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NetSim User Manual

The document is a user manual for NetSim, a network simulation and emulation software developed by TETCOS LLP. It provides comprehensive information on installation, usage, and advanced features of the software, including various network types and applications. The manual also includes guidelines for running simulations, analyzing results, and writing custom code within the NetSim environment.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)

33 views281 pages

NetSim User Manual

Uploaded by

Barmavath Ganesh

We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.

Available Formats

Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

You are on page 1/ 281

© TETCOS LLP.

All rights reserved

NetSim ®
Accelerate Network R & D

User Manual

A Network Simulation & Emulation Software

Ver 13.0 Page 1 of 281

The information contained in this document represents the current view of TETCOS LLP on
the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because TETCOS LLP must respond to
changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of
TETCOS LLP, and TETCOS LLP cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented
after the date of publication.

This manual is for informational purposes only.

The publisher has taken care in the preparation of this document but makes no expressed or
implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. No liability
is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of the
use of the information contained herein.

Warning! DO NOT COPY

Copyright in the whole and every part of this manual belongs to TETCOS LLP and may not be
used, sold, transferred, copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or in any media
to any person, without the prior written consent of TETCOS LLP. If you use this manual you
do so at your own risk and on the understanding that TETCOS LLP shall not be liable for any
loss or damage of any kind.

TETCOS LLP may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other
intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document. Except as expressly
provided in any written license agreement from TETCOS LLP, the furnishing of this document
does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual
property. Unless otherwise noted, the example companies, organizations, products, domain
names, e-mail addresses, logos, people, places, and events depicted herein are fictitious, and
no association with any real company, organization, product, domain name, email address,
logo, person, place, or event is intended or should be inferred.

All trademarks are property of their respective owner.

Contact us at
TETCOS LLP
# 214, 39th A Cross, 7th Main, 5th Block Jayanagar,
Bangalore - 560 041, Karnataka, INDIA.
Phone: +91 80 26630624
E-Mail: [email protected]
Visit: www.tetcos.com

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Table of Contents

1 NetSim – Introduction .................................................................................................... 10

1.1 Introduction to modeling and simulation of networks ............................................. 10
1.2 Versions of NetSim – Academic, Standard & Pro .................................................. 10
1.3 Components (Technology Libraries) in Pro and Standard versions ...................... 12

2 Installation and License Server Set-up ....................................................................... 14

2.1 System Requirements ............................................................................................ 14
2.1.1 NetSim Client (installs locally) .................................................................... 14
2.1.2 License Server (for running Host-ID/ Dongle locked floating licenses, not
applicable for node locked licenses) ...................................................................... 14
2.2 Installing NetSim ..................................................................................................... 14
2.2.1 Silent installation ......................................................................................... 38
2.2.2 Import Compatible Workspaces ................................................................. 39
2.3 Setting up License Server ...................................................................................... 41
2.3.1 Installing NetSim RLM Dongle Driver Software (Dongle Based Licenses) 41
2.3.2 Running NetSim License Server ................................................................ 43
2.3.3 Running NetSim Software .......................................................................... 44

3 NetSim GUI...................................................................................................................... 45
3.1 Menus in the NetSim Home Screen ....................................................................... 45
3.1.1 Creating “New” Simulations ........................................................................ 49
3.1.2 Environment Settings .................................................................................. 50
3.2 Modeling and Simulating a simple network ............................................................ 53
3.2.1 Creating a Network scenario ...................................................................... 53
3.2.2 Configuring devices and links in the scenario ............................................ 55
3.2.3 Display Settings .......................................................................................... 56
3.2.4 Copy/Paste.................................................................................................. 57
3.2.5 Modeling Application Traffic........................................................................ 59
3.2.6 Logging Packet/ Event Trace...................................................................... 60
3.2.7 Run Simulation ............................................................................................ 60
3.2.8 ACL Configuration....................................................................................... 61
3.3 Saving & Opening experiments and Printing results ............................................. 65
3.3.1 Opening Saved Experiments: ..................................................................... 65
3.3.2 Saving an Experiment................................................................................. 66
3.4 NetSim Keyboard Shortcuts ................................................................................... 66
3.5 NetSim Interactive Simulation ................................................................................ 67

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3.5.1 Simulation specific (Not applicable for file based interactive simulation) .. 70
3.5.2 Ping Command ........................................................................................... 70
3.5.3 Route Commands ....................................................................................... 72

4 Workspaces and Experiments...................................................................................... 74

4.1 What is an Experiment and what is a workspace in NetSim? ............................... 74
4.2 How does a user create and save an experiment in workspace? ......................... 75
4.3 Should each user have a workspace? ................................................................... 80
4.4 How does a user export an experiment? ............................................................... 80
4.5 How does a user delete an Experiment in a workspace? ...................................... 81
4.6 How does a user create a new workspace? .......................................................... 81
4.7 How does a user switch between workspaces? .................................................... 83
4.8 How does a user export a workspace? .................................................................. 84
4.9 How does a user import a workspace? .................................................................. 88
4.10 How does a user import an experiment? ............................................................... 89
4.11 How does a user delete a workspace? .................................................................. 90
4.12 How does a user open and modify source codes? ................................................ 91
4.13 Can I use NetSim's default code for my experiments? .......................................... 92

5 Simulating different networks in NetSim .................................................................... 93

5.1 Internetworks .......................................................................................................... 94
5.1.1 Internetworks Examples ............................................................................. 94
5.1.2 Internetwork Documentation ....................................................................... 94
5.2 Legacy Networks .................................................................................................... 94
5.2.1 Legacy Networks Examples ....................................................................... 95
5.2.2 Legacy Network Documentation................................................................. 95
5.3 Cellular Networks.................................................................................................... 95
5.3.1 Cellular Networks Examples ....................................................................... 96
5.3.2 Cellular Networks Documentation .............................................................. 96
5.4 Advanced Routing .................................................................................................. 96
5.4.1 Advanced Routing Examples...................................................................... 96
5.4.2 Advanced Routing Documentation ............................................................. 97
5.5 MANETs .................................................................................................................. 97
5.5.1 MANET Examples....................................................................................... 97
5.5.2 MANET Documentation .............................................................................. 97
5.6 Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) ......................................................................... 98
5.6.1 Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) Examples ............................................ 98
5.6.2 WSN Library Documentation ...................................................................... 98
5.7 Internet of Things .................................................................................................... 99

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5.7.1 Internet of Things (IOT) Examples ............................................................. 99

5.7.2 IOT Library Documentation......................................................................... 99
5.8 Software Defined Networks (SDN) ......................................................................... 99
5.8.1 Software Defined Networks (SDN) Examples .......................................... 100
5.8.2 SDN Library Documentation ..................................................................... 100
5.9 Cognitive Radio..................................................................................................... 100
5.9.1 Cognitive Radio Examples........................................................................ 101
5.9.2 Cognitive Radio Library Documentation ................................................... 101
5.10 LTE........................................................................................................................ 101
5.10.1 LTE Examples ........................................................................................... 101
5.10.2 LTE Library Documentation ...................................................................... 102
5.11 5G NR ................................................................................................................... 102
5.11.1 5G NR Examples ...................................................................................... 102
5.11.2 5G NR Library Documentation ................................................................. 102
5.12 VANETs ................................................................................................................ 103
5.12.1 VANET Examples ..................................................................................... 103
5.12.2 VANET Library Documentation ................................................................ 103
5.13 Satellite Communication ....................................................................................... 103
5.13.1 Satellite Communication Examples .......................................................... 104
5.13.2 Satellite Communication Documentation ................................................. 104
5.14 TDMA Radio Networks ......................................................................................... 104
5.14.1 TDMA Radio Network Examples .............................................................. 104
5.14.2 TDMA Radio Network Library Documentation ......................................... 105

6 Applications (Network Traffic Generator) ................................................................. 106

6.1 Common properties for all applications ................................................................ 107
6.2 Application Types ................................................................................................. 110
6.3 Network Traffic Generation Rate for Different Applications ................................. 120
6.4 Priority and QoS of Applications........................................................................... 122
6.5 Capture real applications and simulate in NetSim ............................................... 122
6.6 Modelling Poisson arrivals in NetSim ................................................................... 123
6.7 Application Configuration – Special Conditions ................................................... 124

7 Running Simulation via Command Line Interface ................................................... 125

7.1 Running NetSim via CLI ....................................................................................... 125
7.1.1 Running in CLI Mode when using floating licenses ................................. 126
7.1.2 Running in CLI Mode when using node-locked or cloud licenses ........... 127
7.1.3 Quick edit for copy pastes in CLI mode.................................................... 128
7.2 Understanding the Configuration.netsim file ........................................................ 129

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7.2.1 How to use Visual Studio to edit the Configuration file? .......................... 129
7.2.2 Sections of Configuration file .................................................................... 130
7.2.3 Sample Configuration file.......................................................................... 131
7.2.4 Configuration.xsd file ................................................................................ 131

8 Outputs: Results, Plots and Data Files ..................................................................... 132

8.1 Result Window and Plots Windows ...................................................................... 132
8.1.1 Application and Link Throughput Plots ..................................................... 132
8.1.2 Buffer Occupancy Plot .............................................................................. 133
8.1.3 TCP Congestion Window Plot .................................................................. 135
8.1.4 Notes on plots ........................................................................................... 136
8.1.5 Link metrics ............................................................................................... 136
8.1.6 Queue Metrics ........................................................................................... 137
8.1.7 Protocol Metrics ........................................................................................ 138
8.1.8 Device Metrics........................................................................................... 138
8.1.9 Cellular Metrics ......................................................................................... 138
8.1.10 Channel metrics ........................................................................................ 139
8.1.11 Sensor metrics .......................................................................................... 139
8.1.12 Battery Model ............................................................................................ 140
8.1.13 CR metrics ................................................................................................ 141
8.1.14 Application Metrics .................................................................................... 142
8.1.15 IP Metrics .................................................................................................. 143
8.1.16 Advanced Metrics ..................................................................................... 143
8.1.17 Notes on metrics ....................................................................................... 144
8.1.18 The different results files written at the end of simulation ........................ 144
8.2 Export to .csv ........................................................................................................ 145
8.3 Packet Animation .................................................................................................. 147
8.3.1 Packet animation Table ............................................................................ 148
8.3.2 Packet animation – Display Settings ........................................................ 149
8.3.3 Example on how to use NetSim packet animation feature: ..................... 149
8.3.4 How to record and save Packet animation as a Video file ....................... 152
8.4 Packet Trace ......................................................................................................... 154
8.4.1 How to set filters to NetSim trace file........................................................ 155
8.4.2 Observing packet flow in the Network through packet trace file .............. 156
8.4.3 Analysing Packet Trace using Pivot Tables ............................................. 157
8.4.4 Packet Transmitted / Received Analysis .................................................. 160
8.4.5 Delay analysis ........................................................................................... 163
8.4.6 Throughput analysis.................................................................................. 168

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8.4.7 Plotting with Pivot Charts .......................................................................... 169

8.4.8 Packet Trace Fields .................................................................................. 172
8.5 Event Trace (only in Standard/Pro Version) ........................................................ 174
8.5.1 NetSim Network Stack and Discrete Event Simulation working .............. 174
8.5.2 Event Trace ............................................................................................... 175
8.5.3 Calculation of Delay and Application throughput from event trace .......... 177
8.6 Packet Capture & analysis using Wireshark ........................................................ 185
8.6.1 Enabling Wireshark Capture in a node for packet capture ...................... 185
8.6.2 Viewing captured packets ......................................................................... 186
8.6.3 Filtering captured packets......................................................................... 187
8.6.4 Analyzing packets in Wireshark................................................................ 187
8.6.5 Window Scaling......................................................................................... 188

9 Writing Custom Code in NetSim ................................................................................ 192

9.1 Writing your own code .......................................................................................... 192
9.1.1 Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 Installation Settings ................................... 192
9.1.2 Modifying code .......................................................................................... 193
9.1.3 Building Dlls .............................................................................................. 195
9.1.4 Running Simulation ................................................................................... 196
9.1.5 Source Code Dependencies ..................................................................... 197
9.1.6 Enabling Additional Security Checks........................................................ 198
9.2 Implementing your code - Examples .................................................................... 200
9.2.1 Hello World Program................................................................................. 200
9.2.2 Introducing Node Failure in MANET ......................................................... 201
9.3 Debugging your code............................................................................................ 203
9.3.1 Via GUI ...................................................................................................... 203
9.3.2 Via CLI....................................................................................................... 211
9.3.3 Co-relating with Event Trace .................................................................... 213
9.3.4 Viewing & Accessing variables ................................................................. 216
9.3.5 Print to console window in NetSim ........................................................... 223
9.4 Creating a new packet and adding a new event in NetSim ................................. 224
9.5 NetSim API’s ......................................................................................................... 230

10 Advanced Features ...................................................................................................... 233

10.1 Random Number Generator and Seed Values .................................................... 233
10.2 Interfacing MATLAB with NetSim (Std/Pro versions)........................................... 233
10.2.1 Implement Weibull Distribution of MATLAB without using .m file ............ 235
10.2.2 Debug and understand communication between NetSim and MATLAB . 244

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10.2.3 Implement Weibull Distribution of MATLAB in NetSim using .m file: ....... 247
10.2.4 Plot a histogram in MATLAB per a Weibull distribution (using .m file) .... 249
10.3 Interfacing tail with NetSim ................................................................................... 253
10.4 Adding Custom Performance Metrics .................................................................. 257
10.5 Simulation Time and its relation to Real Time (Wall clock) ................................. 261
10.6 Adding Custom Plots ............................................................................................ 262
10.6.1 Plotting SNR for each UE-gNB pair in 5G NR.......................................... 262
10.7 Environment Variables in NetSim......................................................................... 268
10.8 Best practices for running large scale simulations............................................... 269
10.9 Batch experimentation and automated simulations ............................................. 270

11 NetSim Emulator .......................................................................................................... 271

11.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 271
11.1.1 Simulating and Analyzing Emulation Examples ....................................... 271

12 Troubleshooting in NetSim ......................................................................................... 272

12.1 CLI mode............................................................................................................... 272
12.2 I/O warning displayed in CLI mode ...................................................................... 272
12.2.1 Connection refused at server<-111> error displayed............................... 272
12.2.2 Unable to load license config dll(126) ...................................................... 273
12.2.3 “Error in getting License” error in CLI mode ............................................. 273
12.2.4 Unable to load license config dll displayed............................................... 274
12.3 Configuration.netsim ............................................................................................. 275
12.3.1 Invalid attribute in configuration file attributes .......................................... 275
12.3.2 Error in tags in configuration file attributes ............................................... 275
12.3.3 Error lines in configuration.xsd in the Configuration file ........................... 276
12.4 Simulation terminates and “NetSim Backend has stopped working” displayed .. 277
12.5 Monitor screen resolution is less than 1024X768 ................................................ 277
12.6 Licensing ............................................................................................................... 278
12.6.1 No License for product (-1) error .............................................................. 278
12.7 Troubleshooting VANET simulations that interface with SUMO .......................... 278
12.7.1 Guide for Sumo ......................................................................................... 278
12.7.2 Guide for Python ....................................................................................... 279
12.7.3 VANET Simulation .................................................................................... 280
12.7.4 Python ....................................................................................................... 280
12.7.5 NetSim Core Protocol Library ................................................................... 280

13 NetSim Videos .............................................................................................................. 281

14 R&D projects in NetSim............................................................................................... 281

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© TETCOS LLP. All rights reserved

15 NetSim FAQ/Knowledgebase ..................................................................................... 281

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1 NetSim – Introduction

1.1 Introduction to modeling and simulation of networks

A network simulator enables users to virtually create a network comprising of devices, links,
applications etc., and study the behavior and performance of the Network.

Some example applications of network simulators are:

 Protocol performance analysis

 Application modeling and analysis
 Network design and planning
 Research and development of new networking technologies
 Test and Verification

The typical steps followed when simulating any network are:

 Building the model: Create a network with devices, links, applications etc.
 Running the simulation: Run the discrete event simulation (DES) and log different
performance metrics.
 Visualizing the simulation: Use the packet animator to view the flow of packets.
 Analyzing the results: Examine output performance metrics such as throughput,
delay, loss etc. at multiple levels - network, link, queue, application etc.
 Developing your own protocol / algorithm: Extend existing algorithms by
modifying the simulator’s source C code.

