U.S. Pat. No. 8,070,603

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The invention now is described fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown.

FIG. 1is a diagram showing the configuration of a network game system according to the invention. Network game terminals (hereinafter referred to as game terminals)10through40are connected to the same network game server50via a network60. The game terminals10through40each have different performance. Assume that the game terminal10is, for example, a game terminal product of type al supplied by manufacturer A, the game terminal20is, for example, a game terminal product of type b1supplied by manufacturer B, the game terminal30is, for example, a game terminal product of type c1supplied by manufacturer C, and the game terminal40is, for example, a game terminal product of type a2supplied by manufacturer A.

The network game server50has a lag adjusting program51and a database52that is referenced to execute the lag adjusting program51. On the network60, data from the game terminals10through40is transmitted in packets to the network game server50where concentrated management is made of all packet data as user information. Data processed by the server is transmitted again across the network60to the game terminals10through40.

On the network60, each of the game terminals10through40connected thereto is assigned a network address pursuant to the Internet Protocol version6(IPv6). Unlike the IPv4 addressing using four sets of three digits of decimal numbers, which has been applied as a standard Internet protocol, the IPv6 addressing has extended an IP address to 128 bits in length and thus can make the number of connectable nodes increase drastically. Although only four game terminals10through40are shown inFIG. 1, by the IPV6 addressing, 64 bits of an IP address are assigned for interface ID and it is possible to make address assignments to almost an unlimited number of terminal devices and connect them to the network game server50. As the interface ID of 64 bits, a 64-bit identifier EUI-64 of IEEE can be used.

The lag adjusting program51is a program for adjusting the transmission time lag per packet data, according to game terminal product type information that is transmitted as packet data from the game terminals10through40. For example, 24 bits of the EUI-64 identifier are set to designate a manufacturing company ID by which a game terminal product type can be identified. Accordingly, different transmission time lags predetermined for the product types of the game terminals that are expected to connect to the server are stored into the database52beforehand. When the server receives packet data from a terminal device to which an EUI-64 identifier was assigned, the appropriate transmission time lag can be read, based on the identifying information.

Then, the operation of the network game server will be explained.

FIG. 2is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the network game server.

At step S10, the network game server50starts operation. In step S12, the server receives an IP packet from any of the game terminals10through40across the network60. The source of the IP packet is identified by the IPv6 address on the Internet included in the packet. Upon the reception of the IP packet, in step S14, the server reads the device ID designated in the source EUI-64 identifier included in the packet and knows the manufacturing company name and the product number (identifying the model) of the game terminal that transmitted the packet data over the network60.

In step S16, the server accesses the location corresponding to the device ID on the database52and reads the transmission time lag stored in that location. In step S18, the server makes a lag adjustment of the received packet, according to the thus read transmission time lag. In step S20, the server executes a sequence of data processing by the appropriate network game application for the data in the received packet that was lag adjusted.

In step S22, the server generates reply data, according to the result of the processing by the network game application. In step S24, the server reads the device ID of a destination game terminal of the thus generated data. A specific terminal may be specified as the destination or a plurality of terminals may be specified as the destinations. Again, the server accesses the location corresponding to the device ID on the database52(step S26), reads the transmission time lag stored in that location, and makes a lag adjustment of the replay data packet to transmit, according to the thus read transmission time lag (step S28). If the reply data packet is sent back to the same terminal, this transmission time lag is equal to that retrieved in the step S16before the game processing. By temporarily storing the transmission time lag once retrieved, the step S26can be omitted.

Finally, in step S30, the server outputs the reply IP packet to the network60.

FIG. 3is a timing chart of exchanging packets between the network game server and the game terminals.

Now, assume that the game terminal10has the highest processing speed among the terminals connectable to the server and time t1in which the game terminal10processed data is shorter than time t2in which the game terminal20processed the corresponding data. Even if data is transmitted simultaneously from the network game server50to the game terminals10and20, because of the data processing time difference between t1and t2that are intrinsic to the game terminals10and20, respectively, the time to transmit the data from the game terminal20to the network game server50lags. To make the network game server50start processing the data from both game terminals10and20at the same time, under the control of the lag adjusting program51, the start of processing of the packet data from the game terminal10is delayed by a time lag td (equaling t2−t1) that is marked by a bold arrow. Thus, the network game server50starts to process the data from both game terminals at the same time.

Furthermore, when the server finally transmits the data processed by it to the game terminals10and20again, it reads the identification number information of the network game terminal10from the destination address of the packet data to transmit and determines the transmission time lag, so that the time to transmit the packet data to the game terminal10is delayed by a time lag td (equaling t2−t1) that is marked by a bold arrow. In this way, even if game players participate in a network game, using their terminals each having different processing speed, they can enjoy the game fairly.

Using the above-described network game server, it is sufficient to store only the processing speeds and associated time lags according to the limited types of terminal devices into the database52. Before starting the game service, it becomes unnecessary to measure the operation throughput of all terminals connectable to the server and map the ID per game player such as the IP address of its terminal to the adjustment time lag set for it for management, which prior art network game systems would do. Thus, the network game server need not to have a complex protocol for communicating game player ID and device throughput information. Even if game terminal products supplied by different manufacturers are used to play a game via a network, it is sufficient to register terminal type information and the adjustment time lag per type into the database52. Network game participants using different types of terminals each having different throughput can enjoy the same network game fairly.

The foregoing invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments. However, those skilled, in the art will recognize that many variations of such embodiments exist. Such variations are intended to be within the scope of the invention and the appended claims.