DEVS framework for component-based modeling/simulation of discrete event systems

Abstract

The sophistication of current software applications results in the increasing cost for software development time. The component-based software development frameworks, such as COM (Component Object Model), JavaBeans, and CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture), are proposed to overcome the difficult time-consuming requirements by modularity and reusability. As is the general software case, a component-based simulation framework encourages the reusability of real system models based on the modularity of the applied simulation methodology. There are several approaches each of which enables DEVS (Discrete Event System Specification) framework to be suited for component capability, e.g. DEVS-JavaBeans based on JavaBeans technology and DEVS/CORBA based on the CORBA middleware. This paper presents a component-based simulation environment that is based on the DEVS/COM run-time infrastructure. The DEVS formalism provides a formal modeling and simulation framework for the generic dynamic systems. Microsoft``s COM is one of the strongest competitor for the component standard. COM offers a sound framework to interoperate under the many co-existing different programming languages as a reusable binary component. Combining the advantages of DEVS and COM provides a heterogeneous modeling and simulation environment. With the DEVS/COM modeling and simulation framework, each model can be deployed as a reusable component. On the stage of component development, a component modeler can use some or all of the capabilities of object-oriented programming (OOP), persistence, distribution, and platform independence. These benefits may cover the additional overheads including cross-context call overhead or implementation complexity. DEVS/COM simulation environment can assemble component DEVS models, either atomic or coupled, to build more complex models and the component composition of the hierarchical DEVS model makes a modeler to construct a higher-level model by interconnecti...