A plug-in-based architecture for random number generation in simulation systems

Ewald, Roland and Rossel, Johannes and Himmelspach, Jan and Uhrmacher, Adelinde M. (2008) A plug-in-based architecture for random number generation in simulation systems. In: Proceedings of the 2008 Winter Simulation Conference, Global Gateway to Discovery, WSC 2008, InterContinental Hotel, Miami, Florida, USA, December 7-10, 2008. Proceedings,, pp. 836-844.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/WSC.2008.4736147

Abstract

Simulations often depend heavily on random numbers, yet the impact of random number generators is recognized seldom. The generation of random numbers for simulations is not trivial, as the quality of each algorithm depends on the simulation scenario. Therefore, simulation environments for large-scale experimentation with safety-critical models require a reliable mechanism to cope with this aspect. We show how to address this problem by realizing a random number generation architecture for a general-purpose simulation system. It provides various random number generators (RNGs), probability distributions, and RNG tests. It is open to future additions, which allows the assessment of new generators in a simulation context and the re-validation of past simulation studies. We present a short example that illustrates why the features of such an architecture are essential for getting valid results.

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)