Distributed simulation modeling for manufacturing systems design using XML

Abstract

Discrete event simulations have been used to model manufacturing systems. Various decomposition methods such as distributed simulations have been employed for this modeling. In the context of distributed simulations, each federate must be able to share the embedded logic with the other federates, irrespective of the software used to design and build such systems. This paper provides an eXtensible Markup Language (XML)-based representation for distributed models that can be shared across the federation of simulations. Specifically, the paper outlines three different model components that forms the basis of a design framework for distributed simulation models - object model (for simulation constructs), logic model (represents information flow within a model and its interactions) and the connectivity model (represents the links among the simulation constructs).