Automatically building customized circuit-based simulation models using symbolic computing

Nowadays, most scientists and engineers rely on computer simulations to analyze, design, and prototype complex systems. Scientific and engineering system models are implemented in a variety of simulation environments; however, limited model libraries are often provided to users who are compelled to create their own customized models. Developing customized simulation models is a time-consuming and error-prone task which requires software developer skills. The difficulty of creating customized models presents the need for user-friendly tools that assist users in their code development process. This paper describes a tool named RCMAG that automatically builds customized models for the Virtual Test Bed (VTB) [http://vtb.engr.sc.edu/, The Virtual Test Bed Overview, Architecture, and Downloads] simulation environment. VTB is an interactive software system that provides a problem-solving environment (PSE) for simulation, prototyping, and advanced visualization of large-scale multi-disciplinary systems. VTB complies with a simulation standard named VHDL-AMS to enforce natural (circuit), signal, and data coupling between entities from diverse disciplines. The PSE tool RCMAG automatically builds naturally coupled or circuit-based VTB entities from input data provided by the user. RCMAG accepts both numeric and symbolic input data from the user, manages it to create code, and releases the compiled model object, which is ready to be added to the VTB model library and be used in a simulation.