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WARM-UP PERIODS IN SIMULATION CAN BE DETRIMENTAL

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2008

Winfried K. Grassmann
Winfried K. Grassmann
Affiliation:
Department of Computer ScienceUniversity of SaskatchewanSaskatoon, SK S7N 5C9, Canada E-mail: grassman@cs.usask.ca
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Abstract

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The question of how long to run a discrete event simulation before data collection starts is an important issue when estimating steady-state performance measures such as average queue lengths. By using experiments based on numerical (nonsimulation) methods published elsewhere, we shed light on this question. Our experiments indicate that no initialization phase should be used when starting in state with a reasonable high equilibrium probability. Delaying data collection is only justified if the starting state is highly unlikely, and data collection should start as soon as a system enters a state with reasonably high probability.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Probability in the Engineering and Informational Sciences , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , July 2008, pp. 415 - 429
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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