Cloud Gaming Streaming Architecture for Client Hardware Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current video game systems face challenges such as obsolescence, complexity, and high costs due to the need for advanced hardware to run sophisticated games, as well as issues with piracy and latency in online gaming, which affect both users and game developers.
Innovation Solution
A hosting service architecture where video games and applications are hosted on servers and delivered to clients as compressed video and audio streams over a digital broadband network, reducing the need for powerful hardware at the client end and mitigating piracy risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If video games are hosted on servers and delivered as compressed video streams, then hardware requirements at client end are reduced and piracy risks are mitigated, but network bandwidth requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the computationally intensive game rendering and processing functions from the client device and relocates them to remote servers. The client device only needs to handle input reception and video stream decoding, while the server performs all heavy lifting of game logic execution, 3D rendering, and physics calculations. This extraction resolves the contradiction by dramatically reducing client hardware requirements while the server handles the computational burden.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces compressed video streams as an intermediary medium between the server's game output and the client's display. Instead of transmitting raw game data or requiring the client to render graphics, the server renders complete frames and transmits them as compressed video (e.g., H.264, H.265). This intermediary compression format reduces the effective bandwidth required compared to uncompressed video, while still delivering high-quality game visuals to the client.
2Adaptability or versatility
If advanced games are made accessible on a wide range of devices, then user base expands and hardware costs are reduced, but game performance and graphics quality may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional rendering model by having the server (rather than the client) perform all graphics rendering and game processing. In conventional models, the client device's hardware capabilities directly determine game performance. In this inverted model, the server's fixed high-performance hardware ensures consistent game performance across all client devices, while clients only need basic video decoding capability. This inversion resolves the contradiction by decoupling performance from client hardware.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the high-performance game environment on the server that can be accessed by multiple clients simultaneously. Each client receives a video stream that is essentially a copy of the server's rendered output, tailored to their specific device capabilities (resolution, frame rate). This copying approach allows the same high-performance game instance to serve diverse devices without compromising the core game experience or requiring each device to have equivalent hardware.
3Reliability
If game processing is centralized on servers, then piracy risks are reduced and performance consistency is improved, but network latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-rendering game frames on the server before transmission to the client. The server continuously renders game output in advance and buffers these frames, allowing the client to receive pre-prepared video data rather than waiting for real-time processing. This preliminary rendering and buffering approach reduces the perceived latency by ensuring video frames are ready for immediate transmission when the client requests them.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs periodic action through continuous video frame transmission at fixed intervals (e.g., 60 fps). The server periodically generates and transmits complete video frames in a steady stream, creating a rhythm of data flow that optimizes network utilization. This periodic transmission pattern allows for efficient bandwidth usage and predictable latency characteristics, as the network can be tuned to handle the regular frame intervals rather than dealing with irregular data bursts.
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus for recording application state information over time while simultaneous recording application streaming interactive video output. A playback means in which the recorded application video may be played back or the application may be re-executed with the application state information.