SIP based VoIP multiplayer network games

• US 8,070,601 B2
• Filed: 08/12/2009
• Issued: 12/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/2004
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Activision Publishing Incorporated (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Acharya, Arup, Singh, Aameek
• Primary Examiner(s): Coburn, Corbett B
• Application Number:
  US12/540,227
• Publication Number:
  US 20090298587A1
• Time in Patent Office: 846 Days
• Field of Search: 463/35, 463/42
• US Class Current: 463/35
• 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 13/795 for finding other players; for building a team; for providing a buddy list
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/87 Communicating with other players during game play, e.g. by e-mail or chat
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/407 Data transfer via internet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/50 characterized by details of game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/572 Communication between players during game play of non game information, e.g. e-mail, chat, file transfer, streaming of audio and streaming of video
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1104 Session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4038 with floor control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality

Abstract

This invention is directed to a system and method for the close coupling of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) with multiplayer network games. Game state dependent voice communications are used as another method of player interaction in the game environment. The system uses SIP enhanced game servers and conference servers with audio mixing capabilities, and the game server controls the creation, maintenance and changing of the voice conferences. Participation in a voice conference is determined by the game state features associated with each player including distance and direction to determine how the voices are mixed in a voice conference.

Claims

1. A system for providing simultaneous context based audio interaction among a plurality of participants in a network based gaming environment, the system comprising:

a single centralized game server separate from and in communication with a plurality of audio communication devices associated with a plurality of game participants, the game server configured to host the network based gaming environment, to generate game state profiles for each game participant and to maintain the game state profile for each game participant comprising game specific context for that game participant;

an audio conference server separate from and in communication with the game server, the audio conference server configured to host voice over internet protocol based audio conferences between two or more game participants;

a plurality of geographically distributed audio mixers, each audio mixer in communication with the audio conference server and one of the plurality of audio communication devices and separate from the audio communication devices, audio conference server and game server; and

a plurality of simultaneous and independent voice over internet protocol based audio conferences within the network based game environment, all of the audio conferences contained with a single instance of a dynamic network based game in the network based game environment and each audio conference comprising the audio communication devices associated with a distinct group of participants, each group of participants comprising a plurality of participants having a shared game context within the game state profiles comprising parameters or attributes that permit audio communication among the game participants and each audio conference comprising audio paths between the plurality of geographically distributed audio mixers and the audio communication devices associated with each game participant in that group;

wherein the single centralized game server is configured to initiate and to control the plurality of simultaneous and independent voice over internet protocol based audio conferences within the single instance of the network based game based on the generated and maintained game state profiles and to switch the audio communication devices among the plurality of audio conferences seamlessly and dynamically during the single network based game instance and non-disruptively to the single network based game instance and any of the audio conferences and wherein the audio conference server is configured to establish each audio conference solely in response to instructions from the game server.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the participants in each audio conference are determined by the game server solely based upon the game state profiles of the game participants.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the participants in each audio conference comprise a shared context.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the game server comprises a session initiation protocol stack and each audio conference is a session initiation protocol based voice over internet protocol communication.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the game server is further configured to use session initiation protocol signaling messages to switch participants among the audio conferences.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the game server is configured to obtain a signal description protocol from a game participant identification associated with each game participant using session initiation protocol signaling messages and to obtain a signal description protocol for the conference server and each audio mixer using session initiation protocol signaling messages.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the game server is further configured to obtain audio path information for each game participant identification from its signal description protocol and to communicate the obtained audio path information to the conference server and each audio mixer, to obtain audio path information for the conference server and each audio mixer from its signal description protocol and to communicate the obtained audio path information to the game participant identifications and to use the communicated audio path information to establish the audio paths between the plurality of geographically distributed audio mixers and the audio communication devices associated with each game participant identification in each group.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein each audio communication device is in communication with one of the plurality of audio mixers to provide the audio mixing for its audio conference.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the audio communication device comprises an internet protocol phone, a software based phone or conventional telephone equipment.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein each game participant can simultaneously participate in two or more independent audio conferences.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the independent audio conferences are based on a single shared context within the game state profile of each game participant that comprises attributes separate from physical proximity.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of distributed audio servers in communication with the game server, each audio server capable of hosting an audio conference between two or more game participants.