Modeling and Simulation in the Systems Engineering Life Cycle: Core Concepts and Accompanying Lectures

405 Pages·2015·14.35 MB·English

by  Margaret L. Loper (eds.)

Simulation Foundations, Methods
and Applications
Series Editor:
Louis G. Birta, University of Ottawa, Canada
Advisory Board:
Roy E. Crosbie, California State University, Chico, USA
Tony Jakeman, Australian National University, Australia
Axel Lehmann, Universität der Bundeswehr München, Germany
Stewart Robinson, Loughborough University, UK
Andreas Tolk, Old Dominion University, USA
Bernard P. Zeigler, University of Arizona, USA
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10128
Margaret L. Loper
Editor
Modeling and Simulation
in the Systems Engineering
Life Cycle
Core Concepts and Accompanying Lectures
Editor
Margaret L. Loper
Georgia Tech Research Institute
Atlanta
USA
ISSN 2195-2817 ISSN 2195-2825 (electronic)
Simulation Foundations, Methods and Applications
ISBN 978-1-4471-5633-8 ISBN 978-1-4471-5634-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4471-5634-5
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015935428
Springer London Heidelberg New York Dordrecht
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To
Wayne, Crawford and Ingraham
Preface
This book started in 2005 as a discussion on modeling and simulation (M&S) ed-
ucation. That discussion led to the development of an M&S certificate program
through the Georgia Tech School of Professional Education. The certificate pro-
gram, geared toward working professionals, was designed to have two required
courses (on fundamental M&S topics) and four electives (on the domain topics
important to the student). In the context of professional education, the need was
to introduce working professionals to the broad landscape of M&S science, pro-
cess, architecture, and standards. Around the same time, discussions started in the
Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) on creating a Professional Masters in Ap-
plied Systems Engineering (PMASE). The need to include M&S as one of the core
courses in this program was identified early on. In the context of PMASE, the need
was to introduce systems engineering students to the broad landscape of M&S they
will encounter throughout their careers. Through these two efforts, the vision for a
survey-type M&S course came about.
One of the fundamental ideas I based the course on is that M&S is a broad disci-
pline, and systems engineers need to understand the breadth of technologies, meth-
odologies, and uses of M&S to be effective in their jobs. There are many academic
M&S courses available at Georgia Tech (and other universities), but they focus on
a specific slice of the discipline. For example, Industrial and Systems Engineering
teaches discrete event simulation, College of Computing teaches parallel and dis-
tributed simulation, Mechanical Engineering teaches model based design, Electri-
cal and Computer Engineering teaches continuous simulation, and Aerospace En-
gineering teaches surrogate modeling. All of these methodologies are important to
understand, and each has a different purpose in the systems engineering life cycle.
I own many books on M&S, but none cover the breadth of M&S used in systems
engineering. This was the motivation for creating a book based on my PMASE
course—to put all this information in one place.
Since 2007 I have taught hundreds of students, both professionals desiring new
or enhanced knowledge of modeling and simulation, and masters’ students, pursu-
ing formal academic credentials in systems engineering. The students’ educational
pursuits are quite different, but a common thread seems to connect them—limited
time. In an era when we are juggling our careers, staying abreast of technology
vii
viii Preface
changes, as well as making time for family and friends, a formal academic edu-
cational approach is not the rightchoice for everyone. In some situations, the need
to learn the formal theory behind the technology is less important than the need to
understand the core concepts, and how to apply those concepts to solve real world
problems. The format of this book is one solution to this need.
This book provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts of M&S and
systems engineering, and how M&S is used in the systems engineering life cycle.
This is captured through a series of short lectures (represented here as chapters), in-
tended to provide an introduction to core concepts. The chapters are relatively short
as compared to traditional books. The goal is to give readers foundational knowl-
edge about a topic in 7–12 pages (although some chapters are a little longer), with
references to seminal work and additional publications so the reader can dive deeper
as desired. These concepts are grouped into five Parts that cover: foundational ele-
ments and processes, methods and methodologies, experimentation and execution,
systems engineering fundamentals, and M&S in systems engineering case studies.
Each Part contains a number of lectures (chapters), covering core concepts in M&S
or systems engineering. Georgia Tech is unique in that M&S is fundamental to most
every college, school, and research laboratory. I highlight that expertise by lever-
aging many of the research and teaching faculty from across campus to contribute
chapters on their area of specialization.
My hope is this book will be useful for professional education, undergraduate
education, and even high school introduction to the discipline of modeling and sim-
ulation. There are many excellent M&S books available that provide a deep dive
into specific areas of M&S; this book should be viewed more as a handbook that
introduces the reader to the broad discipline of M&S that systems engineers need to
understand to be effective in their jobs.
Acknowledgements
I happened into modeling and simulation as a career path by chance. My initial job
