LECTURE:01

INTRODUCTION TO
SIMULATION & MODELING
INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Name: Iman Ashraf

Email: iman.ashraf@superior.edu.pk
Office: Room# 05
RULES & REGULATIONS
• Late comers don’t request for attendance later
• Feel free to ask any query related to the course content
• Maintain the decorum of the class
• Avoid unnecessary use of electronic devices
• Submit your tasks on time, late submissions will not be accepted
• Zero tolerance policy for plagiarism and cheating
• ALWAYS ALWAYS KNOCK THE DOOR, BEFORE ENTERING MY OFFFICE!
CONTENTS
• System and system environment
• Terminologies
• Introduction to modeling
• Introduction to simulation
• Why we need modeling & simulation?
• When modeling & simulation should be used?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lecture, the students shall be able to
• Define system
• Illustrate an example of system
• Identify the components of the system from a case study
• Explicate modeling
• Describe simulation
• Identify the need of modeling & simulation
• Explain when modeling & simulation is appropriate?
• Explain when modeling & simulation is not appropriate?
SYSTEM

• A group of objects that are joined together in some regular interaction toward
the accomplishment of some purpose
• A system is a collection of elements or components that are organized for a
common purpose.
SYSTEM ENVIRONMENT

• A system affected by changes occurring outside the system.

• Some system activities may also produce changes that do not react on the
system.
• Those changes occurring outside the system are said to occur in the system
environment.
• Decide upon the boundary between the system and its environment.
EXAMPLE OF SYSTEM & SYSTEM ENVIRONMENT

• A computer system consists of hardware components that have been carefully

chosen so that they work well together and software components or programs
that run in the computer.
• An automobile factory that makes and assembles parts into a product.
Effect of supply on demand
• A bank system
Processing of customer by teller at bank
TERMINOLOGY
Entity
• An object of interest in the system.
• E.g. customers at a bank
Attribute
• a property of an entity
• E.g. checking account balance
Activity
• Any process that causes changes in the system.
• Represents a time period of specified length.
• Collection of operations that transform the state of an entity
• E.g. making bank deposits
TERMINOLOGY (CONTINUED)
Endogenous:
• Is used to describe activities occurring within the system
Exogenous:
• Used to describe activities in the environment that affect
the system.
Closed:
• A system for which there is no exogenous activity.
Open:
• A system which have exogenous activities.
TERMINOLOGY (CONTINUED)

Deterministic:
• Outcome of an activity can be described completely in terms of
its inputs.
Stochastic:
• Effects of the activity vary randomly over various possible
outcomes.
TERMINOLOGY (CONTINUED)
Event:
• change in the system state.
• E.g. arrival; beginning of a new execution; departure
State Variables
• Define the state of the system
• Can restart simulation from state variables
• E.g. length of the job queue.
Process
• Sequence of events ordered on time
EXAMPLES OF SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS

System Entities Attributes Activities

Traffic Cars Speed Driving
Distance

Bank Customers Balance Depositing

Credit information

Communications Messages Length priority Transmitting

Supermarket Customers Shopping list Checking-out
EXAMPLES OF SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS

System Entities Attributes Activities Events State

Variables
Banking Customers Checking Making Arrival, Number of
account deposits Departure of busy tellers,
balance customers Number of
customers
waiting
WHAT IS A MODEL?
• Representation of an object, a system, or an idea in some form other than that
of the entity itself. (Shannon)
• Model is a mathematical expression of a system, a simplified representation
of reality
• Model helps in understanding complicated phenomena, their significance,
relations and interactions in real systems
MODELING

• Modeling is the process of representing a model which includes its construction

and working.
• It is creating a model which represents a system including their properties. It is
an act of building a model.
SIMULATION

• A simulation is the complete process of the forecasting and replication of a

certain scenario.
• Simulation is an approximate imitation of the operation of a process or
system; that represents its operation over time/gradually.
WHY WE NEED SIMULATION?

• Something which simulates a system or environment in order to predict actual

behavior.
• Simulation model helps to study the behavior of system as it evolves over time.
 DOES MODELING &
SIMULATING A SYSTEM
ALWAYS WORK?
WHEN MODELING & SIMULATION IS APPROPRIATE?
• To understand the internal interactions of a complex system
• To test and explore the WHAT-IF scenarios without putting anything at
risk
• To conduct costly experiments in terms of time and money both
• To visualize a scenario, allowing concepts and ideas to be more easily
verified, communicated and understood
• To improve the system or enhance the accuracy
• To experiment with new designs, prior to the implementation
WHEN MODELING & SIMULATION IS NOT APPROPRIATE?

• Problem can be solved through logic and reasoning

• Easier to perform direct experiments
• Resources are limited
• System behavior is too complicated too be modeled
• Not even the estimated data/behavior is available about the system
EXAMPLE OF MODELING & SIMULATION
The Airport Problem
The airport has two runways, one for landing and one for takeoff. If the
landing way is busy, the airplane in the air must enter in a stack. However,
when the stack is full, the takeoff way must become landing way.
Airports have a waiting stack, where airplanes wait before they can land. In this
stack, airplanes fly a holding pattern on an assigned altitude.
What we want to know?
Calculate the stack length.
The average time a plane waits for takeoff.
The average utilization of the landing way and the takeoff way.
APPLICATION AREAS OF MODELING & SIMULATION
Modeling & Simulation can be applied to the following areas
Military applications
Training & support
Designing semiconductors
Telecommunications
Civil engineering
E-business models
Optimizing a system
REFERENCES

• Reference slides of Introduction To Modeling and Simulation prepared by Dr. Arfan

Jaffer
• Reference slides of Foundations of Modeling: An Introduction prepared by
Bernhard Westfechtel Angewandte Informatik I Universität Bayreuth
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp3jyLkfBQs
• (17/09/2019) retrieved from: https://slideplayer.com/slide/5925909/
• Carson, I. I., and S. John. "Introduction to modeling and simulation." Proceedings of
the 37th conference on Winter simulation. Winter Simulation Conference, 2005.