Creating a Simulation

This tutorial shows how to create a simulated system consisting of several included devices using the tickit framework - specifically a RandomTrampoline and a Sink.

Configuration File

We shall begin by creating a new YAML file named my_simulation.yaml, and open it with our preferred text editor. This file will be used to configure each of the devices and wire them together.

Adding Devices

In order to be included in a simulation, tickit devices must be nested within a DeviceSimulation component. At the top level, tickit simulations comprise a list of components - denoted in YAML by -. As such we shall begin by adding an empty DeviceSimulation as the first element of our list, as:

- tickit.core.components.device_simulation.DeviceSimulation:

A DeviceSimulation wraps a device and a set of adapters, giving them a name and mapping the device inputs to the outputs of other devices. In this example our first device shall be a RandomTrampoline with a callback_period of \(1s\) or \(10^9\mu\\s\) named rand_tramp with no adapters - denoted in YAML by [] - and with no mapped inputs - denoted in YAML by {}. As such we may extend our config, as:

- tickit.core.components.device_simulation.DeviceSimulation:
    adapters: []
    device:
      examples.devices.trampoline.RandomTrampoline:
        callback_period: 1000000000
    inputs: {}
    name: rand_tramp

We will now add a Sink device, again wrapped within a DeviceSimulation. This device will be named tramp_sink, will have no adapters but will take the output value of rand_tramp as input. As such we may extend our config, as:

- tickit.core.components.device_simulation.DeviceSimulation:
    adapters: []
    device:
      examples.devices.trampoline.RandomTrampoline:
        callback_period: 1000000000
    inputs: {}
    name: rand_tramp
- tickit.core.components.device_simulation.DeviceSimulation:
    adapters: []
    config:
      tickit.devices.sink.Sink: {}
    inputs:
      input:
      - rand_tramp:output
    name: tramp_sink

Running the Simulation

Finally, we likely wish to run the simulation, this may be performed by running the following command:

python -m tickit all my_simulation.yaml

Once run, we expect to see an output akin to:

Doing tick @ 0
rand_tramp got Input(target='rand_tramp', time=0, changes=immutables.Map({}))
Boing! (delta: 0, inputs: immutables.Map({}), output: 225)
Scheduler got Output(source='rand_tramp', time=0, changes=immutables.Map({'output': 225}), call_in=1000000000)
Scheduling Wakeup(component='rand_tramp', when=1000000000)
tramp_sink got Input(target='tramp_sink', time=0, changes=immutables.Map({'input': 225}))
Sunk {'input': 225}
Scheduler got Output(source='tramp_sink', time=0, changes=immutables.Map({}), call_in=None)
Doing tick @ 1000000000
rand_tramp got Input(target='rand_tramp', time=1000000000, changes=immutables.Map({}))
Boing! (delta: 1000000000, inputs: immutables.Map({}), output: 139)
Scheduler got Output(source='rand_tramp', time=1000000000, changes=immutables.Map({'output': 139}), call_in=1000000000)
Scheduling Wakeup(component='rand_tramp', when=2000000000)
tramp_sink got Input(target='tramp_sink', time=1000000000, changes=immutables.Map({'input': 139}))
Sunk {'input': 139}
Scheduler got Output(source='tramp_sink', time=1000000000, changes=immutables.Map({}), call_in=None)