Mobile Agents and Smart Networks for Distributed Simulations

As the use of Distributed Interactive Simulations has grown, the need to support a large number of players in the environment has become apparent. DIS has not been able to support a large number of entities because of its high network bandwidth requirements and the large computational loads it places on host computers. A combination of an agent based architecture and smart networks provides a promising solution to these problems when implementing large-scale distributed simulations. An agent system using the remote programming paradigm, transporting the necessary parameters and the necessary code for remote execution [WHITE95], could reduce the network bandwidth requirements and large computational loads associated with a large distributed simulation. This reduction would occur by eliminating unnecessary PDU traffic through the use of mobile agents that represent the originating entity. These agents would travel to, and reside on, the host computer of other entities and provide the necessary state information for stationary entities without using network resources. Smart Networks could be used to create a flexible area of interest manager, allowing entities to specify their area of interest and the information that they require from within that area [HARR95a]. This approach allows an entity to get all of the information it requires to represent its view of the simulated world while eliminating unnecessary information processing. DISTRIBUTED INTERACTIVE SIMULATIONS: