Remote Rendering Segmentation for Virtual Environment Graphics

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional videogame rendering systems struggle to render images of sufficiently high resolution and frame rate for complex virtual environments, leading to increased processing demands that are often prohibitively expensive to scale with additional GPUs.

Innovation Solution

A data processing apparatus and method that offloads part of the rendering process to a remote computing device, allowing a local device to render critical image parts while requesting and combining them with remotely rendered data to reduce computational load and improve resilience against communication lag.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If additional GPUs are provided to scale processing power for complex virtual environments, then rendering resolution and frame rate are improved, but system cost becomes prohibitively expensive

Engineering Contradiction:
Improverendering frame rateVSAvoidsystem cost
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The rendering process is segmented into two distinct parts: critical graphical features that require high processing power are rendered remotely on a server, while non-critical features are rendered locally on the user's device. This segmentation allows the system to achieve high rendering quality without requiring expensive multi-GPU configurations on every device.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

A remote server acts as an intermediary between the user's local device and the rendering pipeline. The server handles the computationally intensive rendering of critical graphical features and transmits only the necessary data back to the local device, reducing the processing burden and hardware requirements on user端 devices.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If graphics processing operations are performed locally for all graphical features, then rendering completeness is maintained, but processing load becomes excessively high

Engineering Contradiction:
Improverendering completenessVSAvoidprocessing power
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSPower

Solution Approach 1:

Different quality levels of rendering are applied to different parts of the virtual environment based on their importance. Critical graphical features that directly impact user experience are rendered with high quality on the remote server, while non-critical features are handled locally with reduced processing requirements, optimizing the balance between completeness and processing load.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of rendering all graphical features locally with full processing power, the system performs partial rendering action by offloading critical features to the remote server. This partial action approach maintains rendering completeness for essential elements while significantly reducing the local processing power requirement.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Power

If critical graphical features are rendered remotely, then local processing load is reduced, but communication lag may impact rendering timeliness

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvelocal processing loadVSAvoidcommunication lag
Core Design Contradiction:
PowerVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by pre-processing and transmitting rendering data for critical graphical features before they are actually needed for display. This allows the remote server to prepare rendering results in advance, reducing the impact of communication lag and ensuring timely delivery of rendered data to the local device.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The rendering pipeline maintains continuous useful action by overlapping data transmission with rendering operations. While the remote server is rendering critical features, the local device simultaneously processes non-critical features and prepares to receive and integrate the remotely rendered data, ensuring continuous rendering without interruptions caused by communication delays.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #20Continuity of useful action

Data Source

PatentEP4421744A1Data processing apparatus and method
Publication Date: 2024.08.28 SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT LLC
  • EP4421744A1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4421744A1 patent drawingFigure 2~3
  • EP4421744A1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

There is provided a data processing apparatus for generating one or more images of a virtual environment. The apparatus comprises a rendering processor configured to render a first part of the one or more images; a communication processor configured to request, from a remote computing device, data for rendering a second part of the one or more images; and an output image processor configured to generate the one or more images for display at least in part based on the rendered first part of the one or more images and the data for rendering the second part of the one or more images.