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Main Authors: Shoaib, Mohd, Mustafee, Navonil, Ramamohan, Varun
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.19264
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author Shoaib, Mohd
Mustafee, Navonil
Ramamohan, Varun
author_facet Shoaib, Mohd
Mustafee, Navonil
Ramamohan, Varun
contents Abstraction or substitution and aggregation are the most widely used simulation model simplification operations. Abstraction involves replacing subsystems within a discrete-event simulation (DES) with one or more quantities - typically random variables - representing the lengths of stay in the subsystems(s) in question to create a `simplified' system comprising only of subsystems of interest to the analysis at hand. Aggregation involves replacing more than one subsystem of the original `parent' simulation with a single subsystem. However, the model simplification process itself can be expensive, in terms of the computational runtime and effort required to collect the data required to estimate the distributions of the length of stay variables, the distribution-fitting process, and testing and validation of the simplified model. Moreover, the savings in simulation runtime that the simplification process yields is \textit{a priori} unknown to the modeller. In this context, a method that predicts the runtime savings (RS) from DES model simplification operations before their execution - at the conceptualisation stage of the simplified model development process - may help judge whether its development is indeed worth undertaking. In this paper, we present a queueing-theoretic framework for the prediction of RS from model simplification operations. Our framework is applicable for DES models comprising $M/M/, M/G/ \text{ and } G/G/$ subsystems. The performance of the RS prediction framework is demonstrated using multiple computational experiments. Our proposed framework contributes to the literature around DES model complexity and more broadly to DES runtime prediction.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_19264
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Framework for Predicting Runtime Savings from Discrete-Event Simulation Model Simplification Operations
Shoaib, Mohd
Mustafee, Navonil
Ramamohan, Varun
Systems and Control
Abstraction or substitution and aggregation are the most widely used simulation model simplification operations. Abstraction involves replacing subsystems within a discrete-event simulation (DES) with one or more quantities - typically random variables - representing the lengths of stay in the subsystems(s) in question to create a `simplified' system comprising only of subsystems of interest to the analysis at hand. Aggregation involves replacing more than one subsystem of the original `parent' simulation with a single subsystem. However, the model simplification process itself can be expensive, in terms of the computational runtime and effort required to collect the data required to estimate the distributions of the length of stay variables, the distribution-fitting process, and testing and validation of the simplified model. Moreover, the savings in simulation runtime that the simplification process yields is \textit{a priori} unknown to the modeller. In this context, a method that predicts the runtime savings (RS) from DES model simplification operations before their execution - at the conceptualisation stage of the simplified model development process - may help judge whether its development is indeed worth undertaking. In this paper, we present a queueing-theoretic framework for the prediction of RS from model simplification operations. Our framework is applicable for DES models comprising $M/M/, M/G/ \text{ and } G/G/$ subsystems. The performance of the RS prediction framework is demonstrated using multiple computational experiments. Our proposed framework contributes to the literature around DES model complexity and more broadly to DES runtime prediction.
title A Framework for Predicting Runtime Savings from Discrete-Event Simulation Model Simplification Operations
topic Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.19264