CS5233 Simulation and Modelling Techniques

(2007/2008 Semester 2)

Assignment 1 (Deadline: 14th February 2008)

Sample Solution to Exercise on Input Modelling

Assignment 2 (Deadline: 20th March 2008)

Assignment 3 (Deadline: 17th April 2008)

Time and venue: thursdays (6.30 to 8.30pm), COM1 206

Instructor

Gary Tan,
School of Computing
National University of Singapore
Office: COM1, #03-27
Phone: 6516-6276
Email: gtan@comp.nus.edu.sg

Objectives and content of the course

This course aims to provide students with a working knowledge of applying simulation techniques to model, simulate and study complex systems. It covers techniques in simulation model design, model execution and model analysis. Students will have hands-on experience using a simulation package.
The course will also introduce concepts of parallel and distributed simulation, and high level architecture.

Topics include:

Introduction to Simulation
Concepts in Discrete-event simulation (DES)
Components of DES
Random Number Generation
Input Data Modelling
Verification and Validation
Output Analysis
Model Design
Parallel and Distributed Simulation
High Level Architecture

Prerequisites

Pass a first course in probability and statistics. Programming languages needed: C, C++ or Java. Knowledge of simulation will be most helpful.

Course material

Main textbooks:

Discrete-Event System Simulation, by J. Banks, J. Carson, B. Nelson, D.Nicol, 3rd edition, Prentice Hall, 2001. (http://www.bcnn.net)
Parallel and Distributed Simulation Systems, by R.M. Fujimoto, John Wiley, 2000.

other textbooks:

Simulation Modeling & Analysis, by A. Law and D. Kelton, McGraw Hill Publishing Co., 3rd Edition, 2000.
Creating Computer Simulation Systems: An Introduction to the High Level Architecture, Kuhl, Weatherly and Dahmann, Prentice Hall, 2000.
Simulation Model Design and Execution: Building Digital Worlds, by P. Fishwick, Prentice-Hall, 1995.

A number of articles, and pointers to web-pages
Lecture notes. Most of the lecture notes and slides will be put on the web

Assignments

The course will include three assignments. More information will be provided later.

Active participation

Students are expected to participate actively in the course by asking questions at the lectures (Marks will be accorded for active participation). The aim is to get you to think critically during the lectures and promote healthy discussion. You are not expected to give correct and complete answers to the questions during the discussions.

Final Examination

The final exam (3rd May 2008) will focus on the understanding of the basic material covered in the course. Venue is SR1 at 1pm.

Grading

Active participation: 5%

Assignment 1: 10%

Assignment 2: 25%

Assignment 3: 10%

Written Exam: 50%

Course schedule (tentative)

No.	Date	Topic	Banks	Fujimoto	slides	Research Papers
Lecture 1	17th January	Course Information and Introduction to Modelling and Simulation	Chaps 1, 2	-	CI Intro	-
Lecture 2	24th January	Introduction to Discrete-Event Simulation	Chaps 2, 3	-	DESa DESb	M/M/1 in C: mm1.c random.c rand.h to run, type: gcc -lm mm1.c random.c
Lecture 3	31st January	Test and Generation of Random Numbers	7, 8	-	RNG	-
	7th January	Chinese New Year	-	-	-	-
Lecture 4	14th February	Input Data Analysis	9, 10	-	IDA	-
Lecture 5	21st February	Verification and Validation Overview of Simulation Language - SIMSCRIPT II.5	Simscript manuals: intro.pdf simscriptsimplified.pdf user man (simuser.pdf) simref.pdf graphics (graphics.pdf)	-	VV Simscript	Simscript programs: mm1queue.sim queue_event.sim barber.sim interval.sim reset.sim multiple.sim
Semester break	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lecture 6	6th March	Output Analysis	11	-	OA	-
Lecture 7	13th March	Parallel and Distributed Simulation I	-	1, 2	PADSI	wintersim99.pdf
Lecture 8	20th March	Parallel and Distributed Simulation II	-	3,4	PADSII	parallelsim.pdf optimistic.pdf
Lecture 9	27th March	Distributed Virtual Environments	-	-	DVE	link to HLA files hla.pdf rules.pdf if.pdf omt.pdf
Lecture 10	3rd April	Seminar Presentation	-	-	schedule	-
Lecture 11	10th April	HLA/DDM	-	7,8	DDM	ddm.pdf anss00.pdf dsrt00.pdf pads02.pdf tomacs.pdf dsrt03.pdf dsrt06.pdf
Lecture 12	17th April	Time Management	-	11	TM	-
-	Reading Week (revision week)	-	-	-	-	-

Sources of References

Journals:

Simulation: Transactions of the Society for Modelling and Simulation International
ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation

Conference Proceedings:

Annual Simulation Symposium
Workshop on Parallel and Distributed Simulation
Winter Simulation Conference