Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.

Sony Interactive Entertainment America LLC

Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC

Roelof Roderick Colenbrander

Mark Evan Cerny

Ryan Hamilton Breed

Paul Robert Schultz

Kim-Huei Low

Cliff Pajaro

David Perry

Torgeir Hagland

David Coles

Khiem Diep

A method for cloud gaming. The method including generating a video frame when executing a video game at a server, wherein the video frame is stored in a frame buffer. The method including determining a maximum pixel clock for a chip-set including a scan-out block. The method including determining a frame rate setting based on the maximum pixel clock and an image size of a target display of a client. The method including determining a speed setting value for the chip-set. The method including scanning the video frame into the scan-out block from the frame buffer. The method including scanning-out the video frame from the scan-out block to the encoder at the speed setting value.

Scan-out of server display buffer based on a frame rate setting for cloud gaming applications

A method is provided, including the following operations: executing a cloud video game in a data center; streaming video generated by the executing cloud video game over a network to a client device that is connected to a base station; identifying an edge compute that is integrated into a computer near the base station, and further responsive to identifying the edge compute, then deploying a cloud gaming proxy to the edge compute; wherein streaming the video includes transmission of the video to the cloud gaming proxy, and wherein the cloud gaming proxy buffers the video for retransmission as needed.

Edge compute proxy for cloud gaming and 5G

A video game is executed on a cloud gaming server for play by a user. User data for the user is stored in a cloud storage server. A data access request issued by the video game is received by a management server. The data access request identifies requested user data stored in the cloud storage server. The requested user data is copied from a lower performance data storage device within the cloud storage server into a high-speed data storage device within the management server. The high-speed data storage device operates at a higher data rate and a lower latency than the data storage device within the cloud storage server. The high-speed data storage device in the management server is used to fulfill the data access request by the video game instead of using the lower performance data storage device in the cloud storage server to fulfill the data access request.

High-speed save data storage for cloud gaming

A method for cloud gaming. The method including generating a video frame when executing a video game at a server. The method including performing a scan-out process by scanning the video frame scanline-by-scanline and one or more user interface features scanline-by-scanline to one or more input frame buffers, and compositing and blending the video frame and the one or more user interface features into a modified video frame. The method including scanning in the scan-out process the modified video frame to an encoder at the server scanline-by-scanline. The method including beginning in the scan-out process scanning the video frame and the one or more user interface features to the one or more input frame buffers at a corresponding flip-time for the video frame.

Beginning scan-out process at flip-time for cloud gaming applications

Methods and systems to identify options of secondary client devices for a device handover of game play include establishing a session of game play of a game for a primary client device by executing the game on a server and streaming video frames to the primary client device. A profile is generated for each secondary client device that is identified to be local to the primary client device. A handover option is provided to the primary client device during game play, identifying one or more of the secondary client devices, based on the profile. A selection of a secondary client device from the handover option causes pausing of the streaming of video frames to the primary client device, accessing the game state for the game, and resuming game play using the secondary client device.

Cloud gaming device handover

A method for implementing a modification microservice with a game cloud system is described. The method includes executing a game instance of a game. The game instance is executed using a plurality of microservices assembled for the game instance. The method further includes accessing a modification microservice engineered to be executed with the game instance. The modification microservice adds a compute capability to the game instance. The modification microservice is executed outside of a server system in which the plurality of microservices is assembled for the game instance. Also, the modification microservice is accessed by one or more application programming interface (API) calls that obtain results data from said execution of the modification microservice. The one or more API calls are managed via a modification interface that manages the access to the modification microservice and use of the results data by the game instance.

Systems and methods for applying a modification microservice to a game instance

A method is disclosed for requesting data in a cloud gaming system that includes a cloud storage system and a cloud compute system, each of which has a respective peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) interface and a respective computer memory. The cloud gaming system includes a PCIe switch connected to both the PCIe interface of the cloud storage system and the PCIe interface of the cloud compute system. The PCIe switch exposes a doorbell register that is monitored by the cloud storage system. The cloud compute system writes to the doorbell register, which causes an interrupt to fire on the cloud storage system. The cloud storage system handles the interrupt, which directs the cloud storage system to read a message from a specified computer memory location. The message directs the cloud storage system to read requested data from a storage device accessible by the cloud storage system.

