Design and Implementation of Switch Module for NS-3

Abstract

In this paper, we first show the importance of switch module to NS-3. And then, we design a switch module for NS-3, to do so, some principles are first proposed. Based on these principles, an abstract switch module is designed and implemented for NS-3. By extending this abstract module, many specific switches using different switch architectures and arbitration or scheduling algorithms can be implemented. Two specific switches are implemented in this paper as examples. One is based on crossbar and uses iSLIP as its scheduling algorithm, the other is the CICB (Combined Input and Crosspoint Buffered) switch which uses the simplest round-robin as its input and output arbitration algorithm. Finally, several simulations are done, to verify the correctness of our switch module. By comparing the results to that within the original papers, we say that our designs and implementations are correct, and the switch module can be used for both the switch and network simulations. Then based on the switch module, some simulations are designed to show the network performance with different switches.