Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Edmund Samuel Victor Pinto

Kenneth David Wolf

Justin David Brown

Nicholas Alexander Allen

Nathan Christopher Talbert

Tirunelveli R Vishwanath

Stephen Jared Maine

Stephen James Millet

Geoffrey M Kizer

Robert Brian Schmidt

Donald F Box

Karthik Raman

Todd R Manion

Steven P Trombetta

John Anthony Taylor

Stefan R Batres

James Andrew Goossen

Kavita K Kamani

HongMei Ge

Alexander Martin DeJarnatt

David Robert Cliffe

Alberto Arias Maestro

Richard Douglas Hill

Tao Xie

Jeffrey C Schlimmer

Asad Jawahar

Eric David Heutchy

Theodore Ludovicus Michel

David Leon Stucki

Micheal Dunn

Vance P O'Neill

Vincent Bannister

Kirill Gavrylyuk

Jefferson Ng

Stephen Paul Dolan

Joel David West

Jesse R Yurkovich

Paul Lyttle

Rankin J Kern

David A Straily

Praneeth Kallu

Brahmnes Tsz Foon Fung

Todd Ryun Manion

Active gameplay of a video game on a computer gaming device is overseen by a platform-level in-game recording companion that executes separately from any of a plurality of different video games. During active gameplay of the video game, the active gameplay is continuously and automatically buffered to a temporary storage buffer. During active gameplay the computer gaming device receives a command to save a segment of the active gameplay for subsequent viewing. While displaying gameplay of the currently-executing video game, an interface for the platform-level in-game recording companion is displayed. The segment of the active gameplay is saved from the temporary storage buffer to a library of the platform-level in-game recording companion.

Recording companion

Representative embodiments disclose a consistent, low latency, reliable storage system that uses quorum logic. An odd number of storage nodes are selected to store data for a client application. The odd number allows a quorum to be determined. When data is written to the storage nodes, success is identified if the data is successfully written to a majority of the storage nodes. Similarly, when a read is performed, success is identified if the majority of the storage nodes return the same value written in the same write operation. This is determined by matching a value and a version number for each node. Additional data is written to the storage nodes along with the values to allow the system to identify and repair inconsistencies in the data. In some embodiments, both the current data and prior data are stored to aid in repairing inconsistent data.

Quorum based reliable low latency storage

Active gameplay of a video game on a computer gaming device is overseen by a platform-level in-game recording companion that executes separately from any of a plurality of different video games. During active gameplay of the video game, the active gameplay is continuously and automatically buffered to a temporary storage buffer. During active gameplay the computer gaming device receives a command to save a segment of the active gameplay for subsequent viewing. Without interrupting the active gameplay, the segment of the active gameplay is saved from the temporary storage buffer to a library of the platform-level in-game recording companion.

Interfaces for a continuation-based runtime. Some embodiments described herein are directed to a framework using continuation based runtime interface that pertain to an infrastructure for enabling the creation of a wide variety of continuation-based programs that perform a wide-array of tasks. The infrastructure provides a foundation for building continuation-based, declarative applications of various scale and complexity.

Interface infrastructure for a continuation based runtime

Various embodiments relating to providing video game instant replays are disclosed. In one embodiment, a currently playing video game is overseen by a platform-level instant replay companion that executes separately from any of a plurality of different video games. A most recently played portion of rendered gameplay from the currently playing video game is automatically and continuously recorded with the platform-level instant replay companion. A recorded gameplay segment from the most recently played portion of rendered gameplay is displayed with the platform-level instant replay companion.

Computing application instant replay

Namespace for continuation-based runtime. Some embodiments described herein are directed to a framework using continuation based runtime namespaces that pertain to an infrastructure for enabling the creation of a wide variety of continuation-based programs that perform a wide-array of tasks. The infrastructure provides a foundation for building continuation-based, declarative applications of various scale and complexity. In some embodiments, the associated application programming interfaces (APIs) are factored into a hierarchy of namespaces in a manner that balances utility, usability, extensibility, and versionability.

