XML-based DEVS modeling and interpretation

Abstract

There are various implementations for the DEVS formalism in different programming languages. Examples are DEVSJAVA, DEVS/C++, and SmallDEVS. A model written for a specific simulator implementation cannot be readily reused by other DEVS simulators, especially if they are written in a different programming language. For models to become independent of the programming language, recent approaches such as DEVS-XML or XFD-DEVS use XML to model DEVS, and they translate the model to a simulator specific representation in order to simulate it. This work shares the idea to model DEVS in an XML-based manner. An XML Schema for the language, called XLSC, is presented. The here presented approach differs from the above quoted in that it does not translate the model to the target simulator's programming language. Instead, an XLSC model is directly interpreted. For this, a parser and interpreter are prototypically developed in Java, and it is shown how both can be applied to simulate XLSC models with DEVSJAVA. If an interpreter exists, the use of XLSC enables models to be exchangable among different DEVS simulators regardless of their implementation language. The interpreter thereby acts as the interface between the simulator and the model.