MRE: a flexible approach to multi-resolution modeling

Multi-resolution representation of simulated entities is considered essential for a growing portion of distributed simulations. Heretofore, modelers have represented entities at just one level of resolution, or have represented concurrent representations in an inconsistent manner. The authors address the question of the cost of maintaining multiple, concurrent representations. They present a brief overview of the concept of a multiple resolution entity (MRE) and attribute dependency graph (ADG) both originally described elsewhere, and then compare simulation and consistency costs of some approaches, including our own MRE/ADG-based approach, to multi-resolution modeling. The cost analysis presented is the first known analysis of its type, and will provide a basis for simulation designers to determine the best, and most cost-effective approach to supporting simulation of entities at different levels of resolution concurrently.