A theoretical approach to the computational complexity measure of abstract DEVS simulators

Abstract

DEVS is a sound Modeling and Simulation (M&S) framework that describes a model in a modular and hierarchical way. It comes along with an abstract simulation algorithm which defines its operational semantics. Many variants of such an algorithm have been proposed by DEVS researchers. Yet, the proper interpretation and analysis of the computational complexity of such approaches have not been systematically addressed and defined. As systems become larger and more complex, the efficiency of the DEVS simulation algorithms in terms of time complexity measure becomes a major issue. Therefore, it is necessary to devise a method for computing this complexity. This paper proposes a generic method to address such an issue, taking advantage of the recursion embedded in the triggered-by-message principle of the DEVS simulation protocol. The applicability of the method is shown through the complexity analysis of various DEVS simulation algorithms.