Embodiments are directed to executing a workflow using a virtualized clock and to ensuring idempotency and correctness among workflow processes. In one scenario, a computer system a computer system determines that a workflow session has been initialized. The workflow session runs as a set of episodes, where each episode includes one or more pulses of work that are performed when triggered by an event. Each workflow session is processed according to a virtualized clock that keeps a virtual session time for the workflow session. The computer system receives an event that includes an indication of the time the event was generated, and then accesses the received event to determine which pulses of work are to be performed as part of a workflow session episode. The computer system then executes the determined pulses of work according to the virtual session time indicated by the virtualized clock.

Consistent modeling and execution of time constructs in business processes

Embodiments that relate to systems and methods for grouping players into a multiplayer game session are provided. In one embodiment, a first match request for a multiplayer game session is received and includes one or more requested player attributes. A plurality of other match requests are received, with one being a second match request including one or more requested player attributes. The first and second match requests are matched based on the requested player attributes. A notification of the match is sent to a client device of the first requesting player, with the notification configured to be received while the client device runs a user session different from the multiplayer game session. The notification includes a selectable element configured to instantiate the multiplayer game session on the client device in place of a user session when the selectable element is selected.

Matchmaking in multiplayer gaming

Partitioning continuation based runtime programs. Embodiments may include differentiating activities of a continuation based runtime program between public children activities and implementation children activities. The continuation based runtime program is partitioned into visibility spaces. The visibility spaces have boundaries based on implementation children activities. The continuation based runtime program is partially processes at a visibility space granularity.

Method and system for iteratively partitioning and validating program trees into environments at visibility space granularity

Embodiments described herein allow a service component author to write service components without having to handle incoming messages being received at any time. This may be facilitated by a message dispatch engine that dispatches messages from the incoming message queue only when the destination service component has indicated that it is ready to receive the message having that context. If the service component is not yet ready for the message, the message dispatch component may lock the message at least until the destination service component indicates that it is now ready to receive the message. Until that time, the message dispatch engine may ignore the locked message when finding messages to dispatch.

Queued message dispatch

A rendezvous abstraction that is used to correlate messages within message exchange. The rendezvous abstraction may be instantiated to correlate messages regardless of the type of message exchange pattern, and regardless of the underlying protocols used to communication message. Messages exchanges of primitive protocols are modeled as unilateral message exchanges. The rendezvous abstraction is used to correlate messages of the unilateral message exchange, and serves as an abstraction that is used to represented the rendezvous point where the message of the message exchange pattern are handled. Accordingly, instead of focusing on the protocol-specific mechanisms for correlation, if even available, the application author may simply work with a standard rendezvous abstraction.

Message exchange pattern rendezvous abstraction

Technologies for conversations between various parties, the conversations including context information that can be persisted to maintain the conversation when the parties or the communications media they communicate over operate intermittently. In such a conversation, any party can embed its view of the context into a message and any party can send the next message regardless of role and regardless of the underlying network, transport, or application message exchange pattern. Such technologies provide for durable services.

Role-independent context exchange

The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for coordinating application state and communication medium state. Embodiments of the invention provide mechanisms by which a dispatcher can enable application code to coordinate changes in application state with the consumption of messages from a communication medium. The coordination can be automatic where the dispatcher performs the coordination, or manual, where the coordination is performed more expressly by application code. Embodiments also include mechanisms by which applications targeting an execution (e.g., continuation based) runtime may compose alternative state transitions in the application with a peek lock protocol.

Dispatch mechanism for coordinating application and communication medium state

A generalized workflow execution model is configured to provide access to workflow elements. A computer system instantiates a generalized workflow execution model that provides access to workflow elements stored in a database that is connected to the workflow execution model. The workflow execution model includes the following: activity models that include both agents which are configured to express the control flow of the activity models and symbols which represent values usable by the activity models and metadata configured to identify the workflow execution model. The computer system also receives user input requesting workflow elements and accesses the database to provide the requested workflow elements using the generalized workflow execution model.

Workflow execution model

Technologies for enabling a continuation based runtime to accept or reject external stimulus and, in addition, to determine if an external stimulus may be valid for processing at a later point in execution.

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Duvall, WA, United States of America

Edmund Samuel Victor Pinto