Open-source Network Simulator Research Articles

Contextual Information Based Scheduling for Service Migration in Mobile Edge Computing

Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) is a distributed computing paradigm that delivers processing and data storage capabilities closer to the network edge, which is adjacent to mobile consumers and devices. MEC lowers latency, reduces data transmission times, and improves overall performance for mobile apps by relocating computing resources to the network’s edge. But, due to higher average load and longer elapsed time, modern end devices such as smartphones and tablets cause major load challenges in mobile computing networks. Furthermore, if smartphones cause unpredictable traffic patterns, it becomes impossible to model and forecast the nature of communication. Such confusing traffic figures are caused not just by bursty Internet traffic, but also by multitasking operating systems that allow users to swiftly switch between active apps. Mobility of users and end devices impose a difficult challenge to provide continuous services in mobile computing. In this paper, this issue is addressed using the Contextual Information Based Scheduling (CIBS) technique to optimally allocate resources and provide seamless service to the users. The proposed method is implemented with NS-3, an open-source network simulator that provides a comprehensive set of modules for Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) simulations, including mobility modelling support. The experimental results show that CIBS offers migration time of 97512ms, delay time of 372115ms, execution time of 1061328ms and downtime of 98715ms. The results are compared with the existing Mobility-Aware Joint Task Scheduling (MATS) approach. The obtained results show that CIBS outperforms MATS with regard to migration time, latency, execution time and downtime.

Performance Analysis of Energy Efficiency and Security Solutions of Internet of Things Protocols

The scientific and business communities are showing considerable interest in wireless sensor networks (WSN). The availability of low-cost, small-scale components like CPUs, radios, and sensors, which are often combined into a single chip, is crucial. Parallel to the evolution of WSNs, the concepts of the IoT have been evolving in recent years. Wireless communication technologies may play a significant role in the implementation of IoT, despite the fact that IoT does not need or require any particular technology for communication. WSN assisted IoT networks can drive several applications in many industries. The proposed research explores the possibility of enhancing energy efficiency in WSN-assisted IoTN by balancing various challenging sensor network performance metrics. The base station's current placement inside the sensing field is predetermined by the preexisting routing algorithms. Our study examines the impact of base station placement outside and within the prescribed sensing domains on energy consumption and network longevity. In addition, methods for transferring data from the distributed source sensor to the base station while minimizing energy consumption are investigated. In this preliminary study, we focus on developing an algorithm for WSN-Assisted IoTN that can balance network factors such as hop count, communication distance, and residual energy. To further optimize the routing route between local cluster heads and the base station, a novel network architecture is built based on the Ant-optimization model, which uses centroid routing to balance energy consumption among local clusters. An open-source Network Simulator (NS-3) is used to model the behaviour of the proposed routing protocols and compare them to comparable existing network protocols. All of the suggested protocols have the same fundamentals for creating networks, however they vary in terms of routing, optimization, and performance depending on the development effort under consideration.

Enhance work for java based network analyzer tool used to analyze network simulator files

<span lang="EN-US">The network performance measurement is important in computer networks, and performance measurement may not be effective for installation in peripheral devices resulting in the replacement of those devices and thus increasing cost. In light of this, it is better to have a simulation of the network to see its performance rather than the actual design. NS-2 is one of the most popular and widely used open-source network simulators in many organizations, which generates trace files during the simulation experience. The trace file contains all network events that can be used to calculate performance. Thus, NS-2 does not offer any visualization options for analyzing simulation results (trace files), which is the fundamental problem of trace file parsing difficulty. This paper provides a graphical user interface tool that enables researchers to quickly and efficiently analyze and visualize NS-2 trace files. This tool is a development of the JDNA tool, as it could not analyze more than one trace file at a time. In addition, this work can be a useful guide for network researchers or other programmers to analyze their networks and understand how to calculate network performance metrics.</span>

Design and analysis of DDoS mitigating network architecture.

