A disclosed communication interface for a gaming machine has a main communication
board with one or more standard receptor slots for a plurality of "daughter boards,"
each daughter board allowing communication between a master gaming controller and
a gaming device or between a master gaming controller and a gaming machine network.
The daughter boards may be designed to convert between a number of different communication
standards or communication formats. Further, the daughter boards may employ a standard
connector that allows the daughter board to be plugged into any of the standard
receptor slots on the main communication board. Daughter boards may be removed
or installed on the main communication board while the main communication board
is receiving power. Further, the main communication board with a plurality of standard
receptor slots may accommodate many different types of daughter boards and many
different combinations of these types of daughter boards.