Vegas Over Access Point: Making Room for Thin Client Game Systems in a Wireless Home

Abstract

Cloud-based entertainment is gaining momentum. With the cost of commodity hardware lowering by the day and the consumer market penetration of in-house digital entertainment systems, a new generation of interactive services has come into being. This new technological wave has launched new content producers and providers that are rapidly adapting to match the consumer demand. In this context, thin client or cloud-based gaming is attracting much attention, shifting the computational burden to the cloud while the consumer enjoys a fat video feed accessed through its thin client via the shared wireless gateway. However, this model of interaction raises new challenges that demand for specific networking solutions aimed at addressing the heterogeneous flow coexistence problem at the home wireless gateway. We propose a solution to this problem by devising a Transmission Control Protocol Vegas-like congestion control algorithm deployed on top of the home gateway. Our solution works out of the box with the standard protocols at the server, router, and client levels, thereby making deployment straightforward. Experimental assessment with real traffic traces shows that our solution addresses the problem effectively.