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks have emerged as the top security threat with the rise of e-commerce in recent years. Volumetric attacks are the most common DDoS attacks that aim to overwhelm the victim's bandwidth. The current mitigation methods use reactive filtering techniques that are not magical and straightforward solutions. In this paper, we propose a network architecture based on the capability to address the threat of DDoS attacks. Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs) have emerged as a promising solution in security. Motivated by the capability approach, we put forward a network architecture where the routers use Transient Effect Ring Oscillator PUF to generate and verify capabilities. This novel hardware-based solution, to address the problem, has reduced the computational overhead of capability generation. Additionally, the destination has complete control over the incoming traffic in the proposed architecture, resulting in uninterrupted communication with the legitimate clients regardless of the attacker traffic. The large-scale simulation on an open-source Network Simulator (NS-3) has shown that the proposed architecture efficiently mitigates DDoS attacks to a large extend. With our proposed architecture, the throughput was hardly affected when attacker traffic was varied from 10 to 80%.

A Robust Algorithm for LTE D2D (Sidelink) Discovery for Public Safety Communications

As public safety migrates from existing digital land mobile radio networks to fourth generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE), a novel feature in the latter is the enablement of direct communications between devices. In this article, we examine the performance of the LTE device-to-device direct discovery process in out-of-coverage scenarios (Mode 2). We model individual discovery periods as a slotted random access protocol with half-duplex user equipment (UE). We outline a simulation framework using the open-source network simulator 3 (ns-3) and evaluate the discovery process’s performance as a function of the size of the resource pool, UE density, and the transmission probability. We establish that there exists an optimal transmission probability that minimizes discovery time for a given network configuration. However, because a UE cannot know the number of neighbors when it goes off-network, we develop a method to allow UEs to learn the optimal transmission probability during discovery. We compare our algorithm’s performance to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project standards prescribed method and others to demonstrate its superiority.

5G Digital Twin: A Study of Enabling Technologies

5G networks require dynamic network monitoring and advanced security solutions. This work performs the essential steps to implement a basic 5G digital twin (DT) in a warehouse scenario. This study provides a paradigm of end-to-end connection and encryption to internet of things (IoT) devices. Network function virtualization (NFV) technologies are crucial to connecting and encrypting IoT devices. Innovative logistical scenarios are undergoing constant changes in logistics, and higher deployment of IoT devices in logistic scenarios, such as warehouses, demands better communication capabilities. The simulation tools enable digital twin network implementation in planning. Altair Feko (WinProp) simulates the radio behavior of a typical warehouse framework. The radio behavior can be exported as a radio simulation dataset file. This dataset file represents the virtual network’s payload. GNS3, an open-source network simulator, performs data payload transmission among clients to servers using custom NFV components. By transmitting data from client to server, we achieved end-to-end communication. Additionally, custom NFV components enable advanced encryption standard (AES) adoption. In summary, this work analyzes the round-trip time (RTT) and throughput of the payload data packages, in which two data packages, encrypted and non-encrypted, are observed.

Improving RED algorithm congestion control by using the Markov decision process

Congestion control plays an essential role on the internet to manage overload, which affects data transmission performance. The random early detection (RED) algorithm belongs to active queue management (AQM), which is used to manage internet traffic. The RED is used to eliminate weakness in default control of the Transport Control Protocol (TCP) drop-tail mechanism. The drawback of RED is parameter tuning, while adaptive RED (ARED) automatically adjusts these parameters. In this study, the suggested algorithm, the Markov decision process RED (MDPRED) uses the Markov decision process (MDP) to suitably adapt values for queue weight in the RED algorithm based on average queue length to enhance the performance of the traditional RED during TCP Slow Startup phase. This study is conducted based on fluctuations among the rate of service, queuing weight, and the mean queue length by using open-source network simulator NS3. The study shows efficient results by fluctuating end-to-end packet throughput and fast response to the inception of congestion in the network. The modified algorithm achieves a low level of drop packets by evaluating the results with other five algorithms, which is done by increasing the algorithm’s response when the average queue size becomes close to the maximum queue length threshold.

Comparison of TCP SIAD and TCP BBR Congestion Control in Simulated 5G Networks

Abstract 5G cellular networks have introduced a completely novel air interface called New Radio (NR). This technology delivers numerous benefits compared to previous generations, including significantly higher peak data rates. However, due to the propagation properties of the frequencies used in NR, the volatility of the available downlink capacity also increases. In this paper, we study two TCP congestion control algorithms which are designed to be able to quickly utilize sudden increases in available capacity. We present an implementation of TCP SIAD in the ns-3 open source network simulator and compare its performance with TCP BBR using the mmWave module of the simulator.

