Lecture 4

ICS41 Computer Modeling and

Simulation

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Classifications of Simulation Software

Application-Oriented Simulation Package

General-Purpose Simulation Language

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Application-
Application-Oriented Simulation Package

is designed to be used for a certain class

of applications such as manufacturing,
health care, and call centers.

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Application-
Application-Oriented Simulation Package

utilizes mathematical models to replicate the

behavior of an actual phenomenon

ex:
◦ CircuitLogix

Schematic editor

SPICE simulator

on-screen waveforms

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Application-
Application-Oriented Simulation Package

Advantages:
◦ automatically provides most of the features
needed to build simulation models
◦ provide natural framework
◦ generally easier to modify and maintain
◦ provide better error detection

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Application-
Application-Oriented Simulation Package

Manufacturing

AutoMod

AutoSched

Extend + Manufacturing

Arena Packaging Edition, etc

Communications Networks

COMNET III

IT DecisionGuru

OPNET Modeler

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Application-
Application-Oriented Simulation Package

Process Reengineering & Services

Arena Business Edition

Extend + BPR

ProcessModel

ServiceModel

SIMPROCESS

Health Care

MedModel

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Application-
Application-Oriented Simulation Package

Call Centers

Arena Call Center Edition

Animation (standalone)

Proof Animation

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General-
General-Purpose Simulation Package

can be used for any application, but might

have special features for certain ones.

general in nature and model development
was done by writing code.

provide a great deal of modeling flexibility
but difficult to use.

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General-
General-Purpose Simulation Package

Advantages:
◦ most modelers already know a programming
language
◦ simulation model efficiently written in C or C++
may require less execution time
◦ allow greater programming flexibility
◦ software cost is lower

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General-
General-Purpose Simulation Package

Extend

AweSim

MODSIM III

Symix, etc.

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AweSim Animation with Multiple Windows
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Extend Call Center Model with Hierarchical Blocks
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Simulation Software Modeling Approaches

Event-scheduling Approach

Process Approach

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Event-
Event-Scheduling Approach

the simulation evolves over time by

executing the events in increasing order

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Process Approach

process

a time-ordered sequence of interrelated events
separated by interval of time

describes the entire experience of an
“entity” as it flows through a “system”.

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Simulation Software Modeling Elements

Entity

Attributes

Resources

Queue

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Type of System Entities Attributes Resources Queues

Manufacturing Part part #, due Machines, Queues or

date workers buffers
Communications Message Destination, Nodes, links Buffers
message
length
Airport Airplane Flight #, Runways, Queues
weight gates
Insurance Application, Name, policy Agents, queues
Agency claims #, amount clerks

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General capabilities

Hardware and software considerations

Animation

Statistical features

Customer support and documentation

Output reports and plots

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General Capabilities

Modeling flexibility

ability to define new modeling structures and/or
modify existing ones

Ease of use

modeling constructs that are not too primitive and
not too macro.

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General Capabilities

Good debugging aids

allows the user to:

follow a single entity through the model

see the state of the model every time a particular
event occurs

set the value of certain attributes or variables.

Fast model execution speed

User-friendly model “front-ends”

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General Capabilities

Ability to import data from (and export

data to) other applications

Automatically simulate different scenarios
that iterate on some model parameters.

Easily initialized in a nonempty and idle
state.

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General Capabilities

State of the simulation can be saved at the

end of a run

Cost

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Hardware and Software Requirements

Computer platforms

Compatible across platforms

RAM required

Operating system supported

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Animation and Dynamic Graphics

Uses of animation:

communicating the essence of a simulation
model

debugging the simulation computer program

showing that a simulation model is not valid

suggesting improved operational procedures for
a system

training operational personnel

promoting communication among the project
team

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Animation and Dynamic Graphics

Types of Animation:
◦ concurrent animation
◦ post-processed animation

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Types of Animations

Concurrent Animation
◦ animation is displayed at the same time that
the simulation is running

Post-processed Animation
◦ state changes in the simulation are saved to a
disk file and used to drive the graphics after the
simulation is over
◦ animation is activated after all the processing
and evaluation are done.

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Animation and Dynamic Graphics

Desirable features:
◦ default animation
◦ create high-resolution icons
◦ smooth movement of icons
◦ speed up or slow down the animation
◦ named animation views
◦ vector-based vs. pixel-based graphics
◦ three-dimensional animation
◦ import drawings/clip arts

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Statistical Capabilities

Must have a good random generator

Independent replications (or runs) of the
simulation model

each run uses separate sets of different random
numbers;

each run uses the same initial condition

each run resets the statistical counters.

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Customer Support and Documentation

Customer Support

provide public training

technical support

Good Documentation

possible to learn w/o taking formal training course

context-dependent online help

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Output Reports and Graphics

standard reports

customize reports

histogram

time plots

results be stored in a database

plotted in a single graph

export individual model output
observations

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