Network Gaming: Performance and Traffic Modeling - Analysis Report

This report provides an overview of network gaming, focusing on performance and traffic modeling. It discusses various game types, including First Person Shooters, Third Person Shooters, and Real-time Strategy games, and categorizes gamers based on their engagement levels. The report explores the significance of understanding traffic characteristics and network requirements to ensure quality services for real-time gamers. It examines server architectures, such as client-server and peer-to-peer, and the impact of network impairments like latency and packet loss on game quality. The report also covers online cheating and technologies used to combat it. It concludes by highlighting the complexities of mobile networks and the importance of network vendors supporting real-time multimedia services to improve the gaming experience. The report references several studies and publications related to network gaming and traffic modeling. The document is a report on network gaming, performance and traffic modeling, contributed by a student to be published on the website Desklib. Desklib is a platform which provides all the necessary AI based study tools for students.

Network Gaming: Performance and Traffic modeling
Student Name
Institutional Affiliation
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Abstract
Online gaming is becoming a huge industry because network technology allows users
everywhere to interact in virtual games. There are various types of games which are played in
multiplayer modes across and over the set networks. In perspective to networks, real-time based
multiplayer games are the most demanding. These networks specialize in voice traffic like
mobile networks 1st and 2nd generations, or data traffic for instance the data networks which are
wired. Traffic generated by these games can be differentiated with other traffic because of its
overall characteristics and what it requires on the network. It is therefore important when
designing a new network to understand traffic characteristics, requirements and the end result of
failing to support requirements, to ensure quality services are provided to real-time gamers.
Performance and Traffic modeling
Notably, in recent research, there has been optimization of telecommunication networks
in majoring with the communication of the voice only. All the wired networks which are used
over the internet can only be optimized for voice communication but are progressing towards
data communication. Mobile gaming does not only benefit gaming industries, but will also lead
to generation of revenues for people who have their mobile phones all the time and thus it leads
to creation of needs for having mobile enabled terminals [1]. In the past, most games were
specifically designed for a single user. Categorizing games into genres can be done in many
ways. For example, if we categorize them in perspective of how they are played. Games such as
First Person Shooter which might not necessarily require shooting but mostly, most games do
include shooting [2]. Third person shooter. In these games, you follow characters from a third
person point of view. Real-time strategy. They are played in real time which means at any time
you can interact with the game at a specific time. Turn-based games. You interact with the game
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when it's your turn. Sports game. Commonly played sports such as soccer, golf, tennis and many
more have been transformed into computer games [3]. Role-playing games. A player performs
tasks with other players in disguise of a fictitious character.
Gamer can defined as the person who plays games regularly even if they are not
multiplayer games. They can be classified into different categories on dependence on the time
they spend when playing such games. We have casual gamers who play from time to time and
cannot invest in gaming because they see it as something fun to do. Hardcore gamers [4]. These
gamers devote a lot of time to games they are willing to invest in. Gamers who plays as
multiplayers join such gaming communities and thus playing in as a team which is referred as the
clan.
One of type of gaming is that of the competitive gamers. These gamers enjoy competing
with other gamers online. They enter tournaments as a clan. Newer games exploit compensation
algorithms thus reducing the required throughput. Higher throughput has made network
problems reduce in games. Networks require a lower packet loss rate. The moment the game is
made playable, the throughput have a less impact on game quality in comparison to the loss of
packets and latency.
The server architecture of a game depends on how the game is implemented .client-server
requires all clients connect to a server. There are some cases though rare, in this case more
servers can be used to connect with each other. In the case of a peer-to-peer, it always relies, on
the connection of nodes to other nodes [5]. The architectures can be in one case distributed or
duplicated by making copies. In the distributed, the structure means that it carries all the
information about the game status and the surrounding environment. In the simulated structures
it may means that duplicate or copies are made.
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In this case, loss of nodes are tolerated by applying the cost of traffic in the network as
each node will updates all the other existing nodes with other further information. A distributed
structural design is prone to the disconnections of the nodes since all the data on every node
cannot be copied or duplicated. In the Peer to Peer connections and architecture one may not
need a connection to the server as all players are connected to each other. Therefore the
administrator does not require a server.
Delay can be split into three elements where delay may be brought about by the software
and hardware at the side of the client node, the introduction of delays in the hardware and on
software’s installed at the server node and introduction of delays accessed over the network.
Impairments impact a lot on the game users. They may cause game freezing and stuttering where
the screen of the game embargos for a random period of time [6]. The game to warping a sudden
position update. They also cause delayed responses to the user [7]. Online cheaters can gains
some advantage against all the competing players. Some people modify game client
configuration using external software. Developers have created technologies to curb online
cheating for example Punkbuster [8]. It scans a clients’ memory searching for cheats and checks
individual clients for exploits.
