This month's cloud gaming and streaming category includes 3 filed patent applications from 2 companies: Adeia (2) and Netflix (1).
Adeia's applications detail an ultra-low-latency video encoder that uses parallel encoder instances combined with deep learning to optimize bitrate and quality tradeoffs in real-time for cloud gaming and video delivery. Netflix's filing describes a client-side GPU upscaling approach where game streaming servers render at lower resolutions and transmit additional buffer data, allowing the user's GPU to handle upscaling work.
Adeia received 2 patents addressing latency challenges in cloud gaming and real-time video streaming. Both applications describe systems that run multiple encoder instances in parallel, each configured with different quality parameters, and then select the best output based on predicted scene complexity. A variational autoencoder analyzes incoming frames to estimate encoding difficulty and determine how many parallel encoders to spin up, eliminating the trial-and-error overhead of traditional rate control systems. One application extends this approach with a long-term video prediction module that anticipates encoding requirements before frames even arrive, allowing the system to maintain quality within strict bitrate caps without the delays associated with re-encoding.
Netflix received 1 patent that shifts upscaling work from streaming servers to client devices. Rather than transmitting high-resolution video, the server renders games at lower resolutions and sends auxiliary GPU buffer data such as depth maps and motion vectors alongside the encoded frames. The client GPU uses this additional information to perform context-aware upscaling, producing higher quality output than standard super-resolution techniques while reducing both bandwidth consumption and server computational load.
All data sourced from USPTO patent filings. Google Patents may take several weeks to index recent publications. If a link is unavailable, search for the patent number at USPTO Patent Public Search.