Research issues in symbiotic simulation

Symbiotic simulation is a paradigm in which a simulation system and a physical system are closely associated with each other. This close relationship can be mutually beneficial. The simulation system benefits from real-time measurements about the physical system which are provided by corresponding sensors. The physical system, on the other side, may benefit from the effects of decisions made by the simulation system. An important concept in symbiotic simulation is that of the what-if analysis process which is concerned with the evaluation of a number of what-if scenarios by means of simulation. Symbiotic simulation and related paradigms have become popular in recent years because of their ability to dynamically incorporate real-time sensor data. In this paper, we explain different types of symbiotic simulation and give an overview of the state of the art. In addition, we discuss common research issues that have to be addressed when working with symbiotic simulation. While some issues have been adequately addressed, there are still research issues that remain open.