State of the Art Systematic Literature Review on Selection of Top Ten WSN Simulators – Part A

Abstract

The proliferation of technology has led to numerous advancements in various fields, including the field of simulation. Simulators, in particular, have proven to be a valuable tool for researchers and students as they eliminate the need for physical hardware, reduce costs, and increase accessibility for conducting experiments. One of the most significant innovations in this realm is the use of simulators, which are specially designed software programs that mimic real-world scenarios. However, with hundreds of simulators available for various fields, the selection of the appropriate one can be a daunting task. This work presents a systematic literature review on wireless sensor network (WSN) simulators and their selection methodology. A total of 31 literature works since 2016 were reviewed, with the majority of the works conducted in the past 4 years. The study found 52 unique simulators studied about 182 times with repetitive sets in different literatures. Most of the works presented basic and general information about the simulators which does not assist readers in selecting the appropriate and best suitable simulator for their work. Additionally, about 55% of the works did not define any selection criteria or present comparisons among the studied simulators. The majority of literature work either selected simulators based on their frequency of appearance in their studied literature subset or based on their popularity. The results of this study can aid researchers in selecting the appropriate WSN simulator for their experimental work.