Developing interest management techniques in distributed interactive simulation using Java

Bandwidth consumption in distributed real time simulation, or networked real time simulation, is a major problem as the number of participants and the sophistication of joint simulation exercises grow in size. The paper briefly reviews distributed real time simulation and bandwidth reduction techniques and introduces the Generic Runtime Infrastructure for Distributed Simulation (GRIDS) as a research architecture for studying such problems. GRIDS uses Java abstract classes to promote distributed services called thin agents, a novel approach to implementing distributed simulation services, such as user defined bandwidth reduction mechanisms, and to distributing the executable code across the simulation. Thin agents offer the advantages of traditional agents without the overhead imposed by mobility or continuous state, which are unnecessary in this context. We present our implementation and some predicted results from message reduction studies using thin agent

Analysis domain model for shared virtual environments

The field of shared virtual environments, which also encompasses online games and social 3D environments, has a system landscape consisting of multiple solutions that share great functional overlap. However, there is little system interoperability between the different solutions. A shared virtual environment has an associated problem domain that is highly complex raising difficult challenges to the development process, starting with the architectural design of the underlying system. This paper has two main contributions. The first contribution is a broad domain analysis of shared virtual environments, which enables developers to have a better understanding of the whole rather than the part(s). The second contribution is a reference domain model for discussing and describing solutions - the Analysis Domain Model

On network latency in distributed interactive applications

This paper has three objectives. Firstly it describes the historical development of Distributed Interactive Applications. It then defines network latency. Finally it describes a new approach to masking network latency in Distributed Interactive Applications called the strategy model approach. This approach derives from the on-going PhD studies of one of the authors. A software application to gather strategy data from users is described in detail and an example of deriving a user strategy is given

Examining User Performance in the presence of Latency and Jitter in Distributed Interactive Applications

Latency and jitter inherently limit the maintenance of consistency in Distributed Interactive Applications such as computer games, distributed whiteboards and real-time, collaborative environments. Although there has been much research into methods for maintaining consistency, there is a distinct lack of research exploring the connection between latency, jitter and the end user experience in Distributed Interactive Applications. We have developed an application that allows us to conduct trials under controlled latency and jitter conditions. This provides data, which can be analysed to characterise how people adapt to various degrees of latency and jitter. We present results that highlight how an increase in latency and jitter affect the end-user experience, thus confirming the need for techniques to combat latency and jitter in Distributed Interactive Applications. We alsoe note that the effects of jitter are significantly greater than those of latency

Multimedia delivery in the future internet

The term “Networked Media” implies that all kinds of media including text, image, 3D graphics, audio and video are produced, distributed, shared, managed and consumed on-line through various networks, like the Internet, Fiber, WiFi, WiMAX, GPRS, 3G and so on, in a convergent manner [1]. This white paper is the contribution of the Media Delivery Platform (MDP) cluster and aims to cover the Networked challenges of the Networked Media in the transition to the Future of the Internet. Internet has evolved and changed the way we work and live. End users of the Internet have been confronted with a bewildering range of media, services and applications and of technological innovations concerning media formats, wireless networks, terminal types and capabilities. And there is little evidence that the pace of this innovation is slowing. Today, over one billion of users access the Internet on regular basis, more than 100 million users have downloaded at least one (multi)media file and over 47 millions of them do so regularly, searching in more than 160 Exabytes1 of content. In the near future these numbers are expected to exponentially rise. It is expected that the Internet content will be increased by at least a factor of 6, rising to more than 990 Exabytes before 2012, fuelled mainly by the users themselves. Moreover, it is envisaged that in a near- to mid-term future, the Internet will provide the means to share and distribute (new) multimedia content and services with superior quality and striking flexibility, in a trusted and personalized way, improving citizens’ quality of life, working conditions, edutainment and safety. In this evolving environment, new transport protocols, new multimedia encoding schemes, cross-layer inthe network adaptation, machine-to-machine communication (including RFIDs), rich 3D content as well as community networks and the use of peer-to-peer (P2P) overlays are expected to generate new models of interaction and cooperation, and be able to support enhanced perceived quality-of-experience (PQoE) and innovative applications “on the move”, like virtual collaboration environments, personalised services/ media, virtual sport groups, on-line gaming, edutainment. In this context, the interaction with content combined with interactive/multimedia search capabilities across distributed repositories, opportunistic P2P networks and the dynamic adaptation to the characteristics of diverse mobile terminals are expected to contribute towards such a vision. Based on work that has taken place in a number of EC co-funded projects, in Framework Program 6 (FP6) and Framework Program 7 (FP7), a group of experts and technology visionaries have voluntarily contributed in this white paper aiming to describe the status, the state-of-the art, the challenges and the way ahead in the area of Content Aware media delivery platforms

