Is Android in the Cloud only an Android mobile technology?
No, Ascender’s technology is not only an Android mobile technology. Android in the Cloud splits the execution of Android apps between a remote and local side. Either or both of the remote or local devices may be mobile or fixed. One use case has the remote app executing in the Cloud and the local device is a fixed desktop machine. Some use cases might have both the remote and local devices as mobile devices. Other uses cases can be a mixture of mobile device and fixed device.
Does the local viewer run only on a Linux operating system?
No, the local viewer is not tied to any specific operating system. Android in the Cloud can run under Linux, Windows X86, Windows RT, and iOS.
Can Android in the Cloud be run on a WebGL browser?
Yes, Android in the Cloud can be run on a WebGL browser.
Must the remote server be an Android system for Android in the Cloud to work?
No, the remote server does not need to be an Android system. The remote server may be a virtualized Android system running on a non-Linux host. The remote server may also be an emulated Android system – running on a non-Linux host.
Must the remote system have the same CPU architecture as the local system?
No, the CPU architecture of the remote and local side need not match. Thus, the remote system might be an ARM system and the local system might be an X86 system.
Is Android in the Cloud less expensive than other technologies?
Yes, Android in the Cloud is significantly less costly than other approaches to remote Android rendering. Our technology performs the rendering of pixels on the local client – not on the server. This approach makes for a much more affordable solution since there is no GPU needed in the Cloud. Without expensive graphical hardware in the Cloud, Android in the Cloud reduces overhead significantly.
Does Android in the Cloud render on the server or client?
Our technology renders on the client – a unique approach that significantly reduces overhead by an order of magnitude. Ascender’s compression techniques reduce the networking overhead, typically by over an order of magnitude.
What is the benefit of Ascender’s unique compression techniques?
Most modern remote graphics are rendered in the Cloud and pixel-based video compression techniques are used for image transmission. These solutions perform poorly, profligately expending both system and network resources. Ascender’s unique compression techniques render on the client which reduces networking overhead, typically by over an order of magnitude.
What challenge does Ascender’s enabling technology address?
The challenge of modern graphical rendering systems is to deliver 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.
How does Ascender’s approach use fewer resources?
Our approach is based on the observation that these days virtually all computing devices with graphics capability include a capable GPU or can render 2D graphics in software. Android in the Cloud sends the compressed rendering API stream rather than the compressed pixel stream, thus obtaining a number of efficiencies
- No GPUs are needed in the Cloud
- The network bandwidth is reduced by about an order of magnitude.
- The compression algorithm is lossless. There are no compression artifacts or fuzziness.
- Higher frame rates than H264 are easily supported.
- The resources used are largely insensitive to screen resolution.
- The compression codec introduces very low latency into the graphics playback as opposed to MPEG based codecs such as H264.
Where are the GPUs?
The predominant way of providing modern remote graphics is by rendering the pixels in the Cloud. The application is executed in the Cloud and the pixels are GPU-rendered in the Cloud. The stream of pixel frames is compressed with a H264 codec and sent to the remote client that decodes the video stream and displays the graphics. This creates a need for a large number of GPUs in the Cloud which GPU manufacturers have fulfilled by providing arrays of GPUs, such as the Nvidia Grid and AMD’s Radeon Sky. They are used to both render and compress the graphics stream. Needless to say, the need to have GPU hardware in the cloud increases costs greatly.
Ascender’s approach needs no GPUs in the Cloud, but uses the GPU of the local device resulting in a cost-efficient solution to remote Android rendering.
Must the remote app be just Android?
No, the remote app does not necessarily need to be Android. The principles behind this technology are valid for any modern graphics system. Android is a convenient target since it is open, can be understood, modified and has a large market share.