A Generic Approach for the Simulation of Distributed Control Systems using J2EE Technology

Continuous technical innovations result in decreasing product life cycles. This in turn requires a flexible production which is able to adapt to the constantly changing demands. Simulation techniques provide a promising approach for faster, less error-prone development. Furthermore it offers the opportunity to evaluate alternative production scenarios which helps to save time and to find optimized solutions. This paper presents the result of performance tests with the simulation environment drd-simulator which is based on J2EE technology. These performance tests use a Soft PLC which is connected to the simulation via a ModbusTCP fleldbus. Measurements indicate that J2EE is a suitable and scalable platform for the simulation of distributed control systems.