Dead reckoning in a gaming environment

• US 20080005172A1
• Filed: 06/30/2006
• Published: 01/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Gutmann, Robert
• Granted Patent: US 8,142,289 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/104.1
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/35 Details of game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/69 by enabling or updating specific game elements, e.g. unlocking hidden features, items, levels or versions
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/77 involving data related to game devices or game servers, e.g. configuration data, software version or amount of memory
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/80 Special adaptations for executing a specific game genre or game mode
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/60 Methods for processing data by generating or executing the game program
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3223 Architectural aspects of a gaming system, e.g. internal configuration, master/slave, wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3232 wherein the operator is informed
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3276 wherein the players compete, e.g. tournament

Abstract

Client position in a multi-client game is determined using dead reckoning. Clients send information to a server over a network. The server distributes this information to other clients. A client uses this information and dead reckoning to determine a character'"'"'s position. The server may calculate the client'"'"'s position using dead reckoning and send updates to clients when errors between actual and calculated positions exceed a threshold. Clients may calculate their position according to dead reckoning, and when an error between actual and calculated position exceeds a threshold, send updated information to other clients. This Abstract is provided for the sole purpose of complying with the Abstract requirement rules that allow a reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the disclosure contained herein. This Abstract is submitted with the explicit understanding that it will not be used to interpret or to limit the scope or the meaning of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of determining a character'"'"'s position in a multi-client game the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a plurality of information messages from a plurality of clients over a network;

sending a portion of the information received from one of the plurality of clients to other clients of the plurality over the network;

receiving a plurality if update information messages from the plurality of clients;

calculating a dead reckoning position for at least one character on one of the plurality of clients;

determining if an error between an actual and the calculated position exceeds a threshold; and

sending a portion of the updated information to at least one of the plurality of clients if the error exceeds the threshold.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a message of the plurality of information messages comprises at least one information selected from a group consisting of:

character position information, character velocity information, character acceleration information, and a non-character information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the non-character information comprises a busy message.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the network comprises a network selected from a group consisting of a wide area network, a local area network, a wireless network, and the Internet.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion of the information sent comprises at least one information selected from a group consisting of:

character position information, character velocity information, and character acceleration information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion of the information sent comprises two-dimensional information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion of the information sent comprises three-dimensional information.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the information in one of the plurality of update information messages comprises at least one information selected from a group consisting of:

character position information, character velocity information, character acceleration information and non-character information.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the non-character information comprises a busy message.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of calculating a dead reckoning position comprises estimating a position of a character based on a previously saved position and velocity and a time difference.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining if an error between an actual and the calculated position for at least one of the plurality of clients exceeds a threshold further comprises:

computing an error quantity in at least two dimensions by calculating a difference between the calculated position and an actual position in each dimension;

computing a magnitude of the error quantity by calculating the square-root of the summation of the squared error quantity values for each dimension; and

comparing the magnitude to a threshold.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of clients has a different threshold for each of the other clients in the plurality.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of clients has the same threshold for each of the other clients in the plurality.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising changing the threshold in response to receiving the update information message from one of the plurality of clients.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the network is a client-server network.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the network is a peer-to-peer network.

17. A method of determining a character'"'"'s position in a multi-client game the method comprising the steps of:

sending an information message from a first client of a plurality of clients to the other clients of the plurality over a network;

receiving a plurality of information messages from a plurality of clients over the network;

calculating a dead reckoning position for a character on the first client at the first client;

determining if an error between an actual and the calculated position exceeds a threshold; and

sending an update information message to at least one of the plurality of clients if the error exceeds the threshold.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein a message of the plurality of information messages comprises at least one information selected from a group consisting of:

character position information, character velocity information, character acceleration information, and non-character information.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the non-character information comprises a busy message.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the network comprises a network selected from a group consisting of:

a wide area network, a local area network, a wireless network, and the Internet.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the information message comprises two-dimensional information.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the information message comprises three-dimensional information.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the update information message comprises at least one information selected from a group consisting of:

character position information, character velocity information, character acceleration information and a non-character information.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the non-character information comprises a busy message.

25. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of calculating a dead reckoning position comprises estimating a position of a character based on a previously saved position and velocity and a time difference.

26. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of determining if an error between an actual and the calculated position for the character exceeds a threshold further comprises:

computing an error quantity in at least two dimensions by calculating a difference between the calculated position and an actual position;

computing a magnitude of the error quantity by calculating the square-root of a summation of the squared error quantity values for each dimension; and

comparing the magnitude to a threshold.

