A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a
real-world process or system over time. Steps include
Generating an artificial history of a system
Observing the behavior of that artificial history
Drawing inferences concerning the operating
characteristics of the real system
Use the operation of a bank as an example:
Counting how many people come to the bank; how many
tellers, how long each customer is in service; etc.
Establishing a model and its corresponding computer
program.
Executing the program, varying parameters (number of
tellers, service time, arrival intervals) and observing the behavior
of the system.
Drawing conclusions: increasing number of tellers;
reducing service time; changing queueing strategies; etc.
The behavior of a system as it evolves over time is studied
by developing a simulation model.
A model is a set of entities and the relationship among them.
For the bank example: entities would include customers,
tellers, and queues. Relations would include customers entering a
queue; tellers serving the customer; customers leaving the bank.
Once developped, a model has to be validated. There are many
different ways to validate a model: observation (measurement);
analytical model comparison (analysis).
