Computer system simulation with ASPOL

ASPOL (A Simulation Process - Oriented Language) is a simulation language developed specifically for computer system simulation. Its process control and synchronization facilities derive from, and function similiarly to, those developed in the designs of computer operating systems. Consequently, ASPOL provides a natural vehicle for simulating such systems. Other important features of ASPOL include facilities for defining and operating on sets of entities, thus simplifying the modeling of parallel systems (multiprocessors, multiple disk drives, etc.), and macro facilities, which provide language extensibility.This paper describes the ASPOL simulation constructs—processes, events, facilities, and storages—and then illustrates their use in a simple model of a time-sharing system with a paged memory. The ASPOL macro facilities then are described in brief, and a simple example of how they may be used to construct a higher-level computer simulation language is given.