Digital Simulation

Abstract

Simulation of continuous systems started with the use of analog computers. Analog computers had been used widely, but they had several disadvantages. Time and magnitude scalings were cumbersome. Inaccuracies were caused by analog systems which cannot separate signal change from noise in principle. There are also frequent breakdowns in hardware components. With the development of digital computers in the late 1960’s and the growth in capacity of mainframes, digital simulation became the predominant technique for simulating continuous systems. In the 1980’s, digital simulation spread to mini- and microcomputers. The high speed and large memory size of microcomputers have enabled us to use almost the same simulation languages that once were only available on mainframes.