Chapter 4

Introduction to
Network Simulators

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.1

 Contents
•  Network Simulation Tools
•  ns-2
•  OMNeT++

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.2

 Network Simulation Tools

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.3

 Network Simulation Tools
•  ns-2 Network Simulator
http://nsnam.isi.edu/nsnam/index.php/Main_Page
• ns-2 is a discrete event simulator targeted at networking
research.
• ns-2 provides substantial support for simulation of TCP,
routing, and multicast protocols over wired and wireless (local
and satellite) networks.
• Successor ns-3:
http://www.nsnam.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
•  OMNeT++
http://www.omnetpp.org
• OMNeT++ is an open-source, component-based simulation
package built on C++ foundations. It offers a C++ simulation
class library and GUI support (graphical network editing,
animation).

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.4

 Network Simulation Tools
•  SSFNet: http://www.ssfnet.org/
• SSF (Scalable Simulation Framework) is a standard for
discrete-event simulation in Java and C++. Several SSF
implementations and a large number of open-source protocol
models and other components exist.
•  Parsec: http://may.cs.ucla.edu/projects/parsec/
• A C-based simulation language for sequential and parallel
execution of discrete-event simulation models
•  Scalable Networks (Qualnet):
http://www.scalable-networks.com
• Network simulator designed from the outset for maximum
speed and scalability, with real-time simulation as an
achievable goal.
•  OPNET Modeler: http://www.opnet.com/
• OPNET Modeler is a commercial tool for modeling and
simulation of networks, devices, and protocols. It features
graphical editors and animation.

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.5

 Network Simulation Tools
•  JiST/SWANS: http://jist.ece.cornell.edu/
• “JiST is a high-performance discrete event simulation engine
that runs over a standard Java virtual machine. It is a
prototype of a new general-purpose approach to building
discrete event simulators, called virtual machine-based
simulation, that unifies the traditional systems and language-
based simulator designs. The resulting simulation platform is
surprisingly efficient. It out-performs existing highly optimized
simulation runtimes both in time and memory consumption.
For example, JiST has twice the raw event throughput of the
highly optimized, C-based Parsec engine, and supports
process-oriented simulation using a fraction of the memory.”

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.6

 Network Simulation Tools
•  BRITE: http://www.cs.bu.edu/brite/
• Tool for generation of realistic internet topologies, with export
to several network simulators (ns-2, SSFNet, OMNeT++).

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.7

 Network Simulation Tools
•  Akaroa:
http://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/research/RG/net_sim/
simulation_group/akaroa/
• Akaroa is a package for supporting the Multiple Replications In
Parallel (MRIP) simulation technique to harness the computing
power of a network of inexpensive workstations.
• Integration exists with the ns-2 and OMNeT++ simulators.

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.8

 The Network Simulator, ns-2

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.9

 ns-2
•  Simple model
• A discrete event simulator
•  Focused on modeling network protocols
• Wired, wireless, satellite
• TCP, UDP, multicast, unicast
• Web, telnet, ftp
• Ad-hoc routing, sensor networks
• Infrastructure: stats, tracing, error models, etc.
•  Literature
• Project homepage
•  http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/
•  http://nsnam.isi.edu/nsnam/index.php/User_Information
• Ns manual:
http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/ns-documentation.html
• Wiki: http://nsnam.isi.edu/nsnam/index.php/Main_Page
Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.10
 ns-2: Goal
•  Support networking research and education
• Protocol design, traffic studies, etc.
• Protocol comparison
•  Provide a collaborative environment
• Freely distributed, open source
•  Share code, protocols, models, etc.
• Allow easy comparison of similar protocols
• Increase confidence in results
•  More people look at models in more situations
•  Experts develop models
•  Multiple levels of detail in one simulator

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.11

 ns-2: History
•  Development began as REAL in 1989
•  ns by Floyd and McCanne at LBL
•  ns-2 by McCanne and the VINT project (LBL, PARC, UCB,
USC/ISI)
•  Currently maintained at USC/ISI

•  In future ns-3 (http://www.nsnam.org/)

• “The ns-3 project is developing a discrete-event network
simulator for Internet systems, targeted primarily for research
and educational use. ns-3 is the next major revision of the
ns-2 simulator. The acronym “nsnam” derives historically from
the concatenation of ns (network simulator) and nam
(network animator).”

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.12

 ns-3

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.13

 ns-2: Components
•  ns: the simulator itself
•  nam: the Network Animator
• Visualize ns (or other) output
• GUI input simple ns scenarios
•  Pre-processing:
• Traffic and topology generators
•  Post-processing:
• Simple trace analysis, often in
Awk, Perl, Python, or Tcl

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.14

 ns-2: Models
•  Traffic models and applications
• Web, FTP, Telnet, Constant-bit Rate (CBR), Real Audio
•  Transport protocols
• Unicast: TCP (Reno, Vegas, etc.), UDP
• Multicast: SRM (Scalable Reliable Multicast)
•  Routing and queueing
• Wired routing, Ad-hoc routing and Directed Diffusion
• Queueing protocols: RED, drop-tail, etc.
•  Physical media
• Wired (point-to-point, LANs),
• Wireless (multiple propagation models), Satellite
communication

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.15

 ns-2: Installation and Documentation
•  Homepage: http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/
• Download ns-allinone
• Includes Tcl, OTcl, TclCL, ns, nam, etc.
•  Mailing list:
• ns-users@isi.edu
•  Documentation
• Marc Gries tutorial
• ns manual

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.16

 The Network Simulator, ns-2
Using ns-2 for simulations

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.17

 ns-2: Creating Event Scheduler
•  Create scheduler
• set ns [new Simulator]

•  Schedule event
• $ns at <time> <event>
• <event>: any legitimate ns/tcl commands

•  Start scheduler
• $ns run

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.18

 ns-2: Creating a Network
•  Nodes
• set n0 [$ns node]
• set n1 [$ns node]

•  Links & Queuing

•  $ns duplex-link $n0 $n1 <bandwidth> <delay> <queue_type>
•  <queue_type>: DropTail, RED, CBQ, FQ, SFQ, DRR, …

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.19

 ns-2: Computing Routes
•  Unicast
• $ns rtproto <type>
• <type>: Static, Session, DV, cost, multi-path

•  Multicast
• $ns multicast
•  right after [new Simulator]
• $ns mrtproto <type>
• <type>: CtrMcast, DM, ST, BST

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.20

 ns-2: Traffic
•  Simple two layers: transport and application

•  Transport protocols:
• TCP, UDP, etc.

•  Applications: (agents)
• ftp, telnet, etc.

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.21

 ns-2: Creating Connections (UDP)
•  Source and sink
• set usrc [new Agent/UDP]
• set udst [new Agent/NULL]

•  Connect them to nodes …

• $ns attach-agent $n0 $usrc
• $ns attach-agent $n1 $udst

•  … then each other

• $ns connect $usrc $udst

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.22

 ns-2: Creating Connections (TCP)
•  Source and sink
• set tsrc [new Agent/TCP]
• set tdst [new Agent/TCPSink]

•  Connect them to nodes …

• $ns attach-agent $n0 $tsrc
• $ns attach-agent $n1 $tdst

•  … then each other

• $ns connect $tsrc $tdst

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.23

 ns-2: Creating Traffic: On Top of TCP
•  FTP
• set ftp [new Application/FTP]
• $ftp attach-agent $tsrc
• $ns at <time> "$ftp start“

•  Telnet set
• telnet [new Application/Telnet]
• $telnet attach-agent $tsrc

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.24

 ns-2: Creating Traffic: On Top of UDP
•  CBR
• set src [new Application/Traffic/CBR]

•  Exponential or Pareto on-off

• set src [new Application/Traffic/Exponential]
• set src [new Application/Traffic/Pareto]

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.25

 ns-2: Creating Traffic: Trace Driven
•  Trace driven
• set tfile [new Tracefile]
• $tfile filename <file>
• set src [new Application/Traffic/Trace]
• $src attach-tracefile $tfile

•  <file>:
• Binary format
• inter-packet time (msec) and packet size (byte)

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.26

 ns-2:
End-to-End Argument: File Transfer
•  Even if network guaranteed reliable delivery
• Need to provide end-to-end checks
• e.g., network card may malfunction

•  If network is highly unreliable

• Adding some level of reliability helps performance, not
correctness
• Don’t try to achieve perfect reliability!

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.27

 OMNeT++

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.28

 OMNeT++
•  Objective Modular Network Testbed in C++ (OMNeT++)
• General-purpose tool for discrete event simulations
• Object-oriented design

•  Literature
• OMNeT++ Community Site
http://www.omnetpp.org
• User Manual
http://www.omnetpp.org/doc/manual/usman.html

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.29

 OMNeT++
Goals
•  The simulator can be used for:
• traffic modeling of telecommunication networks
• protocol modeling
• modeling queueing networks
• modeling multiprocessors and other distributed hardware
systems
• validating hardware architectures
• evaluating performance aspects of complex software systems
• ... modeling any other system where the discrete event
approach is suitable.

