Hybrid Agent-Based and Discrete Event Simulation in Mason

Agent-Based Modeling and Discrete Event Simulation are two of the most common simulation approaches supported by several tools. Recently, modelers have started combining these methods to simulate real-world situations that have some elements better represented by DES and others better represented by ABM. However, hybrid ABM and DES simulation has a lack of supporting software, especially open source. This paper introduces a new DES extension to MASON, a widely used ABM tool, to implement both DES and hybrid ABM-DES models. The goal of the system is to help researchers realize hybrid simulations while exploiting the same characteristics that led to MASON’s success, notably its efficiency, extensibility, and ease of integration with other tools. The MASON DES extension is still in its infancy but is already being employed in a large simulation project studying malicious attacks affecting supply chains.

1 INTRODUCTION

Over the last three decades, dramatic increases in computing power have transformed simulation options in fields such as the social sciences and population biology. These fields study the complex and stochastic interactions of potentially very large numbers of actors with sophisticated behaviors, and computing brawn has only recently enabled researchers to move beyond abstract systems dynamics models to simulations directly modeling the individual actors themselves. Two of the most common simulation approaches have been Discrete Event Simulation (DES) and Agent-based Modeling (ABM). These methods are normally applicable to quite different problem domains, and there are many available simulation tools specifically for one or the other modeling technique. However, relatively recently we have seen Hybrid Simulation (HS) models which seek to combine both methods in a single simulation.