What’s New in SAS Simulation Studio 1.6

Overview

SAS Simulation Studio is a graphical application that enables you to build, run, and analyze discrete event simulation models. Application areas include retail, customer service, health care, transportation, and many other industries. The graphical user interface of SAS Simulation Studio provides extensive modeling tools suitable for both novice and advanced simulation users.

SAS Simulation Studio 1.6 provides the following enhancements:

support for the 64-bit Windows platform along with the 32-bit Windows platform support it has always offered
improved features and usability:
- a new set of icons for all blocks
- new graphics technology for graphical display blocks (bar charts, scatter plots, histograms, and so on)
- cut-and-paste capabilities to aid in replicating sections of models
- a new Snapshot feature that provides a scaled-down view of the entire model, which can be used to navigate to sections of interest in larger models that extend beyond the boundaries of one monitor screen.
enhanced ability to work with data and generate samples from probability distributions. You can now sample from nonhomogeneous Poisson processes and empirical distributions (discrete and continuous). Integration with JMP^® distribution-fitting capabilities is tighter than in previous releases: you can now select a candidate fitted distribution from JMP software and with one click transmit the distribution and parameter settings back to the appropriate Numeric Source block in SAS Simulation Studio.
new blocks:
- The Observation Source block enables you to sample an entire observation from a source data set in a single step; this is useful when many variables from the same data set are used in a simulation model.
- The Dataset Writer block, when signaled to do so, saves data collected during a simulation model run to a specified location.
- The Dataset Holder block also receives data collected during a simulation model run but makes the data available for queries during the same run.
- The Stopper block enables you to create a signal that immediately stops a simulation model run and can also trigger the saving of key simulation data near or at the end of the simulation model run.
- The Stat Collector block enables you to collect time-persistent statistics and values.
access to SAS software (to run SAS programs during or after a simulation model run) not only on the local PC but also on a remote SAS server.

Expanded Support

SAS Simulation Studio 1.6 expands to include support for the 64-bit Windows platform along with the 32-bit Windows platform support that has always been offered.

Improved Usability

SAS Simulation Studio 1.6 debuts a new set of icons for all blocks and new graphics technology for graphical display blocks (bar charts, scatter plots, histograms, and so on).

Simulation Studio 1.6 adds cut-and-paste capabilities to aid in replicating sections of models for reuse. An individual or compound block can be copied from one model and be pasted in the same model, in another model in the same project, or in a model in another project.

Viewing large models is also easier thanks to the new Snapshot feature, which is accessible by right-clicking in the background of a model. The Snapshot produces a scaled-down view of the entire model with a blue highlighted area that indicates the currently visible portion of the model. By dragging this highlighted area, you can navigate the model and change the portion that is visible. A related Track Animation feature, also accessible by right-clicking in the background of a model, causes the visible portion of the model to shift so that the current animation in the model is visible; in effect the visible portion of the model "tracks" or follows model animation as it occurs during the simulation run.

Another new feature expands the basis on which Simulation Studio can interact with other SAS software and SAS data sets. Although previous releases of Simulation Studio required that SAS software be installed on the same PC, Simulation Studio 1.6 can connect to SAS software that is installed on a remote server. This greatly expands the possible uses of both SAS analytical capabilities and data by Simulation Studio.

Enhanced Data Manipulation

Simulation Studio 1.6 enhances its ability to work with source data. The new Observation Source block enables you to sample an entire observation (or row) from a source SAS data set or JMP table in a single step; this is an expansion of the ability of the "SAS Data Column" choice for the Numeric Source block, which samples one variable at a time. This enhanced sampling capability is especially useful with models in which a great deal of data must be sampled from the same data source at one time, making such models far more compact than in the past. For example, the Observation Source block enables you to read an entire row from a data set and assign it as an entity attribute. The new dot (.) operator available in the Formula block can be used to access the values of the observation’s member variables.

Integration with JMP distribution-fitting capabilities is now incorporated into the Numeric Source block and is tighter in Simulation Studio 1.6 than in past releases. This integration enables you to use the JMP "fit all" capability to view numerous candidate distributions and graphs of their respective fits of the specified data. Selecting your choice of distribution among these candidates automatically populates the appropriate Numeric Source block with the chosen distribution and its parameter values.

Simulation Studio 1.6 also adds new capabilities for sampling from data-driven probability distributions. You can use data to specify a discrete empirical distribution (for which the data specify values and associated probabilities of occurrence) or a continuous empirical distribution (for which the data specify ordered values and corresponding cumulative probabilities). Additionally, you can specify nonhomogeneous Poisson processes (in which the arrival rate varies over time). These include count-based processes (for which the data specify time intervals and associated arrival counts) and rate-based processes (for which the data specify time intervals and associated arrival rates). More details about both empirical distributions and nonhomogeneous Poisson processes can be found in Appendix A, Random Variation in a Model in the SAS Simulation Studio: User’s Guide.

Two new blocks, the Dataset Holder and Dataset Writer, work together to provide more flexible and more extensive access to data. The Dataset Holder block provides a repository for data and enables customized queries and extractions from the data; it enables you to view and access the entire data set and does not limit you to a single variable or a single observation. The Dataset Writer block enables you to create output data at any point during the simulation run. Collectively, the Dataset Holder and Dataset Writer blocks enable event-driven data interactions (read and write) throughout the simulation run. Each is compatible with both SAS data sets and JMP tables.

The Stats Collector block expands your ability to calculate statistics on simulation-generated data, generalizing capabilities found in the Queue Stats Collector and Server Stats Collector blocks to work with any specified sources of data. Finally, the new Stopper block enables you to create an event that immediately stops the simulation run and can also trigger the saving of key simulation data near or at the end of the simulation run.