Systementwicklungsprojekt: Intermittent synchronisation of mobile devices using regional available communication channels

Abstract

Nowadays in mobile scenarios different kind of data is generated locally on PDAs , mobile phones, and so on. Depending on the application it is necessary to synchronise or share this data with others and therefore a communication channel is needed. At the moment UMTS/GPRS is the favorite technique and it should be shown that it is possible to cope with limited coverage in specific situations.

In order to demonstrate the usability a location based multiplayer game will be developed where it is essential to synchronise data intermittently. The game is called "MunichHunt". It is an adoption of the well known board game "Scotland Yard" and will be playable here in Munich as a location based multiplayer game.

Munich Hunt

The game principle is easy: The "police" hunts a criminal which is called "Mr. X".

Initially independent teams are set up by one or more players. One team represents "Mr X." and the remaining teams act as the "police". All teams are distributed randomly over the area in Munich to which the game is limited.

After the game has been started the teams are moving around by using a subnet of the MVV (= public transport system here in Munich). Therefor they have to give tokens which are limited.

During gameplay positions of the players are recorded. This data sets are sent to all other players so that all teams know where they are and could coordinate there next moves accordingly in order to encircle "Mr. X". The position of "Mr. X" inheres a special part because it is usually not known by the haunters but they can see the used means of transport by "Mr. X" until now. In order to make it possible to catch "Mr. X" his current position is revealed and published periodically to the haunters.

Each team is equipped with a mobile phone executing the game application. Necessary informations such as the map of Munich, available means of transport, positions of the other teams and so on are visualized on the screen.

The game is over if one team catches "Mr. X".

Basic concepts

• Client-server architecture

• Clients
  • Game running on mobile phones
  • GPS for positioning
  • Communication via GPRS

• Server
  • Hosts game logic
  • Responsible for synchronisation with clients

Preliminary Schedule

Tasks	Due to	Status
Modelling use cases for Munich Hunt Modelling and implementing the responsible software components for GPS data access and map representation	2006/12/15	Use cases finished; Map representation finished; GPS data access deferred
Modelling and implementing a tool for building maps Modelling and implementing the server	2007/01/15	Tool implementation finished; Server implementation finished
Proceed implementation of the server Realisation of the client communication	2007/02/15	Map representation finished; Implementing an UI finished; Server implementation finished; Client communication finished
Finishing client communication and integrating all modules	2007/03/15	Client communication finished; Integration finished
Field tests, evaluating, bug fixing, last changes	2007/04/15	Finished
Documentation	2007/05/15	Finished

Documents

• MunichHunt - A location based multiplayer game
• Final presentation

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