This month's cloud gaming and streaming category includes 4 granted patents from Google, Tencent, Samsung, and Bright Star Gaming (1 each).
The patents address core technical challenges in streaming gameplay from remote servers to players. Samsung's work focuses on reducing input latency through dedicated controller processing, while Bright Star Gaming targets instant game launches via progressive asset loading. Google patents GPU time-sharing infrastructure that serves both players and spectators with different encoding priorities, and Tencent describes client-side AI upscaling to preserve visual quality when network conditions degrade.
Samsung received 1 patent for a dedicated input offloading module designed to reduce latency in cloud gaming environments. The technology routes game controller inputs through a separate, isolated process with its own authentication credentials, allowing input data to completely bypass the main game application's execution thread. This architecture prevents controller responsiveness from degrading when the game application performs computationally intensive tasks that would otherwise create processing bottlenecks.
Bright Star Gaming received 1 patent covering adaptive streaming technology that enables players to begin playing games immediately while assets continue loading in the background. The system breaks away from traditional models that require complete downloads before gameplay can start, instead delivering game content progressively through an on-demand pipeline that prioritizes assets based on what the player needs next and what the device can handle. The approach accounts for the unique requirements of interactive gaming, where responsiveness matters far more than in passive video streaming.
Google received 1 patent for cloud gaming infrastructure that efficiently allocates GPU resources across multiple simultaneous game sessions. The system divides GPU processing time into slices shared among different players while operating a dual-stream encoder that handles both low-latency streams for active players and higher-latency streams for spectators watching the gameplay. The encoder uses a priority system that guarantees player stream performance first, then opportunistically encodes spectator feeds during unused portions of each frame interval, with a tile-based encoding approach that begins processing data before complete blocks arrive.
Tencent received 1 patent describing client-side AI upscaling that preserves visual quality during periods of poor network connectivity. When network conditions worsen, the server reduces the resolution of rendered frames to fit within available bandwidth, then the client device uses AI techniques to enhance those lower-resolution frames back up to full quality on the player's screen. The system creates a feedback loop between server-side rendering decisions and client-side enhancement that differs from generic video upscaling by integrating directly with cloud gaming infrastructure and real-time network monitoring.
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.