Game execution environments
AssigneeSony Interactive Entertainment America LLC
InventorsAndrew Buchanan Gault, Rui Filipe Pereira
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods for executing multiple video games, or other sources of video, include a cloud game execution environment in which each game application is executed on the same operating system but within a virtual I/O shell. The virtual I/O shell includes virtual video, audio and input channels that allow each game application to operate as if it had dedicated drivers. In some embodiments, the systems and methods of the invention are used to provide video streams to a plurality of clients over the internet.
Claims20
An execution environment for a cloud gaming system, comprising:
- a system manager configured to establish a virtual I/O shell for an executable game, the virtual I/O shell providing inputs to and from the executable game from a remote client, the executable game being selectable from a lobby interface that include a plurality of games that can be executed by the cloud gaming system for streaming to one or more users having an account with the cloud gaming system;
- the virtual I/O shell further including a virtual sound channel driver configured to redirect sound received from the executable game to the system manager;
- the virtual I/O shell further including a virtual video channel driver configured to redirect video data received from the executable game;
- the cloud gaming system including memory configured to store the system manager, the virtual sound channel driver, and the virtual video channel driver;
- and
- the cloud gaming system including a microprocessor configured to execute the system manager, the virtual sound channel driver, and the virtual video channel driver, wherein the microprocessor is part of a server of the cloud gaming system;
- wherein the virtual I/O shell provides for virtualization of the executable game for serving instances of the executable game to the remote client or other remote clients.
A method for executing a video game on a cloud gaming system, comprising,
- receiving a request from a remote client at a website to play a video game, the website configured for hosting the video game that is one of a plurality of video games made available via the cloud gaming system for streaming game play;
- and
- provisioning a virtual input/output (I/O) shell for the video game that was requested, the virtual I/O shell is configured to generate a virtual environment for the video game to be executed on at the cloud game system, the cloud gaming system is configured to manage an operating system and hardware that are virtualized via the virtual I/O shell, such that the video game receives control for the video game from the remote client via a system manager that interfaces with the virtual I/O shell and the system manager is configured to stream video and audio to a remote client for presentation of the video game.
A method for executing a video game on a cloud gaming system, comprising,
- receiving a request from a remote client at a website to play a video game, the website configured for hosting the video game that is one of a plurality of video games made available via the cloud gaming system for streaming game play;
- and
- provisioning a virtual environment for the video game that was requested, the virtual environment is configured to execute the video game on one or more servers of the cloud game system, the cloud gaming system is configured to manage an operating system and hardware that is virtualized, such that the video game receives control for the video game from the remote client via a system manager that interfaces with the virtual environment and the system manager is configured to stream video and audio to a remote client for presentation of the video game;
- processing said video game using a graphics processing unit (GPU) that is shared by a plurality of provisioned virtual environments;
- the providing by the cloud gaming system is configured to provision virtual environments for other video games when requested by other remote clients requesting to play said other video games in streaming game play.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.