Evaluation of a pre-reckoning algorithm for distributed virtual environments

The recently introduced pre-reckoning algorithm is an alternative to the traditional dead reckoning algorithm used in DIS-compliant distributed virtual environments. Before the algorithm can be applied to distributed virtual environments, a detailed evaluation is needed. The pre-reckoning algorithm and the general dead reckoning algorithm are implemented within a simple distributed virtual environment system - CUBE. A comparison between the two algorithms is provided and the evaluation of performance and accuracy of two algorithms is presented. The results indicate that the pre-reckoning algorithm achieves a much more accurate model of the actual trajectory of an entity controlled by a remote host than the general dead reckoning algorithm. Moreover, the pre-reckoning algorithm improves accuracy while generating fewer state update packets. Based on the demonstrated performance, the pre-reckoning has a potential to improve scalability of distributed virtual environments and enhance consistency of users' view of the dynamic shared state.