HLA_GENT: Distributed simulation of agent-based systems with HLA

Abstract

In this paper we describe HLA_AGENT, a tool for the distributed simulation of agent-based systems, which integrates the SIM_AGENT agent toolkit and the High Level Architecture (HLA) simulator interoperability framework. Using a simple Tileworld scenario as an example, we show how the HLA can be used to flexibly distribute a SIM.AGENT simulation with different agents being simulated on different machines. The distribution is transparent in the sense that the existing SIM_AGENT code runs unmodified and the agents are unaware that other parts of the simulation are running remotely. We present some preliminary experimental results which illustrate the performance of HLA_AGENT on a Linux cluster running a distributed version of Tileworld and compare this with the original (non-distributed) SIM_AGENT version. © Springer-Verlag 2004.