Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Hoon Im

Justin David Brown

Craig A Link

Charles H Barry

John W Smith

Jason W Mai

A method and system for distributing work load in a cluster of at least two service resources. Depending upon the configuration, a service resource may be an individual process, such as a single instance of a computer game, or a node on which multiple processes are executing, such as a Server. Initial connection requests from new clients are directed to a single entry-point service resource in the cluster, called an intake. A separate intake is designated for each type of service provided by the cluster. The clients are processed in a group at the service resource currently designated as the intake to which clients initially connected, for the duration of the session. Based upon its loading, the current intake service resource determines that another service resource in the cluster should become a new intake for subsequent connection requests received from new clients. Selection of another service resource to become the new intake is based on the current work load of each resource in the cluster. All resources in the cluster are periodically informed of the resource for each service being provided that was last designated as the intake, and of the current load on each resource in the cluster. Subsequently, new clients requesting a service are directed to the newly designated intake for that service and processed on that resource for the duration of the session by those clients.

Distributed load balancing for single entry-point systems

A simplified matchmaker matches users of a computer network, such as the Internet, based on the number of games the users have abandoned. A one-action input is received at a requesting client application executing on a computer connected to the computer network. Next, information that is stored within the computer is collected. The information is stored within the computer using a process that is unrelated to and separate from the one-action input received from the user. Then, at least one message is sent from the requesting client application to a host computer connected to the computer network containing information relating to a request for initiating a matchmaking process on the host computer that matches requesting user into an online interactive session along with other suitable users, such that each suitable user is connected to the computer network through a client application compatible with the requesting client application.

Simplified matchmaking

A method and system for determining network latency between clients in a computer network, such as in a gaming zone environment. Each client determines the network latency between each other client via a ping, response, and response-response protocol. To this end, a first client places first time information such as a timestamp into a (ping) data packet and sends the packet to the second client, who places second time information into the packet, and sends the packet as a response packet back to the first client. The first client determines a first network latency based on its current time and the first time information returned in the response packet. The first client then sends the packet back to the second client as a response to the response packet. The second client determines a second latency based on the current time information at the second client and the second time information received in the response-response packet. For multiple clients such as in a gaming zone environment, each local client sorts the IP addresses of the other remote clients into sets of clients, and pings the remote client or clients in each set once per predetermined period, thereby distributing the pinging operation to balance incoming and outgoing network traffic.

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Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Hoon Im