xCoupler Applications

xCoupler Modules Help Game Manufacturer Stay Legit Security is the utmost importance for manufacturers of various lottery products including instant tickets, break-open/pull-tab tickets, promotional games, pull-tab vending machines and instant ticket vending machines. The success of any lottery is based on public trust in fairness, and any security concerns involving a lottery’s games, or even a concern relating to a instant ticket supplier, can erode that trust and be long-lasting.

This is why a major supplier that produces billions of lottery tickets annually has established a comprehensive system to ensure a secure environment for ticket production including printing plate production, game data programming, imaging and all additional aspects of game production. The system relies on an Oracle database as a repository for machine and process setup parameters, and Online Development’s xCoupler modules to send the data to production equipment and confirm that the parameters have been met.

xCoupler modules are installed in Allen-Bradley PACs (Programmable Automation Controllers) that are connected to devices in the company’s imaging and printing operations, and via Ethernet to the Oracle database. The module includes Oracle adapter software to bi-directionally exchange data between the production devices and the database. After imaging or machine setup parameters are downloaded from the database, the xCoupler module responds to the database whether the correct parameters have been implemented.

While fast setup was a consideration for choosing the xCoupler module, (it simply snaps into the PAC rack and connects to the database via Ethernet), secure and assured data transfer was the primary reason. The xCoupler module features an audit log that includes all transactions between the production equipment and the database. The log cannot be altered in any way so all records reflect actual transactions.

The module also features a store and forward capability. Should the connection between the module and the database be interrupted, all data is stored on the module’s flash drive and an email alert is automatically sent. Once the connection is restored, the module sends the stored data to the database.