System for recursive recombination of streaming interactive video

• US 8,839,336 B2
• Filed: 05/06/2013
• Issued: 09/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: OL2 Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Perlman, Stephen G., Laan, Roger Van der
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Chenea
• Application Number:
  US13/887,861
• Publication Number:
  US 20130247125A1
• Time in Patent Office: 498 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 725/133
• 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 13/358 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 2300/402 Communication between platforms, i.e. physical link to protocol
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/552 for downloading to client devices, e.g. using OS version, hardware or software profile of the client device
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/107 between spatial and temporal predictive coding, e.g. picture refresh
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/115 Selection of the code volume for a coding unit prior to coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/132 Sampling, masking or truncation of coding units, e.g. adaptive resampling, frame skipping, frame interpolation or high-frequency transform coefficient masking
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/164 Feedback from the receiver or from the transmission channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/172 the region being a picture, frame or field
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/42 characterised by implementation details or hardware specially adapted for video compression or decompression, e.g. dedicated software implementation H04N19/635 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/46 Embedding additional information in the video signal during the compression process H04N19/517, H04N19/68, H04N19/70 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 in combination with predictive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2143 located in a single building, e.g. hotel, hospital or museum arrangements specially adapted for plural spots in a confined site in broadcast systems H04H20/63; adaptations for transmission by electric cable for domestic distribution in television systems H04N7/106
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2318 using striping
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4781 Games
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8186 specially adapted to be executed by a peripheral of the client device, e.g. by a reprogrammable remote control
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/106 for domestic distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/06 : Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing , discarding information system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 : WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/14 : Backbone network devices

Abstract

A plurality of servers whose video output is coupled to video compression apparatus that transmits streaming interactive video to a plurality of users, with a feedback loop whereby the streaming interactive video is recursively combined within the video output of the plurality of servers.

Claims

1. A method for streaming video from a hosting service center comprising:

executing a twitch video game or real-time application on one or more servers of the hosting service center thereby producing interactive video, the twitch video game or real-time application being played or used by one or more users on one or more corresponding client devices remote to the hosting service center;

compressing the interactive video to generate compressed interactive video;

transmitting the compressed interactive video to the one or more users over a packetized network, wherein the compressed interactive video is compressed with a worst-case, round-trip latency, between a user input on a client device and a response to the user input appearing on a display of the client device, of 90 milliseconds when transmitted over a maximum distance of 1500 miles from the hosting service center; and

recursively routing one or more video outputs of one server into a different server at the hosting service center.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising delaying the recursively routed one or more video outputs in a delay buffer.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising multicasting the recursively routed one or more video outputs.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the recursively routed one or more video outputs comprises uncompressed video.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising compressing the recursively routed one or more video outputs.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein video sent from a first server to a user is adaptively compressed.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein video sent from a first server to a user is not adaptively compressed.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the adaptive compression adapts a data rate in accordance with a channel capacity.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein the adaptive compression adapts an error correction technique in accordance with a channel error characteristics.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the packetized network includes the Internet.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with a computer program, which, when executed, is operable to:

run a twitch video game or real-time application on one or more servers of a hosting service center thereby producing interactive video, the twitch video game or real-time application being played or used by one or more users on one or more corresponding client devices remote to the hosting service center;

compress the interactive video to generate compressed interactive video;

transmit the compressed interactive video to the one or more users over a packetized network, wherein the compressed interactive video is compressed with a worst-case, round-trip latency, between a user input on a client device and a response to the user input appearing on a display of the client device, of 90 milliseconds when transmitted over a maximum distance of 1500 miles from the hosting service center; and

recursively route one or more video outputs of one server into a different service at the hosting service center.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 wherein the computer program, when executed, is further operable to delay the recursively routed one or more video outputs in a delay buffer.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 wherein the computer program, when executed, is further operable to multicast the recursively routed one or more video outputs.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 wherein the recursively routed one or more video outputs comprises uncompressed video.