A conceptual model to support communication of systems modeling and simulation activities

Modeling and simulation studies can greatly increase insight in the behavior of complex systems. However, if the person executing the study is unable to communicate its results, the usefulness of the effort is significantly reduced. The multidisciplinary nature of systems engineering and architecting impedes an easy transfer of knowledge in this regard. In this paper, we discuss simulation activities from a communication viewpoint and describe the key elements in this process. These elements are brought together in a conceptual model. We then discuss how this model can be utilized using the principles of the A3 Architecting Overview method to enable more effective and efficient communication of modeling activities. Finally we show an application of this approach and discuss its results and impacts. We conclude that while the conceptual model is complete for the presented application, more research in other domains is necessary to fully validate the model.