Inter-game communications in multi-machine gaming system and method

A gaming network, the network comprising:

• a networked gaming system in which the plurality of gaming machines are connected to the network switch to form a peer-to-peer gaming network;
• a first gaming machine including a network interface and a serial interface;
• a second gaming machine including a network interface and a serial interface;
• a network switch including a first set of data ports and a second set of data ports, wherein the network interfaces of the first and second gaming machines are connected to the first set of data ports of the network switch to generate a first virtual local area network, and the serial interfaces of the first and second gaming machines are connected via serial-to-network adapters to the second set of data ports of the network switch to generate a second virtual local area network;
• and
• multi-machine gaming applications stored on the gaming machines, wherein the multi-machine gaming applications are executed across the peer-to-peer gaming network in a casino environment, wherein gaming applications communicate through a virtual local area network to set up group play games, tournament games, or progressive networked games across several gaming machines, wherein the gaming applications use the virtual local area network to exchange messages for synchronizing jackpot values, notify each other about winnings, and exchange other game-related information, and wherein gaming machines within each virtual local area network are able to directly communicate with each other in the peer-to-peer gaming network;
• wherein data communications between network devices on the first virtual local area network are not visible to the network devices on the second virtual local area network, and wherein internal and external data communications are separated from each other both at device and network levels.

A gaming network, the network comprising:

• a networked gaming system in which the plurality of gaming machines are connected to the network switch to form a peer-to-peer gaming network;
• a first gaming machine including a first interface and a second interface;
• a second gaming machine including a first interface and a second interface;
• and
• a network switch including two sets of data ports, wherein the first interface of the first gaming machine and the first interface of the second gaming machine are connected to a first set of data ports of the network switch to form a first virtual local area network, and wherein the second interface of the first gaming machine and the second interface of the second gaming machine are connected to a second set of data ports of the network switch to form a second virtual local area network;
• and
• multi-machine gaming applications stored on the gaming machines, wherein the multi-machine gaming applications are executed across the peer-to-peer gaming network in a casino environment, wherein gaming applications communicate through a virtual local area network to set up group play games, tournament games, or progressive networked games across several gaming machines, wherein the gaming applications use the virtual local area network to exchange messages for synchronizing jackpot values, notify each other about winnings, and exchange other game-related information, and wherein gaming machines within each virtual local area network are able to directly communicate with each other in the peer-to-peer gaming network;
• wherein the network switch is configured to manage and distribute external IP addresses to the gaming machines for communicating with devices external to the gaming network;
• and wherein the network switch is configured to manage and distribute internal IP addresses to the gaming machines for communicating directly with the other gaming machines.

A gaming machine, wherein the gaming machine is connected to a networked gaming system having a plurality of gaming machines that are connected to the network switch to form a peer-to-peer gaming network, wherein the network switch includes a first set of data ports and a second set of data ports, the gaming machine comprising:

• a memory having one or more gaming applications stored therein;
• a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor executes the gaming applications;
• a video display, wherein the video display presents an executed gaming applications;
• a serial interface, wherein the serial interface is connected via a serial-to-network adapter to the first set of data ports of the network switch, and wherein the serial interface is configurable by the processor to communicate data related to the executed gaming applications;
• a network interface, wherein the network interface is connected to the second set of data ports of the network switch, and wherein the network interface is configurable by the processor to communicate data unrelated to the executed gaming application;
• and
• multi-machine gaming applications stored on the gaming machines, wherein the multi-machine gaming applications are executed across the peer-to-peer gaming network in a casino environment, wherein gaming applications communicate through a virtual local area network to set up group play games, tournament games, or progressive networked games across several gaming machines, wherein the gaming applications use the virtual local area network to exchange messages for synchronizing jackpot values, notify each other about winnings, and exchange other game-related information, and wherein gaming machines within each virtual local area network are able to directly communicate with each other in the peer-to-peer gaming network.