The Real Cost Of Simulation

Many people think of the cost of a simulation only in

terms of the software package price.
There are actually at least three components to the cost
of simulation:
1. Purchase price of the software
2. Programmer / Analyst time
3. “Timeliness of Results”
 TERMINOLOGY
System
• A group of objects that are joined together in some
regular interaction or interdependence toward the
accomplishment of some purpose.
• Entity
• An object of interest in the system.
• E.g., customers at a bank
 TERMINOLOGY (continued)
Attribute
• a property of an entity
• E.g., checking account balance
Activity
• Represents a time period of specified length.
• Collection of operations that transform the state of an
entity
• E.g., making bank deposits
 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.
 TERMINOLOGY (continued)
Process
• Sequence of events ordered on time

 Note:
• the three concepts(event, process, and activity) give rise to three alternative
ways of building discrete simulation models
 TERMINOLOGY (continued)

• Verification
Computational model should be consistent with specification model
Did we build the model right?
• Validation
Computational model should be consistent with the system being
analyzed
Did we build the right model?
Can an expert distinguish simulation output from system output?
 TERMINOLOGY (continued)
• Model: construct a conceptual framework that describes a system
• Simulate: perform experiments using computer implementation
of the model
• Analyze: draw conclusions from output that assist in decision
making process
EXAMPLES OF SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS

System Entities Attributes Activities Events State

V ariables

Banking Customers Checking M aking Arrival; #of busy

account deposits Departure tellers;#of
balance custom ers
w aiting

Note: State Variables may change continuously (continuous sys.)

over time or they may change only at a discrete set of points
(discrete sys.) in time.
 Some Application Areas
• Medical research, training & support
• Industrial engineering designs & presentations (Factory
process design, manufacturing, ...)
• Civil engineering designs & presentations (Building design,
city & infrastructure planning, ...)
• Mechanical engineering designs & presentations (Engine
designs, aerodynamic design, ...)
• Nature sciences (Physic, chemistry, biology, meteorology,
astronomy, ...)
• Geographic Information Systems (Earth modeling, ...)
• Military Decision Support (War modeling, ...)
• Training (Simulators, games, ...)
• Entertainment (Games, ...)