Low-Latency Game Video Compression for Adaptive Streaming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current media devices and video game systems face challenges such as complexity, obsolescence, high power consumption, and piracy, leading to inefficient use and costly upgrades, while online gaming suffers from latency issues due to inadequate broadband infrastructure.
Innovation Solution
A hosting service architecture that streams compressed video and audio games over a digital broadband network, reducing the need for local processing power and storage in client devices, and employing low-latency video compression techniques to minimize latency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If video games are streamed over broadband network, then access to advanced games is improved without expensive hardware upgrades, but latency increases due to network transmission
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-compresses video frames and prepares compressed video streams in advance before transmission to clients. By performing compression beforehand rather than in real-time during gameplay, the system reduces transmission latency while maintaining advanced game quality, resolving the contradiction between accessing advanced games and minimizing latency.
2Loss of energy
If video compression is applied to reduce bandwidth usage, then network efficiency is improved, but compression complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the video compression function from the client device and relocates it to the game server. The server performs all compression operations and transmits only compressed video streams to clients. This reduces client device complexity while achieving efficient bandwidth usage through server-side compression.
3Loss of time
If local processing power is increased to reduce latency, then response time is improved, but device cost and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a hosting service as an intermediary between the game source and client devices. This intermediary performs video compression and stream delivery, allowing clients to access advanced games without increasing their own processing power or power consumption. The intermediary handles the computational burden while maintaining efficient response times through optimized stream delivery.
Data Source
AI summary
Computer-implemented methods for hosting online video games, performing video compression, and streaming video for video games are provided. One method includes receiving a request from a user for playing a low latency video game, processing control signals received from a client, and touting the control signals to a server on which the requested video game is to be executed. The method further includes, executing the low latency video game on the server to generate a compressed video stream that is subsequently decompressed at the client. Some embodiments of the method include dynamically adjusting a determined maximum data rate of the compressed video stream in response to a current detected level of packet loss or latency by modifying the compression quality or image resolution or modifying the image rate.