PS3 TOOL Dev Environment/ Collada Patent/ XNA Rival?

j^aws

Veteran
Collada1.jpg

Collada2.jpg


Abstract

A system and method is presented that leverages independent innovation in entertainment content and graphics hardware. In this system and method, the current image generation run-time application is replaced with a new framework defining the connectivity, features, and behavior necessary to implement a graphics system. All this takes place in the context of a software platform utilizing a late-integration mechanism that dynamically integrates the various real-time components in a run-time application. Ultimately displacing hardware as the central focus of development efforts, this software platform functionally is the graphics application, at least as viewed by the simulation host computer, database developers, and those responsible for visual system procurement and maintenance. An innovative software architecture, the Graphical Application Platform (GAP) is presented. The GAP builds on image generator, workstation, and scene graph success by extending the concepts of platform and framework into the real-time graphics domain--bridging the gap between image generation concerns and contemporary hardware and software realities by decoupling content, hardware and applications. This new approach also provides technology to address emerging concerns related to the selection and acquisition processes in the context of new low-cost, high-performance graphics hardware.

Source: System and method for leveraging independent innovation in entertainment content and graphics hardware


Haven't had any time to read it yet :( ...Remi Arnaud (SCEA, Graphics Architect) is one of the inventors who presented Collada at Siggraph 2004! :)

Could this patent be the basis for PS3 TOOL/ dev environment and how will it be a match for MS XNA?
 
Nitpick with the title - collada is not patented! Defeats its purpose. It is still in its preliminary stages, and success/failure is still an unknown. I doubt it will be in a 'production-ready' state for the 1st 1-2 generations of next-gen games.

I think this paper will give us a bit of a glimpse at the talked-about 'Cell worstations/servers'. Comments from anyone involved in the kind of work described?
 


Here's a higher rez image of the abstract picture.
I skimmed through the patent, and yes, at first glance it looks like a middleware solution of some sort (The abstract is almost talking about VM :LOL: ), even DirectX is cited, with PS to DX and DX to PS ports...



[0176] This is illustrated in FIGS. 14A and 14B. FIG. 14A shows graphics software 1415 using one or more of standard features 1420, provided with the ARK 1410, to facilitating execution on either of multiple hardware platforms 1447 (a SONY PLAYSTATION 2) and 1449 (a personal computer).

The word DirectX is never mentionned, thought, OTOH OpenGL is (With regard to PC gaming, of course).
 
OMG!!! ...the first Sony patent to mention THREAD!!! ...a sign of an OS, at least a kernal! :) ...still haven't had time to read it all yet! :(

[0076] Kernel. The Application Real-time Kernel, or ARK, is an application-level real-time thread manager. It invokes blocks of logic according to a deterministic schedule listing the blocks to be executed by each of one or more ARK threads running on each available CPU. A set of system infrastructure elements is also built into the ARK. These elements dynamically load and unload components, monitor block execution, and assist in thread management, memory sharing, mutual exclusion, and synchronization.
 
Nothing to be happy for..it's not the kind of 'thread' we are looking for..
 
nAo said:
Nothing to be happy for..it's not the kind of 'thread' we are looking for..

Ahhh, I see...I'd be happier if I got some time to actually finish reading the patent!...still may get some time later! :)

What's your opinion on this Patent so far by Remi Arnaud?
 
It was very forward thinking of Remi to be patenting PS-next stuff years before he even joined the company, and before Sony even started considering the software path for their next system. :rolleyes:

Has anyone stopped to consider that maybe this was just a bunch of people working for a middleware company, attempting to protect their technology with a patent or two? Remi et-al worked at Intrinsic...

Move along now people, nothing to see....
 
MrWibble said:
It was very forward thinking of Remi to be patenting PS-next stuff years before he even joined the company, and before Sony even started considering the software path for their next system. :rolleyes:

Has anyone stopped to consider that maybe this was just a bunch of people working for a middleware company, attempting to protect their technology with a patent or two? Remi et-al worked at Intrinsic...

Move along now people, nothing to see....

Are you sure he was still at Intrinsic when the patent was filed and not at SCEA? ...Still Intrinsic had an extremely close relationship with Sony, especially with the dev environment for GSCube,

http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/ts_headline.sh?/bw.072400/202060035

...and why wouldn't Sony, Remi et al apply this 'forward thinking' mentality to the PS3/ Cell worksation dev environments. IIRC, Intrinsic is now Vicarious Visions who are an integral partner for Collada?
 