1.2 Versions of NetSim – Academic, Standard & Pro

NetSim is used by people from different areas such as industry, defense, and academics to
design, simulate, analyze and verify the performance of different networks.

NetSim comes in three versions: Academic, Standard and Pro. The academic version is used
for lab experimentation and teaching. The standard version is used for R & D at educations
institutions while NetSim Pro version addresses the needs of defense and industry. The
standard and pro versions are available as components in NetSim v13.0 from which users can
choose and assemble. A comparison of the features in the three versions are tabulated below
Table 1-1.

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Features Academic Standard Pro

Technology Coverage
Internetworks Y Y Y
Legacy & Cellular Networks Y Y Y
Mobile Adhoc networks Y Y Y
Software Defined Networks Y Y Y
Wireless Sensor Networks Y Y Y
Internet of Things Y Y Y
Cognitive Radio Networks Y Y Y
LTE Networks Y Y Y
5G NR N Y Y
VANET N Y Y
Satellite Communication Networks N Y Y
Performance Reporting
Performance metrics available for Network and Y Y Y
Sub-networks
Packet Animator
Used to animate the packet flow in network
Y Y Y
Packet Trace
Available in tab ordered .txt format for easy Y Y Y
post processing
Event Trace
Available in tab ordered .txt format for easy N Y Y
post processing
Protocol Library Source Codes with
Documentation
Protocol C source codes and appropriate
N Y Y
header files with extensive documentation
External Interfacing
Interfacing with SUMO
N
MATLAB N Y Y
Wireshark Y
Integrated debugging
Users can write their own code, link their code N Y Y
to NetSim and debug using Visual Studio
Plots
Allows users to plot the value of a parameter Y Y Y
over simulation time
~ 10,0000
Simulation Scale 100 Nodes 500 Nodes
Nodes
Custom Coding and Modeling Support N N Y
Emulator (Add on)
Connect to real hardware running live N Y Y
application
TDMA Radio Networks (Add On)
TDMA and DTDMA N N Y
Commercial
Educational
Educational (Industrial
Target Users and Segment (Lab
(Research) and
Experimentation)
Defense)
Table 1-1: A comparison of the features of NetSim Academic, Standard and Pro versions

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1.3 Components (Technology Libraries) in Pro and

Standard versions
Users can choose and assemble components (technology libraries) in NetSim Standard and
Pro versions as shown Table 1-2.

Reference
Component No Networks / Protocols Supported International
Standards
Internetworks
Ethernet - Fast & Gigabit, ARP, Routing - RIP, OSPF,
WLAN - 802.11 a / b / g /p / n / ac & e,
Propagation models - HATA Urban / Suburban,
COST 231 HATA urban / Suburban, Indoor Home /
Office / Factory, Friis Free Space, Log Distance.
Shadowing - Constant, Lognormal. Fading - Rayleigh,
Nakagami
IPv4, Firewalls, Queuing - Round Robin, FIFO, IEEE 802.3
Priority, WFQ,
TCP, - Old Tahoe, Tahoe, Reno, New Reno, BIC, IEEE 802.11
Component 1 CUBIC, Window Scaling, SACK a/b/g/n/ac/p/e
(Base. Required UDP
for all Common Modules
components) Traffic Generator: Voice, Video, FTP, Database,
HTTP, Email, P2P, Custom, CBR.
Virtual Network Stack, RFCs 2453, 2328,
Simulation Kernel, 826, 793, 2001 and
Command Line Interface 768
Command Line Interpreter
Metrics Engine with packet and event trace
Plot Generator
Packet Animator,
Packet Encryption
External Interfaces: MATLAB, Wireshark

Legacy & Cellular Networks

Aloha – (Pure & Slotted) 3GPP, ETSI, IMT-MC,
Component 2 GSM IS-95 A/B, IxRTT, 1x-
CDMA EV-Do, 3xRTT

Advanced Routing
Multicast Routing - IGMP, PIM, Access Control Lists,
IETF RFC’s 1771 &
Component 3 Detailed Layer 3 switch mode, Virtual LAN (VLAN),
3121
Public IP, Network Address Translation (NAT)

Mobile Adhoc Networks

IETF RFC 4728, 3561,
Component 4 MANET - DSR, AODV, OLSR, ZRP
3626

Based on Open Flow

Component 5 Software Defined Network (SDN)
v1.3
Component 6 Internet of things (IOT) with RPL protocol IEEE 802.15.4 MAC,
(Component 4 Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) MANET in L3
required) RFC 6550
Cognitive Radio Networks
Component 7 IEEE 802.22
WRAN

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Component 8 Long-Term Evolution Networks: LTE 3GPP

VANETs: IEEE 1609 WAVE, Basic Safety Message
Component 9
(BSM) protocol per J2735 DSRC, Interface with
(Component 4 IEEE 1609
SUMO for road traffic simulation
required)
5G NR :3GPP 38 Series. Full Stack covering SDAP,
Component 10
PDCP, RLC – UM, TM, MAC, PHY – FR1 and FR2,
(Components 3 3GPP 38.xxx
mmWave propagation.
and 8 required)

Satellite Communication Networks: Geo

Stationary Satellite. Forward link TDMA in Ku Band
Component 11
and Return link MF-TDMA in Ka band per DVB S2.
(Component 3 DVB S2
Markov Loo Fading model. Device models for
required)
Satellite, Satellite Gateway, and Satellite User
Terminals
TDMA Radio Networks
TDMA Radio
TDMA Link 16, Dynamic TDMA, Frequencies – HF,
Networks Add
VHF, UHF Bands, ----
on (Pro version
Frequency Hopping
only)
Network Emulator
Network Connect real hardware running live applications to
Emulator NetSim Simulator. IP based, data plane, flow through ----
Add On emulator.

Table 1-2: Different Components (Technology Libraries) in Pro and Standard versions of NetSim

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2 Installation and License Server Set-up

2.1 System Requirements

2.1.1 NetSim Client (installs locally)

 Hardware: i3 equivalent or above, RAM: 4 GB (Min). 8GB Recommended.

 Monitor resolution: Min - 1024*768, Max - 1920*1080. Optional Scale and layout
setting: 100%
 Operating system: 64 bit. Win 8 or Win 10, Language English
 Software: MS Office, Adobe Reader
 Development Tools: Visual Studio
o NetSim v8 / v8.1 / v8.3 / v9 / v9.1: Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 (or higher)
o NetSim v10 / v11 / v11.1: Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 (or higher)
o NetSim v12 / v12.1 / v12.2 / v13.0: Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 (or higher)

Visual Studio Community edition (or higher) is required for writing and debugging custom
code.

2.1.2 License Server (for running Host-ID/ Dongle locked floating licenses, not
applicable for node locked licenses)

Any one system will have to be made as the license server, and it is to this PC that the
license is locked, either via its MAC ID or via a dongle. The dongle is a USB device which
controls the licensing. The system (hardware / OS) requirements is same as that applicable
for NetSim clients. USB Port is required for connecting and running the dongle. Client
systems should be able to communicate with license server through the network.

2.2 Installing NetSim

Install the 32-bit or 64-bit build of NetSim depending on your PC platform. Based on the
NetSim version under installation, the version type being displayed in the following window will
change.

For example, you will see NetSim_Standard_13_0_14_HW_64bit.exe for a Standard

version install. Double click on the setup file. Click on Yes button to install the software.

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Figure 2-1: User Account Control message window appears and select Yes button.
Setup prepares the installation wizard and software installation begins with a Welcome
Screen. Click on Next button to continue with the installation.

Figure 2-2: Select Next button to continue with the installation

License agreement will be displayed. Read the agreement carefully, scroll down to read the
complete license agreement. Click on I Agree button else quit the setup by clicking Cancel
button.

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Figure 2-3: Select I Agree button

If you agree with the license agreement, you will be prompted to select either one of the
installation options, Express (Single-click installation) or Custom (Step-by-Step installation).

Express Installation will install the third-party tools silently along with NetSim without displaying
any prompts for the user.

Custom Installation is a step-by-step approach in which a user will be prompted to carry out
the installation process and the same applies to the installation of the third-party tools which
happens alongside with NetSim.

Both the installation methods are explained below:

Choose the Express (Single click) option and click on the Install button.

Figure 2-4: Select Express (Single click) radio button and Click on install

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NetSim installation starts and users can see that the third-party tools are getting installed one
by one silently.

Figure 2-5: Wireshark is being installed Silently.

Figure 2-6: Python is being installed Silently.

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Figure 2-7: Sumo is being installed Silently.

After the third-party installations, NetSim installation further proceeds. Once it is completed,
NetSim complete Setup wizard appears as shown below. Click on Finish button to complete
the installation process of NetSim.

Figure 2-8: Select Finish button to complete the installation process of NetSim.
Otherwise, Choose the Custom (Step-by-step) option and click on the Install button.

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Figure 2-9: Select Custom (Step-by-Step) radio button and Click on install.
Now the user will be prompted to select the components to be installed. The list of components
is available for selection and assembly only in the Standard and Pro versions of NetSim.
NetSim Academic version is available as a single package.

Note: In Standard and Pro Versions of NetSim, the Choose Components screen will display only those components
for which the licenses are obtained by the user. Also, Network Emulator and Real Time Protocol are available as
Add-On along with NetSim.

Figure 2-10: list of components is available for selection and assembly only in the Standard and Pro
versions
Note: Select all the supporting applications for complete installation of the software as shown below:

Click on the Next button.

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Figure 2-11: list of third-party tools

Note: Sumo and Python comes only as a part of Standard and Pro Version Install.

In the next screen, you will be requested to enter the installation path. Select the path in which
the software needs to be installed and click on Next button.

Figure 2-12: NetSim installation directory path

Note: In the case you are installing 32bit NetSim in a 64-bit machine, ensure that the path is <OS installed drive>
C:/Program Files (x86)/NetSim/Standard_v13_0.

In the next screen, you will be requested to enter the Start Menu folder name. By default, it
shows NetSim Standard for Standard version install of NetSim. Click on the Install button to
start the installation.

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Figure 2-13: Start Menu folder name

The installation process begins.

Figure 2-14: NetSim Standard v13.0 being installed.

After the installation of required NetSim files, the installation of third-party tools begins.

For NetSim Academic Version, Adobe Flash Player, WinPcap, Wireshark will be installed.

For NetSim Standard and Pro Versions, along with WinPcap and Wireshark installation,
Python installation will start automatically. (If not deselected during 3rd party software
selection)

Click on Next button to start Wireshark installation.

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Figure 2-15: Select Next button to start Wireshark installation

Wireshark License Agreement appears. Click on I Agree button.

Figure 2-16: Wireshark License Agreement window

Make sure that all the components are selected and click on Next button.

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Figure 2-17: Choose Wireshark features

Click on Next button.

Figure 2-18: Select Next button

Select the path in which Wireshark needs to be installed and click on Next button.

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Figure 2-19: Wireshark installation directory path

Select Install Npcap 0.995 and click on Next button.

Figure 2-20: Select Install Npcap 0.995 in Wireshark window

Select Install USBPcap 1.3.0.0 and click on Install button.

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Figure 2-21: Select Install USBPcap 1.3.0.0 in Wireshark window

The installation process begins.

Figure 2-22: Wireshark installation process begins

Npcap License Agreement window appears. Click on I Agree button.

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Figure 2-23: Npcap License Agreement window

Installation Options window appears. Click on Install button.

Figure 2-24: Select Install options

Once the installation is completed successfully, click on Next button.

Figure 2-25: Select Next button

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© TETCOS LLP. All rights reserved

You will get the Npcap Setup Finished window. Click on Finish button.

Figure 2-26: Select Finish button to complete Npcap

USBPcap Driver License Agreement window appears. Click on I accept the terms of the
License Agreement check box and click on Next button.

Figure 2-27: USBPcap Driver License Agreement window

USBPcap CMD License Agreement window appears. Click on I accept the terms of the
License Agreement check box and click on Next button.

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Figure 2-28: USBPcap CMD License Agreement window

USBPcap Setup Installation window appears. Click on Next button.

Figure 2-29: USBPcap Setup Installation window

Select the path in which USBPcap needs to be installed and click on Install button.

Figure 2-30: USBPcap installation path

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Once the installation is completed successfully, click on Close button.

Figure 2-31: Installation is completed

The Installation Complete dialog box appears once the installation process is completed
successfully. Click on the Next button.

Figure 2-32: Installation Complete dialog box and select next button
You will get the Wireshark Completing Setup window. Select the option I want to manually
reboot later and Click on Finish button.

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Figure 2-33: Select the option I want to manually reboot later and Click on Finish button
NetSim Standard Setup Installation proceeds further.

Figure 2-34: Setup Installation proceeds

Note: During the installation of NetSim Academic version, the supporting software installed is WinPcap.

SUMO Set Up installation wizard appears. Click on Next button to continue with Sumo
installation.

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Figure 2-35: SUMO Set Up installation wizard

SUMO License Agreement window appears. Click on I accept the terms in the License
Agreement checkbox and click on Next button.

Figure 2-36: SUMO License Agreement window

Select the path in which SUMO needs to be installed and click on Next button.

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Figure 2-37: SUMO installation directory path

SUMO Install Set Up window appears. Click on Install button.

Figure 2-38: SUMO Install Set Up window

SUMO Installation begins.

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Figure 2-39: SUMO Installation begins

Once the installation is completed, click on the Finish button.

Figure 2-40: Select Finish button

And then, Install Python 3.7.4 (64-bit) window appears. To start Python software installation,
click on Install Now option.

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Figure 2-41: Install Python 3.7.4 (64-bit) window

Python installation begins.

Figure 2-42: Python installation

A Setup was successful message will be displayed. Click on Close button.

Figure 2-43: Select Close Install Python 3.7.4 (64-bit)

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This will take you to the pywin 32-224 installation wizard. To install Pywin32, Click on Next
button.

Figure 2-44: pywin 32-224 installation wizard window

Select the Python directory and Click on Next button.

Figure 2-45: Python directory path

The Setup is ready to install. Click on Next button.

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Figure 2-46: Select Next button

Pywin32 installation begins.

Figure 2-47: Pywin32 installation begins

Once Pywin installation is complete, click on Finish button.

Figure 2-48: Pywin installation to Finish button

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This completes the Installation of python software. NetSim complete Setup wizard appears as
shown below. Click on Finish button to complete the installation process of NetSim.

Figure 2-49: NetSim complete Setup wizard

After this, to run NetSim, double click on the NetSim icon present in the desktop or right click
and choose Run as administrator option. A NetSim License Server Information screen
appears to start with NetSim.

Figure 2-50: Enter NetSim License Server IP Address

Enter the NetSim License Server IP Address, i.e. the system in which the License files are
present and the rlm.exe file is running. (To set up NetSim License Server - Refer to Section
2.3.1 – Installing NetSim RLM Dongle Driver Software (Dongle Based Licenses).) Click on OK
button. Once this is done, NetSim Home screen will appear.

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2.2.1 Silent installation

Steps for silent installation in NetSim are as follows.

1. For example, let us take the NetSim_Standard_13_0_14_HW_64bit.exe setup. Right

click on NetSim Standard 64-bit setup  Go to properties and copy the Location as
shown below.

Figure 2-51: NetSim Standard 64-bit setup location

2. Open command prompt and paste the copied location as shown below.

Figure 2-52: Enter setup location in command prompt

3. Run/Execute Command with the following parameters:

NetSim_Standard_13_0_14_HW_64bit.exe/S /silent=1

><setup location/S<space>/silent=1

i. silent=1: It will install NetSim and third-party tools silently.

ii. /S: It will Install NetSim itself silently.

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Figure 2-53: Silent installation command in command prompt

4. Press the Enter key. The following User Account Control message window appears.
Click on Yes button to begin silent installation of NetSim.

Figure 2-54: User Account Control message window appears and select Yes

Note: Complete installation of NetSim may take up to 2 or 3 minutes.

2.2.2 Import Compatible Workspaces

After successful installation, NetSim automatically detects if any workspaces (of prior
versions/installations) are present. If yes, NetSim opens a window named, “Import Compatible
workspaces”, via which users can import these workspaces into new version of NetSim.

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Figure 2-55: Import Compatible Workspaces window after installation.

Check/Uncheck suitably and click on Proceed to import compatible workspaces into newer
version of NetSim.

A default workspace will be created and set as current workspace if none of the compatible
workspace are selected and clicked on Proceed.

