Edge Virtualized Gaming Console Latency Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional gaming as a service, which relies on cloud-based virtualized gaming consoles, faces high latency and hardware limitations, particularly on mobile devices, due to processing power, memory storage, and battery constraints, limiting the range of games that can be played.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a virtual machine at an edge network device in a radio access network to offload processing and memory requirements, allowing mobile devices to function as thin clients, receiving control, video, and audio data while sending back controller feedback, thereby reducing latency and enhancing compatibility across multiple platforms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If game applications are executed locally on mobile devices, then processing requirements and latency requirements are met, but hardware requirements limit the range of games that can be played
Solution Approach 1:
A cloud-based gaming platform acts as an intermediary between the user's mobile device and the game applications. The platform provides virtualized gaming consoles and emulators that can run various games without requiring the mobile device to have the corresponding hardware. Users access games through a thin client interface, with the heavy processing done on remote servers, thus expanding the range of playable games while reducing local hardware requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses virtualization to create copies of gaming consoles and emulators in the cloud. Instead of requiring physical hardware for each game console type, the system provides virtual instances of consoles (e.g., PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo) that can be instantiated on demand. This allows multiple gaming platforms to be copied and accessed simultaneously without requiring the user to own multiple physical devices.
2Device complexity
If traditional cloud-based gaming is used, then hardware requirements are reduced, but latency increases when interacting with cloud servers
Solution Approach 1:
The gaming system is segmented into distributed components: local mobile devices for input and display, edge computing nodes for processing, and cloud servers for game execution. By placing processing capabilities at the edge closer to the user, the system reduces the distance data must travel, thereby reducing latency while maintaining cloud-based hardware abstraction.
Solution Approach 2:
The system adds a spatial dimension to cloud computing by deploying gaming services at edge locations distributed geographically near users rather than centralized in distant data centers. This dimensional shift from centralized to distributed architecture reduces network latency while preserving the hardware abstraction benefits of cloud computing.
Data Source
AI summary
Virtualized gaming as a network service is provided where instead of using a cloud based virtualized gaming console, a virtual machine can be instantiated at an edge network device in a radio access network to decrease the latency of communications between the user equipment device and the virtualized gaming console. Another virtue of placing the gaming console in the network is that the processing, memory storage and other hardware requirements can be offloaded to the network, allowing the user equipment device to be able to handle a broad range of games, without being limited by processing power and battery usage. The user equipment device can be treated as a thin-client device, receiving control data, video data, and audio data that can be played back at the user equipment device.