NETWORK MANAGEMENT
The future of online gaming and network infrastructure Game on for Network Operators By Mervyn Kelly, EMEA Marketing Director, Ciena
The September UK launch of OnLive, the cloud-based video game service, means that consumers can sign up for free and stream triple-Agames through practically any broadband connection to their HDTV, PC or Mac. Plans are in place to extend the services to iPad and Android tablet users. This launch is not only the latest
Mervyn Kelly considers the impact that the booming gaming industry is having on the underlying network infrastructure.
proof of the phenomenal growth that the online gaming industry is going through, but also, potentially, a herald of the trend to move away from the traditional console based model and towards the online environment and alternative gaming terminals (including internet enabled TVs). However, the booming gaming industry is making increasing demands on the underlying network infrastructure and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future.
Network operators therefore need to take this relatively new type of traffic into consideration when planning their network roll-outs. They will need to ensure that the flawless quality of gaming experience their customers have grown accustomed to is maintained as the sheer quantity of gamers increases and games themselves become more bandwidth-hungry.
Where Does it Hurt? The three aspects of networking that are probably most impacted by the growing online games phenomenon are capacity, the mix of traffic and required network latency (the response delay between the gamer action and the online game). A single gaming session doesn’t have significant impact on the supporting
network. Unsurprisingly, the slowest link in the network is usually the connection between the street cabinet and a gamer’s house. However, the traffic levels generated by the critical mass of online gamers certainly shouldn’t be underestimated. As an example, the UK National
Gamers Survey 2011 estimated the UK’s gaming population at more than 31 million. The success of Nintendo Wii has also significantly expanded the demographics of the computer games market, with more women joining the gamer community. A large proportion of UK gamers play online (many of them at the same times during the day too) which means that the data transfer levels generated can be substantial and bursty.
Game manufacturers make up the
other side of the capacity coin. New titles that they launch into the market need to deliver better gaming experience than their predecessors, which invariably translates into larger volumes of data travelling between a gamer’s console and the game manufacturer’s servers. This is often related to high-quality graphical content, which is one of the key aspects determining the quality of gaming experience. What’s more, the advent of 3D games in the years to come will undoubtedly push these capacity demands even further. Online games also fundamentally
change the way that people use their broadband connection. Traditionally, an average broadband user would download significantly more data to their access device than upload to a different location through the web, creating an asymmetrical data transfer profile. The growth of online gaming throws this traditional setup out of balance. For instance, when playing a Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMO) such as World of Warcraft, users create much higher ‘upstream’ data flows than in traditional broadband usage. This is due to game data transfers and, increasingly, voice. Finally, gamers are growing aware
The critical mass of online gamers shouldn’t be underestimated. 34 NETCOMMS europe Volume II Issue 4 2012
of the network latency performance, which can give them a competitive advantage in online multiplayer games. This criterion is becoming increasingly important when they select their service
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