A generalized simulation description language

Our group supports two emission tomography simulation packages: SimSET, which is in the public domain, and ASIM, which we are planning to re-engineer and release as open- source software. Currently the inputs and outputs for the two programs, though conceptually similar, have very different formats. We are creating a common input meta-language for SimSET and ASIM. We plan to make this language general enough that it will be suitable for other emission tomography simulation packages. This language will make it easier for users to use multiple simulation packages and will facilitate definition of similar simulations for various packages.