Multi-user Gaming on the Grid Using a Service Oriented HLA RTI

Interactive multi-user Internet games require frequent state updates between players to accommodate the great demand for reality and interactivity. The large latency and limited bandwidth on the Internet greatly affects the game's scalability. The High Level Architecture (HLA) is the IEEE standard for distributed simulation with its Data Distribution Management (DDM) service group assuming the functionalities of interest management. With its support for reuse and interoperability and its DDM support for communication optimization, the HLA is promising at supporting multi-user gaming on the Internet. However, this usually requires particular prior security setup across administrative domains according to the specific Run Time Infrastructure (RTI) used. We have previously developed a Service Oriented HLA RTI (SOHR) which enables distributed simulations to be conducted across administrated domains on the Grid. This paper discusses multi-user gaming on the Grid using SOHR. Specifically, a maze game is used to illustrate how SOHR enables users to join a game conveniently. Experiments have been carried out to show how DDM can improve the communication efficiency.