Rim Semiconductor Company (fka RSMI)

[GrooveMaster]

Really now Spoke I have never seen you not up to the challenge. I hope you are feeing well. Just in case you were not aware I'll ask the question again and add a few facts so your search is easier. First The Xbox 2 will have Video cameras on the unit for doing video conferencing. If you did not know on Xbox live today there is VOIP (which is an attribute of Embarq) so one can talk smack with ones opponent no matter where they are in the world. Since Embarq also does Video this is another interesting scenario that makes all this possibile.

But my question was today Xbox live is having challenges with lag during games....only allowing people with great upload speeds able to host games. I posted an article that was published on the 31st of March that says they plan on having 5000 person games. We also know that Xbox 2 is in HDTV, add video conferencing and well holly cow we are chewing up even more bandwidth than ever.....we have an amazing element missing. How do they handle the speed/lag issue? Where do they get the speed? How do the take it to the world? (at the bottom of this post is a frequently asked question off of the xbox live site documenting that this problem exsists today) Especially after adding 4980 players! As we know Embarq would fix this problem.......only if it was done darn it.....or is it.....as you documented in the 427 argument?

P.S. If you want me to make your search and anguish over this issue easier I could just post the reply I got from the high level Xbox 2 employee I received yesterday?






http://forums.xbox.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=8910429

Why can't I host large games like other people can?

This section is going to get a little technical, but I will try to keep it as understandable as possible.

You may have tested your internet connection on websites such as DSL reports and received speeds that you feel would be adequate to host a game on Xbox Live. Well these tests use something called TCP (Transmission and Control Protocol), which is one of the many methods that computers use to communicate. Now you're thinking, why didn't they use TCP for Xbox Live?

Well this is because every time a TCP packet (Which is just another word for a message sent between clients/servers) is sent the sending machine expects to receive an acknowledgement packet in return. If this packet is not received guess what happens?

It sends yet another packet, and will continue until it received the acknowledgement packet. Then it will send a packet saying “I acknowledge your acknowledgement”. Now normal internet applications such as internet browsing, and internet relay chat will not be affected by the retransmission of packets, but online video games will be greatly affected by this.

Now Xbox Live and many other internet games use something called UDP (User Datagram Protocol). Now this packet will send a packet and then forget it. So there is no acknowledgement packet sent back to the client computer, which in turn decreases stress on the server/client Xboxes. So back to the issue of hosting, why can't I host large games because Xbox Live uses UDP communications?

There are three factors in this issue. The first is your modem's ability to transmit UDP packets. If your modem can't handle the increased upload traffic then you won't be able to host.

The second factor is your ISP's ability and restrictions to upload UDP packets, just like your modem, if it can't handle the traffic then you won't be able to host.

The final factors are your ping time and download speed. Now your ping time (otherwise known as latency) which is at what speed communications from your Xbox can get to another's Xbox. Your download is at what speed you can get information from other Xboxes. If your ping time is too high then you will not only be unable to host, but you will not be able to play without getting something called lag (lag is a performance decrease while playing Xbox Live; Try loading a few pages simultaneously on a computer while playing on Xbox Live and you will know what I mean exactly). If your download is too low then you will not be able to get information fast enough and you will get the same effect.