Game client has been categorized in three types. There exists some regular game traffic
and thus keeping the game at the state of the world dating between the servers and the connected
clients [9]. There exists pre-game or traffic such as discovery traffic. This traffic is generated
when the user is in search of an appropriate game server to use [10]. Game developers of first-
person shooter game provide a server indexing service called master server which enables each
public game server to register itself as an available indexing service [11].The client goes through
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the list and queries the recent status. The status of the server may contains information based on
the game server choice one may want to play on [12].
Conclusion
Online gaming in most cases has been seen as a network application that has some easy
target by the network impairments by their own quality. Mobile networks have shown some
complexity than on the wired packet-switched networks. In this case, there are many cases with
regards to the performance degradation of the mobile networks than it is in the case with the
wired packet switched networks using their performance. Due to the conjunction of gaming
services between the types of terminals, this has led to a conceivable outcome thus leading to
enabled gaming at the comfort of one in the living room or in any mobile area. The impairments
in the network are in most cases hard and sometimes impossible to curb or eliminate. Many
vendors of the network should be working in a manner where they support the services such as
real-time multimedia in gaming. This means that they should actively work in improving the
impairments which reside in the algorithm in order for them to increase tolerance to the network.
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List of References
[1]M. Roger, "Massively-Multiplayer Online Games," McGill University,, . Montreal,
Quebec, Canada,, 2005. Available: http://www.citethisforme.com/guides/ieee-with-url/how-
to-cite-a-website.[Accessed: 27- Mar- 2019]
[2]H. Lu, "The Design of Synchronization Mechanisms for Peer-to-Peer Massively
Multiplayer Games.," Department of Computer and Information Science,, University of
Pennsylvania, 2004. Available:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/eb34/4cd7eedab471ad64f0936e1169e504b220a4.pdf
[Accessed: 27- Mar- 2019]
[3]J. Smed, "A Review on Networking and Multiplayer Computer Games.," Turku Centre
for Computer Science, 2002. Available: http://staff.cs.utu.fi/~jounsmed/papers/TR454.pdf.
[Accessed: 27- Mar- 2019]
[4]F. Johannes, "Network Game Traffic Modelling. Inst. Of Communication Networks and
Computer Engineering,," University of Stuttgart, Munich, 2002. Available:
https://docplayer.net/5176910-Measurement-and-modelling-of-internet-traffic-at-access-
networks.html. [Accessed: 27- Mar- 2019]
[5]S. Jones, "Let the Games Begin: Gaming Technology and Entertainment among College
Students.," Pew Internet & American Life Project, New York, USA, 2003. Available:
https://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/cjlt/article/view/26462/19644 [Accessed: 27- Mar- 2019]
[6]H. Yu, "ournal of Network and Computer Applications," Modeling and performance
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analysis for multimedia data flows scheduling in software defined networks., vol. 44, no. 83,
pp. 89-100., 2017. Available: https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2320551 [Accessed: 27-
Mar- 2019]
[7]B. Jung, "Computers & Electrical Engineering,," Cooperative game-theoretic approach
to traffic flow optimization for multiple intersections, vol. 71, pp. 1012-1024, 2018.
Available: https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2320551 [Accessed: 27- Mar- 2019]
[8]C. Costa-Pérez, "Network slicing games: Enabling customization in multi-tenant mobile
networks. IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking.," 2019. Available:
https://dblp.org/pers/hd/b/Bui:Khac=Hoai_Nam [Accessed: 27- Mar- 2019]
[9]M. Akervik, Master of Science Thesis, Stolkholm, Sweden: KTH Information technology,
2006.
[10] Claypool, M., LaPoint, D., Winslow, J.: Network analysis of Counter-strike and
Starcraft. In: Proceedings of the 2003 IEEE International Conference, pp. 261–268(20030
[11] Farber, J.: Traffic Modelling for Fast Action Network Games. Multimedia Tools and
Applications 23, 31–46 (2004)
[12]Lang, T., Armitage, G.J., Branch, P., Choo, H.: A Synthetic Traffic Model for Half-
Life. In: Australian Telecommunications Networks & Applications Conference (2003)
[13]Chen, K.T., Huang, P., Huang, C.Y., Lei, C.L.: Game Traffic Analysis: An MMORPG
Perspective. In: International Workshop on Network and Operating System Support for
Digital Audio and Video, pp. 19–24 (2005)
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