The following window appears if the current workspace is deleted or removed after re-
installation of NetSim.

Figure 2-56: Relocate the workspace/Remove the workspace/Ignore

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The “Relocate the workspace” option will allow the user to select a new location for the
workspace which was removed/ deleted. User can also ignore the message by selecting
“Ignore” option and clicking on OK button.

2.3 Setting up License Server

2.3.1 Installing NetSim RLM Dongle Driver Software (Dongle Based Licenses)

This section guides you to install the RLMDongle Driver software from the CD-ROM.

1. Insert the CD-ROM disc in the CD drive.

2. Double click on My Computer and access the CD Drive.
3. Double click on Driver_Software folder.
4. Double click on HASPUserSetup.exe

Each prompt displayed during the process tells you what it is about to do and prompts to
either continue or Exit.

Setup prepares the installation wizard and the driver software installation begins with a
Welcome Screen. Click on Next button.

Figure 2-57: Sentinel Runtime Setup window and select Next button

Note: Any other program running during the installation of the Dongle will affect the proper installation
of the software.

Sentinel Runtime Setup License Agreement appears. Read the license agreement carefully,
scroll down to read the complete license agreement. If the requirement of the license
agreement is accepted, Click on I accept the license agreement and click on Next button
else quit the setup by clicking Cancel button.

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Figure 2-58: Sentinel Runtime Setup License Agreement window appears and select Next button

The installation process begins.

Figure 2-59: Installation process begins

Once the Sentinel Runtime is installed successfully, click on Finish button.

Figure 2-60: Sentinel Runtime is installed successfully and select Finish button

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Now the RLM driver software is installed successfully. If the driver has been successfully
installed, then upon connecting the Dongle in the USB port, a red light will glow (Refer
picture below Figure 2-61). If the driver is not properly installed, this light will not glow when
the dongle is connected to the USB Port.

Figure 2-61: Connecting the Dongle in the USB Port

2.3.2 Running NetSim License Server

 Copy the NetSim License Server folder and paste it on Desktop. Check that it has
the license file. If not copy the paste the license file into the License server folder
 Double click on NetSim License Server folder from Desktop.
 Double click on rlm.exe
 For hardware dongle-based users: After the Driver Software installation, connect the
RLM dongle to the system USB port. Double click on My Computer and access the
CD Drive. This CD contents will have the NetSim License server folder.

Note: For running NetSim, rlm.exe must be running in the server (license server) system and the server system
IP address must be entered correctly. Without running rlm.exe, NetSim won’t run.

While running rlm.exe, the screen will appear as shown below Figure 2-62.

Figure 2-62: When NetSim license server system running, window appears

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2.3.3 Running NetSim Software

After running rlm.exe, double click the NetSim icon in the Desktop. The screen given below
will be obtained. Enter the Server IP address where the rlm.exe is running and click OK.

Figure 2-63: Enter NetSim License Server IP Address

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3 NetSim GUI
The graphical user interface (GUI) allows users to interact with the simulator for creating,
modifying and saving, simulation experiments and workspaces. This is much easier to use
when compared to command line or text-based simulator interfaces. NetSim GUI comprises
of the Home Screen, Design Window, Results Window, Animation Window and Plots Window.

3.1 Menus in the NetSim Home Screen

You see the NetSim Home Screen when you run NetSim software for the first time, after
checking out a license from the NetSim License Server.

See the following image for an example of the NetSim Home screen as shown below Figure
3-1.

Figure 3-1: NetSim Home screen

You see the following items on the NetSim Home screen:

1. New Simulation: Use this menu to simulate different types of networks in NetSim. You
can simulate the following the types of networks: Internetworks, Legacy Networks,
Mobile Adhoc networks, Cellular Networks, Wireless Sensor Networks, Internet of
Things, Cognitive Radio Networks, LTE/LTE-A Networks, 5G NR (newly added
component in v12), VANETs, and Satellite Communication. Only the networks
(components) for which licenses are available will be shown. The networks
(components) shown at the bottom with grey background cannot be directly clicked

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and entered. These features can be accessed through other components given the
dependencies.
2. Your work: Use this menu to load saved configuration files from the current
workspace. You can view, modify or re-run existing simulations. Along with this, users
can also export the saved files from the current workspace to their preferred location
on their PC’s.
3. Examples: Use this menu to perform simulations of different kinds categorized
technology-wise. Users can choose any network which they want to work and further
go down by using a double click on it or by a click on the arrow pointer which will take
you to the next level. By a click on any simulation file will open a pre-existing simulation
file which users can run and analyze the results. Users can click on the book icon
present in the right-hand side of each network which opens the corresponding pdf files.
This helps the users with all information about the current simulation as well as the
entire network technology.

Figure 3-2: Featured Examples and Experiments list window

Similarly, on the other side, users can find experiments section which has various
experiments covering all the technologies in NetSim. Users can choose their
experiment by either a double click on it or by a click on the pointer arrow which will
take you the samples. Click on the sample to open the particular experiment in NetSim.
All the settings to carry out the experiment are already done. Users can click on the
book icon present in the right-hand side of each experiment. This will open the
corresponding pdf file for the experiment which consists of detailed description of that
experiment.

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4. License Settings: Use this menu to perform the following. Click on License Settings
provides users with three sub-menus related to License information.

License Server Information: Use this menu to view details about the NetSim License
Server from where the client is checking out licenses.

Figure 3-3: NetSim License Server Information window

You will see the following details on the NetSim Home screen, if you click the License
Server Info menu item: the type of platform on which NetSim is running, the version of
RLM, the Dongle RLM ID, the IP address of the NetSim License Server, and the path
to the license files in the server hosting NetSim License Server.

End User License Agreement: Use this menu to view the end user license
agreement. You will see the following details on NetSim Home screen, if you click the
End User License Agreement menu item: Grant of License and Use of the Services,
License Restrictions, License Duration, Upgrade and Support Service etc.

Configure Installed Components/Libraries: Use this menu to allow NetSim users to

simulate only specific types of networks (by the licenses and libraries associated with
the types of networks). You control access to types of networks by selecting libraries
for specific types of networks that NetSim License Server checks out when NetSim
users start NetSim.

NetSim Home screen displays libraries for components for which you have purchased
licenses.

Note: You can select or clear libraries and control access to NetSim users, only if you
are using floating licenses.

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See the following image for an example of what the NetSim Home screen displays, if
you click the Configure Installed Components/Libraries menu item.

Figure 3-4: The Installed Component (Libraries) of NetSim

Use the License Settings menu as follows:

 Select the checkboxes for the component libraries (types of networks) that
NetSim users must be allowed to simulate.
 Clear the checkboxes for the component libraries (types of networks) that
NetSim users must not be allowed to simulate.

The Internetwork component is greyed out. You cannot clear the Internetworks
component because Internetworks is a base component that is required for all the other
components to work.

5. Documentation: Use this section to open the following NetSim help documents:
These include the User Manual which consists of complete description about all the
features in NetSim and how it can be used by the end users, the Technology Libraries
which provides users with an access to a detailed description of various Network
Technologies present in NetSim through individual pdf files, and Source code help
which comes along with Standard and Pro Versions of NetSim, allows users to gain a
better understanding of the underlying code structure for in-depth analysis.
6. Learn: Use this section to learn more about the software which includes the following:
Videos section can be used to view videos related to NetSim in TETCOS YouTube
channel. This channel helps users by providing frequent updates on what’s new in
NetSim, topics related to various network technologies covering different versions of

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NetSim, and monthly webinars. The Experiments Manual section grants you access
to a well-designed experiments manual covering various networking concepts which
helps users to easily understand different networks and also gain ideas to carry out
their own experimentations in NetSim.
7. Support: Use this section to reach TETCOS helpdesk. Contact Technical Support
link can be used to raise a trouble ticket, you can also write to us via Email to
[email protected], and Answers/FAQ link grants you access to our Knowledge
Base which contains answers to all your questions most of the time. Users can utilize
the wealth of information present in it, which are further classified into the following:
FAQs, Technologies/Protocols, Modelling/UI/Results, and Writing your own code in
NetSim.
8. Contact Us: Use this section to contact us and know more information about our
product. You can write to us via Email to [email protected] or contact us via Phone
to our official number +91 76760 54321.
9. Website: Use this link www.tetcos.com to visit our website which consists of vast
information that will assist you through all walks of NetSim.

3.1.1 Creating “New” Simulations

The Simulation window loads up once user selects the desired network technology from the
New Menu. Click on New Simulation and select the desired kind of network to simulate.

Figure 3-5: NetSim Home Screen

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Save

Figure 3-6: To save experiment, Select File >Save. Save As etc

To save experiment, select File  Save, then specify the Experiment Name, Description
(Optional) and click Save. The short cut for the same is Ctrl + S.

Save as

To save an already existing/saved experiment by a different name after performing required

modifications/changes to it (without overwriting the existing copy), Save As option can be used.
Select File  Save As, then specify the Experiment Name, Description (Optional) and click
Save. The short cut for the same is Shift + Ctrl + S and F12.

3.1.2 Environment Settings

The settings menu provides user’s access to the simulation environment settings.

Figure 3-7: Environment settings

The Environment Settings window is used to switch between Grid View and Map View
backgrounds in supported network technologies. For Grid view, users can configure the Grid
environment length in meters as shown Figure 3-8.

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Figure 3-8: Grid View Setting

3.1.2.1 The Gird

The Grid coordinate system has its origin at the upper left of the drawing area, and positive Y
is down while positive X is to the right.

Figure 3-9: NetSim Design window

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For Map view users can configure the latitude and longitude respectively.

Figure 3-10: Map View Setting

Users can zoom in and out of the map to add devices in specific geographical locations.

Figure 3-11: Map Design window

Learn

This menu contains link to NetSim Videos on TETCOS YouTube Channel and NetSim
Experiments manual.

Documentation

This menu contains link to NetSim User Manual, Technology Libraries and NetSim Source
Code Help.

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3.2 Modeling and Simulating a simple network

This section will demonstrate how to create a basic network scenario and analyze the results.
Let us consider Internetworks. To create a new scenario, Go to New Simulation 
Internetworks as shown below Figure 3-12.

Figure 3-12: NetSim Home Screen

3.2.1 Creating a Network scenario

In this example, a network with two subnets is designed. Let us say the subnet 1 consists of
two wired nodes connected via a Switch and the other subnet consists of one wired node. Both
the subnets are connected using a Router. Traffic in the Network flows from a wired node in
subnet 1 to the wired node in subnet 2.

Figure 3-13: Network Topology in this experiment

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Perform the following steps to create this network design.

Step 1: Drop the devices. Click on Node icon and select  Wired Node.

Figure 3-14: Internetworks Device Palette in GUI

Click on the environment (the grid) where you want the Wired Node to be placed. In this way,
place two more wired nodes. Similarly, to place a Switch and a Router, click on the respective
device and click on the environment at the desired location.

Figure 3-15: Dropped Devices on GUI

Note that NetSim takes the (x, y) position of any device on the grid is the position of top left
corner of the icon and not the center of the icon.

Step 2: Connecting devices: Select the link and then left click on one device, free the mouse
button, then click on the second device and free the mouse button. The wired links may
disappear if you right click anywhere in the environment. Clicking and dragging without freeing
the mouse pointer would displace the device in the environment.

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Figure 3-16: To Connect devices select wired/wireless links

For example, select link and the click on Switch followed by router to connect them. In this
manner, continue to link all devices.

Figure 3-17: Network Topology

3.2.2 Configuring devices and links in the scenario

Step 1: To configure any device, right click on the device and select properties as shown
Figure 3-18.

Figure 3-18: Right click on the device and select properties

The default properties of any device can be modified per requirement. Then click on OK.

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Figure 3-19: Network layer Properties window for wired node

Step 2: To configure the links, right click on any Link and select Properties as shown Figure
3-20.

Figure 3-20: Wired Link properties window for links

3.2.3 Display Settings

In NetSim, users can Turn-On or Turn-Off display information such as IP Address of the
devices, link speed etc. For doing this click on Display settings as shown below Figure 3-21.

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Figure 3-21: Turn-On or Turn-Off display information such as IP Address of the devices, link speed
etc
In NetSim the device ID serves as a “device identifier” while the IP Address is an “Interface
identifier”

3.2.4 Copy/Paste

In NetSim simple copy paste can be used. Using this feature users can copy all the properties
of a device and create a new device with similar properties.

Right click on the device, click on copy and then right click and click paste. The sequence is
shown below Figure 3-22/Figure 3-23/Figure 3-24/Figure 3-25/Figure 3-26.

Figure 3-22: Devices present on GUI

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Figure 3-23: Right click on the user device and Select copy

Figure 3-24: Right click on the GUI and Select Paste

Figure 3-25: Devices Pasted in GUI

Remove in the device options, is used to delete the device from the grid environment. Given
below is an example of removing the device User_Device_4 which was previously pasted.

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Figure 3-26: Right click on User_Device_4 and Select Remove

3.2.5 Modeling Application Traffic

After the network is configured, user needs to model traffic from Wired Node 2 to Wired Node
3. This is done using the application icon. Click on the Application icon present on the ribbon
as shown below Figure 3-27.

Figure 3-27: Select Application icon present on ribbon

In screen shot shown below the Application type is set to CBR, Source_ID is 2 and
Destination_ID is 3. Click on OK.

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Figure 3-28: Application Configuration window

3.2.6 Logging Packet/ Event Trace

Packet and Event Trace files are useful for detailed simulation analysis. By default, these are
not enabled since it slows down the simulation. To enable logging of Packet Trace / Event
Trace click on the icon in the tool bar as shown below. Set the file name and select the required
attributes to be logged. For more information, please refer sections 8.4 and 8.5 respectively.

Figure 3-29: Packet Trace and Event Trace options present on ribbon
3.2.7 Run Simulation

For simulating the network scenario created, click on Run Simulation present in the Ribbon.

Figure 3-30: Run Simulation icon in the Ribbon

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Set the Simulation Time to 10 seconds. Click on OK.

Figure 3-31: Run Simulation window

3.2.8 ACL Configuration

Routers provide basic traffic filtering capabilities, such as blocking Internet traffic, with access
control lists (ACLs). An ACL is a sequential list of permit or deny statements that apply to
addresses or upper-layer protocols. These lists tell the router what types of packets to: permit
or deny. When using an access-list to filter traffic, a permit statement is used to “allow” traffic,
while a deny statement is used to “block” traffic.

3.2.8.1 ACL Commands

 To view ACL syntax use: acl print.

 Before using ACL’s, we must first verify that acl option enabled. A common way to
enable ACL use command: ACL Enable
 Enters configuration mode of ACL using: aclconfig
 To view ACL Table: Print
 To exit from ACL configuration use command: exit
 To disable ACL use command: ACL Disable (use this command after exit from acl
configuration)

To view ACL usage syntax use: acl print

[PERMIT, DENY] [INBOUND, OUTBOUND, BOTH] PROTO SRC DEST SPORT DPORT IFID

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3.2.8.2 Step to Configure ACL

 To create a new rule in the ACL use command as shown below to block UDP packet
in Interface_2 and Interface_3 of the Router_3
 Disable TCP in all nodes (Wired Node and Router)
 Click on run simulation option and In the Run time Interaction tab set Interactive
Simulation as True and click on Accept.
 Set the Simulation Time as 500 sec or more. Click Ok
 Right click on Router_3 and select NetSim Console. Use the command as follows:

NetSim>acl enable

ACL is enable

NetSim>aclconfig

ROUTER_3/ACLCONFIG>acl print

Usage: [PERMIT, DENY] [INBOUND, OUTBOUND, BOTH] PROTO SRC DEST SPORT
DPORT IFID

ROUTER_3/ACLCONFIG>DENY BOTH UDP ANY ANY 0 0 2

OK!

ROUTER_3/ACLCONFIG>DENY BOTH UDP ANY ANY 0 0 3

OK!

ROUTER_3/ACLCONFIG>print

DENY BOTH UDP ANY/0 ANY/0 0 0 2

ROUTER_3/ACLCONFIG>exit

NetSim>acl disable

ACL is disable

NetSim>

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Figure 3-32: ACL Configuration command

3.2.8.3 Results

The impact of ACL rule applied over the simulation traffic can be observed in the
IP_Metrics_Table in the simulation results window, In Router_3 number of packets blocked by
firewall has been shown below

Note: Results will vary based on time of ACL command are executed

Figure 3-33: IP Metrics Table in result window

 Check Packet animation window whether packets has been blocked in Router_3 or not
after entering ACL command to deny UDP traffic.
 Before applying ACL rule there is packet flow from Wired_Node_1 to Wired_Node_2.

