An Approach to DIS Scaleability

In the initial architecture for distributed simulation, developed under the SIMNET program, all simulation nodes receive all information broadcast by all the others, and each receiving node is responsible for sorting out what information is relevant to the entities it supports. With the advent of ARPA’s Synthetic Theater of War (STOW) program and the continued development of Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS), the scope of the problem has changed substantially. Under STOW and related programs, the virtual world must expand substantially — in area, total population, and the types of entities represented. The phenomenology within this new world must be far more complex, including weather effects, atmospheric degradation of sensors, smoke and haze, and terrain that can be modified by battlefield activities (e.g., damaged or destroyed bridges and cratered runways). Explicit representations of command, control, and communication are required to permit command forces to transmit orders to and receive reports from a new generation of more intelligent semiautomated forces. These new elements and phenomena require new protocols and generate new classes of traffic that must be carried on the connecting networks.