A Pi-calculus formalism for discrete event simulation

This paper presents PiDES, a formalism for discrete event simulation based on pi-calculus. PiDES provides a rigorous semantics of behavior modeling and coordination for simulation federates. The capability of PiDES is demonstrated by translating a generalized semi-Markov process formalism into PiDES specification. The usage of PiDES is illustrated through a case study of a flexible manufacturing system consisting of two machines, two parts, and a robot. The major advantages of PiDES are discussed, which include: a) a complete set of semantics for both modeling and execution; b) supporting parallel and distributed simulation; c) adaptive modeling; d) rich coordination semantics for developing large simulation systems; and finally e) a formalism that can be used for agent-based simulation. An implementation of PiDES using Java programming language is also provided.