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.30

 OMNeT++
Screenshot

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.31

 OMNeT++
Modules
•  An OMNeT++ model consists of hierarchically nested
modules
•  Simple Modules
•  Lowest level of the module hierarchy
•  Simple modules contain the algorithms in the model
•  The user implements the simple modules in C++
•  Using the OMNeT++ simulation class library
•  Compound Modules
•  Module contains submodules, which can also contain submodules themselves
•  Connects internal simple and compound modules
•  The top level module is the system module
system module
compound module
simple module simple module simple module

compound module
simple module simple module simple module

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.32

 OMNeT++
Modules
•  Relationship of modules
•  Modules communicate by
passing messages to each
Module
another Module D
B
•  Implement application-specific
Module
functionality A
•  Connected by connections
•  Communication by exchanging Module
messages via connections C
•  Implemented as C++ objects
•  By using simulation library and
general C++ stuff ;-)
•  Topology of module
connections are specified in Simulation Kernel
the NED language

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.33

 OMNeT++
Parts of Simulation Programs
•  NED-Files
• OMNeT++ specific description language

•  Modules
• C++ Objects
•  Set of blabla.cc and blabla.h files
• Describes behavior of components

•  File: omnetpp.ini
• Containing general settings for the execution of the simulation

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.34

 OMNeT++
Network Description Language (NED)

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.35

 NED
•  Network Description language (NED)
• The topology of a model is specified using the NED language
• Files containing network descriptions generally have a .ned
suffix

•  Elements of NED
• Channel definitions
• Simple module definitions
• Compound module definitions
• Connections
• Network definitions

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.36

 NED
Channels
•  Specifies a connection type of given characteristics
•  Channel name can be used later in the NED description
• To create connections with these parameters
•  Parameters
• delay
•  Propagation delay in (simulated) seconds
• error(rate)
•  Probability that a bit is incorrectly transmitted
• datarate
•  Channel bandwidth in bits per second [bps]

Module Module
A
delay, error, datarate B

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.37

 NED
Channels – Example
•  Syntax
channel ChannelName
//...
endchannel

•  Example
channel LeasedLine
delay 0.0018 // sec
error 1e-8 // 1 bit-error in 1e8 bits
datarate 128000 // bit per sec
endchannel

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.38

 NED
Simple Module
•  Simple modules are defined in NED file
• Simple modules are the basic building blocks for other
(compound) modules.

•  Syntax
simple SimpleModuleName
parameters:
//...
gates:
//...
endsimple

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.39

 NED
Simple Module
•  Parameters
• Values that can be set from a compound module or outside
the simulation program, e.g., in configuration files
• Parameters can be accessed from C++ code using cModule’s
method: par(“name”)

•  Gates
• Gates are the connection points of modules.
• OMNeT++ supports simplex (one-directional) connections
•  There are input and output gates.
• Messages are sent through output gates and received through
input gates.

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.40

 NED
Simple Module – Example
•  Traffic generator as simple module

simple TrafficGen Upper Layer

parameters:
interArrivalTime,
numOfMessages : const,
address : string;
gates:
in: from_upper_layer,
from_physical_layer; TrafficGen
out: to_upper_layer,
to_physical_layer;
endsimple

Physical Layer

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.41

 NED
Simple Module: Gates
•  Gate vectors are supported
•  A gate vector contains a number of single gates
•  Example
simple RoutingModule
parameters: // ...
gates:
in: input[];
out: output[];
endsimple

•  The sizes of gate vectors are given later

•  When the module is used as a building block of a compound module
•  Every instance of the module can have gate vectors of different sizes

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.42

 NED
Simple and Compound Module
•  Compound Modules
• Module contains submodules, which can also contain submodules
themselves.
• Any module type (simple or compound module) can be used as a
submodule.
• Like simple modules, compound modules can also have gates and
parameters, and they can be used wherever simple modules can
be used.
• Connects internal simple and compound modules
•  The top level module is the system module
system module
compound module
simple module simple module simple module

compound module
simple module simple module simple module

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.43

 NED
Compound Module
•  Composed of one or more submodules
•  Any module type can be used as a submodule
• Simple or compound module
•  Compound modules can also have gates and parameters
• Like simple modules
•  To the outside: behave like any other module
• Must offer gates
•  To the inside: composing modules must be able to
communicate somehow
• Their gates must be connected

