Discrete-event simulation has long been an integral part of the design process of complex engineering systems and the modelling of natural phenomena. Many of the systems that we seek to understand or control can be modelled as digital systems. In a digital model, we view the system at discrete instants of time, in effect taking snapshots of the system at these instants. For example, in a computer network simulation an event can be the sending of a message from one node to another node while in a VLSI logic simulation, the arrival of a signal at a gate may be viewed as an event. Digital systems such as computer systems are naturally susceptible to this approach. However, a variety of other systems may also be modelled this way. These include transportation systems such as air-traffic control systems, epidemiological models such as the spreading of a virus, and military war-gaming models. This book is representative of the advances in this field.

"The two unique benefits of Concurrent and Comparative Discrete Event Simulation are: speed, which is usually 1000 to 10 000 times faster than conventional discrete event simulation; and methodology, which permits the concurrent/comparative simulation of many thousands of experiments. One idea is that a one-for-many experiment, called the reference, is simulated in its entirety, while all others are simulated only where they differ from the reference. A second idea extends the first one; many one-for-many experiments will be significantly more efficient than only one experiment. These two ideas result in tremendous efficiencies, permitting the concurrent simulation of tens of thousands of experiments. The material in the book covers a vast application area in the scientific and business world. For example, in the design experimentation of nuclear power plant operations, many scenarios can be simulated to derive desirable designs or safe operating procedures. Concurrent fault simulation is already a mature technique in the computer aided design of digital systems. Concurrent/Comparative Simulation (CCS) of several instruction sets for a computer can help a designer in making performance tradeoffs. One of the most powerful future applications for CCS/MDCCS (Concurrent and Comparative Simulation/Multi-Domain Concurrent and Comparative Simulation) will be in the testing and debugging of computer programs"--Publisher description.

This unique textbook comprehensively introduces the field of discrete event systems, offering a breadth of coverage that makes the material accessible to readers of varied backgrounds. The book emphasizes a unified modeling framework that transcends specific application areas, linking the following topics in a coherent manner: language and automata theory, supervisory control, Petri net theory, Markov chains and queueing theory, discrete-event simulation, and concurrent estimation techniques. Topics and features: detailed treatment of automata and language theory in the context of discrete event systems, including application to state estimation and diagnosis comprehensive coverage of centralized and decentralized supervisory control of partially-observed systems timed models, including timed automata and hybrid automata stochastic models for discrete event systems and controlled Markov chains discrete event simulation an introduction to stochastic hybrid systems sensitivity analysis and optimization of discrete event and hybrid systems new in the third edition: opacity properties, enhanced coverage of supervisory control, overview of latest software tools This proven textbook is essential to advanced-level students and researchers in a variety of disciplines where the study of discrete event systems is relevant: control, communications, computer engineering, computer science, manufacturing engineering, transportation networks, operations research, and industrial engineering. ​Christos G. Cassandras is Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Professor of Systems Engineering, and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Boston University. Stéphane Lafortune is Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Complex artificial dynamic systems require advanced modeling techniques that can accommodate their asynchronous, concurrent, and highly non-linear nature. Discrete Event systems Specification (DEVS) provides a formal framework for hierarchical construction of discrete-event models in a modular manner, allowing for model re-use and reduced development time. Discrete Event Modeling and Simulation presents a practical approach focused on the creation of discrete-event applications. The book introduces the CD++ tool, an open-source framework that enables the simulation of discrete-event models. After setting up the basic theory of DEVS and Cell-DEVS, the author focuses on how to use the CD++ tool to define a variety of models in biology, physics, chemistry, and artificial systems. They also demonstrate how to map different modeling techniques, such as Finite State Machines and VHDL, to DEVS. The in-depth coverage elaborates on the creation of simulation software for DEVS models and the 3D visualization environments associated with these tools. A much-needed practical approach to creating discrete-event applications, this book offers world-class instruction on the field’s most useful modeling tools.

The book presents a philosophy for simulation modeling and a new simulation language. It gives an overview of the development of (mainly discrete event) simulation, the techniques and data structures that this development brought along and the impact it had on general computer science. In fact many seminal ideas coming up in modern operating systems and concurrent programming like data structures that make algorithms fast have their origin in discrete simulation.