27. The method of claim 17, wherein the first client has a different threshold for each of the other clients in the plurality.

28. The method of claim 17, wherein the first client has the same threshold for each of the other clients in the plurality.

29. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving the update information message from one of the plurality of clients; and

changing the threshold for that client in response to the update information message received.

30. A communication network for on-line gaming comprising:

a plurality of clients; and

a server communicating with the plurality of clients over a network, the server configured to receive a plurality of information messages from the plurality of clients, send a portion of the information received from one of the plurality of clients to other clients of the plurality over the network, receive a plurality of update information messages from the plurality of clients, calculate a dead reckoning position for at least one character on one of the plurality of clients, determine if an error between an actual and the calculated position exceeds a threshold, and send a portion of the updated information to at least one of the plurality of clients if the error exceeds the threshold.

31. The communication network of claim 30, wherein a message of the plurality of information messages comprises at least one information selected from a group consisting of:

character position information, character velocity information, character acceleration information, and non-character information.

32. The communication network of claim 31, wherein the non-character information comprises a busy message.

33. The communication network of claim 30, wherein the network comprises a network selected from a group consisting of a wide area network, a local area network, a wireless network, and the Internet.

34. The communication network of claim 30, wherein the portion of the information sent comprises at least one information selected from a group consisting of:

character position information, character velocity information, and character acceleration information.

35. The communication network of claim 30, wherein the portion of the information sent comprises two-dimensional information.

36. The communication network of claim 30, wherein the portion of the information sent comprises three-dimensional information.

37. The communication network of claim 30, wherein the update information comprises at least one information selected from a group consisting of:

character position information, character velocity information, character acceleration information and non-character information.

38. The communication network of claim 37, wherein the non-character information comprises a busy message.

39. The communication network of claim 30, wherein the configuration for calculating a dead reckoning position comprises a configuration for estimating a position of a character based on a previously saved position and velocity and a time difference.

40. The communication network of claim 30, wherein the configuration for determining if an error between an actual and the calculated position exceeds a threshold further comprises a configuration for:

computing an error quantity in at least two dimensions by calculating the difference between the calculated position and an actual position in each dimension;

computing a magnitude of the error quantity by calculating the square-root of the summation of the squared error quantity values for each dimension; and

comparing the magnitude to a threshold.

41. The communication network of claim 30, wherein each of the plurality of clients has a different threshold for each of the other clients in the plurality.

42. The communication network of claim 30, wherein each of the plurality of clients has the same threshold for each of the other clients in the plurality.

43. The communication network of claim 30, further comprising changing the threshold in response to receiving the update information message from one of the plurality of clients.

44. The communication network of claim 30, wherein the network is a client-server network.

45. A communication network for on-line gaming comprising:

a plurality of clients each configured to send a plurality of information messages to the other clients of the plurality over a network, receive the plurality of information messages from the rest of the plurality of clients over the network, calculate a dead reckoning position for a local character, determine if an error between an actual and the calculated position for the character exceeds a threshold and send an update information message to at least one of the plurality of clients if the error exceeds the threshold.

46. The communications network of claim 45, wherein a message of the plurality of information messages comprises at least one information selected from a group consisting of:

character position information, character velocity information, character acceleration information, and non-character information.

47. The communications network of claim 46, wherein the non-character information comprises a busy message.

48. The communications network of claim 45, wherein the network comprises a network selected from a group consisting of a wide area network, a local area network, a wireless network, and the Internet.

49. The communications network of claim 45, wherein a message of the plurality of information message comprises two-dimensional information.

50. The communications network of claim 45, wherein a message of the plurality of information message comprises three-dimensional information.

51. The communications network of claim 45, wherein the update information message comprises at least one information selected from a group consisting of:

character position information, character velocity information, character acceleration information and non-character information.

52. The communications network of claim 51, wherein the non-character information comprises a busy message.

53. The communications network of claim 45, wherein the configuration for calculating a dead reckoning position comprises a configuration for estimating a position of the character based on a previously saved position and velocity and a time difference.

54. The communications network of claim 45, wherein the configuration for determining if an error between an actual and the calculated position for the character exceeds a threshold further comprises a configuration for:

computing an error quantity in at least two dimensions by calculating a difference between the calculated position and an actual position;

computing a magnitude of the error quantity by calculating the square-root of a summation of the squared error quantity values for each dimension; and

comparing the magnitude to a threshold.