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Figure 3-34: In Animation Window before applying ACL rules see the packet flow
 After applying ACL rule Packet flows up to Router_3 only

Figure 3-35: In Animation Window after applying ACL rules see the packet flow
The impact of ACL rule applied over the simulation traffic can be observed in the Application
throughput plot. Throughput graph will show a drop after ACL is set. If ACL is disabled after a
while, application packets will start flowing across the router. The Application throughput plot

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will show a drop and increase(Moving througput graph) in throughput after setting ACL and
disabling ACL respectively.

Example: ACL rule applied at around 50sec user can see the drop in throughput in the graph,
since router blocks UDP packets in the plot. Once ACL has been disabled at around 240sec
router permits packets and hence throughput can be observed in the plot shown below Figure
3-36.

Figure 3-36: CBR Application throughput plot

3.3 Saving & Opening experiments and Printing results

3.3.1 Opening Saved Experiments:

Click on Your work (Ctrl+O).

Figure 3-37: Select Your work

Click on the saved experiment file you wish to open.

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3.3.2 Saving an Experiment

During Simulation: Users can save by using the short cut CTRL + S.

After Simulation: From Network Window: Click on File > Save button on the top left. Next,
specify the Experiment Name, Description (Optional) and click on Save.

Figure 3-38: Save popup window

Upon saving several files would get saved inside the folder, including:

 Configuration file (xml) & metrics file (xml)

 Trace Files (csv), if enabled, and
 Plot data (txt)

3.4 NetSim Keyboard Shortcuts

NetSim keyboard shortcuts can be used for frequently performed tasks. The keyboard
shortcuts that are currently supported are listed in the table below Table 3-1.

Keys Function
Home Screen
Ctrl + N Open a New Network
Ctrl + O Open a Saved Network
Ctrl + E Open a Examples
Design Window (Any Network)

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Ctrl + C Copy
Ctrl + V Paste
Ctrl + R Open Run Simulation Window
Ctrl + S Save the Experiment
Shift + Ctrl + S Save As (To Save under different name)
Open Image/Screenshot of the network
Ctrl + P
scenario that is designed in the GUI
Alt+ F4 Close Window
F1 User Manual Help
Ctrl + '+/-' Zoom In/Zoom Out
Mouse Click (Left) Select a device
Ctrl + A Select All devices in the design environment
Ctrl + Mouse Click (Left) and Drag Select devices within a selected area
Deletes the selected devices in the
Delete
Environment along with any links it may have
Simulation Console

Terminates Simulation in Mid way. Results

Ctrl + C will be calculated till the time at which the
simulation is terminated
Packet Animation Window
Space bar To Play/Pause animation
Table 3-1: NetSim keyboard shortcuts

3.5 NetSim Interactive Simulation

NetSim allows users to interact with the simulation at runtime via a socket or through a file.
User Interactions make simulation more realistic by allowing command execution to
view/modify certain device parameters during runtime.

This section will demonstrate how to perform Interactive simulation for a simple network
scenario. Let us consider Internetworks. To create a new scenario, go to New  Internetworks.
Click & drop Wired Nodes and Router onto the Simulation Environment and link them as shown
below Figure 3-39 or otherwise Open the scenario for Interactive Simulation which is available
in “<NetSim Install Dir>\Docs\ Sample_Configuration\Internetworks\Interactive Simulation”.

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Figure 3-39: Network Topology

 Click on Application icon present in the top ribbon and set the Application type as CBR.
The Source_Id is 1 and Destination_Id is 2.
 Set Start Time as 30 Sec
 Enable Plots and Packet trace options
 Click on run simulation option and In the Run time Interaction tab set Interactive
Simulation as True and click on Accept as shown below Figure 3-40.

Figure 3-40: Run time Interaction tab set Interactive Simulation as True
 Click on run simulation and set Simulation Time as 500 sec. (It is recommended to
specify a longer simulation time to ensure that there is sufficient time for the user to
execute the various commands and see the effect of that before Simulation ends) and
click OK
 Simulation (NetSimCore.exe) will start running and will display a message “waiting for
first client to connect” as shown below Figure 3-41.

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Figure 3-41: Waiting for first client to connect

 After Simulation window opens, goto Network scenario and right click on Router_3 or
any other node and select NetSim Console option as shown Figure 3-42.

Figure 3-42: Select NetSim Console option

 Now Client (NetSimCLI.exe) will start running and it will try to establish connection with
NetSimCore.exe. After connection is established the window will look similar like this
shown below Figure 3-43.

Figure 3-43: Connection is established

 After this the command line interface can be used to execute the supported commands

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Note: Commands are not a case sensitive

3.5.1 Simulation specific (Not applicable for file based interactive simulation)

 Pause
 PauseAt
 Continue
 Stop
 Exit
 Reconnect

Pause: To pause the currently running simulation

PauseAt: To pause the currently running simulation with respect to particular time (Ex: To
Pause simulation at 70.2 sec use command as PauseAt 70.2)

Continue: To start the currently paused simulation

Stop: To stop the currently running simulation (NetSimCore.exe)

Exit: To exit from the client (NetSimCLI.exe)

Reconnect: To reconnect client (NetSimCLI.exe) to simulation (NetSimCore.exe) when

we rerun simulation again

3.5.2 Ping Command

 The ping command is one of the most often used networking utilities for troubleshooting
network problems.
 You can use the ping command to test the availability of a networking device (usually
a computer) on a network.
 When you ping a device, you send that device a short message, which it then sends
back (the echo)
 If you receive a reply then the device is in Network, if you don’t then the device is faulty,
disconnected, switched off, incorrectly configured.
 You can use the ping cmd with an IP address or Device name.
 ICMP_Status should be set as True in all nodes(Wired_Node and Router)

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Figure 3-44: Set ICMP_Status to True in Network layer window.

 Right click on Wired_Node_1 and go to properties. Under General properties enable
Wireshark Capture option as “Online”

Ping <IP address> e.g. ping 11.4.1.2

Ping <NodeName> e.g. ping Wired_Node_2

3.5.2.1 Ping Command Results

Figure 3-45: Pinging to Wired_Node_2

 After simulation open packet trace and filter ICMP_EchoRequest and
ICMP_EchoReply from CONTROL_PACKET_TYPE/APP_NAME column

Figure 3-46: ICMP Control Packets in Packet Trace

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 Open Wireshark and apply filter ICMP. We can see the ping request and reply packets
in Wireshark.

Figure 3-47: ICMP Control Packets in Wireshark

3.5.3 Route Commands

 route print
 route delete
 route add
In order to view the entire contents of the IP routing table, use following commands route
print.

route print

Figure 3-48: Network Route Print

 You will see the routing table entries with network destinations and the gateways to
which packets are forwarded when they are headed to that destination. Unless you’ve

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already added static routes to the table, everything you see here will be dynamically
generated.
 In order to delete route in the IP routing table you will type a command using the
following syntax

Route delete destination_network

 So, to delete the route with destination network 11.5.0.0, all we’d have to do is type
this command.

route delete 11.5.1.2

 To check whether route has been deleted or not check again using route print
command.
 To add a static route to the table, you will type a command using the following syntax.

route ADD destination_network MASK subnet_mask gateway_ip METRIC metric_cost

IF interface_id

 So, for example, if you wanted to add a route specifying that all traffic bound for the
11.5.1.2 subnet went to a gateway at 11.5.1.1

route ADD 11.5.1.2 MASK 255.255.0.0 11.5.1.1 METRIC 100 IF 2

 If you were to use the route print command to look at the table now, you would see
your new static route.

Figure 3-49: Route added into Network

Note: Entry added in IP table by routing protocol continuously gets updated. If a user tries to remove a
route via route delete command, there is always a chance that routing protocol will re-enter this entry again.
Users can use ACL / Static route to override the routing protocol entry if required.

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4 Workspaces and Experiments

4.1 What is an Experiment and what is a workspace in

NetSim?
When you design & simulate a network in NetSim it is saved as an experiment. This experiment
is saved within a Workspace. In a logical sense, a workspace contains all the source code
files, executable files, icons, data files etc.

A workspace can contain one or more experiments.

In general, users need not change the workspace and can use the default workspace.

New workspaces need to be created by users when:

 The user wants to modify the underlying source code of NetSim as is typically in
research applications. The modified code will be saved in that workspace.
 A user chooses to save and organize a large number of experiments. These can be
saved under different workspaces provided by that user.
 The same PC/NetSim build is shared between multiple users.

The default workspace of NetSim will have the Master Source code and the Master Binaries
(Compiled files)

A default workspace is created in a user selected directory when NetSim is run for the first
time after installation. Choose the path where user wants the default workspace to be created
and click on OK.

Figure 4-1: Default workspace created in Documents folder

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This default workspace contains the folders.

1. \src - contains protocol source codes.

2. \bin\bin_x86 - contains NetSim binaries for 32-bit and \bin\bin_x64 contains NetSim
binaries for 64-bit.
3. \Icons - contains icons of the devices, links etc.

Figure 4-2: Default workspace contains different folders

4.2 How does a user create and save an experiment in

workspace?
To create an experiment, select New Simulation - <Any Network> in the NetSim Home Screen
as shown Figure 4-3.

Figure 4-3: NetSim Home Screen

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The created experiment can be saved by clicking on File > Save button on the top left corner
of the design window.

Figure 4-4: Save/Save As the experiment by clicking on File

A save pop-up window appears which contains Experiment Name, Description for the
experiment, Workspace Path.

Figure 4-5: Save popup window

Specify the Experiment Name and Description about the experiment (optional) and click on
Save. The workspace path is non-editable. Hence all the experiments will be saved in the
current workspace path.

Users can also select the files which are to be saved into the experiment folder.

 The Configuration file will be mandatorily saved into the experiment folder.
 Optional: Simulation output files such as Metrics.xml, Animation files, Event Trace
file, Packet Trace file and Plot data (if enabled).

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 Optional: Protocol logs (if written) or Custom Log files (if codes have been modified
for logging)

In our example, we saved the experiment with the name MANET and this experiment can be
found in the default workspace path as shown below Figure 4-6.

Figure 4-6: Manet Example Saved in Workspace

Users can also see the saved experiments in Your Work menu as shown below Figure 4-7.

Figure 4-7: Saved experiments in Your work menu

If Description was provided while saving the experiment.

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Figure 4-8: Save popup window along with Experiment Name and Description
It will be displayed when mouse pointer is placed over the experiment name in the list shown
as part of the Your Work menu.

Figure 4-9: Saved Experiment Present under Your Work menu

The “Save As” option is also available to save the current experiment with a different name.

Users can rename the experiment or Open the folder where the experiment is saved or
Delete the experiment or Export the experiment by right-clicking on the experiment in the
Your Work window as shown below Figure 4-10.

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Figure 4-10: User options to “rename the experiment” or to “open folder” by right clicking on the
experiment
In this example, we have saved all the files related to the experiment. Hence, all the files will
be stored in the experiment folder Figure 4-11.

Figure 4-11: Simulation output files in experiment folder

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4.3 Should each user have a workspace?

There is no strict association between users and workspaces. A single user can have multiple
workspaces (and in turn experiments in each workspace), or multiple users can operate in one
workspace.

4.4 How does a user export an experiment?

To save experiments in a different location, first save the experiment in the current workspace
and use export option present under Your work in the NetSim Home Screen as shown Figure
4-12.

Figure 4-12: Export option present in Your work in NetSim Home Screen
If you click on Export, an Export Experiment pop-up window appears where Users can select
the files which are to be exported as part of the experiment. The Configuration file is mandatory
and other files are optional. The destination path can be selected to export the experiment.

Figure 4-13: Export Experiment pop-up window

The exported experiments would be saved with *.netsim_exp extension.

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4.5 How does a user delete an Experiment in a workspace?

Users can delete experiments by clicking on the delete icon as shown below Figure 4-13.

Figure 4-14: Delete an Experiment in a workspace

It displays a popup window as shown below and click on OK.

Figure 4-15: Delete Experiment window popup

4.6 How does a user create a new workspace?

To create a new workspace, click on Wokspace options present in Your work Menu shown
below Figure 4-16.

Figure 4-16: Select Workspace options present in Your work Menu window

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Then select More Options

Figure 4-17: Select More Options

And select New

Figure 4-18: Select New option

A New Workspace pop-up window appears where you can input the Workspace Name,
Description and Workspace Path (where you want to create new workspace).

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Figure 4-19: New Workspace pop-up window

4.7 How does a user switch between workspaces?

Users can also switch from one workspace to another workspace. For doing this, Select Your
work->Workspace Options->More Options and click on the workspace you want to switch to
as shown below Figure 4-20.

Figure 4-20: Switch between workspaces

And then select “Set as Current” as shown below Figure 4-21.

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Figure 4-21: Select “Set as Current” workspace

4.8 How does a user export a workspace?

Users can export workspaces by selecting Your Work >> Workspace Options >> More Options
and then selecting Export option as shown below Figure 4-22.

Figure 4-22: Select Export option in Your work window

This will open export workspace window with the following options.

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Figure 4-23: Added by default Binaries, Source Code Icons to Selected Experiments list
Binaries, Source Code (available only for Standard and Pro) and Icons are added by default
as shown above. Users can add all experiments present in the current workspace by clicking
on All Experiments check box or if the user want to add particular experiment, user can right
click on the desired experiment’s name and click on Add option.

After selecting the experiments, user can export the workspace by Clicking on Export button
as shown below Figure 4-24.

Figure 4-24: Select All Experiments check box and then click on Export

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This will open a window as shown below where users can enter the path to which the
workspace is to be exported and then click on ok as shown in below Figure 4-25.

Figure 4-25: Select the path by clicking on browse option in Export Workspace window
The workspace will be exported to the path selected with an extension <workspace
name>.netsim_wsp as shown below.

Figure 4-26: Workspace exported to Location.

Users can also have options to export individual experiments by right clicking on the
experiment and select Add to add the experiment to the export list as shown below Figure
4-27.

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Figure 4-27: Export individual experiments by right clicking on the experiment and select Add to add
the experiment to the export list
The added experiments will be available in the export list shown below Figure 4-28.

Figure 4-28: Added Experiments to the export list

After adding the experiments click on Export and follow the same procedure as explained
above

Note: Users can import only the exported workspaces.

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4.9 How does a user import a workspace?

Users can import workspaces by selecting Your work >>Workspace Options >>More Options
and then selecting Import option as shown below Figure 4-29.

Figure 4-29: Select Import option in Your work window

This will display a window were users need to give the source file (exported workspace file)
and the Destination, the path where the workspace is to be imported to and then click on ok.

Note: Only exported workspaces with “.netsim_wsp” extension can be imported.

Figure 4-30: Select the path by clicking on browse option for Source and Destination
The imported workspace will be set as the current workspace. The imported workspace can
be seen by clicking on Your Work >> Workspace option >> More Options as shown below
Figure 4-31.

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Figure 4-31: Imported workspace set as the current workspace by default

(Note: Users can import only version 12.2 workspaces into NetSim v13.0)

4.10 How does a user import an experiment?

Users can also have option to import experiments. For this click on Your work and then select
Import Experiment as shown below Figure 4-32.

Figure 4-32: Import experiments option in Your work window

The following window is displayed where users need to give the path from which the
experiment has to be imported and then click on OK.

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User can import the configuration file also through giving the path from which the configuration
file has to be imported, then describe the experiment name and click on OK.

Figure 4-33: Two options for Import Experiments

The imported experiment will be available in the current workspace. To see the imported
experiment, click on Your work as shown below Figure 4-34.

Figure 4-34: Imported experiment available in the current workspace

Note: Users can import only the exported experiments

4.11 How does a user delete a workspace?

Users can also delete a workspace by clicking on the delete icon shown below Figure 4-35

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Figure 4-35: Delete a workspace by clicking on the delete icon in Your work window
Deleting current workspace is not allowed. Deleting a workspace will delete all saved
experiments and code modifications done in that workspace.

4.12 How does a user open and modify source codes?

User can also modify the source codes within a workspace. For doing this, select open Your
work ->Workspace Options->Open Code as shown below Figure 4-36.

Figure 4-36: Open code option is available in Your work window

This opens the source codes in MS Visual Studio.