Exploring the Spatial Density of Strategy Models in a Realistic Distributed Interactive Application

As Distributed Interactive Applications (DIAs) become increasingly more prominent in the video game industry they must scale to accommodate progressively more users and maintain a globally consistent worldview. However, network constraints, such as bandwidth, limit the amount of communication allowed between users. Several methods of reducing network communication packets, while maintaining consistency, exist. These include dead reckoning and the hybrid strategy-based modelling approach. This latter method combines a short-term model such as dead reckoning with a long-term strategy model of user behaviour. By employing the strategy that most closely represents user behaviour, a reduction in the number of network packets that must be transmitted to maintain consistency has been shown. In this paper a novel method for constructing multiple long-term strategies using dead reckoning and polygons is described. Furthermore the algorithms are implemented in an industry-proven game engine known as Torque. A series of experiments are executed to investigate the effects of varying the spatial density of strategy models on the number of packets that need to be transmitted to maintain the global consistency of the DIA. The results show that increasing the spatial density of strategy models allows a higher consistency to be achieved with fewer packets using the hybrid strategy-based model than with pure dead reckoning. In some cases, the hybrid strategy-based model completely replaces dead reckoning as a means of communicating updates

Exploring the Spatial Density of Strategy Models in a Realistic Distributed Interactive Application

As Distributed Interactive Applications (DIAs) become increasingly more prominent in the video game industry they must scale to accommodate progressively more users and maintain a globally consistent worldview. However, network constraints, such as bandwidth, limit the amount of communication allowed between users. Several methods of reducing network communication packets, while maintaining consistency, exist. These include dead reckoning and the hybrid strategy-based modelling approach. This latter method combines a short-term model such as dead reckoning with a long-term strategy model of user behaviour. By employing the strategy that most closely represents user behaviour, a reduction in the number of network packets that must be transmitted to maintain consistency has been shown. In this paper a novel method for constructing multiple long-term strategies using dead reckoning and polygons is described. Furthermore the algorithms are implemented in an industry-proven game engine known as Torque. A series of experiments are executed to investigate the effects of varying the spatial density of strategy models on the number of packets that need to be transmitted to maintain the global consistency of the DIA. The results show that increasing the spatial density of strategy models allows a higher consistency to be achieved with fewer packets using the hybrid strategy-based model than with pure dead reckoning. In some cases, the hybrid strategy-based model completely replaces dead reckoning as a means of communicating updates

Distributed Hybrid Simulation of the Internet of Things and Smart Territories

This paper deals with the use of hybrid simulation to build and compose heterogeneous simulation scenarios that can be proficiently exploited to model and represent the Internet of Things (IoT). Hybrid simulation is a methodology that combines multiple modalities of modeling/simulation. Complex scenarios are decomposed into simpler ones, each one being simulated through a specific simulation strategy. All these simulation building blocks are then synchronized and coordinated. This simulation methodology is an ideal one to represent IoT setups, which are usually very demanding, due to the heterogeneity of possible scenarios arising from the massive deployment of an enormous amount of sensors and devices. We present a use case concerned with the distributed simulation of smart territories, a novel view of decentralized geographical spaces that, thanks to the use of IoT, builds ICT services to manage resources in a way that is sustainable and not harmful to the environment. Three different simulation models are combined together, namely, an adaptive agent-based parallel and distributed simulator, an OMNeT++ based discrete event simulator and a script-language simulator based on MATLAB. Results from a performance analysis confirm the viability of using hybrid simulation to model complex IoT scenarios.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1605.0487