55. The communications network of claim 45, wherein each client of the plurality has a different threshold for each of the other clients in the plurality.

56. The communications network of claim 45, wherein each client of the plurality has the same threshold for each of the other clients in the plurality.

57. The communications network of claim 45, wherein the client configuration further comprises a configuration for changing the threshold in response to the update information message.

58. A server in an on-line gaming system, the server comprising:

a network interface adapted to receive a plurality of information messages from a plurality of clients over a network, and to send a portion of the received information to other clients on the network;

wherein the network interface continues to receive information updates from clients during the game; and

a processor communicating with the network interface, the processor adapted to calculate a dead reckoning position for a character on each client, determine if an error between the dead reckoning position and an actual position exceeds a threshold, and send an updated information message to clients that errors exceed the threshold level to the other clients.

59. The server of claim 58, wherein the information message comprises at least one information selected from a group consisting of:

a character position, a character velocity, a character acceleration, and non-character information.

60. The server of claim 59, wherein the non-character information comprises a busy message.

61. The server of claim 58, wherein the network comprises a network selected from a group consisting of:

a wide area network, a local area network, a wireless network, and the Internet.

62. The server of claim 58, wherein the portion of the information sent comprises at least one information selected from a group consisting of:

character position information, character velocity information, and character acceleration information.

63. The server of claim 58, wherein the portion of the information sent comprises two-dimensional information.

64. The server of claim 58, wherein the portion of the information sent comprises three-dimensional information.

65. The server of claim 58, wherein the update information comprises at least one information selected from a group consisting of:

character position information, character velocity information, character acceleration information and non-character information.

66. The server of claim 65, wherein the non-character information comprises a busy message.

67. The server of claim 58, wherein the adaptation to calculate a dead reckoning position comprises estimating a position of a character based on a previously saved position and velocity and a time difference.

68. The server of claim 58, wherein the adaptation to determine if an error between an actual and the calculated position exceeds a threshold further comprises an adaptation for:

computing an error quantity in at least two dimensions by calculating the difference between the calculated position and an actual position;

computing a magnitude of the error quantity by calculating the square-root of the summation of the squared error quantity values for each dimension; and

comparing the magnitude to a threshold.

69. The server of claim 58, wherein each of the plurality of clients has a different threshold for each of the other clients in the plurality.

70. The server of claim 58, wherein each of the plurality of clients has the same threshold for each of the other clients in the plurality.

71. The server of claim 58, the processor being further adapted to change the threshold in response to receiving the update information from one of the plurality of clients.

72. The server of claim 58, wherein the network is a client-server network.

73. A client in an on-line gaming system, the client comprising:

a network interface adapted to send a client information message to other clients through a network, and receive client information messages from other clients on the network; and

a processor, communicating with the network interface, the processor adapted to calculate a dead reckoning position for a character on the client, determine if an error between the dead reckoning position and a actual position exceeds a threshold level, and send an updated information message to the other clients.

74. The client of claim 73, wherein the information message comprises at least one information selected from a group consisting of:

character position information, character velocity information, character acceleration information, and non-character information.

75. The client of claim 74, wherein the non-character information comprises a busy message.

76. The client of claim 73, wherein the network comprises a network selected from a group consisting of:

a wide area network, a local area network, a wireless network, and the Internet.

77. The client of claim 73, wherein the information message comprises two-dimensional information.

78. The client of claim 73, wherein the information message comprises three-dimensional information.

79. The client of claim 73, wherein the update information message comprises at least one information selected from a group consisting of:

character position information, character velocity information, character acceleration information and non-character information.

80. The client of claim 73, wherein the non-character information comprises a busy message.

81. The client of claim 73, wherein the adaptation for calculating a dead reckoning position comprises an adaptation to estimate a position of a character based on a previously saved position and velocity and a time difference.

82. The client of claim 73, wherein the adaptation for determining if an error between an actual and the calculated position for the first client exceeds a threshold further comprises an adaptation for:

computing an error quantity in at least two dimensions by calculating a difference between the calculated position and an actual position;

computing a magnitude of the error quantity by calculating the square-root of a summation of the squared error quantity values for each dimension; and

comparing the magnitude to a threshold.

83. The client of claim 73, wherein the first client has a different threshold for each of the other clients.

84. The client of claim 73, wherein the first client has the same threshold for each of the other clients.

85. The client of claim 73, further comprising changing the threshold in response to receiving the update information from one of the plurality of clients.