Extended Analysis of Simulation Paradigms and Development of a Mesoscopic Model Based on the Discrete Time Paradigm

Abstract The theoretical part of the paper examines the paradigms of process simulation that have become standard by analysing the features of “time” and “state”. The authors define two more paradigms of process modelling that have long been used in practice but are rarely mentioned in textbooks and scientific publications. As a result, the list of real-life paradigms of process modelling will look like this: Discrete-Event, Agent-Based, System Dynamics, Dynamic Systems, Discrete Time and Discrete Rate. The practical part of the work describes a simulation model of container train movement processes across the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Although the model exhibits the features of the Discrete-Event and System Dynamics paradigms, the authors prove that it belongs to the Discrete Time paradigm. The selected level of detail for displaying processes occurring in a real system allows us to classify the developed model as a mesoscopic model.