ARGESIM Benchmarks on Modelling Approaches and Simulation Implementations – Development, Classification and Basis for Simulation Education

Abstract

ARGESIM, a non-profit association for information and publication on simulation, started in 1990 in co-operation with EUROSIM, the Federation of European Simulation Societies, the series ‘ARGESIM Comparison of Simulation Software’ in the journal Simulation Notes Europe (SNE). The comparisons have been developed successfully towards the ‘ARGESIM Benchmarks for Modelling Approaches and Simulation Implementations’, with up to now 24 benchmarks defined, and up to now 350 benchmark solutions, benchmark reports, or benchmark studies published in SNE Simulation Notes Europe. Interestingly, it turned out, that along with the various benchmark publications in SNE, the benchmarks are used as examples, case studies, and lab work in simulation education in academia. This contribution sketches the development of the benchmarks and introduces a new classification of the benchmarks with respect to system type, model approach, and required experiments with the model(s). In the following, main emphasis is the investigation of the benchmarks as source and basis for simulation education, together with a classification of the up to now defined benchmarks with respect to their suitability in education – from simulation methodology view, and from simulation application view. The contribution concludes with an overview table on benchmark data: definition date, number of solutions, type classification, and classification for educational use.