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Users can then modify the protocol codes and build the solution. Then users can create a
network in NetSim or open the saved experiment which involves the protocol that has been
modified and click on run simulation. This simulation will run per the modified code.

The changes in the source codes applies to the current workspace only.

4.13 Can I use NetSim's default code for my experiments?

Yes, each workspace will have a Reset option which would set.

1. Binaries (compiled files) to default

2. Code (source C codes) to default

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5 Simulating different networks in NetSim

The following table lists the networking technologies available in the different versions of
NetSim.

Type of Network NetSim Versions

Internetwork All versions
Legacy Network All versions
Cellular Network All versions
MANET All versions
Wireless Sensor Network All versions
Software Defined Network All versions
Internet of Things All versions
Cognitive Radio All versions
LTE All versions
5G NR Available only with NetSim Standard and NetSim Pro
versions
VANET Available only with NetSim Standard and NetSim Pro
versions
Satellite Communication Available only with NetSim Standard and NetSim Pro
versions
Network Emulator Available only with NetSim Standard and NetSim Pro
versions
TDMA Radio Networks Available only with NetSim Pro version
Real Time Protocol Available only with NetSim Pro version

Figure 5-1: Networking technologies available in the different versions of NetSim

Note: Network Emulator, TDMA Radio Networks, and Real Time Protocol are available only as separate Add-On
components along with NetSim.

NetSim comes with inbuilt examples to help you understand how the different types of
networks work.

The devices models in NetSim represent common networking devices in a generic way and
do not model any specific vendor’s implementation of the device. In real-world networks, each
device has specific vendor implementation of networking protocols.

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5.1 Internetworks
An Internetwork is a collection of two or more computer networks (typically Local Area
Networks or LANs) which are interconnected to form a bigger network.

Internetworks library in NetSim covers Ethernet, Address Resolution Protocol (ARP), Wireless
LAN – 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac and e, Internet Protocol (IP), Transmission Control Protocol
(TCP), Virtual LAN (VLAN), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and routing protocols such as
Routing Information Protocol (RIP), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), Internet Group
Management Protocol (IGMP), and Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM).

To simulate Internetworks, click on New Simulation and then click on Internetworks.

5.1.1 Internetworks Examples

To simulate the Examples for different types of Internetworks

1. Go to the NetSim UI and click Examples.

The Example Simulation pane appears at the right.
2. Click the Internetwork example you wish to simulate. NetSim UI loads the example.

5.1.2 Internetwork Documentation

To view help documentation users can either click on “Technology Libraries” under
documentation in the home screen or click the ‘Book’ link located next to Internetworks in
examples. The help documentation explains the following:

 Introduction
 Simulation GUI
 Model Features
 Featured Examples
 Reference Documents
 Latest FAQ available online

5.2 Legacy Networks

Legacy networks cover older generation protocols which are rarely used today and not part of
the TCP/IP protocol suite. With the advent of TCP/IP as a common networking platform in the
mid-1970s, most legacy networks are no longer used.

NetSim Legacy Network library cover Pure Aloha and Slotted Aloha.

ALOHA is a protocol that was developed at the University of Hawaii and used for satellite
communication systems in the Pacific. ALOHA protocol was designed to send and receive

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messages between multiple stations, on a shared medium. Slotted ALOHA is improvised

version of pure ALOHA designed to reduce the chances of collisions when sending data
between the sender and the receiver.

To simulate Legacy Networks, click on New Simulation and then under Legacy networks click
on either Pure Aloha or Slotted Aloha

5.2.1 Legacy Networks Examples

To simulate Pure ALOHA and Slotted ALOHA Examples:

1. Go to the NetSim UI and click Examples.

The Example Simulation pane appears at the right.
2. Click the Legacy Network example you want to simulate. NetSim UI loads the
example.

5.2.2 Legacy Network Documentation

To view help documentation either click on “Technology Libraries” under documentation in the
home screen or click the ‘Book’ link located next Legacy Networks in examples. The help
documentation explains the following:

 Introduction
 Simulation GUI
 Model Features
 Featured Examples
 Reference Documents
 Latest FAQ available online

5.3 Cellular Networks

A cellular network (also known as a mobile network) is a communication network where the
last link is wireless. The network is distributed over land areas called cells. Every cell is served
by at least one fixed-location transceiver known as a base station. These cells together provide
radio coverage over larger geographical areas. User equipment’s such as mobile phones can
communicate even if the user is moving across different cells.

NetSim cellular networks library covers Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) and
Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA).

To simulate Cellular Networks, click on New Simulation and then under Cellular networks click
on either GSM or CDMA.

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5.3.1 Cellular Networks Examples

To simulate GSM and CDMA Examples:

1. Go to the NetSim UI and click Examples.

The Example Simulation pane appears at the right.
2. Click the Cellular Network example you want to simulate. NetSim UI loads the
example.

5.3.2 Cellular Networks Documentation

To view help documentation either click on “Technology Libraries” under documentation in the
home screen or click the ‘Book’ link located next Cellular Networks in examples. The help
documentation explains the following:

 Introduction
 Simulation GUI
 Model Features
 Featured Examples
 Reference Documents
 Latest FAQ available online

5.4 Advanced Routing

NetSim supports the following advanced routing protocols.

 Multicast Routing –
o Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP)
o Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM)
 Access Control Lists (ACLs)
 Virtual LAN (VLAN)
 Public IP and Network Address Translation (NAT)

To simulate the above-mentioned routing protocols, click on New Simulation and then
Internetworks.

5.4.1 Advanced Routing Examples

To simulate the Examples for different types of Advanced Routing protocols

1. Go to the NetSim UI and click Examples.

The Example Simulation pane appears at the right.

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2. Click the Advanced-Routing example you wish to simulate. NetSim UI loads the
example.

5.4.2 Advanced Routing Documentation

To view help documentation users can either click on “Technology Libraries” under
documentation in the home screen or they can click the ‘Book’ link located next to Advanced
Routing in examples. The help documentation explains the following:

 Simulation GUI
 Model Features
 Featured Examples
 Reference Documents
 Latest FAQ available online

5.5 MANETs
Mobile Ad-hoc Network (MANET) is an ad hoc network that can change locations and
configure itself on the fly. Because MANETS are mobile, they use wireless connections to
connect to various networks.

NetSim MANET library covers:

 L3 Routing Protocols – DSR, AODV, OLSR and ZRP

 MAC Layer – IEEE 802.11
 MANET using Bridge_Node (Wired) and Bridge_Node (Wireless)

To simulate MANET, click on New Simulation and then select Mobile Adhoc networks.

5.5.1 MANET Examples

To simulate MANET Examples:

1. Go to the NetSim UI and click Examples.

The Example Simulation pane appears at the right.
2. Click the Mobile-Adhoc-Networks example you want to simulate. NetSim UI loads
the example.

5.5.2 MANET Documentation

To view help documentation either click on “Technology Libraries” under documentation in the
home screen or click the ‘Book’ link located next MANET Networks in examples. The help
documentation explains the following:

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 Introduction
 Simulation GUI
 Model Features
 Featured Examples
 Reference Documents
 Latest FAQ available online

5.6 Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN)

Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is a group of spatially dispersed sensors that monitor and
collect the physical conditions of the environment and transmit the data they collect to a central
location. WSNs measure environmental conditions such as temperature, sound, pollution
levels, humidity, wind, and so on.

WSN in NetSim is part of NetSim’s IOT library and covers 802.15.4 MAC, PHY with MANET
routing protocols.

To simulate WSN, click on New Simulation and then Wireless Sensor Networks.

5.6.1 Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) Examples

To simulate Wireless Sensor Networks Examples:

1. Go to the NetSim UI and click Examples.

The Example Simulation pane appears at the right.
2. Click the IOT-WSN > Internet-of-Things example you want to simulate. NetSim UI
loads the example.

5.6.2 WSN Library Documentation

To view help documentation either click on “Technology Libraries” under documentation in the
home screen or click the ‘Book’ link located next to IOT-WSN examples. The help
documentation explains the following:

 Introduction
 Simulation GUI
 Model Features
 Featured Examples
 Reference Documents
 Latest FAQ available online

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5.7 Internet of Things

Internet of things (IoT) is a network of object such as vehicles, people, home appliances that
contain electronics, software, actuators that are accessible from the public Internet. The
objects are embedded with suitable technology and use IP addresses to interact and exchange
data without manual assistance or intervention. The objects can also be remotely monitored
and controlled.

In NetSim, IOT is modeled as a WSN that connects to the internet via a 6LowPAN Gateway.
WSN for IoT uses the following protocols: AODV with IPv6 addressing at the L3 layer and
802.15.4 at the MAC & PHY layers. WSN sends data to the LowPAN Gateway which uses a
Zigbee (802.15.4) interface and a WAN Interface. The Zigbee interface connects wirelessly to
the WSN and the WAN interface connects to the Internet. Additionally, users can also simulate
and analyze energy model for IoT.

To simulate IOT, click on New Simulation and then Internet of Things

5.7.1 Internet of Things (IOT) Examples

To simulate IOT Examples:

1. Go to the NetSim UI and click Examples.

The Example Simulation pane appears at the right.
2. Click the IOT-WSN > Wireless-Sensor-Networks example you want to simulate.
NetSim UI loads the example.

5.7.2 IOT Library Documentation

 Introduction
 Simulation GUI
 Model Features
 Featured Examples
 Reference Documents
 Latest FAQ available online

5.8 Software Defined Networks (SDN)

Software-defined networking (SDN) is an architecture that makes networks agile and flexible.
SDN decouples the network control and forwarding functions. SDN allows you to program your

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network control and abstracts the physical infrastructure for applications and network services.
This approach enables enterprises and service providers to respond quickly to the changing
business requirements.

Unlike other technologies, and due to the way SDN works it is not available as a menu item
under New Simulation. SDN can be configured when running Internetworks, MANET, IOT,
WSN, Cognitive Radio, LTE or VANETs

5.8.1 Software Defined Networks (SDN) Examples

To simulate Software Defined Networks Examples:

1. Go to the NetSim UI and click Examples.

The Example Simulation pane appears at the right.
2. Click the Software-Defined-Networks example you want to simulate. NetSim UI loads
the example.

5.8.2 SDN Library Documentation

To view help documentation either click on “Technology Libraries” under documentation in the
home screen or click the ‘Book’ link located next to Software Defined Network examples. The
help documentation explains the following:

 About SDN
 SDN in NetSim
 Model Features
 Featured Examples
 Reference Documents
 Latest FAQ available online

5.9 Cognitive Radio

Cognitive Radio (CR) is an adaptive, intelligent radio and network technology that
automatically detects available channels in a wireless spectrum and changes transmission
parameters to enable higher levels of communication. Cognitive Radio can be programmed
and configured dynamically to use the best wireless channels in its vicinity to avoid user
interference and congestion.

NetSim Cognitive Radio module is based on the IEEE 802.22 standard. Additionally, you can
connect a Cognitive Radio with Internetwork devices and run all the protocols supported in
Internetworks.

To simulate Cognitive Radio, click on New Simulation and then Cognitive Radio Networks

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5.9.1 Cognitive Radio Examples

To simulate Cognitive Radio Examples:

1. Go to the NetSim UI and click Examples.

The Example Simulation pane appears at the right.
2. Click the Cognitive-Radio example you want to simulate. NetSim UI loads the
example.

5.9.2 Cognitive Radio Library Documentation

To view help documentation either click on “Technology Libraries” under documentation in the
home screen or click the ‘Book’ link located next to Cognitive Radio examples. The help
documentation explains the following:

 Introduction
 Simulation GUI
 Model Features
 Featured Examples
 Reference Documents
 Latest FAQ available online

5.10 LTE
Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a standard for 4G wireless broadband technology that offers
increased network capacity and speed to mobile device users. LTE offers higher peak data
transfer rates -- up to 100 Mbps downstream and 30 Mbps upstream.

NetSim LTE Library support LTE/LTE-Advanced Networks.

Additionally, you can connect an LTE Network with Internetwork devices and run all the
protocols supported in Internetworks.

To simulate LTE/LTE-A networks, click on New Simulation and then select LTE/LTE-A
Networks.

5.10.1 LTE Examples

To simulate LTE Examples:

1. Go to the NetSim UI and click Examples.

The Example Simulation pane appears at the right.
2. Click the LTE and LTE-A example you want to simulate. NetSim UI loads the example.

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5.10.2 LTE Library Documentation

To view help documentation either click on “Technology Libraries” under documentation in the
home screen or click the ‘Book’ link located next to LTE and LTE-A examples. The help
documentation explains the following:

 Introduction
 Simulation GUI
 Model Features
 Featured Examples
 Reference Documents
 Latest FAQ available online

5.11 5G NR
NetSim 5G library features full stack, end-to-end, packet level simulation of 5G NR networks.
The 5G library is based on Rel 15 / 3GPP 38.xxx series.

NetSim 5G library models all layers of the protocol stack as well as applications running over
the network. This 5G library is architected to connect to the base component of NetSim (and
in turn to other components) which provides functionalities such as TCP/IP stack protocols,
Wireless protocols, Routing algorithms, Mobility, Output Metrics, Animation, Traces etc.

To simulate 5G NR networks, click on New Simulation and then 5G NR.

5.11.1 5G NR Examples

To simulate LTE Examples:

1. Go to the NetSim UI and click Examples.

The Example Simulation pane appears at the right.
2. Click the 5G NR example you want to simulate. NetSim UI loads the example.

5.11.2 5G NR Library Documentation

To view help documentation either click on “Technology Libraries” under documentation in the
home screen or click the ‘Book’ link located next to 5G NR examples. The help documentation
explains the following:

 Introduction
 Simulation GUI
 Model Features
 Featured Examples
 Specifications scheduled for next release.
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 Reference Documents

5.12 VANETs
Vehicular Ad-Hoc Network (VANET) is a subset of a Mobile Ad-Hoc Network or MANET that
allows vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-roadside communications to ensure safe
transportation.

To simulate VANET click on New Simulation and then click on VANET

5.12.1 VANET Examples

To simulate VANET Examples:

1. Go to the NetSim UI and click Examples.

The Example Simulation pane appears at the right.
2. Click the VANETs example you want to simulate. NetSim UI loads the example.

5.12.2 VANET Library Documentation

To view help documentation either click on “Technology Libraries” under documentation in the
home screen or click the ‘Book’ link located next to VANET examples. The help documentation
explains the following:

 Introduction
 Simulation GUI
 Model Features
 Featured Examples
 Reference Documents
 Latest FAQ available online

5.13 Satellite Communication

NetSim satellite library models end-to-end, full stack, packet level communication between
terrestrial nodes and Geostationary satellites.

The satellite can be thought of as a relay station. It operates on the bent-pipe (transparent
star) principle, sending back to Earth what comes in, with only amplification and a shift from
uplink to downlink frequency.

The Satellite MAC layer protocol supported in NetSim is TDMA for forward link and MF-TDMA
for return link (based on the DVB S2 standards). The forward link is in the Ku band (12 – 18
GHz) while the return link is in the Ka band (24 – 60 GHz)

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To simulate Satellite Communication networks, click on New Simulation and then click on
Satellite Comm. Networks

5.13.1 Satellite Communication Examples

To simulate the Examples for different types of Internetworks

1. Go to the NetSim UI and click Examples.

The Example Simulation pane appears at the right.
2. Click the Satellite-Communication example you wish to simulate. NetSim UI loads
the example.

5.13.2 Satellite Communication Documentation

To view help documentation users can either click on “Technology Libraries” under
documentation in the home screen or click the ‘Book’ link located next to Satellite-
Communication in examples. The help documentation explains the following:

 Introduction
 Simulation GUI
 Model Features
 Featured Examples
 Reference Documents

Latest FAQ available online

5.14 TDMA Radio Networks

NetSim TMDA Radio Network module uses TDMA/DTDMA in MAC/PHY along with MANET
Routing protocols in Layer 3.

To simulate TDMA Radio Networks, click on New Simulation  TDMA Radio Networks and
select TDMA/DTDMA in MAC/PHY layer of the devices.

Note: TDMA Radio Network component is available only in NetSim pro version.

5.14.1 TDMA Radio Network Examples

To simulate TDMA Radio Networks Examples:

1. Go to the NetSim UI and click Examples.

The Example Simulation pane appears at the right.
2. Click the TDMA Radio Networks example you want to simulate. NetSim UI loads the
example.

