Scalability in peer-to-peer-based MMVEs: The continuous events approach

A key challenge for Peer-to-Peer-based Massively Multi-user Virtual Environments is efficient delivery of updates. In contrast to centralized approaches, which can efficiently calculate changes and deliver these, peer-based approaches have to generate updates from arbitrary participating peers. In this paper we present an approach to reduce update messages in Peer-to-Peer-based Massively Multi-user Virtual Environments introducing a distinct class of update events, which we call continuous events. A continuous event results in a series of updates that can be pre-computed. By distributing the event series as a change function, affected peers can calculate and perform updates after receiving a continuous event without further update messages. We present a system design enabling the distribution and computation of continuous events and discuss basic algorithms for continuous event management. We also show simulation results which confirm a substantial reduction of update messages.