Simulation modeling architecture (SiMA), a DEVS based modeling and simulation framework

Abstract

Defining and executing simulation models of complex systems is often a non-trivial task. One of the key requirements of simulation software frameworks for such complex systems is that the model construction should be supported by hierarchical and modular composition of reusable models in a uniform and scalable way. Further, the accompanying simulation execution protocol should provide a robust and reliable mechanism for executing the models according to a well-defined modeling formalism. In this paper we introduce our simulation software framework, namely Simulation Modeling Architecture (SiMA) and our contributions to the underlying formal model (i. e. DEVS). We also talk about our simulation construction environment and provide performance comparisons of SiMA with other popular DEVS-based simulation frameworks with respect to message processing efficiency and the ability to cope with coupling complexity caused by increased model population, cardinality and the level of hierarchy.