Survey of Languages and Runtime Libraries for Parallel Discrete-Event Simulation

Abstract

To develop a parallel discrete-event simulation from scratch requires in-depth knowledge of the mapping process from the physical model to the simulation model, and also a substantial effort in coping with the numerous issues concerning the underlying synchronization protocols in use. Languages and libraries could reduce the devel opment effort significantly by providing the user with a pre-built parallel simulation kernel as well as application development tools. This pa per contains a survey of the existing languages and libraries for parallel discrete-event simula tion. It is divided into two major sections: one on the languages, the other on the libraries. The discussions are mainly focused on the following aspects: user model, programming framework and language features, library API, protocols, and system support and environment. The re ported performances of some packages are also summarized.