Hybrid-system simulation for national airspace system safety analysis

Analysis of large, complex systems requires simulations of hybrid-system dynamics (i.e., dynamics best described by a combination of continuous-time and discrete-event models) and their interactions. To serve as valuable research tools, such simulations must also be computationally efficient, readily modifiable, capable of simulating systems using models of a wide range of fidelity, and easily reconfigurable to simulate parts or all of the system of interest. The development of a simulation architecture meeting these criteria is described. Issues with its development are described conceptually, and its application to safety analysis of the national airspace system is discussed. In particular, an object-oriented approach to hybrid-system simulation is detailed, and computationally efficient methods of updating the simulation are described and compared. New asynchronous with resynchronization methods of timing individual objects are applied in an example, demonstrating a significant improvement in simulation efficiency.