SIMULATED ENVIRONMENT COMPUTING FRAMEWORK

• US 20080140771A1
• Filed: 10/30/2007
• Published: 06/12/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Marr, James E., Vass, Attila, Bates, John P., Nason, Benbuck, Tsai, Ivy
• Application Number:
  US11/929,681
• Publication Number:
  US 20080140771A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• 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 13/30 Interconnection arrangements between game servers and game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/352 involving special game server arrangements, e.g. regional servers connected to a national server or a plurality of servers managing partitions of the game world
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/358 Adapting the game course according to the network or server load, e.g. for reducing latency due to different connection speeds between clients
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/92 Video game devices specially adapted to be hand-held while playing
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/513 server hierarchy, e.g. local, regional, national or dedicated for different tasks, e.g. authenticating, billing
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/534 for network load management, e.g. bandwidth optimization, latency reduction
• 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: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality

Abstract

Apparatus and systems for implementing simulated environments are disclosed. Remote implementation of function calls is also disclosed. A simulated environment apparatus may include a plurality of simulation servers coupled to each other over data transfer links. The simulation servers may be configured to perform computations related to simulating an environment. A plurality of view servers may be coupled to the simulation servers over data transfer links. Each view server is configured to facilitate interaction between a plurality of client devices and the simulation servers. Each user device may control an avatar within the simulated environment. A simulated environment system may include a data center configured to communicate over a network with one or more remotely distributed client devices.

Claims

1. An apparatus for implementing a simulated environment, comprising:

a plurality of simulation servers coupled to each other over data transfer links, the simulation servers being configured to perform computations related to simulating an environment; and

a plurality of view servers coupled to the simulation servers over fast data transfer links, wherein each view server is configured to facilitate interaction between a plurality of client devices and the simulation servers, wherein each user device controls an avatar within the simulated environment.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each simulation server includes a multiple core processor.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein one simulation server of the plurality is configured to accommodate a plurality of view servers.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein two or more simulation servers of the plurality are configured to accommodate a single view server.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least a subset of the plurality of view servers are located within close physical proximity to each other.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each view server is configured to receive simulation data from one or more of the simulation servers, and wherein each view server is configured to send view data to one or more of the client devices.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the client devices include one or more video game console devices.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the client devices include one or more handheld devices.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein each view server is configured to receive instructions from a particular client device relating to a desired interaction between an avatar associated with the particular client device with one or more other avatars associated with one or more different client devices.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein one or more of the view servers are configured to determine a user'"'"'s needs based on a location, orientation or motion of the user'"'"'s avatar within the simulated environment.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least one of the view servers or simulation servers is configured to suggest that a given one or more of the client devices download one or more desired files from one or more nearby peer client devices that have the one or more desired files.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least one of the view servers or simulation servers is configured to keep track of a state of one or more avatars associated with a subset of the client devices for which the at least one of the view servers or simulation servers are responsible.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least one of the view servers or simulation servers is configured to also analyze metadata in one or more files transferred between two or more client devices and suggest to the users of the two or more client devices other users who have shared similar files.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein one or more of the client devices of the plurality of client devices is configured to establish peer-to-peer communication between one or more of the view servers, one or more of the simulation servers or one or more other client devices of the plurality of client devices.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein one or more of the simulation servers, one or more of the view servers or one or more of the client devices is configured to invoke a function call over a network on a remote device.

16. A simulated world system, comprising:

a data center configured to communicate over a network with one or more remotely distributed client devices;

wherein the data center includes a plurality of node groups, wherein each node group includes a server front end, having a network address translator, one or more applications and one or more server nodes and a resource agent, wherein the applications are configured to direct one or more queries from the client devices for implementing one or more processes on the server nodes to the resource agent, wherein the resource agent is configured to distribute the queries among the one or more server nodes.

17. The simulated world system of claim 16 wherein each server node is configured to implement one or more of the processes is implemented as a set of processor tasks.

18. The simulated world system of claim 17, wherein each of the one or more server nodes includes one or more process, wherein each process agent is configured to advertise its available processing resources to the resource agent.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the resource agent and process agent are configured to assign a particular one of the one or more queries to a particular process running on a particular one of the one or more server nodes.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein one or more of the applications is configured to notify a particular one of the client devices of an assignment of the particular one of the one or more queries to the particular process.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the process is configured to receive function calls from the particular one of the client devices after the particular one of the client devices has been notified of the assignment.

22. The system of claim 16, wherein the data center, further comprises:

a server-to-server protocol (SSP) and a STUN server operably coupled to the one or more node groups;

universal identity manager (UIM) operably coupled to the one or more node groups;

a mediator operably coupled to the one or more node groups;

a data storage device operably coupled to the one or more node groups;

a database operably coupled to the one or more node groups;

one or more web servers operably coupled to the one or more node groups; and

one or more download servers operably coupled to the one or more node groups.

23. A method for making a function call with a processor and implementing the function call on a remote processor, wherein the processor and remote processor are connected to a network, comprising:

converting the function call into a data packet with the processor;

sending the data packet over the network to the remote processor;

translating the data packet back into a function call with the remote processor; and

implementing the function call with the remote processor.

24. An apparatus for remotely implementing a function call, comprising:

a remote processor configured to connect to a network, wherein the remote processor is configured to;

a) receive a function call that has been translated into a data packet from another processor over the network;

b) translate the data packet back into the function call; and

c) implement the function call.

25. An apparatus for remotely implementing a function call, comprising

a processor configured to connect to a network, wherein the processor is configured to

a) convert the function call into a data packet;

and

b) send the data packet over the network to a remote processor that is configured to translate the data packet back into the function call and implement the function call.