operation results of the first and second operation circuits are identical to each other.
In a program rewrite system of a tenth invention, the memor
Kajitani Tetsuji
Kuramoto Masashi
Masuda Takahiro
Satou Toshihiro
Takata Akira
Coburn Corbett
Mega Chips Corporation
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
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