Distributed shared memory for virtual environments

Abstract

This work investigated making virtual environments easier to program, by designing a suitable distributed shared memory system. To be usable, the system must keep latency to a minimum, as virtual environments are very sensitive to it. The resulting design is push-based and non-consistent. Another requirement is that the system should be scaleable, over large distances and over large numbers of participants. The latter is hard to achieve with current network protocols, and a proposal was made for a more scaleable multicast addressing system than is used in the Internet protocol. Two sample virtual environments were developed to test the ease-of-use of the system. This showed that the basic concept is sound, but that more support is needed. The next step should be to extend the language and add compiler support, which will enhance ease-of-use and allow numerous optimisations. This can be improved further by providing system-supported containers.