A View On the Simulation of Systems

From its beginning about three decades ago, the simu lation of dynamic systems has made fast progress, but it can be expected that, like data processing, the maximum rate of advancement has already passed. In the past, computer hardware has severely limited both data-processing power and the development of sys tems simulation. Recent advances in hardware have re moved hardware as a limiting factor in data processing; hereafter the limitations on the design of simulators will arise from the methodology rather than from the hard ware. Future data-processing systems will combine parallel and serial computation in a hierarchical structure in time (serial) and space (parallel). This architecture will allow a strong one-to-one analogy between the computer model and the mathematical or conceptual model of the system under study. Such one-to-one analogies require develop ment of appropriate data-processing and simulation algo- ri thms. The improved methodology for systems simulation will have beneficial consequences in the teaching of applied sciences by making it convenient to conduct meaningful experiments by simulation. A few decades hence systems simulation will become a saturated art limited by human capabilities.