Feature Article—Parallel Discrete Event Simulation: Will the Field Survive?

Despite over a decade and a half of research and several successes, technologies to use parallel computers to speed up the execution of discrete event simulation programs have not had a significant impact in the general simulation community. Unless new inroads are made in reducing the effort and expertise required to develop efficient parallel simulation models, the field will continue to have limited application, and will remain a specialized technique used by only a handful of researchers. The future success, or failure, of the parallel discrete event simulation field hinges on the extent to which this problem can be addressed. Moreover, failure to meet this challenge will ultimately limit the effectiveness of discrete event simulation, in general, as a tool for analyzing and understanding large-scale systems. Basic underlying principles and techniques that are used in parallel discrete event simulation are briefly reviewed. Taking a retrospective look at the field, several successes and failures in utilizing this technology are discussed. It is noted that past research has not paid adequate attention to the problem of developing simulation models for efficient parallel execution, highlighting the need for future research to pay more attention to this problem. A variety of approaches to make parallel discrete event simulation an effective tool are discussed. INFORMS Journal on Computing, ISSN 1091-9856, was published as ORSA Journal on Computing from 1989 to 1995 under ISSN 0899-1499.