Discrete System Simulation
Discrete System Simulation
In discrete systems, the changes in the system state are discontinuous and each change in the
state of the system is called an event. The model used in a discrete system simulation has a set
of numbers to represent the state of the system, called as a state descriptor. In this chapter, we
will also learn about queuing simulation, which is a very important aspect in discrete event
simulation along with simulation of time-sharing system.
Discrete event simulation is generally carried out by a software designed in high level
programming languages such as Pascal, C++, or any specialized simulation language. Following
are the five key features −
Entities − These are the representation of real elements like the parts of machines.
Relationships − It means to link entities together.
Simulation Executive − It is responsible for controlling the advance time and executing
discrete events.
Random Number Generator − It helps to simulate different data coming into the
simulation model.
Results & Statistics − It validates the model and provides its performance measures.
A queue is the combination of all entities in the system being served and those waiting for their
turn.
Parameters
Symbol Description
λ Denotes the arrival rate which is the number of arrivals per second
Denotes the mean service time for each arrival excluding the waiting time in the
Ts
queue
σTs Denotes the standard deviation of service time
ρ Denotes the server time utilization, both when it was idle and busy
u Denotes traffic intensity
r Denotes the mean of items in the system
R Denotes the total number of items in the system
Tr Denotes the mean time of an item in the system
TR Denotes the total time of an item in the system
σr Denotes the standard deviation of r
σTr Denotes the standard deviation of Tr
w Denotes the mean number of items waiting in the queue
σw Denotes the standard deviation of w
Tw Denotes the mean waiting time of all items
Td Denotes the mean waiting time of the items waiting in the queue
N Denotes the number of servers in a system
Denotes the yth percentile which means the value of y below which x occurs y
mx(y)
percent of the time
Single Server Queue
This is the simplest queuing system as represented in the following figure. The central element
of the system is a server, which provides service to the connected devices or items. Items
request to the system to be served, if the server is idle. Then, it is served immediately, else it
joins a waiting queue. After the task is completed by the server, the item departs.
As the name suggests, the system consists of multiple servers and a common queue for all
items. When any item requests for the server, it is allocated if at-least one server is available.
Else the queue begins to start until the server is free. In this system, we assume that all servers
are identical, i.e. there is no difference which server is chosen for which item.
There is an exception of utilization. Let N be the identical servers, then ρ is the utilization of
each server. Consider Nρ to be the utilization of the entire system; then the maximum
utilization is N*100%, and the maximum input rate is −
$λmax = \frac{\text{N}}{\text{T}s}$
Queuing Relationships
Time-sharing system is designed in such a manner that each user uses a small portion of time
shared on a system, which results in multiple users sharing the system simultaneously. The
switching of each user is so rapid that each user feels like using their own system. It is based on
the concept of CPU scheduling and multi-programming where multiple resources can be utilized
effectively by executing multiple jobs simultaneously on a system.