Remote Video Game Streaming with Feedback-Based Frame Dependency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current media devices and video game systems are complex, costly, and inefficient due to compatibility issues, obsolescence, and high power consumption, leading to user frustration and increased costs for consumers and developers.
Innovation Solution
A hosting service architecture where video games and applications are hosted on servers, with clients receiving compressed video and audio streams over the internet, reducing hardware requirements and mitigating piracy, and allowing for low-latency, high-performance gaming without the need for expensive hardware upgrades.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If video games are hosted locally on high-performance hardware, then gaming performance is improved, but hardware cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the computationally intensive game execution and video rendering functions from the client device and relocates them to remote server hardware. The client device only needs to handle input reception and video display, while the server handles game logic, physics calculations, and graphics rendering, thereby reducing client hardware requirements while maintaining high gaming performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a remote hosting service as an intermediary between the user and the game execution environment. This intermediary provides the high-performance computing resources remotely, allowing users to access advanced gaming capabilities without investing in expensive local hardware upgrades.
2Adaptability or versatility
If media devices are updated to support new formats and games, then compatibility is improved, but power consumption and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the resource-intensive tasks of game execution and video decoding from the client device and moves them to remote servers. This eliminates the need for clients to continuously upgrade their processing power and energy consumption to support new games and formats, as all computational heavy lifting occurs on the server side.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal server-side platform that handles multiple game titles, formats, and resolutions through a single multi-functional system. Instead of each client device needing separate hardware capabilities for different games, the server provides unified access to diverse gaming content, reducing the need for frequent client hardware updates and associated power consumption increases.
3Device complexity
If video streams are transmitted over the internet, then hardware cost is reduced, but latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary actions by pre-positioning game execution and video rendering on remote servers before the user needs to play. The system maintains ready-to-execute game instances and pre-loaded assets on server hardware, so when a user connects, the game can start immediately without local hardware initialization delays, minimizing perceived latency despite internet transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of local hardware processing with a networked system where game execution and video rendering occur remotely. By substituting local CPU/GPU processing with server-side processing and network transmission, the system reduces client hardware requirements while managing latency through optimized network communication and server proximity strategies.
4Speed
If local processing is used, then response time is improved, but hardware obsolescence and piracy issues worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the game execution and video rendering processes from local hardware and relocates them to server infrastructure. This eliminates the problem of hardware obsolescence for clients, as the processing power required for current and future games is maintained on servers that can be centrally upgraded without requiring users to purchase new hardware.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system are provided for streaming a video game from a server to a client. One example system includes the server configured to generate video frames for the video game responsive to input received from the client. An encoder that processes the video frames to generate compressed video frames and storing past encoder states in memory associated with the encoder. The server is configured to transmit the compressed video frames to the client. The server is configured to receive a feedback signal from the client to determine when one or more of the compressed video frames that were sent were not been received by the client. The encoder is configured to generate one or more next video frames as compressed video frames that are dependent on compressed video frames that are known to have been successfully received based on the feedback signal.