out of college was working for Martin Marietta Missile Systems, in the guidance,
controls, and navigation department. I was tasked with running a six-degree of free-
dom simulation of a missile system. While learning how a missile operates, I also
learned about simulation. The process of creating a model, how a simulation exe-
cutes, and performing experimental runs peaked my interest. This led me to pursue
a master’s degree, and take actual courses in modeling and simulation. I remember
how amazed I was to learn that there were a variety of simulation methodologies,
and that you could model far more than just defense systems.
With this new passion, I began to look for opportunities in my organization
where simulation was a primary focus. I found a group that specialized in opera-
tional analysis. Joining this group introduced me to strategy simulations, looking
at larger theaters of operation instead of an individual missile system. After spend-
ing some time working in this group, I came across a research institute in Orlando
that was starting a new project involving networking simulations. This was still the
early days of the Internet; well before the Web and mainstream e-mail. While not
everyone understood the purpose of networking simulations, I found the idea very
intriguing. In addition to my interest in modeling and simulation, I had also started
to explore computer networking as a possible career path. So the idea of combining
simulation and networking was a perfect match! I joined the Institute for Simula-
tion and Training to become part of this new initiative, which introduced me to yet
another dimension of modeling and simulation.
After taking the risk in 1990 to join the distributed simulation community, I
was introduced to the science, process, architecture, and standards of modeling and
simulation. This interest drove me to earn my Ph.D. in computer science from Geor-
gia Tech, with a dissertation focused on temporal synchronization of parallel and
distributed simulation. Upon graduation, my interest eventually led to creating a
modeling and simulation professional education program. My desire was to provide
a fundamental understanding of the discipline to working professionals, who need
a basic understanding of the core concepts and application of modeling and simula-
tion to solve real-world problems.
ix
x Acknowledgements
My interest in modeling and simulation has evolved from both a scholarly and
historical viewpoint, which turns out is a family trait. My father was a genealogist,
and most family vacations involved a visit to a graveyard to learn about our rela-
tives and our family history. In a strange sort of way, this book has taken a similar
path. It follows my 30-year career in modeling and simulation, it encapsulates a
historical perspective of the discipline and it is intended to help a future generation
of simulationists understand their roots—where they come from. In other words, I
have become my dad.
This book would not be possible without the help and support of many people.
I would like to thank all of the chapter authors. Without their contributions and
insight, this book would not have been possible. A special thanks goes to the US
Army Program Executive Office for Simulation Training and Instrumentation (PEO
STRI), for contracting the first modeling and simulation short courses I ever of-
fered. Were it not for that offering, this book may never have come about. Their
patience, enduring the first (painful) versions of the lectures, and their constructive
and insightful feedback, has had a major impact on the evolution of the courses and
the modeling and simulation certificate that is offered today. I would also like to
acknowledge two other organizations that contracted the modeling and simulation
certificate, and offered important feedback that ended up in this book, the US Naval
Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) at Pax River and the US Department of Defense
Missile Defense Agency (MDA).
This book draws heavily on the vision and leadership of Georgia Tech’s Profes-
sional Masters in Applied Systems Engineering (PMASE) program. The interac-
tions and collaborations with PMASE faculty over the years have helped shaped
my view of modeling and simulation as it relates to systems engineering. Many
PMASE faculty members have contributed chapters to this book, but I would like
to specifically thank Dr. Carlee Bishop and Dr. Andy Register for their help in the
early years of developing the Modeling and Simulation in Systems Engineering
course. The short course eventually turned into a core course for PMASE, and
serves as a foundation for this book.
I would never have been introduced to modeling and simulation if not for my
first boss, Jim Jarrett. The time he took to patiently explain the basics of missile
systems and to teach me about that first simulation. I used, has helped set me on
the path I am today. My boss in the operations analysis group was also instrumen-
tal in expanding my understanding of modeling and simulation. Thanks to retired
Capt. Russel Blatt for making me read “The Hunt for Red October” and using that
as a basis for explaining the ideas behind war gaming. And finally, thank you to
Brian Goldiez at the Institute for Simulation and Training. He took a risk in hir-
ing me (while pregnant!) to work on the networked simulation project Distributed
Interactive Simulation (DIS), and subsequently gave me increasing responsibility
to conduct research, help organize the first DIS demo, and evolve the standards for
distributed simulation.
Over the 9-year period this book evolved, a variety of people within the Georgia
Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have supported my pursuit of modeling and simu-
lation education. I would like to thank the three Information and Communications