Gaming and Digital Right Management

on Mobile Handset

Larry Shi
2005
 Gaming on Mobile Handset Platform –
Emerging Market and Research

 Emerging mobile gaming market

 Opportunities for development and research
 Challenges
 Research and development statement
 Entertainment computing
 Data distribution

 Data mining
 Emerging Market

New technologies/ New generation

enable New market
Improved infrastructure of handset games

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

GSM 9.6 to 14.4 Kb/sec 115 Kb/sec 384 Kb/sec 384+ Kb/sec
3G (GPRS) (EDGE) (UMTS)

TDMA 9.6 to 43.2 Kb/sec

14.4 – 64 Kb/sec 144 Kb/sec 384 Kb/sec

CDMA
cdmaOne (95A-95B) (cdma2000 1XRTT) (cdma2000 EVDV)

iDEN 9.6 Kb/sec 60-70 Kb/sec

Mobile Graphics
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Java JSR 184 (J2ME) JSR 239
OpenGL OpenGL ES 1.0 OpenGL ES 2.0
truly 3D vertex shaders
 New Game Applications and Opportunities

 Wireless and cellular MMOG

 MMOG merging wired and wireless
 Mobile P2P game (not LAN P2P game)
 Mobile graphics chat
 Mobile social games combining features
of social networking and games
 Mobile casino
 MMS based games
 Other value added entertainment services
 Common Misunderstanding of Mobile
Handset Gaming

 “The graphics sucks and it will never match games

on consoles and workstations”
 Mobile handset games expands the entertainment
market instead of competing with console and PC
games.
 Play anywhere anytime – handset casual games

 Connect anywhere anytime – mobile network games

 Example: MMOG players master levels anytime

anywhere
 Challenges

 #1 – no proper middleware, SDKs and available

service infrastructure for handset online gaming
(we are not talking about game or 3D engines)
 Portability nightmare
 Heterogeneous platforms and capabilities
 Latency and reliability issues
 Example: SMS performance for interactive apps

 Wrong API or improper API

 Java mobile communication API not suitable for developing
innovative online games
 Choose the Right Data Service For Gaming

Mobile Game Connection

WAP

SMS GPRS USSD CSD LBS

 Games are real-time applications

 Choosing the right data service is not trivial
 Lack empirical study of different data service on
game interactivity
 How to map game features to services???
 Entertainment Computing Research

 Research on game technology

 network issues, graphics issues, AI issues, HCI issues
 Data mining, knowledge discovery from player
generated data
 Huge amount of data generated by MMOG
 Understanding the data can lead to better games and
better services
 Data distribution
 Intelligent gaming play, machine learning
 Reward and incentive study, reward scheduling and
planning
 Data Distribution For Online Games

 Efficiently distribute real-time game play data to

other players and servers to maintain a coherent
global game state and a coherence notion of timing
 Interest management (zone of interests, …)

 Consistency management (strong vs. weak

consistency game state)
 Efficient data service (routing problem)

 Time management (GPS, clock synchronization

NTP, logical time)
 Latency tolerating techniques (dead-reckoning, …)
 Advantages of Having a Data Distribution
Layer or Standard
 Hide networking problems from game development
 Subscribe-publish model with build-in support for
consistency and time management
 Network topology independent
 Unify p2p and client-server architecture
 Decouple data distribution from game design, allow
transparent backend implementation by service
provider
 Improved inter-operation of games running over
different infrastructures
Time and Consistency Management for
Multi-Server Based MMOG

 Many commercial online games

are “fake” MMOGs
 Isolated zones, single
server
 True multi-server based
MMOG
 Interacting avatars,
entities assigned to
different servers
 Time management
maintains a synchronized
notion of timing
 Consistency management

- coherent game state

 Consistency vs. Responsiveness

 High responsiveness, client/server update its local

state based on local input immediately
-> low consistency
 Strong consistency, client/server cannot process an
input event unless it is guaranteed to be safe
-> low responsiveness, event delayed by network
latency
 Consistency and Responsiveness are antagonist to
each other!
 What Does It Mean To Be Safe

 Consistency can be maintained if all servers

process events strictly in their time-stamped
order.
 Time management provides a key service for
meeting such a requirement.
 An event is safe to be processed if a server can
guarantee that it will not receive new event who
has a smaller time-stamp.
 Safe processing of all events -> strong consistency
-> low responsiveness
 Play With Consistency Requirement

