Distributed and Centralized Version of an Efficient Communication Protocol for Distributed Traffic Simulation

Computer simulation of the road traffic is a very important tool for analysis and control of traffic networks. Because the simulation of a large traffic network (e.g. an entire city) can be computationally intensive, many simulators have been adapted for distributed computing environment. In this paper, an efficient communication protocol for distributed simulation of road traffic is described. The protocol is based on two formerly developed protocols - the traffic flow characteristics protocol and the long step protocol. The presented communication protocol combines the advantages of both approaches. Moreover, it utilizes binary coding of the vehicles transferred between particular traffic sub-networks. Two versions of the protocol have been developed - a centralized and a distributed version. Both versions were intensively tested. The results of the tests are also part of this paper.