This week, the USPTO published a patent application for Sony concerning a new type of cloud game streaming system. With the rise in popularity of cloud video game streaming services like Google’s Stadia, it would make sense that the manufacturer of the popular Playstation system would try its hand with a cloud service as well.

The unique aspect of this application is the way Sony utilizes the server’s hardware resources. Sony demonstrates a technique to create a virtual partition to distribute server hardware resources to multiple users. This enables the users to have unique and individualized gaming experiences all while using the same hardware components. Multiple users can be playing completely different games with different settings and the virtual partition will allocate resources based on the individual user’s needs. The user requests are first sent to a game logic server, this server is responsible for allocating the required CPU and GPU resources needed to execute the user’s game. The connected hardware servers then render the video frames for each game and distribute them to the individual players.

By enabling more effective use of hardware resources it would appear Sony is positioning itself to be a player in the video game streaming industry. It will be interesting to see if and how this is incorporated into Sony’s existing gaming offerings.

Written by John DeStefano, Technical Advisor
March 11, 2021

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