Share-memory networked motion simulation system

• US 20050233810A1
• Filed: 07/14/2004
• Published: 10/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Yin-Liang Lai
• Original Assignee: Yin-Liang Lai
• Inventors: Chiang, Johnson
• Application Number:
  US10/890,150
• Publication Number:
  US 20050233810A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/42
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/12 involving interaction between a plurality of game devices, e.g. transmisison or distribution systems protocols for networked virtual reality, networked games H04L29/06034
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/28 responding to control signals received from the game device for affecting ambient conditions, e.g. for vibrating players' seats, activating scent dispensers or affecting temperature or light controlling the output signals based on the game progress A63F13/50
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/30 Interconnection arrangements between game servers and game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/57 Simulating properties, behaviour or motion of objects in the game world, e.g. computing tyre load in a car race game A63F13/56 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/79 involving player-related data, e.g. identities, accounts, preferences or play histories
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/803 Driving vehicles or craft, e.g. cars, airplanes, ships, robots or tanks
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/302 specially adapted for receiving control signals not targeted to a display device or game input means, e.g. vibrating driver's seat, scent dispenser
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/50 characterized by details of game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5533 using program state or machine event data, e.g. server keeps track of the state of multiple players on in a multiple player game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/64 for computing dynamical parameters of game objects, e.g. motion determination or computation of frictional forces for a virtual car

Abstract

An interactive share-memory networked simulation system is designed to provide a variety of simulation, supervisory training, and viewer purposes; and the system has share-memory architecture that assigns different priority to different attendees; by according to the priority of the memory access authorities, attendees may read, write, and overwrite the data from the common memory shared by different memory users; such a memory is maintained through network to yield consistent and transparent data to all users. Among the networked computers one computer is used as the server of the entire simulation process, which controls the states as well as the sequence of the simulation game, and rest computers are called the clients; each of the individual clients controls at most one simulator unit, and each simulator unit is preferable mounted on a motion platform to provide the attendee, with the motion cue consistent with the motion in the simulation game.

Claims

1. A share-memory networked motion simulation system comprising:

a server computer, it poses a common memory that contains the data for the simulation process;

a plurality of simulator units, each simulator unit comprising a motion platform, an electrical control box, a cabin accommodating at least one user, a projector display, game controller, and a speaker;

a plurality of client computers, each associated with a respective one of the plurality of simulator units;

a communications network coupled to the server computer and each client computers;

wherein the common memory comprising a server-owned section and a plurality of client-owned sections, each of the client-owned sections associated with a respective one of the client computers.

2. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 1, wherein the common memory further comprising:

a server-owned data section;

a plurality of client-owned data sections, each one associated with one vehicle in the virtual environment; and

a queue for the authority of data write.

3. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 1, wherein each client computer has the following functions:

uploading vehicle type parameters, vehicle state parameters, vehicle sound/visual parameters, and vehicle collision parameters to the server computer and overwriting the client-owned section of the common memory;

downloading the entire common memory data from the server computer;

obtaining game input data from the game controller;

performing dynamic analysis of the client-owned virtual vehicle according to the game input data, and downloading common memory data;

performing collision analysis to the client-owned virtual vehicle against the other client-owned virtual vehicles and the server-owned movable objects according to the game input data and downloading common memory data;

performing visual and sound effect according to the result from the dynamics and collision analysis and the common memory data;

controlling the display and speaker according to the visual and sound effect;

performing the motion generation; and

controlling the motion platform according to the motion generation data.

4. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 2, wherein each client computer has the following functions:

uploading vehicle type parameters, vehicle state parameters, vehicle sound/visual parameters, and vehicle collision parameters to the server computer and overwriting the client-owned section of the common memory;

downloading the entire common memory data from the server computer;

obtaining game input data from the game controller;

performing dynamic analysis of the client-owned virtual vehicle according to the game input data, and downloading common memory data;

performing collision analysis to the client-owned virtual vehicle against the other client-owned virtual vehicles and the server-owned movable objects according to the game input data and downloading common memory data;

performing visual and sound effect according to the result from the dynamics and collision analysis and the common memory data;

controlling the display and speaker according to the visual and sound effect;

performing the motion generation; and

controlling the motion platform according to the motion generation data.

5. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 1, wherein the server computer has the following functions:

controlling the game status parameters according to the predetermined game rules and the common memory data;

writing the game status parameters and virtual environment parameters to the server-owned section in the common memory according to the game status parameters;

maintaining the consistency of the common memory on each client computers with the server computer by means of uploading the server-owned data from the client computer and downloading client-owned data to the client computer;

generating server-owned movable objects according to the common memory data;

performing the dynamics and collision analysis of server-owned movable objects; and

writing state parameters and collision parameters of server-owned movable objects to the server-owned section in the common memory.

6. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 2, wherein the server computer has the following functions:

controlling the game status parameters according to the predetermined game rules and the common memory data;

writing the game status parameters and virtual environment parameters to the server-owned section in the common memory according to the game status parameters;

maintaining the consistency of the common memory on each client computers with the server computer by means of uploading the server-owned data from the client computer and downloading client-owned data to the client computer;

generating server-owned movable objects according to the common memory data;

performing the dynamics and collision analysis of server-owned movable objects; and

writing state parameters and collision parameters of server-owned movable objects to the server-owned section in the common memory.

7. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 3, wherein the server computer has the following functions:

controlling the game status parameters according to the predetermined game rules and the common memory data;

writing the game status parameters and virtual environment parameters to the server-owned section in the common memory according to the game status parameters;

maintaining the consistency of the common memory on each client computers with the server computer by means of uploading the server-owned data from the client computer and downloading client-owned data to the client computer;

generating server-owned movable objects according to the common memory data;

performing the dynamics and collision analysis of server-owned movable objects; and

writing state parameters and collision parameters of server-owned movable objects to the server-owned section in the common memory.

8. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 4, wherein the server computer has the following functions:

controlling the game status parameters according to the predetermined game rules and the common memory data;

writing the game status parameters and virtual environment parameters to the server-owned section in the common memory according to the game status parameters;

maintaining the consistency of the common memory on each client computers with the server computer by means of uploading the server-owned data from the client computer and downloading client-owned data to the client computer;

generating server-owned movable objects according to the common memory data;

performing the dynamics and collision analysis of server-owned movable objects; and

writing state parameters and collision parameters of server-owned movable objects to the server-owned section in the common memory.

9. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 5, wherein the sever computer further comprising multi-processes and multi-threads, each perform client-emulation function comprising:

uploading the vehicle type parameters, the vehicle state parameters, the vehicle sound/visual parameters, and the vehicle collision parameters to server computer and overwriting the client-owned section of the common memory;

obtaining game input data from the predefined database and the common memory data;

performing dynamic analysis of the client-owned virtual vehicle according to the game input data and downloading common memory data; and

performing collision analysis to the client-owned virtual vehicle against the other client-owned virtual vehicles and server-owned movable objects according to the game input data and downloaded common memory data.

10. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 6, wherein the sever computer further comprising multi-processes and multi-threads, each perform client-emulation function comprising:

uploading the vehicle type parameters, the vehicle state parameters, the vehicle sound/visual parameters, and the vehicle collision parameters to server computer and overwriting the client-owned section of the common memory;

obtaining game input data from the predefined database and the common memory data;

performing dynamic analysis of the client-owned virtual vehicle according to the game input data and downloading common memory data; and

performing collision analysis to the client-owned virtual vehicle against the other client-owned virtual vehicles and server-owned movable objects according to the game input data and downloaded common memory data.

11. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 7 wherein the sever computer further comprising multi-processes and multi-threads, each perform client-emulation function comprising:

uploading the vehicle type parameters, the vehicle state parameters, the vehicle sound/visual parameters, and the vehicle collision parameters to server computer and overwriting the client-owned section of the common memory;

obtaining game input data from the predefined database and the common memory data;

performing dynamic analysis of the client-owned virtual vehicle according to the game input data and downloading common memory data; and

performing collision analysis to the client-owned virtual vehicle against the other client-owned virtual vehicles and server-owned movable objects according to the game input data and downloaded common memory data.

12. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 8 wherein the sever computer further comprising multi-processes and multi-threads, each perform client-emulation function comprising:

uploading the vehicle type parameters, the vehicle state parameters, the vehicle sound/visual parameters, and the vehicle collision parameters to server computer and overwriting the client-owned section of the common memory;

obtaining game input data from the predefined database and the common memory data;

performing dynamic analysis of the client-owned virtual vehicle according to the game input data and downloading common memory data; and

performing collision analysis to the client-owned virtual vehicle against the other client-owned virtual vehicles and server-owned movable objects according to the game input data and downloaded common memory data.

13. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 5, wherein the server computer further comprising a database for recording historical data of the game.

14. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 6, wherein the server computer further comprising a database for recording historical data of the game.

15. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 7, wherein the server computer further comprising a database for recording historical data of the game.

16. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 8, wherein the server computer further comprising a database for recording historical data of the game.

17. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 9, wherein the server computer further comprising a database for recording historical data of the game.

18. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 10, wherein the server computer further comprising a database for recording historical data of the game.

19. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 11, wherein the server computer further comprising a database for recording historical data of the game.

20. The share-memory networked motion simulation system of claim 12, wherein the server computer further comprising a database for recording historical data of the game.