Multi-layered activity cycle diagrams and their conversion into activity-based simulation code

Activity cycle diagrams (ACDs) have long been used for the representation of the flow of entities within discrete-event systems. They can be used to manually simulate systems and their description serves as the basis for automatically generating activity-based simulation code. Although activity-based approaches are cited as one of the easiest ways to model systems their proliferation has been hindered by concerns of efficiency, support, and flexibility. In this paper, these concerns are addressed as well as simulation methods that support the multi-layered ACDs to assist in overcoming these issues.