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5.14.2 TDMA Radio Network Library Documentation

To view help documentation either click on “Technology Libraries” under documentation in the
home screen or click the ‘Book’ link located next to TDMA Radio Networks examples. The help
documentation explains the following:

 Introduction
 Simulation GUI
 Model Features
 Featured Examples
 Reference Documents
 Latest FAQ available online.

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6 Applications (Network Traffic Generator)

Applications are the sources of traffic in the network. This traffic is modeled as individual
packets. These packets flow from the source to the destination over the designed network. As
it flows through the network, depending on the devices, link bandwidths and networking
protocols, the packets would experience network effects such as delay, error, loss etc.

Applications are generally parameterized in terms of packet size, inter-packet arrival time,
priority, transport protocol running below etc. Therefore, each application has its own
distinctive traffic pattern and creates its own unique load on the network.

Different applications have differing levels of complexity. Some applications are used to quickly
model basic requirements while in other cases parameters can be accurately modeled to
carefully reproduce real world characteristics. For example, if the goal is to analyze protocol
behavior, then using a simple CBR application (that generates a certain number of packets
every second of a fixed size) would suffice.

NetSim allows users to model and simulate different types of applications.

1. CBR
2. Custom
3. COAP
4. Database
5. FTP
6. Email
7. HTTP
8. PEER_TO_PEER
9. Video
10. Voice
11. Sensor App
12. Erlang Call
13. BSM
14. Emulation (available only if Emulator Add-on is licensed)

To set up the application click on the application icon from the tool bar as shown below Figure
6-1.

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Figure 6-1: Application icon from the tool bar

Figure 6-2: Application Configuration Window

This properties window allows you to model the application traffic. There may be more than
one application you may require for your simulation study. You can add (or) delete one or more
applications by clicking on the “+” or “-” symbols present on top left-hand side next to the
Application.

These application models have default values set, for the various application properties, to
model standard application behavior. Users can modify the parameters to model their own
applications.

6.1 Common properties for all applications

Application Method: It specifies the type of Application method
Unicast/Multicast/Broadcast.

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Application Type: It specifies the type of application such as CBR, Custom, Peer to
Peer, COAP, Email, HTTP, FTP, Voice, Video, Database, Erlang Call, Sensor App,
BSM, and Emulation.

Application ID: This property represents the unique identification number of the
application.

Application Name: It specifies the name of the application.

Source Count: This property represents number of sources for the application. Voice,
Video, FTP, Database and Custom applications have only one source.

Source ID: This property represents the unique identification number of the source.

Destination Count: This property represents number of destinations for the

application. Voice, Video, FTP, Database and Custom applications have only one
destination.

Destination ID: This property represents the unique identification numbers of the
destination.

For Unicast Applications, users can select the ID of a device in the network as the Destination
ID.

For Broadcast Applications, the Destination ID, is set to ‘0’.

For Multicast Applications, users can enter the number of multicast destinations in the
Destination Count filed and specify the Device ID’s of the destination devices separated by
comma (“,”) in the Destination ID field. E.g., 6, 7, 8

Start time: This property represents the start time of the application in seconds.

End time: This property represents the end time of the application in seconds.

For example, if Start time is 1s and end time is 10s then application starts generating traffic at
the 1st second and stops at the 10th second.

Encryption: Encrypts Application packet payload using algorithms such as AES, DES, XOR
and TEA. The effect of encryption can be analyzed by enabling Wireshark option in either the
source or the destination devices. Refer Section 8.7 on “Packet Capture and Analysis Using
Wireshark” for further details.

In NetSim the packet size remains constant when encrypting using these algorithms.
Therefore, using different encryption models will not have any impact on the network
performance metrics that NetSim outputs. NetSim does not perform decryption of the packet
at the receiver end since it does not have any impact on the performance metrics generated.

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Random Startup: If random start up is set true, application will start at a random time between
0 and inter-arrival time. Having a random start-up time provides more realism to the model
since all applications need not necessarily start at time = 0 in the real world.

QoS: NetSim provides QoS differentiation for the different types of applications through four
defined scheduling service types, also called QoS classes as shown below Table 6-1.

QoS Class Description Priority

The UGS scheduling service type is designed to
UGS -
support real-time data streams consisting of fixed-size
Unsolicited High
data packets issued at periodic intervals
Grant Service
The rtPS scheduling service type is designed to support
real-time data streams consisting of variable-sized data
rtPS - Real-time packets that are issued at periodic intervals. This would Medium
Polling Service be the case, for example, for MPEG (Moving Pictures
Experts Group) video transmission

The ertPS is a scheduling mechanism that builds on the

ertPS - efficiency of both UGS and rtPS. UGS allocations are
Extended real- fixed in size, ertPS allocations are dynamic. The ertPS Normal
time Polling is suitable for variable rate real-time applications that
Service have data rate and delay requirements.

The nrtPS is designed to support delay-tolerant data

streams consisting of variable-size data packets for
nrtPS - Non-
which a minimum data rate is required. The standard
real-time Polling Low
considers that this would be the case, for example, for
Service
an FTP transmission.

The BE service is designed to support data streams for

which no minimum service guarantees are required and Low
BE - Best Effort
therefore may be handled on a best basis.

Table 6-1: Different QoS classes with Description and Priority in NetSim
Priority: The priority is automatically set based on the QoS class set by the user. Depending
on the scheduling algorithm the router would process packets, with different priorities,
differently.

Session Protocol: Session Protocol is applicable only for applications that support RTP
(Real-time Transport Protocol)

Transport Protocol: This parameter is newly added to the Applications window where by
default it selects the Transport Layer Protocol (either TCP or UDP) depending on the
application that is set by the user.

Note: Users can also change the value of this parameter according to the transport protocol they intend to run a
particular application.

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6.2 Application Types

Brief explanation of application types as shown below Table 6-2.

Application Properties Units Description

Type

CBR – Packet size (Constant bytes Packets of constant size are

Constant bit distribution) – It is the size generated at constant inter arrival
Rate of the packet times.

The generation times would be as

follows:
Inter Arrival Time µs
(Constant distribution) – It
is the gap between two
Packet 1: Application start time
successive packets
Packet 2: Packet 1 + Interarrival
Time

Packet 3: Packet 2 + Interarrival

Time

....

Packet (n+1): Packet n + Interarrival

Time

Ends at Application end time

Custom Packet size (Constant, bytes It is user defined application where

Exponential distribution) – the packet size and inter-arrival
It is the size of the packet time can be set per user
requirements.
Inter Arrival Time µs
(Constant, Exponential
distribution) – It is the time

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gap between two

successive packets

Peer to Peer File size distribution - Peer-to-peer network does not have
(Constant, Exponential the notion of clients or servers but
distribution) only equal peer nodes that
simultaneously functioning as both
Value – Size of the file bytes
"clients" and "servers" to the other
nodes on the network.
Piece size - Each file is bytes
divided into equal sized Ex – Torrent, LimeWire etc.
pieces. This property
represents the size of
each piece

Email Email send/receive – - Allows users to send/receive email

Represents the rate at application
which emails are
Ex – Outlook, Apple mail, Gmail
sent/receive
etc.

Duration (Constant, Seconds

Exponential distribution) -
Time between two
successive emails

Email size (Constant, Bytes

Exponential distribution) –
Size of an email

HTTP – Inter Arrival Time seconds HTTP is a protocol that utilizes TCP
Hyper Text (Constant, Exponential to transfer its information between
Transfer distribution) – It is the time computers (usually Web servers
Protocol gap between two and clients).
successive HTTP requests
TCP should mandatorily be set as
the transport layer protocol.
Page size (Constant, bytes
Exponential distribution) –
It is the size of each page

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Page count – Represents -

the number of pages

COAP – Inter Arrival Time seconds

Constrained (Constant, Exponential
Application distribution) – It is the time
Protocol b//w two successive
COAP requests

Page size (Constant, bytes

Exponential distribution) –
It is the size of each page

Response time – It is the ms

time taken by a device to
generate response

Multicast response – -
Represents the server
responds to multicast
response or not
It is a specialized web transfer
NSTART – Limit the -
protocol for use with constrained
number of simultaneous
nodes and constrained (e.g., low-
outstanding interactions
power, lossy) networks and
that a client maintains to a
designed for M2M applications
given server

DEFAULT_LEISURE – -
This setting is only
relevant in multicast
scenarios, outside the
scope of the EST-coaps
draft
PROBING_RATE: A -
parameter which specifies
the rate of re-sending
Non-confirmable
messages.
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© TETCOS LLP. All rights reserved

Ack required – It -
represents whether the
ack for the
request/response to be
sent or not

FTP – File File size (Constant, bytes It is a standard network

Transfer Exponential distribution) – protocol used for the transfer
Protocol It is the size of the file of files between a client and server

Note: Devices must have TCP

enabled as the transport layer
protocol.

Ex – FileZilla

File Inter Arrival Time seconds The generation times would be as

size (Constant, follows:
Exponential distribution) –
It is the gap between two
files File 1: Application start time

File 2: File 1 + Interarrival Time

File 3: File 2 + Interarrival Time

....

File (n+1): File n + Interarrival Time

Ends at Application end time

The files are in-turn fragmented into

packets during the simulation.

Users can generate one file by

setting

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𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇

< (𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇
+ 𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇)

Database Transaction size bytes A database application is a

(Constant, Exponential computer program whose primary
distribution) - It represents purpose is entering and retrieving
the size of each information from a
transaction computerized database

Ex – MS Excel, MySQL etc.

Transaction Inter Arrival µs
Time (Constant,
Exponential distribution) –
It is the time gap between
two successful
transactions

Voice Packet size (Constant, bytes It allows users to configure voice

Exponential) – It is the application between client and
size of the packet server

Packet Inter Arrival Time µs

(Constant, Exponential Note – Distribution is constant only
distribution) - It is the gap for all codec types except custom
between two successful
packets
Ex – Skype
Service type – CBR, VBR -

Suppression models -
available for VBR –
Deterministic, Markov
chain

Success ratio - Sets the %

ratio of the packets that
are not silenced during
VBR calls

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Video Model Type - Continuous - It allows users to configure video

Normal VB, Continuous application between client and
State Autoregressive server
Markov, Quantized State
Ex – Skype
Continuous Time Markov,
Simple IPB Composite
Model

Erlang Call Packet size (Constant, bytes The erlang is a unit of traffic density
Exponential distribution) – in a telecommunications system.
It is the size of the packet One erlang is the equivalent of one
call
Packet Inter Arrival Time µs
(Constant, Exponential
distribution) - It is the gap Note – Distribution is constant only
between two successful for all codec types except custom
packets

Call duration (Constant, seconds

Exponential distribution) –
It is the duration of each
call

Call Inter Arrival Time seconds

(Constant, Exponential
distribution) - It is the gap
between two successful
calls

Service type – VBR, CBR -

Suppression model -
available for VBR –
Deterministic, Markov
chain

Success ratio - Sets the %

ratio of the packets that

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are not silenced during

VBR calls

Sensor App Packet size (Constant bytes Used to create application between
distribution) – It is the size two sensors
of the packet
Ex – Smart home, Smart water etc.

Packet Inter Arrival Time µs

(Constant distribution) - It
is the gap between two
successful packets

BSM – Packet size (Constant, bytes The BSM Application class sends
Basic safety Exponential distribution) – and receives the IEEE 1609 WAVE
message It is the size of the packet (Wireless Access in Vehicular
Environments) Basic Safety

Packet Inter Arrival Time µs Messages (BSMs). The BSM is a

(Constant, Exponential 20-byte packet that is generally

distribution) - It is the gap broadcast from every vehicle at a

between two successful nominal rate of 10 Hz.

packets Note - Available only with VANET

component

Ex – Traffic management

Emulation Source Real IP - - NetSim Emulation application

Specifies the real IP enables users to connect NetSim
Address of source device simulator to real devices and
in Emulation interact with live applications.

Source Port - Specifies

the Port no used for Note - Will be present only when
transmission by Emulator Add-on is licensed
Application running in
source device

Destination Real IP -
Specifies the real IP

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Address of destination
device in Emulation

Destination Port -
Specifies the Port no used
for reception by
Application running in
destination device

Table 6-2: Brief explanation of application types

Voice, Erlang call

For Voice and Erlang call applications, Codec option is available as follows.

Codec

Codec stands for Coder-decoder. Codecs are devices which encode / decode digital data
streams. Codec is the component of any voice system that translates between analog speech
and the bits used to transmit them. Every codec transmits a burst of data in a packet that can
be reconstructed into voice.

Five different standards of voice codec’s available in NetSim are G.711, G.729, G.723, GSM-
FR, GSM-EFR which can be selected depending on the variations required. Packet size and
Inter-arrival time value will vary depending on the codec value chosen.

G.711: G.711 is a Pulse code modulation (PCM) of voice frequencies on a 64-kbps channel.
G.711 uses a sampling rate of 8,000 samples per second. Non-uniform quantization with 8
bits is used to represent each sample, resulting in a 64-kbps bit rate. There are two types of
standard compression algorithms are used.

 µ-law algorithm.
 A-law algorithm.

G.729: The G.729 speech codec uses audio data compression algorithm and compress the
data at bit rates that vary between 6.4 and 12.4 kbps. Coding of speech at 8 kbps using
conjugate-structure algebraic-code-excited linear prediction (CS-ACELP).

G.723: G.723 is an ITU standard for speech codecs that uses the ADPCM method and
provides good quality audio at 24 and 40 Kbps.

GSM-FR: GSM–Full Rate (GSM-FR) speech codec was developed in early 1990s and was
adopted by the 3GPP for mobile telephony. The codec operates on each 20ms frame of
speech signals sampled at 8 KHz and generates compressed bit-streams with an average bit-

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rate of 13 kbps. The codec uses Regular Pulse Excited – Long Term Prediction – Linear
Predictive Coder (RPE-LTP) technique to compress speech. The codec provides voice activity
detection (VAD) and comfort noise generation (CNG) algorithms and an inherent packet loss
concealment (PLC) algorithm for handling frame erasures. The codec was primarily developed
for mobile telephony over GSM networks.

GSM-EFR: GSM enhanced full rate speech codec is a speech coding standard that was
developed in order to improve the quite poor quality of GSM-Full Rate (FR) codec. Working at
12.2 kbps the EFR provides wire like quality in any noise free and background noise
conditions. The EFR 12.2 kbps speech coding standard is compatible with the
highest AMR mode (both are ACELP).

CUSTOM: It is similar to the CUSTOM application type explained in the table above.

Video Models

Model Type

 Continuous Normal VBR – This model is the simplest of all models. It uses Normal
Distribution for the generation of bits per pixel. In this model, consecutive packet sizes
are independent of each other.
o Frames per second – Number of frames arriving per second. This is in the range
of 10 – 100.
o Pixels per frame -Number of pixels in each frame. This is in the range of 10000 –
100000.
o Bits per pixel (µ) – Mean value of the normal distribution used to generate the
value of bits per pixel.
o Bits per pixel (Σ) – Standard Deviation of the normal distribution used to generate
the value of bits per pixel.
 The generation rate for video application can be calculated by using the
formula Generation Rate (bits per second) = fps * ppf * bpp
where, fps = frames per second, ppf = pixel per frame, bpp (µ) = bits per
pixel (mean)
 Users can set the above-mentioned parameters in the Application
Properties.
 Continuous State Autoregressive Markov –This model incorporates the
autocorrelation between the frames. Also, current packet size depends on the previous
packet size via the first order autoregressive Markov process.
o Frames per second – Number of frames arriving per second. This is in the range
of 10 – 50.

