Microsoft Teams with Duke University to Slash Cloud Computing Bandwidth
posted Sunday May 31, 2015 by Nicholas DiMeo
Microsoft, in its persistent effort to push the boundaries of cloud computing and gaming, have teamed up with a Duke University researcher to continue to do just that. The pair will be collaborating on reducing the bandwidth required to stream games from the cloud.
So far, Microsoft says it is able to cut the bandwidth needed by over 80 percent. The idea is that the workload can be split up between powerful servers and local CPUs, effectively cutting the overall load and making cloud gaming a more viable option.
The new method and toolset, named Kahawai, is already being used in test environments with much success. In fact, Doom 3 was loaded under this new way of computing and was consistently running at 60 frames per second.
In the end, this benefits those with slower connection, as it won't take a super high-end Internet speed to enjoy cloud gaming. It also helps those who are suffering from ISP bandwidth caps.
Duke computer scientist Landon Cox is excited about Kahawai's potential.
That's a huge win, especially if your cellphone plan has a data cap. You'll be able to play a lot longer. You essentially get the same gaming experience, but you save a lot of data.
He added that the technology can even be expanded beyond gaming.
Games are a natural place to start understanding how collaborative rendering can work, but any graphics-intensive application could potentially benefit from Kahawai, from 3-D medical imaging to computer-aided design software used by architects and engineers.
We have a demo video of the new technology after the break.