Investigation and Evaluation of IEEE 802.11n WLANs Link Features Performance Under Single Host and Concurrent Communication

For an efficient design of wireless local-area networks (WLANs), the simulation tools are important to accurately estimate the IEEE 802.11n/ac link features for WLANs. However, this true simulation of network behavior is critical in designing high-performance WLANs. Through testing, analysis, and modeling of the proposed scheme repetitively, the design of the WLAN can be enhanced with a small budget before making its practical implementation. Many network simulation tools have been established to give solutions for this request and ns-3 is the most widely used tools among them by the research industry as an open-source network simulator. In this paper, we examine the various link features of the 802.11n WLANs under several conditions. We investigate the effects of 802.11n WLAN modulation and coding schemes (MCSs), 20MHz single channel or 40 MHz bonded channel, guard intervals (GI), frame aggregation, data encoding, number of antennas and their data rate, and link distance features of 802.11n WLAN in ns-3 when only a unique host connects with the access point (AP) and generates data traffic. Besides, the performance for an enterprise scenario proposed by the IEEE 802.11ax study group is evaluated when several hosts are simultaneously creating traffic with their associated APs. The results demonstrate that ns-3 support most of the link features of the 802.11n protocol with significant accuracy.

QoS Analysis of Video Streaming in the UAV Networks with WiFi Standards

The paper presents the results of simulation of the process of video data transmission from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to a ground station using the IEEE 802.11 family standards (802.11n, 802.11ac and 802.11ax), with the ability to change modulation indices, coding schemes and data transfer rate in a network simulator NS-3. The aim of the work is to analyze the characteristics of the quality of video data transmission in the UAV network for various Wi-Fi standards, which allows determining the most suitable standard for the transmission of video data in the UAV network, depending on the distances between nodes and the required frequency band. A scenario is considered in which an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) hovering in the air was transmitting a video stream to a ground station, while the distance between nodes increased, and the transmission rate was maintained at the same level close to the transmission rate of the real video stream. The simulation was carried out in several stages for a more detailed study of the dependence of the packet loss of the transmitted data on the change in modulation indices, coding schemes and other parameters. Based on the simulation results, the characteristics of the video data transmission quality were obtained as a relation between the Packet delivery rate (PDR) and distance between nodes for different transmission parameters for each considered standard of the IEEE 802.11 family. Based on the results obtained, conclusions were drawn about the influence of transmission parameters on the quality of service characteristics. The study was carried out in an open-source network simulator NS-3, which implements build-in libraries that are necessary for high-quality simulation of data streaming transmission and allows you to set a wide range of parameters to obtain realistic results. The results of the work may be of interest to UAV manufacturers when planning missions in which the choice of Wi-Fi standard used as a channel for transmitting video data is crucial.

Analysis and Optimization of Channel Bonding in Dense IEEE 802.11 WLANs

Channel bonding in IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs is a technique whereby adjacent 20MHz channels are ‘bonded’ to create a wider bandwidth channel that supports higher data rate transmissions. Although rate improvements due to channel bonding has been shown in sparse wireless LAN environments, its effectiveness in dense scenarios requires further exploration due to increased sensitivity to interference from overlapping co-channel basic service sets. With the newly finalized 802.11ax standard supporting enhanced spatial reuse feature, its impact on the expected gains from channel bonding needs careful analysis. In this work, we propose a new analytical framework that accurately models the performance of channel bonding as a function of both PHY and MAC parameters for a dense network scenario. A new channel bonding algorithm that is robust to overlapped co-channel interference is described, i.e. it preserves channel bonding gains by intelligently choosing the channel bonding bandwidth based on network conditions and parameters that are readily available to all stations, critically the modulation scheme chosen for packet transmission. The predicted gains of the proposed algorithm are verified via comprehensive simulations conducted with the open source network simulator ns-3.

