DIVAs 4 Architecture

DIVAs 4 provides JAVA programmers with the components necessary to build executable agent-based simulation systems. Based on sound software engineering principles (i.e., separation of concerns, modularity, information hiding), we have defined and completed a flexible and extensible, “plug-in” architecture whose components can be instantiated and reused to develop various multi-agent simulation systems. The framework is fully implemented in Java and is based on state-of-the-art enterprise-scale technologies (e.g., ActiveMQ , jMonkey, JavaFX).

DIVAs Main Constituents

• The Simulation Module creates large-scale simulation instances.
• The Message Transport Service (MTS) provides a messaging infrastructure that allows different elements of the simulation to communicate.
• The interactive Control and Visualization Module receives information from the MTS, renders 2D/3D images of the simulation, and allows simulation interaction (e.g., environment specification, event triggers, agent, and environment property modification).

DIVAs Core Constituents

• The Agent System creates and manages agents in the simulation.
• The Environment System creates and manages a dynamic environment in which the agents are situated.
• The Simulation Microkernel encapsulates the most important core services of the framework (e.g., simulation heartbeat), manages the workflow of the simulation and provides mechanisms for loading/storing agent and environment specifications to/from persistent storage (e.g., xml file).

DIVAs Additional Components

• A Data Management System for storing and processing information collected from the simulation.
• Domain-Specific Libraries for the rapid development of simulation platforms. Currently, DIVAs embeds models for virtual agents and traffic simulation domains.