SOAr-DSGrid: Service-Oriented Architecture for Distributed Simulation on the Grid

Simulation is a low cost alternative to experimentation on real-world physical systems. Grid technology enables coordinated use of and secure access to distributed computing resources and data sources. The service-oriented architecture (SOA) is an ideal paradigm for next generation computing. The loose coupling among services in the SOA relieves service consumers from detailed knowledge of implementation, implementation language, and execution platform of the services to be consumed. In this paper, we propose a framework for developing a component-based distributed simulation and executing the simulation in a service-oriented architecture on the Grid. This framework consists of the schemas for developing simulation components and simulation applications, and underlying base component service modules for constructing a simulation component as a service. The use of component interfaces and schemas enables collaborative development of simulation applications, and the deployment of simulation components as services takes advantage of the SOA (e.g., loose coupling, heterogeneity, and transport neutrality). This paper discusses the motivation for developing such a framework and describes the details of its development.