Methods implementing doorbell register/file identification table with high-speed data communication fabric for cloud gaming data storage and retrieval

A network architecture including a streaming array that includes a plurality of compute sleds, wherein each compute sled includes one or more compute nodes. The network architecture including a network storage of the streaming array. The network architecture including a PCIe fabric of the streaming array configured to provide direct access to the network storage from a plurality of compute nodes of the streaming array. The PCIe fabric including one or more array-level PCIe switches, wherein each array-level PCIe switch is communicatively coupled to corresponding compute nodes of corresponding compute sleds and communicatively coupled to the network storage. The network storage is shared by the plurality of compute nodes of the streaming array.

Compute sled providing high speed storage access through a PCI express fabric between compute nodes and a storage server

A method for performing a system start up. The method including receiving at a board management controller (BMC) a startup configuration instruction to boot up a compute node with an operating system, wherein the compute node is located on a sled including a plurality of compute nodes, wherein the BMC is configured for managing a plurality of communication interfaces providing communication to the plurality of compute nodes. The method including sending a boot instruction from the BMC to a boot controller of the compute node over a communication interface to execute a basic input/output system (BIOS) firmware that is stored remote from the compute node. The method including performing execution of the BIOS firmware on the compute node to initiate loading of the operating system for execution by the compute node.

Sled level boot management control of compute nodes for context switching using boot controllers

A network architecture including network storage. The network architecture includes a plurality of streaming arrays, each streaming array including a plurality of compute sleds, wherein each compute sled includes one or more compute nodes. The network architecture includes a PCI Express (PCIe) fabric configured to provide direct access to the network storage from compute nodes of each of the plurality of streaming arrays, the PCIe fabric including a plurality of array-level PCIe switches, each array-level PCIe switch communicatively coupled to compute nodes of compute sleds of a corresponding streaming array and communicatively coupled to the storage server. The network storage is shared by the plurality of streaming arrays.

Rack assembly providing high speed storage access for compute nodes to a storage server through a PCI express fabric

A method for cloud gaming. The method including generating a video frame when executing a video game at a server. The method including performing a scan-out process to deliver the video frame to an encoder configured to compress the video frame, wherein the scan-out process begins at a flip-time of the video frame. The method including transmitting the video frame that is compressed to a client. The method including determining at the client a target display time for the video frame. The method including scheduling at the client a display time for the video frame based on the target display time.

Determining targeted display time of a video frame for a client based on server side timing information

Systems and methods for establishing direct communication between a server system and a video game controller are described. The systems and methods include the video game controller and a computing device. An application is executed by the server system when a session is established by the computing device with the server system. Once the application is executed, the video game controller is used to send an identifier to the server system. The server system verifies the identifier to pair the session with the video game controller. When the video game controller is paired with the session, the video game controller can be used to change a state of a virtual scene that is displayed on the computing device or on a display screen.

Systems and methods for establishing direct communication between a server system and a video game controller

A method for using a distributed game engine includes receiving a request from a user account via a computer network to play a game, identifying processing power assignment for the user account, and determining node assembly for the user account to utilize two or more processing nodes for the play of the game based on the processing power assignment. The method further includes initializing the two or more processing nodes for execution of the game for the user account. The operation of initializing is performed to set up a transfer of processing code for the game from one processing nods to another processing node. The method includes defining an internal communication channel between the two or more processing nodes for exchange of state information of the game. The exchange of state information is performed to enable shared processing of the game by the two or more nodes.

Systems and methods for using a distributed game engine

In a multi-GPU simulation environment, frame buffer management may be implemented by multiple GPUs rendering respective frames of video, or by rendering respective portions of each frame of video. One of the GPUs controls HDMI frame output by virtue of receiving frame information from the other GPU(s) and reading out complete frames through a physically connected HDMI output port. Or, the outputs of the GPUs can be multiplexed together.

Scalable game console CPU / GPU design for home console and cloud gaming

A method for game allocation in a game cloud system. The method including tracking state of a plurality of compute nodes of a data center, wherein the plurality of compute nodes is distributed across a plurality of rack assemblies. The method including tracking a plurality of popularity valuations of a plurality of video games. The method including determining a distribution of one or more video games from the plurality of video games across the plurality of rack assemblies based on the plurality of popularity valuations of the plurality of video games. The method including storing the one or more video games from the plurality of video games across the plurality of rack assemblies based on the distribution of the one or more video game that is determined.

Growing community of inventors

Costa Mesa, CA, United States of America

Roelof Roderick Colenbrander