Commercial-off-the-shelf simulation package interoperability: Issues and futures

Commercial-Off-The-Shelf Simulation Packages (CSPs) are widely used in industry to simulate discrete-event models. Interoperability of CSPs requires the use of distributed simulation techniques. Literature presents us with many examples of achieving CSP interoperability using bespoke solutions. However, for the wider adoption of CSP-based distributed simulation it is essential that, first and foremost, a standard for CSP interoperability be created, and secondly, these standards are adhered to by the CSP vendors. This advanced tutorial is on an emerging standard relating to CSP interoperability. It gives an overview of this standard and presents case studies that implement some of the proposed standards. Furthermore, interoperability is discussed in relation to large and complex models developed using CSPs that require large amount of computing resources. It is hoped that this tutorial will inform the simulation community of the issues associated with CSP interoperability, the importance of these standards and its future

On the Role of Simulation and Simulation Standards in Industry 4.0

This article introduces the concepts and ideas behind Industry 4.0 and discusses the role of simulation and simulation standards for implementing it. We argue that the success of Industry 4.0 highly depends on the success of interconnected cyber-physical systems (CPS) which can only be implemented with up-front simulation. This up-front simulation and development of CPS is often associated with the term of building the “digital twin” for the respective CPS. Digital twins are typically defined as digital representations which represent the real system and its current state in a digital model. For investigating their dynamic behavior, digital twins must have properties typically associated with simulation models. In this article, we discuss requirements and potential solutions for the successful implementation of digital twins as well as the implications that this has on simulation standards. As an example, digital twins as representations of a CPS will have the need to communicate with other digital twins; hence a modular approach for building federations of digital twins is needed. Beyond that, also a need for standardized communication between the digital twin and the real CPS arises. The article will therefore discuss currently available interoperability standards, like the High Level Architecture (HLA) on the simulation side, and Open Platform Communications (OPC) Unified Architecture (OPC UA) on the control hardware side and how well they match the requirements that Industry 4.0 with its CPSs and digital twins imposes. The article also includes our opinion on the need for the future evolvement of existing standards

Bridging the gap: a standards-based approach to OR/MS distributed simulation

Pre-print version. Final version published in ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation (TOMACS); available online at http://tomacs.acm.org/In Operations Research and Management Science (OR/MS), Discrete Event Simulation (DES) models are typically created using commercial simulation packages such as Simul8™ and SLX™. A DES model represents the processes associated with a system of interest; but, in cases where the underlying system is large and/or logically divided, the system may be conceptualized as several sub-systems. These sub-systems may belong to multiple stakeholders, and creating an all-encompassing DES model may be difficult for reasons such as, concerns among the intra- and inter-organizational stakeholders with regard to data/information sharing (e.g., security and privacy). Furthermore, issues such as model composability, data transfer/access problems and execution speed may also make a single model approach problematic. A potential solution could be to create/reuse well-defined DES models, each modeling the processes associated with one sub-system, and using distributed simulation technique to execute the models as a unified whole. Although this approach holds great promise, there are technical barriers. One such barrier is the lack of common ground between distributed simulation developers and simulation practitioners. In an attempt to bridge this gap, this paper reports on the outcome of an international standardization effort, the SISO-STD-006-2010 Standard for Commercial-Off-The-Shelf Simulation Package Interoperability References Models (IRMs). This facilitates the capture of interoperability requirements at a modeling level rather than a technical level and enables simulation practitioners and vendors to properly specify the interoperability requirements of a distributed simulation in their terms. Two distributed simulation examples are given to illustrate the use of IRMs