Societe Simulog SA, based in Cedex, France has released a new tool for modelling and analysing discrete flow systems. The Queuing Network Analysis Package 2, QNAP2, has been designed for the analysis of large and complex systems where contention for resources is a major factor. Typical applications include analysing bus contention in a multiprocessor architecture, evaluating data flow in an office network, analysing flexible manufacturing systems and conducting a performance analysis of large transactional systems. Simulog says that it enables users to construct queuing network models of specific systems and attempt to solve the problems using a variety of analytical techniques. As well as numerical solvers, the package offers a discrete event simulator with run length control facilities. The user interface is said to be based on a high-level object-oriented language that describes the system being studied and is used for control of the analysis. In addition, it comes with a full selection of input-output and graphics options. The package runs in a Fortran 77 environment and offers full Fortran 77 portability. This enables QNAP2 to function on a range of machines from mainframes and minis to scientific workstations and 80386-or 80486-based systems.