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.44

 NED
Compound Module: Syntax
•  Syntax

module CompoundModul
parameters: …
gates: …
submodules: …
connections:
endmodule

•  Parameters and gates for compound modules are declared

and work in the same way as with simple modules

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.45

 NED
Compound Module: Example
•  Compound module with parameter

module Router
parameters:
packetsPerSecond : numeric,
bufferSize : numeric,
numOfPorts : const;
gates:
in: inputPort[];
out: outputPort[];
submodules: //...
connections: //...
endmodule

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.46

 NED
Compound Module: Submodules
•  Defined in the •  Syntax
“submodules:” section of a
compound module module CompoundModule
declaration submodules:
•  Identified by names submodule1: ModuleType1
•  Instances of a module type, parameters: //...
either simple or compound gatesizes: //...
•  Assign values to their
parameters submodule2: ModuleType2
•  Specify the size of the gate parameters: //...
vectors gatesizes: //...
endmodule

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.47

 NED
Compound Module: Submodules
•  It is possible to create an array of submodules
• A module vector

•  Example

module CompoundModule
parameters:
size: const;
submodules:
submod1: Node[3] //...
submod2: Node[size] //...
submod3: Node[2*size+1] //...
endmodule

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.48

 NED
Connections
•  In compound module •  Example
definition module CompoundModule
•  Specifies how the gates of parameters: //...
the compound module and gates: //...
its immediate sub-modules submodules: //...
are connected connections:
node1.output --> node2.input;
•  Only one-to-one connections
node1.input <-- node2.output;
are supported sender.outGate -->
•  A connection rec.inGate;
•  May have attributes (delay, bit sender.inGate <-- Fiber <--
error rate or data rate) rec.outGate;
//...
•  Or use a named channel
endmodule

parent module

Module A Module B

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.49

 NED
Network Definition
•  Module declarations (compound and simple module
declarations) just define module types.
•  Network definition to get a simulation model
•  Syntax is similar to that of a submodule declaration
•  Only module types without gates can be used in network
definitions
•  Assign values to submodule parameters

network wirelessLAN: WirelessLAN

parameters:
numUsers=10,
httpTraffic=true,
ftpTraffic=true,
distanceFromHub=truncnormal(100,60);
endnetwork

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.50

 OMNeT++
Implementation of Modules

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.51

 C++ Classes
•  cMessage
•  cSimpleModule

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.52

 C++ Classes: cMessage
•  OMNeT++ uses messages to represent events
•  Event represented by an instance of cMessage class
• Or one of its subclasses
•  Messages are sent from one module to another
• This means that the place where the “event will occur” is the
message's destination module
•  Events like “timeout expired” are implemented by the
module sending a message to itself

•  Future Event Set (FES)

• Events are inserted into the FES
• Events are processed in strict timestamp order

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.53

 C++ Classes: cMessage
•  The message class in OMNeT++
•  Represents events, messages, packets, or other entities in a
simulation
•  Creating a message
• cMessage *msg = new cMessage();
• cMessage *msg = new cMessage("MessageName");
•  Some methods
• msg->setKind(kind);
• msg->setLength(length);
• msg->setByteLength(lengthInBytes);
• msg->setPriority(priority);
• msg->setBitError(err);
• msg->setTimestamp();
• msg->setTimestamp(simtime);

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.54

 C++ Classes: cSimpleModule
•  Simple modules of name MyModule implemented by a C++
class of name MyModule
• Subclassing the cSimpleModule class

•  Call the macro Define_Module(MyModule)after the definition

of a C++ class
•  This macro couples the class to the NED module type

•  Compound modules do not have a corresponding C++

class at all

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.55

 C++ Classes: cSimpleModule
•  Member functions
• void initialize()
• void activity()
• void handleMessage(cMessage *msg)
• void finish()

•  initialize()
• OMNeT++ calls the initialize() functions of all modules at
start time.

•  finish()
• Called when the simulation terminates successfully, e.g., for
recording of statistics collected during simulation run.

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.56

 C++ Classes: cSimpleModule
•  handleMessage() and activity() functions
• Called during event processing.
• User implements the model behavior in these functions.
• handleMessage() and activity() implement different event
processing strategies:
• For each simple module, the user has to redefine exactly one
of these functions.
•  handleMessage()
• Called by the simulation kernel when the module receives a
message (event)
•  activity()
• Coroutine-based solution which implements the process
interaction approach

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.57

 C++ Classes:
cSimpleModule: Example
#include <omnetpp.h>

class HelloModule : public cSimpleModule

{
protected:
virtual void initialize();
virtual void handleMessage(cMessage *msg);
};

