Strategies for success in parallel simulation applications

Summary form only given. While the PADS community has traditionally focused on, and done a great job with, the technical aspects of developing simulations that run fast and can be connected to other simulations, it has paid little or no attention to the overall strategies required to produce a marketable, useful, and successful parallel simulation. This lack of market focus has led to many fears of the demise of the PADS community, complaints of its lack of general acceptance by the broader simulation community and predictions that it will become merely another venue for simulation interconnection. These fears, complaints, and predictions are unnecessary. There are several examples of successful parallel simulations, in domains as far apart as aviation modeling and wargames. What can we learn from their successes? How can we translate their general acceptance into other parallel simulation domains? Are there market opportunities that we are missing? In short, what is the parallel simulation community lacking, and what does it need to do in order to be more successful? The purpose of the article is to begin a discussion on the answers to these questions (as opposed to definitively answering them). We draw on numerous examples of successful applications, and make some concrete suggestions for furthering the community