Stratified protocols for mobile gaming

Abstract

[Abstract]: Mobile Games are becoming very popular. Players play games under various conditions and so we need protocols which can adapt. However, unlike the desktop, there are many issues with that of mobile communication. This dissertation proposes a stratified protocol to be implemented in order to solve these communication problems more effectively. The protocol itself dynamically adapts to the changing bandwidth capacity of the network. The term stratified means that the payload in the protocol packets is subdivided into different categories, or strata, of data which are handled differently depending on network conditions. Such a protocol needs to be responsible as it must make decisions which do not worsen the problem of network congestion when it arises. An experiment was conducted with a view to determining whether it is important to address difficulties with technical quality of communication. This experiment showed that gaming satisfaction of players does depend on technical quality of communication and that the way in which this dependence on technical quality is exhibited depends upon the particular gaming genre. This dependence on genre and the fact that different games make use of communication services differently suggests that stratification of communication protocols could be useful.