An Algorithm Selection Approach for Simulation Systems

No simulation algorithm will deliver best performance under all circumstances, so simulation systems often offer execution alternatives to choose from. This leads to another problem: how is the user supposed to know which algorithm to select? The need for an automated selection mechanism is often neglected, as many simulation systems are focused on specific applications or modeling formalisms and therefore have a limited number of expert users. In general- purpose simulation systems like JAMES II, an ´intelligent´ selection mechanism could help to increase the overall performance, especially when users have limited knowledge of the underlying algorithms and their implementations) (which is almost always the case). We describe an approach to integrate algorithm selection methods with such systems. Its effectiveness is illustrated in conjunction with the ´plug´n simulate´ approach of JAMES II [12].