Reducing update packets in Distributed Interactive Applications using a hybrid approach

Distributed Interactive Applications (DIAs) such as networked games or Distributed Interactive Simulations (DIS) depend on the underlying network. An important aspect is the number of data packets transmitted, across the connected networks. To reduce the number of packets transmitted, DIAs employ client-side predictive contracts. The most commonly used client side predictive contract technique is pure dead reckoning. In this paper an alternative method in the form of a novel hybrid multiple-strategy technique is proposed. This technique chooses one of several models, either a deterministic dead reckoning model or one of numerous strategy-based models. This new approach is compared to the first order dead reckoning method using two game-type environments. It is shown that the proposed technique results in a significant reduction in the number of entity packets that need to be transmitted to maintain entity-state fidelity across the networked application.