GASP Project Components: Bluetooth middleware

Presentation

GASP Bluetooth (GASPBT) is a pure Java^TM middleware based on JSR 82 specifications, under L-GPL license, enabling mobile local real time multiplayer games on mobile phones.
GASPBT comes as an API used in the game, for example BomberGASP uses GASPBT as a library.

GASPBT features:

uses the same functional model as GASP online middleware deriving from the Open Mobile Alliance GS specifications
uses the MooDS communication protocol
enables bi-directional client-server communication with low latency (Bluetooth^TM latency is under 100ms)
enables until 8 players, 1 player running both the client/server game logics and until 7 players running only the client game logic

Current Version: 1.0.0

History

2006: GASPBT official release, GASPBT Demonstrator (BomberGASP) release.
2005: GASPBT Bluetooth Development.

Current work

GASPBT: Adaptation to MooDS v2 code generation.

Details

Architecture - Data model

BomberGASP Architecture/Data Model

In GASPBT architecture, one player runs both the GASPBT server and client side to host a game session and play it, other game session players run only the GASPBT client side with server side desactivated.

The server data model of GASPBT derives from the GASP online data model. The SubApplicationInstance and ActorSession classes are similar to the GASP ApplicationInstance and ActorSession. To new classes, named BTClient and BTServer, offer Bluetooth^TM stack management capabilities like service and device discovery, network data listenning/sending... GASP client and server interfaces are conserved with minor modifications for Bluetooth^TM communication, client and server game logics herit from these interfaces.

Events model

GASPBT conserves the events model as GASP online specified by the Open Mobile Alliance GS with 5 different events: JoinEvent, StartEvent, EndEvent, QuitEvent and DataEvent. The DataEvent handles objects to be send on the network.
A new event is introduced in GASPBT due to the particular connection scheme between 2 Bluetooth^TM devices. This event is the MyJoinEvent enabling the Bluetooth^TM slave (client) to send his ID and username to the Bluetooth^TM master (server).

Network communication

GASPBT conserves the GASP object-oriented communication, MooDS communication protocol handles GASPBT network data encoding/decoding similarly to GASP online version.

Lobby

BomberGASP Lobby

Firstly the player has to choose his game mode, client mode or both client/server mode (see step 1 on figure).
If the player chooses the client mode, he can browse the bluetooth network for servers and chooses the server he wants to join (see step 2 on figure).
If the player chooses the server mode, he waits the connection request of players and selects the wanted players (see step 3 on figure).
Then the players are in the waiting room, waiting for the host player to start the game (see step 4 then in game on figure).