// Register module class with OMNeT++

Define_Module(HelloModule);

void HelloModule::initialize()
{
ev << "Hello World!\n";
}

void HelloModule::handleMessage(cMessage *msg)

{
// Just discard everything we receive
delete msg;
}

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.58

 C++ Classes: cSimpleModule
•  Member function for sending messages

• send() family of functions

•  to send messages to other modules

• scheduleAt()
•  to schedule an event (the module “sends a message to itself”)

• cancelEvent()
•  to delete an event scheduled with scheduleAt()

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.59

 C++ Classes:
cSimpleModule: Sending messages
•  Message objects can be sent through an output gate

•  Using one of the following functions

•  send(cMessage *msg, const char *gateName, int index=0);
•  gateName is the name of the gate in NED file

•  send(cMessage *msg, int gateId);

•  send(cMessage *msg, cGate *gate);

•  Example
•  send(msg, "outGate");
•  send(msg, "outGates", i); // send via outGates[i]

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.60

 C++ Classes:
cSimpleModule: Self-messages
•  Implement timers or schedule events that occur at some
point in the future
•  The message would be delivered to the simple module at
a later point of time
• Through handleMessage()
• Module can call isSelfMessage() to determine if it is a self-
message

•  Scheduling an event
• scheduleAt(absoluteTime, msg);
• scheduleAt(simtime()+delta, msg);

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.61

 OMNeT++
An Example

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.62

 Example
•  The following example shows a useful simple module
implementation.
•  It demonstrates several of the discussed concepts:
• constructor, initialize, and destructor conventions
• using messages for timers
• accessing module parameters
• recording statistics at the end of the simulation
• documenting the programmer's assumptions using ASSERT()

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.63

 Example
// File: FFGenerator.h
#include <omnetpp.h>

/**
* Generates messages or jobs; see NED file for more info.
*/
class FFGenerator : public cSimpleModule {
private:
cMessage *sendMessageEvent;
long numSent;

public:
FFGenerator();
virtual ~FFGenerator();

protected:
virtual void initialize();
virtual void handleMessage(cMessage *msg);
virtual void finish();
};

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.64

 Example
// file: FFGenerator.cc
#include "FFGenerator.cc"

// Register module class with OMNeT++

Define_Module(FFGenerator);

FFGenerator::FFGenerator()
{
sendMessageEvent = NULL;
}

void FFGenerator::initialize()
{
numSent = 0;
sendMessageEvent = new cMessage("sendMessageEvent");
scheduleAt(0.0, sendMessageEvent);
}

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.65

 Example
void FFGenerator::handleMessage(cMessage *msg) {
ASSERT(msg==sendMessageEvent);
cMessage *m = new cMessage("packet");
m->setLength(par("msgLength"));
send(m, "out");
numSent++;

double deltaT = (double)par("sendIaTime");

scheduleAt(simTime()+deltaT, sendMessageEvent);
}

void FFGenerator::finish(){
recordScalar("packets sent", numSent);
}

FFGenerator::~FFGenerator(){
cancelAndDelete(sendMessageEvent);
}

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.66

 Example
// file: FFGenerator.ned
simple FFGenerator
parameters:
sendIaTime: numeric;
gates:
out: out;
endsimple

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.67

 Example
•  Direct communication of two nodes

simple Node module Network

gates: submodules:
in: inPort; nodeA: Node;
out: outPort; nodeB: Node;
endsimple connections:
nodeA.outPort --> nodeB.inPort;
nodeA.inPort <-- nodeB.outPort;
endmodule

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.68

 Example
•  Communication over a channel

AChannel

module Network
channel AChannel
submodules:
delay 0.0015 nodeA: Node;
error 0.000001 nodeB: Node;
datarate 1000000 connections:
endsimple nodeA.outPort --> AChannel --> nodeB.inPort;
nodeA.inPort <-- Achannel <-- nodeB.outPort;
endmodule

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.69

 OMNeT++
Building Simulation Programs

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.70

 Running the Simulation
•  Linux
• opp_makemake -f (generate Makefiles)
• make depend
• make
• ./X
•  Windows (Console)
• opp_nmakemake
• nmake -f Makefile.vc

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.71

 Summary
•  Discussed some network simulation tools

•  ns-2 is one of the most used network simulators

• Contains many protocol and application components
• Widely accepted

•  OMNeT++ is a modern and modular simulation system

• Cleanly structured object-oriented design
• Provides access to both event- and process-based
programming style
• A lot of support functionality

Prof. Dr. Mesut Güneş ▪ Ch. 4 Introduction to Network Simulators 4.72