NR-U and IEEE 802.11 Technologies Coexistence in Unlicensed mmWave Spectrum: Models and Evaluation

New Radio-based access to Unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) intends to expand the applicability of 5G NR access technology to support operation in unlicensed bands by adhering to Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) requirement for accessing the channel. As the NR-U specification is being developed, simulations to assess the performance of NR-U and IEEE 802.11 technologies coexistence in unlicensed spectrum bands are crucial. In this paper, we report on extensions to a popular and open source network simulator, ns-3, to build an NR-U system-level simulator and to model the NR-U and IEEE 802.11 technologies coexistence in the currently available unlicensed spectrum bands. The proposed NR-U model capitalizes on an NR Release-15 based model that has been extended to operate in unlicensed bands, while meeting its regulatory requirements. For the coexistence analysis, we pay particular attention to the millimeter-wave bands and provide a complete set of simulation campaigns evaluating the coexistence of NR-U and IEEE 802.11ad Wireless Gigabit (WiGig) in the 60 GHz bands. In particular, we focus on determining whether NR-U fulfills its coexistence objective in terms of a fairness criterion by testing different NR-U parameters, such as the numerology, the bandwidth, the channel access scheme, the energy detection threshold, and the beamforming method.

A Link Distribution Algorithm with Efficient Relay Node Optimization for Congestion Control in Urban Vanets

This research work develops a new algorithm i.e. Link distribution algorithm and efficient link distribution algorithm. A Link distribution algorithm is the distribution of the link to the nodes so that communication between the nodes takes place in case of any link failure whereas efficient link distribution algorithm is distribution of the packets to the nodes which has high transmission power. The technique used in Link distribution algorithm (LDA) is link establishment whenever there is any link failure happen we apply this concept which is LDA whereas the technique used in efficient link distribution algorithm (ELDA) is relay node selection the relay node is selected based upon the received signal strength ratio (RSSI) value and which node is having high RSSI value that node we allocate the link. The above algorithms can be applied wherever there is high congestion on the road due to the high congestion link failure will happen and due to the link failure emergency event occurs. Results of model achieved in a realistic state of affairs validate our theoretical deliberation and confirm the efficiency and the efficacy of our protocol by screening significant expansion in terms of busy ratio, collision rate, deviation, local density and transmission power compared to previous scheme ETSI DCC. The work has been successfully done with the help open source network simulator NS3.

Implementation and Evaluation of WLAN 802.11ac for Residential Networks in NS-3

Wi-Fi has been an amazingly successful technology. Its success may be attributed to the fact that, despite the significant advances made in technology over the last decade, it has remained backward compatible. 802.11ac is the latest version of the wireless LAN (WLAN) standard that is currently being adopted, and it promises to deliver very high throughput (VHT), operating at the 5 GHz band. In this paper, we report on an implementation of 802.11ac wireless LAN for residential scenario based on the 802.11ax task group scenario document. We evaluate the 802.11ac protocol performance under different operating conditions. Key features such as modulation coding set (MCS), frame aggregation, and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) were investigated. We also evaluate the average throughput, delay, jitter, optimum range for goodput, and effect of station (STA) density per access point (AP) in a network. ns-3, an open source network simulator with features supporting 802.11ac, was used to perform the simulation. Results obtained indicate that very high data rates are achievable. The highest data rate, the best mean delay, and mean jitter are possible under combined features of 802.11ac (MIMO and A-MPDU).

Performance Evaluation of IEEE 802.11ac and 802.11n using NS3

Objectives: In this paper, the performance parameters in the WLANs are discussed and we evaluate the superior performance of the new IEEE 802.11ac standard with respect to 802.11n. Methods/Analysis: NS3 is an open source network simulator, the latest version of which (ns-3.24.1) has been appended with features to support 802.11ac. Simulations are performed in NS3 to demonstrate the superior performance of the new 802.11ac standard with respect to 802.11n. Features verified are channel bonding, guard interval and MCS while performance is measured with parameters such as jitter, throughput and delay. Findings: IEEE 802.11ac is a Very High Throughput (VHT) WLAN standard that can achieve data rates in the order of 7 Gbps in the 5 GHz band. This has been achieved by enhancing the features in the earlier IEEE 802.11n standard in the MAC and PHY layers. The simulations reveal improvement in throughput, delay and jitter performance with usage of increased bandwidths. Keywords: Delay, Jitter, NS3, 802.11n, 802.11ac, Throughput, WLAN

