Incorporating abstraction methods into system-analysis integration methodology for discrete event logistics systems

Abstract

Analysis models, such as discrete event simulation models, are used to support design and operation of discrete event logistics systems (DELS). The time and expertise required to construct these analysis models can be significantly reduced by automatically generating them from formal models of the systems being analyzed. DELS analysis models can be constructed from system abstractions much more reliably when the system and analysis are specified at compatible levels of abstraction. Formal modeling languages, such as those used in object-orientation, make abstraction explicit, simplifying the mappings between system and analysis models and increasing reusability of the integration. In this paper, we propose fundamental abstractions for DELS and identify corresponding libraries of analysis models. These are used in a system-analysis integration methodology that incorporates abstraction as an explicit step, providing a path to refine and extend those abstractions and model libraries to generate analysis models.