Evaluating Cloud VR Gaming Experience over LEO Satellite and 5G mmWave Networks

Cloud VR gaming represents one of the most latency-sensitive applications. Our work examines how emerging network technologies can help surpass these stringent latency limitations. Cloud VR gaming offloads VR games to remote cloud servers and streams rendered game scenes over the best-effort Internet to resource-constrained Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs). Gamers living in remote regions and crowded downtowns cannot enjoy such services because of high network delay, low network bandwidth, and dynamic network conditions. Although emerging Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and 5G millimeter Wave (mmWave) networks bring better-quality Internet access to remote regions and crowded downtowns, whether they could enable good Quality of Experience (QoE) for gamers living there has never been studied. In this paper, we conduct a detailed user study using a few challenging network traces in public datasets collected from Starlink and commercial 5G cellular networks. Our user study shows that: (i) LEO satellite networks achieve better cloud VR gaming QoE than 5G mmWave networks, (ii) delay plays a more critical role in ensuring good cloud VR gaming QoE, and (iii) fast-paced games work better in LEO satellite networks, while texture-rich games work better in 5G mmWave networks. Our findings on fluctuating network conditions provide valuable insights for adaptive streaming mechanisms in interactive applications. In summary, this paper confirms the feasibility of offering high-QoE cloud VR gaming services to gamers living in remote regions and crowded downtowns.