Network topologies for scalable multi-user virtual environments

Investigates the trade-off of different network topologies and messaging protocols for multi-user virtual environment systems. We present message distribution techniques appropriate for constructing scalable multi-user systems for a variety of network characteristics. Hierarchical system designs utilizing servers that manage message distribution for entities in separate regions of a virtual environment are described that scale to arbitrary numbers of simultaneous users. Experimental results show that the rate of messages processed by server workstations in this system design are less than using previously described approaches.