Discrete-Event System Simulation

Discrete Event System Simulation is ideal for junior- and senior-level simulation courses in engineering, business, or computer science. It is also a useful reference for professionals in operations research, management science, industrial engineering, and information science.

While most books on simulation focus on particular software tools, Discrete Event System Simulation examines the principles of modeling and analysis that translate to all such tools. This language-independent text explains the basic aspects of the technology, including the proper collection and analysis of data, the use of analytic techniques, verification and validation of models, and designing simulation experiments. It offers an up-to-date treatment of simulation of manufacturing and material handling systems, computer systems, and computer networks.

Jerry Banks retired in 1999 as a professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering,

Georgia Institute of Technology, after which he worked as senior simulation technology advisor for Brooks Automation; he is currently a professor at Techno´ogico de Monterrey, M´exico. He is the author, coauthor, editor, or coeditor of twelve books, one set of proceedings, several chapters in texts, and numerous technical papers. His most recent book is RIFD Applied, co-authored with three others, and published by John Wiley in 2007. He is the editor of the Handbook of Simulation, published in 1998 by John Wiley, which won the award for Excellence in Engineering Handbooks from the Professional Scholarly Publishing Division of the Association of American Publishers, Inc. He is also author or coauthor of Getting Started with AutoMod, Second Edition, Introduction to SIMAN V and CINEMA V, Getting Started with GPSS/H, Second Edition, Forecasting and Management of Technology, Second Edition (in preparation) and Principles of Quality Control. He was a founding partner in the simulation-consulting firm Carson/Banks &Associates, Inc., which was purchased by AutoSimulations, Inc. He is a full member of many technical societies, among them the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE); he served eight years as that organization’s representative to the Board of the Winter Simulation Conference, including two years as board chair. He is the recipient of the INFORMS College on Simulation Distinguished Service Award for 1999 and was named a Fellow of IIE in 2002. John S. Carson II is an independent simulation consultant. Formerly, he held management and consulting positions in the simulation services and software industry, including positions atAutoSimulations and the AutoMod Group at Brooks Automation. He was the co-founder and president of the simulation services firm Carson/Banks &Associates. He has over 30 years experience in simulation in a wide range of application areas, including manufacturing, distribution, warehousing and material handling, order fulfillment systems, postal systems, transportation and rapid transit systems, port operations (container terminals and bulk handling), and health-care systems. He has taught simulation and operations research at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Florida.

Barry L. Nelson is the Charles Deering McCormick Professor and Chair of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences at Northwestern University. His research centers on the design and analysis of computer simulation experiments on models of stochastic systems, concentrating on multivariate input modeling and output analysis, optimization via simulation and metamodeling. Application areas include financial engineering, computer performance modeling, quality control, manufacturing and transportation systems. He is the Editor in Chief of Naval Research Logistics, a Fellow of INFORMS, and was simulation area editor of Operations Research, president of the INFORMS (then TIMS) College on Simulation, and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Winter Simulation Conference.

David M. Nicol is professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a long-time contributor in the field of parallel and distributed discrete-event simulations, having written one of the early Ph.D. dissertations on the topic. He has also worked in parallel algorithms, algorithms for mapping workload in parallel architectures, performance analysis, and reliability modeling and analysis. His research contributions extend to 180 articles in leading computer-science journals and conferences. His research is driven largely by problems encountered in industry and government–he has worked closely with researchers at NASA, IBM,AT&T, Bellcore, Motorola, and the Los Alamos, Sandia, and Oak Ridge National Laboratories, as well as a number of aerospace and communication companies. His current interests lie in modeling and simulation of very large systems, particularly communications and other infrastructure, with applications in evaluating system security. From 1997 to 2003 he was the editor-in-chief of the ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation. Professor Nicol is a Fellow of the IEEE, a Fellow of the ACM, and the inaugural awardee of the ACM SIGSIM Distinguished Contributions award.