Cognitive platform for ubiquitous cloud-based gaming

信息和通信技术(ICT)的进步导致消费者对其数字娱乐的需求日益增长，这些数字娱乐越来越基于云，无论何时何地使用不同特征的网络。用于访问云服务的设备在计算和通信能力方面差异巨大。鉴于网络和设备的上述异构性，我们在该项目中的愿景是开发一种设计方法，并使技术能够支持下一代基于云的视频游戏中的“在任何设备上随时随地玩，在任何设备上暂停和恢复”功能。更具体地说，我们打算开发简化单人和多人视频游戏的开发和在线运行的技术，以便它们可以一次开发并在任何网络上的任何设备上运行。为了应对实现这一愿景所需克服的技术挑战，我们将提供新的知识和集成的ICT解决方案，以实现下列相互关联的目标：(1)了解不同类型设备和网络对玩家体验质量的影响；(2)开发能够动态利用云、接入网络和用户设备中的资源的认知架构框架；(3)开发认知能力和资源管理算法，以优化云、接入网络和用户设备中的资源利用；(4)开发用于实验和演示的游戏原型；(5)探索下一代沉浸式游戏环境。这些雄心勃勃的目标将由一个由多学科研究人员组成的团队实现，他们在云网络、多媒体、随机控制、计算设备架构、软件系统和认知科学方面拥有互补的专业知识，并与价值数十亿美元的加拿大在线视频游戏行业的关键行业利益相关者密切合作。该项目将提供新的技术来推动加拿大这一重要经济部门的增长，并提供超过23人年的多学科HQP培训，这将对满足该部门的人力资源需求大有裨益。

Advances in information and communications technologies (ICT) have led to growing demand by consumers to access their digital entertainment, which are increasingly cloud-based, whenever and wherever they are using networks of diverse characteristics. Devices used to access cloud services vary enormously in computational and communication capabilities. Given the above heterogeneous nature of networks and devices, our vision in this project is to develop a design methodology and enabling technologies to support "play anywhere on any device, pause and resume on any device" capabilities in next-generation cloud-based video games. More specifically, we intend to develop technologies that ease the development and online running of single and multiple-player video games so that they can be developed once and run on any device over any network. To address the technological challenges that need to be overcome to realize this vision, we shall provide new knowledge and integrated ICT solutions that address the following inter-related objectives: (1) Understanding the impacts of heterogeneous devices and networks on players' quality of experience; (2) Developing a cognitive architectural framework that enables dynamic utilization of resources in the cloud, access networks and user devices; (3) Developing cognitive capabilities and resource management algorithms that optimize resource utilization in the cloud, the access network, and user devices; (4) Developing prototype games for experimentation and demonstrations; (5) Explore future-generation immersive gaming environments. These ambitious objectives will be accomplished by a multidisciplinary team of researchers with complementary expertise in cloud networking, multimedia, stochastic control, computing device architecture, software systems, and cognitive science, working in close collaboration with key industry stakeholders in the multi-billion dollar Canadian online video game industry. This project will provide novel technologies to fuel the growth of this important Canadian economic sector, and provide more than 23 person-years of multi-disciplinary HQP training that will be greatly beneficial in satisfying the human resource needs of this sector.