Video Frame Compression Control for Low-Latency Game Streaming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current video game and media distribution systems face challenges such as complexity, obsolescence, piracy, and high development costs due to the need for multiple platform compatibility, limited accessibility due to hardware requirements, and inefficiencies in media consumption and distribution.
Innovation Solution
A system where video games and applications are hosted on servers and streamed to clients as compressed video and audio over a digital broadband network, reducing the need for local processing power and storage, and utilizing low-latency video compression to minimize latency and hardware requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If video games are distributed through traditional media players and local processing, then platform compatibility and hardware requirements are met, but system complexity increases, piracy becomes more prevalent, and development costs rise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the game execution environment from local devices and relocates it to remote servers. The server hosts the complete game runtime environment, while local devices only need to stream video output and send input commands. This extraction eliminates the need for local processing power and storage, reducing device complexity while maintaining platform compatibility through centralized server management.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal server-based platform that can run multiple game titles and support various client devices through a common interface. The server acts as a multi-functional hub that handles game execution, video encoding, and distribution to diverse clients (PCs, consoles, mobile devices), eliminating the need for each device to independently support multiple platforms.
2Ease of operation
If high-quality video streaming is provided to remote clients, then accessibility and user experience improve, but network bandwidth requirements and latency increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the video stream into discrete frames or packets that can be transmitted efficiently over the network. By breaking down the continuous video flow into manageable segments, the system can optimize transmission protocols, implement selective retransmission of critical frames, and reduce overall latency while maintaining visual quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically adjusts video streaming parameters (resolution, bitrate, frame rate) based on network conditions and client capabilities. This allows the system to maintain high quality when bandwidth is available while reducing latency and data transmission when network conditions deteriorate, optimizing the balance between accessibility and response time.
3Quantity of substance
If video compression is applied to reduce data transmission, then bandwidth requirements decrease, but compression artifacts and quality loss occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dynamic video compression that adapts to scene complexity and motion intensity. During static scenes, higher compression ratios are applied, while action sequences receive lower compression to maintain quality. This dynamic adjustment optimizes bandwidth usage while minimizing perceptible quality loss, as the compression level matches the actual visual content requirements.
4Ease of operation
If local hardware requirements are reduced for clients, then accessibility and cost decrease, but processing power must be concentrated on servers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple game execution instances and video encoding processes onto centralized server infrastructure. By consolidating these computationally intensive tasks on high-performance servers with specialized hardware, the system achieves economies of scale where the aggregate processing power of servers far exceeds what individual client devices would need, enabling clients to use simpler, more accessible hardware.
Data Source
AI summary
Computer-implemented methods for hosting online video games are provided. One method includes generating a plurality of video frames. The method includes initiating a sending of each one of the plurality of video frames to a client. Each of the video frames that is sent is compressed. The method includes stopping the compression and sending of video frames when one of the plurality of video frames is taking longer than a frame time to compress and send. A frame time is defined as one over a frame rate, and wherein stopping the compression of video frames includes ignoring said video frames by an encoder. The method includes continuing to compress and send audio data to the client when one or more of said plurality of video frames are not sent to the client.