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MCCA : a communication architecture for online multiplayer games

University of British Columbia

Over the last decade the ability of the Internet infrastructure to carry traffic has not improved at the same rate as the desktop technology. This imbalance has increased the perceived difference in the quality of service (QoS) offered by online multiplayer games compared to single player games. This thesis introduces MCCA, a communication architecture for online multiplayer games to improve the observed QoS and to lower the development complexity. MCCA takes advantage of online game’s relaxed state consistency and predictable workload. MCCA enables a game to label its traffic as belonging to different classes, each with different priorities and requirements. Such labelling, in turn, enables differentiated traffic management, efficient use of available network resources, and ultimately, improved perceived QoS. In addition, MCCA enables a game to adapt to network conditions, through distributed quality aggregation, for each of the game’s generated network traffic. Consequently, MCCA supports a set of generic group communication and quality estimation techniques, and yet it enables a game to define customized methods. This thesis presents the MCCA architecture and its simulation-based evaluation using Quake III, Voice-Over-IP (VoIP), and file transfers. Experiments demonstrate that workload classification, prioritization, and class targeted QoS improve user experience and lower the generated network traffic, while quality aggregation and reporting enable game adaptation to network conditions.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-08-25

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/12537

Electrical and Computer Engineering

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/