Jaws said:
MrWibble said:
It was very forward thinking of Remi to be patenting PS-next stuff years before he even joined the company, and before Sony even started considering the software path for their next system. :rolleyes:

Has anyone stopped to consider that maybe this was just a bunch of people working for a middleware company, attempting to protect their technology with a patent or two? Remi et-al worked at Intrinsic...

Move along now people, nothing to see....

Are you sure he was still at Intrinsic when the patent was filed and not at SCEA? ...Still Intrinsic had an extremely close relationship with Sony, especially with the dev environment for GSCube,

http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/ts_headline.sh?/bw.072400/202060035

...and why wouldn't Sony, Remi et al apply this 'forward thinking' mentality to the PS3/ Cell worksation dev environments. IIRC, Intrinsic is now Vicarious Visions who are an integral partner for Collada?

I'm just really quite tired of seeing every last patent that gets filed by anyone who's anyone appear on this board with a "PS3/XBox/Nintendo Revealed!!" type of headline.

Yes, I'm sure whatever philosophy the guy applied while at Intrinsic is still being applied wherever appropriate at Sony. But this was posted without ever checking the context in which it was written - it was written years ago by people who, at the time, were developing PS2 middleware. It's a pretty big leap of faith to suggest that it's got anything to do with current next-gen development by Sony just because that's where they've ened up.

A little reality goes a long way...
 
MrWibble said:
Jaws said:
MrWibble said:
It was very forward thinking of Remi to be patenting PS-next stuff years before he even joined the company, and before Sony even started considering the software path for their next system. :rolleyes:

Has anyone stopped to consider that maybe this was just a bunch of people working for a middleware company, attempting to protect their technology with a patent or two? Remi et-al worked at Intrinsic...

Move along now people, nothing to see....

Are you sure he was still at Intrinsic when the patent was filed and not at SCEA? ...Still Intrinsic had an extremely close relationship with Sony, especially with the dev environment for GSCube,

http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/ts_headline.sh?/bw.072400/202060035

...and why wouldn't Sony, Remi et al apply this 'forward thinking' mentality to the PS3/ Cell worksation dev environments. IIRC, Intrinsic is now Vicarious Visions who are an integral partner for Collada?

I'm just really quite tired of seeing every last patent that gets filed by anyone who's anyone appear on this board with a "PS3/XBox/Nintendo Revealed!!" type of headline.

Yes, I'm sure whatever philosophy the guy applied while at Intrinsic is still being applied wherever appropriate at Sony. But this was posted without ever checking the context in which it was written - it was written years ago by people who, at the time, were developing PS2 middleware. It's a pretty big leap of faith to suggest that it's got anything to do with current next-gen development by Sony just because that's where they've ened up.

A little reality goes a long way...

Yeah, I do agree with you about headlines but my topic post had a 'question marks'...not...'exclamation marks'...meaning 'what do you think?'...and your opinion is appreciated and is as valid as anyone elses. This is why they get posted here for frank intelligent discussions so that some conclusions can be reached.

Context was taken in posting from my pov, as there was a link with Remi, Collada, Intrinsic, Sony, GScube, OpenGL and STI's plans for content creation Cell workstations. And Sonys recent May E3 Cell content creation presentation diagrams look remarkably like FIG5 in the patent here. But beleive it or not it does take some 'effort' to filter out irrelevant patents, post them with diagrams etc. etc. than to make a 'post' and just say your 'tired' of this. There have been many interesting patents discovered and posted by several members of this board, nAO, Panajev and co. And it does require a certain effort to do this, looking for a needle in a haystack...
 
MfA said:
Rather close to a business method patent.

Do you mean the business method suggested in FIG5 here in this patent that resembles the E3 Cell workstation presenstation regarding content creation pipeline?

Business partnerships/ strategies such as this with ex Intrinsic/ Vicarious Visions could be happening behind the scenes. There seems to be consolidation happening in the middleware market wrt EA/ Criterion, MS XNA and possibly others merging. It would seem to be that middleware will play a huge part nextgen. If this patent is related to that, will this make games easier/ quicker to produce and CELL ultimately easier to programme given the abstraction presented in this patent as it extensivley talks about mult-threading, multi-processors?

Btw, anyone have links to those E3 Cell presenation diagrams? You know the ones with the realtime OS, Middleware, Tools, Movies, Games, Physics, Database, Sound, Simulation etc?
 
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