Building Simulation Modeling Environments Using Systems Theory and Software Architecture Principles

Use of simulations for design of systems requires assurance that the underlying modeling theories and simulation strategies are correctly realized. For example, not only it is crucial to employ modeling and simulation theories, but it is also critical to develop software architectures (environments) that guarantee correct implementation of simulation Model execution. In this paper, we will (i) examine key features of an object-oriented modeling and simulation (M&S) environment with respect to its software architecture traits and (ii) propose an approach capable of supporting essential functionalities advocated by systemtheoretic modeling and simulation concepts and methods. We introduce a software architecture for discrete event M&S environments. We illustrate the software architecture using a prototype simulation tracking environment.