An Object-oriented Visual Simulation Environment for Queuing Networks

A visual environment for object-oriented simulation of queuing networks is developed. A key design objective is to minimize the amount of programming required from the modeler while maintaining the full modeling power of a custom-made simulator for the queuing network application domain. The environment structure is based on a recently developed standard for the design of simulation environments The software is designed and implemented on top of the MODSIM II simulation system. Generic base classes are provided for the modeler which can been arranged in a certain network topology using a point-and-click visual interface. Node parameters can then be modified from their default values using dialog boxes to conform with the model component properties. If necessary, the modeler may also change the default behavior of the basic model components by overriding the definition of some of these components methods and/or deriving new object classes with completely different behavior.