System-level simulation

System-level simulation (SLS) is a collection of practical methods used in the field of <a href="/facts/Systems_engineering/gFwRmkDp">systems engineering</a>, in order to simulate, with a <a href="/facts/Computer_simulation/Re6o8vzN">computer</a>, the global behavior of large cyber-physical systems.
<a href="/facts/Cyber-physical_system/cpYVeuch">Cyber-physical systems</a> (CPS) are systems composed of physical entities regulated by computational elements (e.g. electronic controllers).
System-level simulation is mainly characterized by:

<ul><li>a level of detail adapted to the practical simulation of large and complex cyber-physical systems (e.g. plants, aircraft, industrial facilities)</li>
<li>the possibility to use the simulation even if the system is not fully specified, i.e. simulation does not necessarily require a detailed knowledge of each part of the system. This makes it possible to use the simulation for conception or study phases, even at an early stage in this process</li></ul>
These two characteristics have several implications in terms of modeling choices (see further).
System-level simulation has some other characteristics, that it shares with CPS simulation in general:

<ul><li>SLS involves multi-physics models (thermo-fluidic, mechanical, electrical, etc.)</li>
<li>SLS is frequently cross-disciplinary, i.e. it is frequently the result of a collaboration between people with different expertises</li>
<li>SLS is generally built upon a hierarchy of models; an organized modeling is usually necessary to make the whole model envisagable; the conceptual decomposition of the system into sub-systems is related to the notion of <a href="/facts/System_of_systems_engineering/tVqSeL5W">system of systems</a></li></ul>
SLS is mainly about computing the evolution over time of the physical quantities that characterize the system of interest, but other aspects can be added like <a href="/facts/Reliability_engineering/cd6AS5w3">failure modeling</a> or <a href="/facts/Verification_and_validation/hgqysrzb">requirement verification</a>.

System-level simulation open-in-new

System-level simulation