Web-based simulation experiments

The use of the World Wide Web and Java-based mobile code provides new opportunities for distributed simulation. First, the infrastructure provided by the Internet eliminates the need for multiprocessor hardware, making it feasible to distribute simulation models over different hardware platforms through the Internet. Second, "Internet-aware" mobile Java code makes the applications fully portable and reusable. These enabling technologies are already exploited for distributed simulation modeling. This paper reports on the preliminary results of an on-going effort to construct a parallel discrete event simulation support system to distribute simulation experiments over the Internet with a view on simulation optimization. A research prototype for ranking and selection problems is described. The overall project goals are discussed.