System for recursive recombination of streaming interactive video

• US 8,468,575 B2
• Filed: 12/05/2007
• Issued: 06/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: OL2 Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Perlman, Stephen G., van der Laan, Roger
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Chenea
• Application Number:
  US11/999,525
• Publication Number:
  US 20090119738A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,022 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 computer-implemented method comprising:

running twitch games or applications on servers in one or more hosting service centers that are played or used by one or more users on one or more corresponding client devices remote to the hosting service centers via compressed streaming interactive video, the compressed streaming interactive video being compressed such that a worst-case latency between a user input of the one or more users playing or using the game or application and the user seeing a response to the input on a display of the client device is 90 milliseconds when transmitted over a maximum distance of 1500 miles from the hosting service center such that each of the one or more users has a perception that the twitch video games or applications are responding instantly; and

recursively routing one or more video outputs of one of the servers into a different one of the servers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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