Network Traffic Adaptation For Cloud Games

Abstract: With the arrival of cloud technology, game accessibility and ubiquity have a bright future; Games can be hosted in a centralize server and accessed through the Internet by a thin client on a wide variety of devices with modest capabilities: cloud gaming. However, current cloud gaming systems have very strong requirements in terms of network resources, thus reducing the accessibility and ubiquity of cloud games, because devices with little bandwidth and people located in area with limited and unstable network connectivity, cannot take advantage of these cloud services. In this paper we present an adaptation technique inspired by the level of detail (LoD) approach in 3D graphics. It delivers multiple platform accessibility and network adaptability, while improving user's quality of experience (QoE) by reducing the impact of poor and unstable network parameters (delay, packet loss, jitter) on game interactivity. We validate our approach using a prototype game in a controlled environment and characterize the user QoE in a pilot experiment. The results show that the proposed framework provides a significant QoE enhancement.