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o Pixels per frame - Number of pixels in each frame. This is in the range of 10000 –
100000.
o Constants A, B– First order autoregressive Markov process λ(n) can be generated
by the recursive relation λ(n) = aλ(n-1)+bw(n).
o Eta– The steady-state average E(λ)and discreet auto covariance C(n) are given by
E(λ) = (b / (1-a) ) η C(n)=(b2/(1-a2))an where η is the Gaussian parameter.
 Quantized State Continuous Time Markov –In this model the bit rate is quantized
into finite discrete levels. This model takes uniform quantization step as A bits/pixel.
There are M + 1 possible levels (0, A… MA). Transitions between levels are assumed
to occur with exponential rates that may depend on the current level. This model is
approximating the bit rate by a continuous time process λ(t) with discrete jumps at
random Poisson time.
o Frames per second – Number of frames arriving per second. This is in the range
of 10 – 100.
o Pixels per frame - Number of pixels in each frame. This is in the range of 10000 –
100000.
o No of Multiplexed Sources– This model considers the aggregate instantaneous
input rate λN (t) instead of the single source bit rate λ (t). The total rate is the sum
of N independent random processes each with mean E (λ) and variance C (0) at
steady state. Therefore, the steady state- mean of λN (t) will be E (λ N) =N x E (λ)
bits/pixel.
o Quantization Level– This model takes uniform quantization step as A bits/pixel.
There are M + 1 possible levels (0, A, MA). Transitions between levels are assumed
to occur with exponential rates that may depend on the current level.
 Simple IPB Composite Model–In this model, the frames are organized as
IBBPBBPBBPBBIBBPBB… i.e., 12 frames in a Group of Pictures (GOP). Generate X0
from a Gaussian distribution N(0, y 0). Set initial value N0= 0, D0 = 1.

For k = 1, 2,…, N-1, calculate Φkj , j = 1, 2,…,k iteratively using the following formulae

Nk = r(k) – j=1Σk-1Φk-1,j r(k-j)

Dk = Dk-1 –(N2k-1/Dk-1)

Φkk = Nk / Dk

Φkj = Φk-1, j-ΦkkΦk-1,k-j j=1,….,k-1

mk = j = 1ΣkΦkjXk-j

y k = (1- Φ2kk) yk-1

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Finally, each Xk is chosen from N (mk, y k). Thus, we get a process X with ACF approximating
to r (k).

The auto correlation function can be calculated in a recursive way as follows:

r(0) = 1, r(k+1) = ((k+d)/(k+1))r(k)

Where d= H-0.5.

H is called the Hurst parameter k-β is used as the ACF of a self-similar process. We get the
value of H parameter for a self-similar process using the relationship,

Β = 2 – 2H

Distribution of these data is Gaussian. For data to be Beta distributed, the following mapping
is being used.

Yk = F-1β (FN(Xk)), k>0

Xk: Self-similar Gaussian process,

FN: The cumulative probability of normal distribution,

F-1β: The inverse cumulative probability functions of the Beta model.

o Frames per second – Number of frames arriving per second. This is in the range
of 10 – 50.
o Gamma I, Gamma B, Gamma P, Eta I, Eta B, Eta P, Beta I, Beta P, Beta B –
Refer i-button help of Simple IPB Composite Model.

6.3 Network Traffic Generation Rate for Different

Applications
This section explains how the traffic generation rate can be calculated for different types of
applications:

CBR and Custom application

𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 (𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀) = (𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑠𝑠) ∗ 8) / 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 (µ𝑠𝑠)

Example: Packet size = 1460Bytes and Inter arrival time = 20000µs.

Generation rate (Mbps) = 1460*8/20000 = 0.584Mbps

Video

The traffic generation rate for Video applications are based on the
CONTINUOUS_NORMAL_VBR model. This CONTINUOUS_NORMAL_VBR model is the
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© TETCOS LLP. All rights reserved

simplest of all video models in NetSim. It uses Normal Distribution for the generation of bits
per pixel. In this model, consecutive packet sizes are independent of each other. The
generation rate for video application can be calculated by using the formula shown below:

𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠) = 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 ∗ 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 ∗ 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏

where, fps = frames per second

ppf = pixel per frame

bpp (µ) = bits per pixel (mean)

Users can set the above-mentioned parameters in the Application Properties.

Example: Frames per second = 20, pixels per frame = 10000, bits per pixel = 0.52 then the
generation rate would be

Generation rate (bps) = fpsppfbpp

= 20100000.52 = 104000 bits per second = 0.1040 Mbps

Voice

𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 (𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀) = (𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏) ∗ 8) / 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 (µ𝑠𝑠))

Note – Distribution is constant for all codec types except custom.

𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 (𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀) = (𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏) ∗ 8) / 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 (𝑠𝑠)

Example: Email size = 20000bytes, Duration = 1s.

Generation rate (Mbps) = 20000*8/1000000 = 0.16Mbps

HTTP

𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 (𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀) = (𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏) ∗ 8 ∗ 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐) / 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 (𝑠𝑠)

Example: Page size = 20000 Bytes, Page Count = 2, Inter arrival time = 3s

Generation rate (Mbps) = 2000082/3000000 = 0.106Mbps

FTP

𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 (𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀) = (𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏) ∗ 8) / 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 (𝑠𝑠)

Example: File size = 100000 Bytes, Inter arrival time = 5s

Generation rate (Mbps) = 100000*8/5 = 0.16Mbps

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Database

𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 (𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀) = (𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏) ∗ 8) / 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 (µ𝑠𝑠)

Example: Packet size = 10000 Bytes, Inter arrival time = 1000000µs

Generation rate (Mbps) = 10000*8/1000000 = 0.08Mbps

BSM

Example: Packet size = 20Bytes and Inter arrival time = 1000000µs.

Generation rate (Mbps) = 20*8/1000000 = 0.00016Mbps

6.4 Priority and QoS of Applications

The various application traffic generated in NetSim have the following priority and QoS values
as shown below Table 6-3.

Application Type Priority Value Priority QoS Class

Voice – One way 8 High RTPS
Voice – Two way 8 High UGS
Video 6 Medium nRTPS
FTP 2 Low BE
Database 2 Low BE
Custom 2 Low BE
Voice – One way 8 High RTPS
Voice – Two way 8 High UGS
Video 6 Medium nRTPS
FTP 2 Low BE
Database 2 Low BE
Custom 2 Low BE
Table 6-3: Priority and QoS of Applications
Note: Priority of “Normal” has a Priority Value of 4 and “nRTPS” QoS Class. Ex: Video over TCP.

Priority will have an impact on network performance when multiple applications with different
priorities are configured in a network. These packets will be queued and dequeued from the
router buffer based on the priority.

6.5 Capture real applications and simulate in NetSim

Users can capture packets from a live network using Wireshark. This can then be used as an
input to NetSim as explained in Section 4 of the Emulator technology library user guide.

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6.6 Modelling Poisson arrivals in NetSim

Any time you have events which occur individually at random moments, but which tend to
occur at an average rate when viewed as a group, you have a Poisson process.

For example, we can estimate that a certain node generates 1200 packets per minute. These
packets are randomly generated within a minute, but there are on average 1200 packets per
minute. If 1200 packets generated per minute that, on average, one packet is generated every
60 / 1200 = 0.05 seconds. So, let’s define a variable λ = 1/ 0.05 = 20 and call it the rate
parameter. The rate parameter λ is a measure of frequency: the average rate of events
(packets) per unit of time (in this case, seconds).

Knowing this, we can ask questions like, what is the probability that a packet will be generated
within the next second? What’s the probability within the next 10 seconds? There’s a well-
known function to answer such questions. It’s called the cumulative distribution function for
the exponential distribution, and it looks like this:

𝐹𝐹(𝑥𝑥 ) = 1 − 𝑒𝑒 −𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆

Figure 6-3: Plot for cumulative distribution function for the exponential distribution
Basically, the more time passes, the more likely it is that a packet is generated. The word
“exponential”, in this context, refers to exponential decay. As time passes, the probability of
having no packets generated decays towards zero – and correspondingly, the probability of
having at least one packet generated increases towards one.

Plugging in a few values, we find that:

 The probability of generating a packet within the next 0.05 seconds is F (0.05) ≈ 0.63
 The probability of generating a packet within 1 second is F (1) ≈ 0.999999998

In particular, note that after 0.05 seconds – the prescribed average time between packets –
the probability is F (0.05) ≈ 0.63.

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Generating Poisson arrivals in NetSim

We simply write a function to determine the exact amount of time until the next packet. This
function should return random numbers, but not the uniform kind of random number produced
by most generators. We want to generate random numbers in a way that follows our
exponential distribution.

Given that the inverse of the exponential function is ln, it’s easy to write this analytically, where
R is the random value between 0 and 1:

1 − 𝑅𝑅
𝑇𝑇 = − 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑒
𝜆𝜆

Where 𝑇𝑇 is the time at which the next packet is generated.

The simple way of selecting this via the UI is to select exponential distribution for inter-arrival
time inside application properties.

6.7 Application Configuration – Special Conditions

1. In a wired network with routers and switches OSPF, spanning tree etc. takes times to
converge and hence it is a good practice to set the application start time greater than
OSPF convergence time. In general, the applications can start at 20s for smaller
networks and should be increased as the size of the network grows.
2. If applications are started before OSPF convergence, then.
 Packets generated before OSPF table convergence may be dropped at the
gateway router.
 The application may also stop if ICMP is enabled in the router.’
 If TCP is enabled TCP may stop after the re-try limit is reached (since the SYN
packets would not reach the destination)
3. For MANET networks the application start time should be a min of 5s, since that
amount of time is required for convergence of OLSR/ZRP.

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7 Running Simulation via Command Line

Interface

7.1 Running NetSim via CLI

Advanced users can model their simulation via a configuration file (which can be created
without the NetSim GUI) and run the simulation from command line. This is typically done in
cases where very large networks are to be simulated (it takes too long to create it in the GUI),
or to run a series of simulations automatically. The configuration file contains all required
information to run the simulation including the network topology, devices, links, traffic,
statistics, traces etc. To run Simulation in NetSim through command line interface (CLI), the
following steps have to be followed.

Step 1: Note the Application Path

Application path is the current workspace location of the NetSim that you want to run. The
default application path will be something like
“C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default\bin\bin_x64” for 64-bit and
“C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_32_std_default\bin\bin_x86” for 32-bit. For
more information on NetSim workspace, Refer Section 4 “Workspaces and Experiments”.

Step 2: Note the IO Path

IO path (Input/output Path) is the path where the input and output files of an application is
written. This is similar to the temp path of windows OS. For NetSim, the IO path can be got by
Start  Run  %temp%/NetSim. Once you reach this folder, the user can notice that the
path would be something like

“C:\Users\PC\AppData\Local\Temp\NetSim\std13.0.14_x64”

The IO path is the path where the Configuration.netsim (NetSim Configuration file) of the
scenario, that will be simulated, should be present.

App path and IO path can also be same, i.e., Configuration.netsim can be placed inside the
app path (if the app path has the write permission). Otherwise, users can create a folder for
IO path and Configuration.netsim can be placed inside that folder.

Note: Sample configuration.netsim files are available in the <NetSim installation Directory>/Docs/
Sample_Configurations folder of the NetSim install directory inside the respective protocol folder names.

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Step 3: Running NetSim through command line for Simulation.

To run NetSim through command line, copy the app path where NetSimCore.exe is present
and paste it in the command prompt.

>cd <app path>

Note: File path should be always added in the command prompt within double quotes. For example,

>cd “C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default\bin\bin_x64”

7.1.1 Running in CLI Mode when using floating licenses

For floating licenses, type the following in the command prompt. The type of license can be
seen by clicking on Help  About NetSim in GUI of NetSim.

>NetSimCore.exe<space> -apppath<space><app path><space>-

iopath<space><io path><space>-license<space>5053@<Server IP Address>

Where,

 <app path> contains all files of NetSim including NetSimCore.exe. Specifying the app
path is optional. NetSim will take the current path as app path if not specified.
 <iopath> contains Configuration.netsim. (Configuration.xsd is available in the bin
folder of NetSim’s current workspace path
<C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default\bin\bin_x64> for 64-bit
and <C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default\bin\bin_x86> for
32-bit). Refer section 7.2.4 to know about configuration.xsd file.
 5053 is the port number through which the system communicates with the license
server i.e. the system in which the dongle is running (for floating license users)
 <Server IP Address> is the ip address of the system where NetSim license server
(dongle) is running.
Note: Please contact your network administrator / lab in-charge to know the IP address of the PC where
the NetSim license server is running.

The following screenshot is the example of running NetSim through CLI where the ip address
of the NetSim license server is 192.168.0.9.

Figure 7-1: Running NetSim through CLI mode for floating license

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7.1.2 Running in CLI Mode when using node-locked or cloud licenses

For cloud licenses and node-locked licenses, type the following in the command prompt

>NetSimCore.exe<space>apppath<space><apppath><space>iopath<space><io
path><space>-license<space><license file path>

Where,

 <app path> contains all files of NetSim including NetSimCore.exe

 <iopath> contains Configuration.netsim and Configuration.xsd
 <license file path> path where the license file is present. This is generally the
<NetSim_Installation_Directory>/bin folder.
For E.g. C:\Program Files\NetSim\Standard_v13_0\bin

The following screenshot is the example of running NetSim through CLI for the node locked or
cloud license.

Figure 7-2: Running NetSim through CLI mode for Cloud and Node lock licenses
Once simulation is complete the text files that are requested by the end user in
Configuration.netsim will be written in the <iopath>.

To know more about the options that are available to run NetSim via CLI, type the following in
the command prompt.

>cd <app path>

>NetSimCore.exe –h

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Figure 7-3: More Options available to run NetSim via CLI

7.1.3 Quick edit for copy pastes in CLI mode

With Quick Edit mode, you can copy text between a command window and Windows-based
programs, and you can also paste text into a command window by using a right-click
operation. To use Quick edit mode in command prompt users can run the command prompt
 Right Click the icon in the upper-left corner of the Command Prompt window, and then
Click Properties In the options, enable Quick Edit mode  and click on OK.

Figure 7-4: Quick edit mode via CLI Running

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7.2 Understanding the Configuration.netsim file

When a scenario is created in the GUI, NetSim’s UI code write all the details about the devices
used and its properties, the links used and their properties, the properties of the environment
being used, etc. in the file Configuration.netsim

The simulation engine that contains DLLs and NetSimCore.exe reads this
Configuration.netsim, executes the simulation and writes output metrics files. The GUI then
displays the metrics based on the text files written by the backend.

In order to run NetSim through command line (CLI), the user must create the
Configuration.netsim file furnishing all the details about the devices, links and the environment
of the desired scenario.

7.2.1 How to use Visual Studio to edit the Configuration file?

In Visual Studio, XML view provides an editor for editing raw XML and provides IntelliSense
and color coding. After you type the element name and press the CTRL+ SPACE, you will be
presented with a list of attributes that the element supports. This is known as “IntelliSense”.
Using this feature, you can select the options that are required to create the desired scenario.

Color coding is followed to indicate the elements and the attributes in a unique fashion.

The following screenshot displays the Configuration.netsim which is opened through the Visual
Studio as shown below Figure 7-5.

Figure 7-5: Open Configuration.netsim file via Visual Studio

To reformat click on editAdvancedFormat Document.

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Figure 7-6: Reformat the Configuration.netsim file

7.2.2 Sections of Configuration file

These are the different sections in Configuration.netsim:

 EXPERIMENT_INFORMATION
 GUI_INFORMATION
 NETWORK_CONFIGURATION
 SIMULATION_PARAMETER
 PROTOCOL_CONFIGURATION
 STATISTICS_COLLECTION

EXPERIMENT_INFORMATION:

This section contains the details about the user credentials, such as the user mode (Admin or
Exam or Practice), experiment name, date on which the experiment is created and the
comments about the experiment. This section plays a significant role while running NetSim
through GUI.

GUI_INFORMATION:

This section contains the GUI information like the environment length, view type etc. and the
network name which is desired to be run.

NETWORK_CONFIGURATION:

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This section is used to configure the devices and the links of the desired network at each layer
of the TCP/IP stack. It consists of DEVICE_CONFIGURATION, CONNECTION and
APPLICATION_CONFIGURATION. DEVICE_CONFIGURATION configures the devices in
the desired network while the CONNECTION configures the links in the desired network and
APPLICATION configures the Applications.

SIMULATION_PARAMETER:

Simulation time and seed values are described in this section.

PROTOCOL_CONFIGURATION:

IPV4 and static ARP are enabled or disabled in this section. The text files illustrating the static
routing and static ARP can be obtained by enabling the corresponding tags in the
Configuration.netsim.

STATISTICS_COLLECTION:

The packet trace and the event trace can be observed in the text files which are created by
enabling the tags in this section. The required fields of the packet trace can be enabled in the
PACKET_TRACE while the event trace can be enabled in the EVENT_TRACE of this section.

7.2.3 Sample Configuration file

Sample “Configuration.netsim” file will be installed in user system along with the software at
<NetSim installed Path>\Docs\ Sample_Configuration\ <Network Technology>.User can open
and edit these files using Visual Studio 2015/2017/2019 or any XML editor. The purpose of
providing the sample “Configuration.netsim” file is to assist the user in writing a network
scenario manually by analyzing the format for that specific network technology.

