Adaptive Update Propagation for Low-Latency Massively Multi-User Virtual Environments

Massively multi-user virtual environments (MMVEs) are highly interactive systems. They require the propagation of state updates to users with little delay. In this paper we propose a novel update propagation approach for MMVEs that enables such low-latency propagation while offering the scalability needed to support MMVEs with massive user numbers. Our approach combines peer-based and server-based update propagation into a hybrid system. It adapts itself dynamically to the available system resources and the current situation in the virtual world. We describe our approach in detail, evaluate it and discuss further steps towards a low-latency update propagation system.