 Sometimes, strong consistency is absolutely

necessary
 well-known “deadman shooting” phenomena
 Different consistency requirement of global game
state
 strong consistency states
 aliveness, experience level, virtual objects possessed, etc

 weak consistency states

 avatar location, local physics simulation, local visual
effects, etc
 Dual Simulation Model As A Solution

 Run two simulations of game states

 On each server and client - A “real time” simulation
updating weak consistency states as soon as local
events are received
 On each server - A “slow” simulation updating all
states (strong and weak consistency) by processing
an input event only when it is safe.
 Converge “real time” simulation updated state to
“slow” simulation updated state when they disagree
each other significantly
 Apply Dual Simulation Model

Player commands/inputs are

Player commands/inputs are
time stamped
time stamped at client side
at server side

No need for special

Server side rollback
Single server time/consistency management
Delay compensation
at server side
neglectable server-2-server
Concentrated
Dual simulation model latency
Server Farm
Safe simulation

Distributed
Dual simulation model Dual simulation model
Servers
 Data Mining of Online
RPG Games For Automatic Task Generation
 Online game is service oriented and must be
appealing enough to keep players hooked
 Unstructured game play (free roaming) vs.
structured game play (always assign some tasks to
players)
 Intelligent task assignment and story-telling for
MMORPG are challenging research topics.
 Assign tasks based on player preference (mining
player preference) and virtual world context (mining
player generated data)
 Task Database and Task Assignment

 A database of task
templates
Avatar Avatar Avatar
 Each task template has
completed  pre-conditions
tasks  roles (empty avatar slots)
 completion evaluation
 Task templates can be
? organized (one task is a
pre-condition of another
task template
repository task)
 Intelligently pick task
template for avatars
 Mining Player Generated Data

 In a social oriented MMOG, mining

Avatar avatar social network and behavior,
Avatar
understanding avatar virtual world
structure, identifying leaders, social
groups, profiling avatar behavior
Avatar
 Represent avatar social world as
weighted directed graph
 For example friendship graph with
weight representing strength of
relationship
 Mining Player Generated Data

Attributes Definition Computation

center of a friendship social
popularity network analysis
network

impact of removing an avatar

importance network analysis
to a social network

attraction of avatar to other

attraction behavior analysis
avatars

disparity between the helps

selfishness behavior analysis
received and given by an avatar
 Context Based Based
Task Assignment

Assign tasks based on

task_template('assassin', ...)
{ preconditions: 
exist avatar p, and
p->popularity > threshold, and
exist avatar q, and
virtual social context
q belongs to a group that is an enemy
of p's group,and
no assassin task been created with p as target;
 Graph matching problem
Match task pre-conditions
var:
avatar p; 
avatar q;
int reward = ...
task_script: with social graphs
issue an assassin task to q with p as target;
create information about the fact that q is about
to assassin p;
spread this information to some avatars;
optionally, inform p that a rumor that somebody
is about to assassin him/her;
p may ask his/her friends to locate q first;
task_event_trigger:
if (p is killed by q) task completed; endif
if (q is killed first) task failed; endif
}
 Preference Based Based
Task Assignment

Enjoy
competition Assign tasks based on player
preference
N Y
#artifacts Violence Task categorization
owned factor
Player profiling
>3 <=3 >0.5 <=0.5 Connecting player profile with
Human Artifact Gun Horse
task characteristics
rescue collection fighting racing
Decision tree based data
mining and task assignment
DRM (Digital Right Management) In Silicon

 DRM complexity
 Trend of implementing DRM in silicon chips
 Research and development
 DRM in mobile platform
 Complexity of DRM

 Software based DRM solution for consumer

market as proven by history does not work
 DRM multi-facet problem
 Usability issue
 Business issue
 Legal issue
 Technical issue
 Economic issue
 Different threat model for different threat
model.Consumers are potential hackers
 Threats to DRM

 Reverse engineering
 Both software and hardware level

 Malicious software patch to rip off software

DRM module
 P2P file sharing
 Analogue attack
 Video, audio recording

 Not a threat for software right

 Recent Trend of Building DRM in Silicon

 Many companies can benefit

 Silicon based DRM is “in theory” tamper-proof (assume
that hackers do not have the resource to probe what is
going on inside a silicon chip – extremely expensive
attack)
 Chip makers can sell new chips with DRM features
 New business and license revenue
 Products/Standards On the Horizon

