Ontology-based specification of simulation sequences

The specification of a simulation model includes the description of the input sequences while the simulation output can be described by the produced sequences. The input sequences describe the characteristics of the simulated scenarios and are to be chosen in a way to preserve the real system representativeness; while the output sequences can be used as a proof of such representativeness. Producing the appropriate input sequences and validating the output sequences against the model specification is therefore fundamental to the validation of the simulation model. In this paper, we propose an ontology-based specification of simulation input sequences. The ontology gives a methodology to formalize the sequence specification and output sequence validation by providing the semantic basis for the sequences formal description. In the model specification, the input sequences are described in terms of ontology concepts and properties values, and in the model implementation the deployed sequences can be thus automatically derived by mapping them on the ontology concepts. Sequence validation may be carried out by establishing the congruence between the ontology concepts and the deployed sequences.