Remote Graphics
The Challenge of Mobile Devices in the Enterprise
This slide set "The Challenge of Mobile Devices in the Enterprise" was released on January 17th 2014. Click for pdf version. Click for slideshare version.
Android In The Cloud:
A Strategic View
This document details the impending strategic challenges of Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and explains how the technology of Ascender provides a solution.
On The Convergence of Chrome OS and Android
This slide set "On The Convergence of Chrome OS and Android" was released on January 7th 2014. Click for pdf version. Click for slideshare version.
The Whitepaper
This whitepaper describes Ascender Technologies' remote rendering technology: click for html format; click for pdf format. For a WebGL demo, click here.
Executive Summary of Whitepaper
Cloud rendering of modern graphics is typically performed via remote hardware rendering and pixel-based video compression techniques for image transmission. These solutions perform poorly, profligately expending both system and network resources. In response, Ascender Technologies developed novel enabling technology where the rendering of pixels is performed only on the local client, which makes for a much more affordable solution without expensive graphical hardware in the cloud. In addition, Ascender’s compression techniques reduce the networking overhead, typically by over an order of magnitude.
The trend in modern graphical rendering systems is to a higher quality visual experience. Frames are generated at a very fast rate (~60 fps) and a complete re-rendering is performed for each frame. In addition, the size and density of displays have grown over the previous generation, greatly increasing the number of pixels generated for each frame. These combined changes in technology challenge the prevailing methods of providing remote graphics. In order to meet networking bandwidth constraints, remote pixel based-methods typically are forced into compromises in:
○ Latency ○ Resolution ○ Image Quality ○ Frame Rate
Ascender’s enabling technology does not suffer from any of the above compromises and is significantly less expensive to implement.
Ascender’s enabling technology is applicable to a wide-range of systems and encompasses many use cases. In this white paper some use cases are considered:
Cloud Gaming: Unlike server-side pixel renderers, such as the Nvidia Grid, which employs expensive hardware to render pixels in the cloud, extensive bandwidth to transmit an H264 video stream and nevertheless compromises all four performance parameters, Ascender’s enabling technology:
- Uses less cloud resources
- Does not need remote GPU hardware
- Uses lower network bandwidth
- Does not compromise performance
Cloud Android Apps: Android apps can be run in the cloud and the graphics displayed on the local device. Five different Android rendering API’s (Canvas, OpenGLRender, OpenGL ES 2.0, OpenGL ES 1.x and Skia) were implemented and tested giving coverage of a large percentage of Android apps.
Other Use Cases: We also briefly consider other use cases: App Library / Subscription Model, Purchase / Rental Models, Remote Enterprise Applications, Set-Top Boxes, Automated Testing and WebGL Browser Based Implementations.
More Material On Ascender's Remote Rendering Technology
This summary is an abstract of a longer talk.
This patent application was published by the USPTO on May 10 2012. Here is a link to the patent application on Google Patents.
These slides are from a colloquium given at the Bar Ilan University computer science department in May 2012.
This older paper describes the technology and some applications of this technology.