Performance Analysis of IPv4 to IPv6 Transition Methods

It is an arduous and indolent process to switch to IPv6 technology from the existing IPv4. This paper aims at providing a lucid performance analysis of key techniques used in IPv4 to IPv6 transition. Sustainable and real time topologies are built for each of the three robust techniques, namely, dual stack, tunneling, and network address translation. These implementations are done in an open source Network simulator GNS3 (1.3.13), a wide compatible and realistic simulator. All the topologies are analyzed for latency, efficiency and throughput using wire shark packet analyzer. Networks are built using different commercially used cisco 7200, 3600 and 3700 series routers and used serial and fast ethernet cables for connecting the nodes. All topologies are configured as private, to analyze each technique performance at their maximum potential. This analysis can be found useful in employing the right transition technique depending on the network scenario used as it weigh the advantage and limitation for each technique. The analysis depicts the competence of tunneling for its highest latency comparatively. Among the three methods, Dual Stack displays 100% efficiency in communicating within the network. Network address translation show 94% efficiency as it plays an important role when IPv4 only needs to communicate with IPv6 nodes. In most cases, IPv6 show better performance than IPv4, which lucidly explains the potential of IPv6. The analysis can further be extended to hardware implementation by constructing large topologies and with various other sophisticated routers produced by different vendors.

Utilizing kinematics and selective sweeping in reinforcement learning-based routing algorithms for underwater networks

Effective utilization of mobile ad hoc underwater distributed networks is challenging due to high system costs and the harsh environment characterized by low bandwidth, large latency, high energy consumption, and node mobility. This work addresses the routing issue, which is critical in successfully establishing and utilizing an underwater network. In particular, it focuses on reinforcement learning (RL)-based routing algorithms, which possess the ability to explore the network environment and adapt routing decisions to the constantly changing topology of the network due to node mobility and energy usage. This paper presents a routing algorithm based on Q-learning, one of the RL approaches, with additional Kinematic and Sweeping features, therefore referred to as QKS. These two additional features are introduced to address the potential slow convergence associated with pure RL algorithms. The results of a detailed packet-level simulation have been obtained using the NS-2 open-source network simulator with underwater modeling additions. The energy efficiency, convergence, and delivery performance of QKS are compared with two other routing protocols for underwater networks, a basic flooding approach (ICRP (Liang, 2007)) and a basic Q-learning implementation (QELAR (Hu, 2010)), using simulations of networks with both fixed and mobile nodes.

A Distributed Clustering Algorithm for Coordinated Multipoint in LTE Networks

Coordination and cooperation among transmitters are fundamental paradigms to improve the performance of next-generation mobile networks. By grouping multiple transmitters into clusters, interference can be managed to improve the performance at the end user's side. In this letter, we present a novel distributed clustering algorithm that adapts the cluster configuration according to the users distribution and the average cluster size. We compare the performance obtained with other clustering solutions in an LTE scenario using the open-source network simulator ns3. Our proposed algorithm is shown to significantly outperform the other approaches, particularly for the users with low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), with a 26% improvement of throughput for the worst 10% of the low-SNR users compared with greedy clustering.

Investigation of TCP and UDP multiple-flow traffic in wireless mobile ad-hoc networks

In this paper, we deal with congestion control for multi-flow traffic in wireless mobile ad-hoc networks MANET. For simulations, we used NS-3 open source network simulator considering Ad-hoc On-Dem...

Investigation of TCP and UDP multiple-flow traffic in wireless mobile ad-hoc networks

In this paper, we deal with congestion control for multi-flow traffic in wireless mobile ad-hoc networks MANET. For simulations, we used NS-3 open source network simulator considering Ad-hoc On-Demand Distance Vector AODV and Optimized Link State Routing OLSR routing protocols. We present the MANET performance considering random waypoint mobility model for different number of nodes and different area sizes, by sending multiple UDP or TCP flow traffic in the network. We investigate and compare the packet delivery fraction PDF and throughput. Simulation results show that the performance of the network is high when the number of nodes is 20 and maximum speed is 6 m/s for multiple flows. We found that coupling congestion control mechanisms between multiple flows have problems in some cases.