Object Oriented Simulation Models Based On The Devs Formalism

Discrete event simulation based on the object oriented approach is an interesting research area mainly composed by two research topics: the design of object oriented simulation language and the definition of methodologies that starting ham a conceptual modeling phase guides the simulation designer to develop an object oriented simulator. The two subjects are straight linked. For example the various advantages of object oriented simulation languages may not be exploited if the system model design is unstructured and not oriented to an object formalism. The methodology proposed in this paper is based on the DEVS formalism. A set of formalizes steps guide the simulation designer from the conceptual modeling phase to the definition of an abject oriented DEVS based simulator by exploiting a commercial object oriented simulation language. The designing phase is based on sequential rules providing the simulation model designer with tools for a correct definition and an exhaustive validation of the simulation model. The DEVS formalism is enriched by the introduction of the shared state concept. Moreover the implementation aspects are discussed with regard to the development of an OO/Devs simulation model developed in the Simple++(R) simulation language. Finally, in order to asses the proposed approach the DEVS model of a FMS plant is built.