Cluster-Based Interactive System Scaling for Real-Time Video Games
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing interactive games face scalability issues, limiting the number of players that can participate simultaneously, and suffer from performance degradation in multiplayer environments, making it difficult to engage large audiences in real-time.
Innovation Solution
A system and client software architecture that enables real-time distribution of video and interactive elements to hundreds of thousands of clients, using a cluster-based approach that scales horizontally, allowing for massive multilevel elimination games with live video and interactive content displayed on mobile devices, including features like real-time response aggregation, user feedback, and dynamic game interfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a fixed number of players are matched in traditional multiplayer games, then the game system is simple to manage, but the system cannot scale to accommodate large numbers of participants simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the player population into multiple parallel game instances or tables, each handling a manageable number of players. This allows the system to scale horizontally by adding more segments rather than increasing the complexity of a single game instance. The segmentation enables thousands of players to participate simultaneously while maintaining simple management within each segment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-dimension approach (one game instance with fixed players) to a multi-dimensional architecture where multiple game instances operate in parallel across different dimensions. This dimensional expansion allows the system to accommodate large numbers of players by distributing them across multiple instances, effectively solving the scalability problem without proportionally increasing system complexity.
2Quantity of substance
If more players are accommodated in a single game instance, then player engagement increases, but performance degrades due to scalability issues
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the player base into multiple independent game instances, the patent prevents performance degradation that would occur in a single large-instance system. Each segment processes a manageable number of players, maintaining reliable performance while the aggregate system supports thousands of concurrent players across all segments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary components such as game servers, matching systems, and communication infrastructure that mediate between players and game logic. These intermediaries distribute the computational load and manage player interactions efficiently, enabling high player counts without sacrificing system performance or reliability.
3Ease of operation
If real-time interaction is provided to all players, then player engagement is maximized, but the system becomes difficult to scale
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments real-time interaction within each game instance while providing asynchronous or batched communication between instances. This allows full real-time interactivity for players within the same segment while reducing the real-time communication burden across the entire system, enabling scalability to thousands of players.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs periodic updates and structured communication cycles where game states are synchronized at specific intervals rather than continuously across all players. This periodic action maintains real-time engagement within reasonable latency bounds while reducing the overall communication overhead, making the system scalable to large player populations.
Data Source
AI summary
According to other aspects, a real-time system may be provided that is capable of scaling to hundreds of thousands of real-time clients (or more) to conduct a single-program instance in an interactive manner that combines video elements with interactive program elements. To provide such capabilities, a system and client software is provided that allows real-time distribution of video, and scripted rendering of interactive elements in relation to the video. Such systems may include, for example, cluster-based systems that are capable of scaling horizontally based on the number of clients involved in a particular program instance.