 SDMI (Secure Digital Music Initiative)

 Wired DRM in audio processing chip
 SVP (Secure Video Processor Alliance)
 Build-in DRM in Video processor
 HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content
Protection)
 Encrypted data link between video card and display
(Yes, your new monitor will have decryption
chip in it)
 SVP As Example

Software on Host CPU Tampering of the

software running
on the host CPU
cannot break SVP
DRM protection
SVP integrates
DRM with video
processing
SVP itself is
tamper-proof
End-2-end DRM
 SVP Vision

Connection
SVP DVD Content
Protection
SVP HDTV
DVR/Disk
Analog SVP
802.11x DVI SVP 1394
wireless
SVP
SVP SVP
CIM
PDA CableCARD Mobile
 DRM in Silicon – Pros and Cons

 Pros
 Tamper-proof if designed properly
 Better protection than software based DRM
 Enabler of additional new techniques,
software and business
 Cons
 Long design cycle, higher cost
 Less flexible (implement as firmware)
 Not tamper-proof if not designed properly
 Hardwired DRM Research – Technical
Perspective
 Risk and vulnerability assessment
 What are the assumptions
 What is possible, what is not possible
 Design issues
 Identify DRM and security primitives that require tamper
proof protection
 Integrate DRM primitives into chip design
 DRM+audio chip, DRM+video chip, DRM+micro-processor

 Performance issues
 High throughput content decryption, descramble
 Impact of DRM on chip performance, area, cost, power
 DRM on Mobile Platform

 Enough content based value added services

 Mobile-phone + music player
 Mobile game download
 Wallpaper, ringtone, mobile video
 Integrating DRM into mobile platform is natural
 Mobile chips are already SoC (system-on-chip), less
exposed inter-connect for malicious eavesdrop
 Relatively easy to integrate DRM primitives on SoC chip
 Less legacy and compatibility issues
 Area might be a problem
 Integrate DRM Into Micro-processor

Micro-processor DRM
Core (e.g., ARM) License/certificate
Management Protected
Private/public Content
Memory Access key
Firewall Symmetric key
Table

Crypto Engine
Cache
Memory
Controller
 Integrate DRM and
South
cryptographic engine into Bridge
micro-processor
 Tamper-proof protection of
content in un-trusted
memory modules
 Protection of Integrated DRM

 BIOS
 BIOS is certified and encrypted
 Decrypted and authenticated by the right enabled
processor during boot
 Digital content (software, data)
 authenticated by on-chip DRM module and decrypted by
on-chip crypto-engine on the fly only when they are
needed
 Software running in the micro-processor core has no
access to the keys or information that can be used for
reverse-engineer, tamper-proof
 Integrate DRM Into Mobile Chip

ARM Processor DRM Audio 2D/3D Video

Core Module DSP Graphics Processing

Memory Access Firewall/ Interconnect

Sealed Onchip
Internal Crypto Memory LCD Peripheral
Persistent Memory
SRAM Engine Controller Interface Interfaces
(Private Key, device ID)

 Single chip SoC handset solution

 Most efficient, DRM + Audio + Video + SW
 Conclusion

 Mobile handset ideal platform for experimenting and

exploring new hardwired DRM techniques and new
emerging entertainment applications
 Lots of new exciting research and development
opportunities
 Middleware support
 New service infrastructure for both mobile entertainment
and DRM
 Continue to evolve in foreseeable future (not good
enough yet)
 No other place better than Motorola lab
 Online Gaming vs. Distributed Interactive
Simulation
 Distributed simulation and distributed interactive
simulation
 Well studied in the past for military training,
war gaming and etc
 Established techniques and standards
 Data distribution standards
 Online gaming
 A type of event driven distributed simulation
 Borrowed some techniques from DIS research
 Sometimes just reinvent the wheel
 Summary of Security and DRM Research

 Integrate DRM and cryptographic engine into

embedded micro-processor for content protection
(right enabled embedded processor)
 Explore usage model of right enabled processor
 Risk and vulnerability study, evaluate strength
against
 Content reverse-engineer, content duplication, content
alternation
 Performance and cost study
 Choose the best cipher mode for content protection
 Balance of protection strength, throughput, and cost