7.2.4 Configuration.xsd file

Configuration.xsd is an XML schema Definition file which is present in the bin folder of
NetSim’s current workspace path <C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default
\bin\bin_x64> for 64-bit and <C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default
\bin\bin_x86> for 32-bit.

Configuration.xsd file can be placed inside the <iopath> along with the configuration.netsim
file to verify the contents in the configuration.netsim file. This file checks and validates the
structure and vocabulary of a configuration.netsim document against the grammatical rules of
the appropriate XML language.

It is not mandatory to place the configuration.xsd file along with the Configuration.netsim file
in the iopath. But if it is done, then it will be easier to check & validate changes that are done
to the Configuration.netsim file.

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8 Outputs: Results, Plots and Data Files

8.1 Result Window and Plots Windows

The results of a simulation run are presented in a unified dashboard for convenient analysis.
The graphical displays are application throughputs, link throughputs, buffer occupancy and
TCP congestion windows. The tabular presentation includes end-to-end delays, jitter, errors,
packets generated / received / collided, route tables, TCP Acks, retransmissions etc.

Results are organized per interface, per device, per application and per link. In addition,
summary metrics are aggregated and presented system-wide (network-level). Information in
the trace files contain individual packet flow and individual event execution. Protocol log files
records a myriad of information pertaining to protocol operation necessary for in-depth analysis
and debugging.

The results can be exported as a .csv file and opened in a spread sheet software like Excel.
Results can also be exported in .html format and opened in a browser.

Figure 8-1: Result Window

8.1.1 Application and Link Throughput Plots

If plots are enabled, NetSim plots Instantaneous (50 ms averaging window), Cumulative
moving average and Time Average for link and application throughputs.

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Figure 8-2: Link Throughput plot

Guidance for Zooming, Panning, and obtaining XY co-ordinate value are providing on the
bottom left of the window.

The ‘re-plot’ option can be used to change the X-value Min and Max, and to change the
averaging window for plotting the instantaneous throughput.

8.1.2 Buffer Occupancy Plot

The buffer occupancy over time can be plotted by setting Buffer Occupancy Plot Enabled to
True. This parameter is available wherever there are buffers in NetSim such as in Router –
WAN Port – Network Layer as shown Figure 8-3.

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Figure 8-3: Buffer Occupancy Plot Enabled to True in WAN Port – Network Layer
Upon simulation the buffer occupancy plot can be opened from the Results Window and
would look like what is shown below Figure 8-4.

Figure 8-4: Buffer occupancy plot

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8.1.3 TCP Congestion Window Plot

The TCP Congestion window over time can be plotted by setting Congestion Window Plot
Enabled to True. This parameter is available wherever in the end nodes in NetSim where
TCP has been enabled, for example Wired Node – Transport Layer.

Figure 8-5: Set TCP Congestion Plot Enabled to True in Transport Layer
Upon simulation the TCP congestion window plot can be opened from the Results Window
and would look like what is shown below Figure 8-6.

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Figure 8-6: TCP Congestion window plot

The downsampling algorithm in NetSim plot engine leads to some approximations while
plotting, especially in TCP. To see a precise TCP congestion plot window please use
Wireshark.

8.1.4 Notes on plots

1. To accelerate plotting, NetSim uses down-sampling/decimation to choose n points

from N for plotting.
 NetSim generates n random numbers from a discrete uniform 𝑈𝑈 ( 0, 𝑁𝑁 − 1)
distribution and plots these n points.
 To get a more precise plot users can select the min and max values in the time
series and replot.
2. The link throughput is calculated as the sum of throughputs in both directions for a full
duplex link.
3. Application throughput is plotted till the last packet reaches or end of simulation time,
whichever is earlier.
4. Cumulative Moving Average: This is the average of the metric up until the current time
and is defined as.
1 𝒕𝒕
��
𝜃𝜃(t) = ∫𝟎𝟎 𝒓𝒓(𝒖𝒖)𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝑡𝑡

8.1.5 Link metrics

Here users can view the values of the metrics obtained based on the overall network and also
displays the values of the metrics pertaining to each link.

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 Link_ Id - It is the unique Id for the link.

 Link_ throughput_ graph – Plots throughput vs. Simulation time

Formula:

𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 ∗ 8

𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 𝑇𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟ℎ𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝(𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀) =
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 (𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠)

Total Bytes transmitted is counted for successful data packets and control packets.

The calculation is based on the packet size (bytes) at the PHY layer, which would include app
layer payload plus the overheads of all layers. Error and collision packets are not included in
this calculation and only successful packets are counted for calculation of this metric.

 Packets_ Transmitted - It is the total number of packets transmitted in the link. Along
with data packets, it includes protocol control packets like ARP Request, ARP Reply,
TCP_ACK, TCP_SYN, RTS, CTS, WLAN_ACK, OSPF_ HELLO, RIP packets etc.
 Packets_ errored - Total number of packets error in the link inclusive of data and
control packets.
 Packets_ collided - Total number of packets collided in the link including data and
control packets.
 Bytes_ Transmitted - It is the total number of bytes transmitted in the link. It is equal
to the sum of the ‘Payload_ Transmitted’ and ‘Overhead_ Transmitted’ transmitted in
the link.
 Payload_ Transmitted - It is the total payload transmitted in the link.
 Overhead_ Transmitted - It is the total overhead transmitted in the link. It includes the
layer wise overheads and all control packets in the link.

8.1.6 Queue Metrics

Displays the values of the queue metrics for the devices containing buffer queue like routers,
access points etc.

 Device Id - Unique id number of the device.

 Port Id - Unique id number of the port of the device. This is also called as interface id.
 Queued Packet - Number of packets queued at a particular port of a device.
 Dequeued Packet - Number of packets removed from the queue at a particular port of
device.
 Dropped Packet - Number of packets dropped at a particular port of a device.

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8.1.7 Protocol Metrics

The Performance metrics tables of protocols such as TCP, UDP, IP, IEEE802.11, LTE, AODV
and DSR are provided in the respective technology library documentation.

8.1.8 Device Metrics

Displays device related metrics like ARP table, IP forwarding tables. This is also dependent
upon the type of network/technology simulated.

IP_Forwarding Table

 Network Destination - It represents the Network address of the destination.

 Netmask/Prefix length - A 32-bit combination used to describe which portion of an
address refers to the subnet and which part refers to the host.
 Gateway - It is the IP address of the next-hop router.
 Interface - It represents a network connection.
 Metrics - It is the value used to choose between two routes.
 Type - It represents the type of the network i.e. local/Multicast/Broadcast

Switch MAC Address Table: These metrics will be displayed when we run networks having
Switches.

 MAC Address - It represents the MAC address of the switch interfaces.

 Type - It is the type of the switch.
 Outport - It is the output port of the switch.

8.1.9 Cellular Metrics

Displayed if GSM or CDMA is running in the network.

GSM/CDMA Metrics. MS Metrics

 MS Id - It is the id of the Mobile station.

 Call Generated - It is the number of calls generated by a Mobile Station.
 Call Blocked - It is the number of calls blocked by a Base station when no channel
available.
 Call Blocking probability - It is the probability of calls blocked by a base station.
 Channel request sent - It is the number of channel requests sent by a mobile station.
 Call request sent - It is the number of call requests sent by a mobile station (at source)
 Call request received - It is the number of call requests received by a mobile station
(at destination)
 Call accepted - It represents the number of calls accepted by a mobile station.
 Call rejected - It represents the number of calls rejected by a mobile station.

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 Handover request - It is the number of handover requests sent by a mobile station.

Handover refers to the process of transferring an ongoing call or data session from one
channel connected to the core network to another channel.
 Call dropped - It represents the number of calls dropped by a BS.
 Call dropping probability - It represents the probability of number of calls dropped by
a BS.

8.1.10 Channel metrics

 BS Id - It is the Id of a Base Station.

 Channel Id - It represents the channel number.
 Uplink frequency - It is the uplink frequency of the GSM network to send data from
mobile station to base station.
 Downlink frequency - It is the downlink frequency of the GSM network to send data
from base station to mobile station.
 Time slot - It represents the time slot. In GSM network, Frequency band is divided into
200kHz carriers and then each carrier is divided into 8 time slots (0-7).

8.1.11 Sensor metrics

Displayed if WSN/IOT is running in the network.

 Device Id - It represents the Id’s of the sensor and LoWPAN Gateway.

 Packet Transmitted - It is the number of packets (either data/routing/ZigBee)
transmitted by Sensor and LoWPAN gateway
 Packet Received - It is the number of packets (either data/routing/ZigBee) received
by Sensor and LoWPAN gateway
 Ack Transmitted - It is the number of acknowledgements transmitted by a particular
device.
 Ack Received - It is the number of acknowledgements received by a particular device.
 CCA Attempt - It represents the number of Clear channel Assessment attempts at
sensors and LoWPAN Gateway used to determine whether the medium is idle or not.
 Successful CCA Attempt - It represents the number of successful CCA attempts at
sensors and LoWPAN Gateway.
 Failed CCA - It represents the number of failed CCA attempts at sensors.
 Total Backoff Time - It is the total backoff time obtained. It is the time that sensors
have to wait before attempting to access the channel.
 Average Backoff time - It is the average backoff time.

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 Beacon Transmitted - It the total number of beacons transmitted by a LoWPAN

Gateway. It transmits network beacons in a beacon enabled mode. If beacon mode is
enabled, it follows slotted CSMA/CA algorithm
 Beacon Received - It is the total number of beacons received by the sensors.
 Beacon Forwarded - It is the total number of beacons forwarded by the sensors.
 Beacon Time - It is the total time calculated for beacon transmission at LoWPAN
Gateway.
 CAP Time - It is the total Contention Access Period obtained during simulation. During
this time, sensors compete for channel.
 CFP Time - It is the total Contention free period obtained. In CFP, nodes request for
Guarantee time slots. If GTS is allocated, nodes can transmit without contention.

8.1.12 Battery Model

 Device Name - It represents the Name and Id of the Sensor

 Initial Energy - It represents the initial energy of the sensors.
 Consumed Energy - This is the total energy consumed by the respective sensor.
 Remaining Energy - This is the remaining energy of the sensor at the end of the
simulation.
 Transmission Energy - It is the energy consumed by the respective sensor for
transmitting data.
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 (𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚) = 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 (𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚) × 𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉 (𝑉𝑉) ×
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴(𝑠𝑠).
 Receiving Energy - It is the energy consumed by the respective sensor while receiving
data.
𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 (𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚) = 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 (𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚) × 𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉 (𝑉𝑉) ×
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴(𝑠𝑠).
 Idle Energy - When the sensor is active and ready but not currently receiving or
transmitting data packets, it is said to be in an idle state. This metrics calculates the
energy consumed by the sensor in idle state.
𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 (𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚) = 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 (𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚) × 𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉 (𝑉𝑉) ×
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴(𝑠𝑠).
 Sleep Energy - This is the energy consumed when the respective sensor is in an
inactive mode.
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 (𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚) = 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 (𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚) × 𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉 (𝑉𝑉) ×
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴(𝑠𝑠).

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8.1.13 CR metrics

Displayed if 802.22 cognitive radio is running in the network.

8.1.13.1 Base station Metrics

 BS Id - It is the id of a Base Station.

 Interface Id - It is the Interface Id of a BS
 SCH sent - SCH. It is the number of Superframe Control Headers sent by a BS. SCH
carries Base Station’s MAC address along with the schedule of quiet periods for
sensing, as well as other information about the cell.
 FCH sent - It represents the number of Frame Control Headers sent by a BS. It is
transmitted as a part of Down Stream (DS) Protocol Data Unit in DS subframe specifies
length of either DS-Map if transmitted or US-Map. It is sent in the first two subchannels
of the symbol immediately following the preamble symbol.
 DSA req received - It is the number of Dynamic Service Addition requests received
by a BS used to create a new service flow.
 DSA rep sent - It is the number of DSA replies sent by a BS.
 DSC req received - It is the number of Dynamic Service Change requests received by
a BS to dynamically change the parameters of an existing service flow.
 DSC rep sent - It is the number of DSC replies sent by a BS.
 DSD req received - It is the number of Dynamic Service Deletion requests received
by a BS to delete an existing service flow.
 DSD rep sent - It is the number of DSD replies sent by a BS.
 CHS req sent - It is the number of Channel Switch Requests sent by a BS.

8.1.13.2 CPE metrics

 CPE Id - It represents the Id of Customer Premise Equipment

 Interface Id - It represents the Interface Id of the CPE
 SCH received - It is the number of Superframe Control Headers received by a CPE.
 FCH received - It represents the number of Frame Control Headers received by a
CPE.
 DSA req sent - It is the number of Dynamic Service Addition requests sent by a CPE.
 DSA rep received - It is the number of DSA replies received by a CPE.
 DSC req sent - It is the number of Dynamic Service Change requests sent by a CPE.
 DSC rep received - It is the number of DSC replies received by a CPE.
 DSD req sent - It is the number of Dynamic Service Deletion requests sent by a CPE.
 DSD rep received - It is the number of DSD replies received by a CPE.
 CHS req received - It is the number of Channel Switch Requests received by a CPE.

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 UCS Sent - It is the number of Urgent Coexistence Situations sent by a CPE.

8.1.13.3 Incumbent Metrics

 BS Id - It represents the Id of the Base Station

 Incumbent Id - It represents the Id of the Incumbent.
 Frequency - It is the frequency at which the incumbent operates.
 Operational Time - It is the active period of the incumbent.
 Idle Time - It is the inactive period of the incumbent.
 Interference Time - It is the time when interference occurs due to CPE.

8.1.13.4 Channel Metrics

 BS Id - It is the Id of the BS
 Channel Number - It represents the channel number at which the BS is operating.
 Frequency - It is the frequency of the channel at which the BS is operating.
 Spectral efficiency - It refers to the information rate that can be transmitted over a
given bandwidth in a specific communication system. It is a measure of how efficiently
a limited frequency spectrum is utilized by the physical layer protocol, and sometimes
by the media access control protocol.

8.1.14 Application Metrics

Displays Application performance metrics.

 Application Id - It is the unique Id of the application running at the source.

 Application Name - It is unique name of the application running.
 Source Id - It is the unique Id of the device running that particular application.
 Destination Id - It is the unique Id of the destination device.
 Packet generated - It is the total number of packets generated from the source.
 Packets Transmitted - It is the total number of packets generated and transmitted
from the source.
 Packet received - It is the total number of packets received at the destination.
 Payload Transmitted - It is the total payload transmitted in bytes. It is equal to the
product of ‘Packets Transmitted’ and ‘Packet Size’. This calculation will apply only in
case of a constant packet size (CBR, CUSTOM (constant) etc. In other cases, this
should be considered as the sum of the payload of the packets transmitted.
 Payload Received - It is the total payload received at the destination in bytes.
 Throughput - Total user data (or) payload delivered to their respective destination
every second.

If Simulation Time > Application End Time, then

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© TETCOS LLP. All rights reserved

𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏) ∗ 8

𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑇𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟ℎ𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝(𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀) =
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙(𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇) − 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 (𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇)

If Simulation Time < Application End Time, then

𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏) ∗ 8

𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑇𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟ℎ𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝(𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀) =
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇(𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇) − 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇(𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇)

 Jitter

𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝

𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽(𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇) =
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 − 1

𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽𝐽 (𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇) = |𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 − 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃|

 Delay - It is the average amount of time taken (calculated for all successful packets) to
reach the destination application layer from when the packet is sent from source’s
application later. It would APP_IN time at destination – APP_OUT time at source.

8.1.15 IP Metrics

IP layer metrics calculated for the overall network and displayed for each device.

 Device Id - It is the unique ID of the Device.

 Packet sent - Specifies the number of packets (L3 and above) sent by the node.
 Packet forwarded - Specifies the number of packets (L3 and above) forwarding by an
intermediate node(s) to next hop/target node.
 Packets Received - Specifies the number of packets (L3 and above) successfully
received at the destination, from intermediate node(s) and source node(s).
 Packets discarded - Specifies the number of packets (L3 and above) discarded when
there is no route available.
 TTL Expired - Specifies the number of Data and Control packets (L3 and above)
dropped when TTL expires.
 Firewall block - Specifies the number of packets (L3 and above) blocked by Firewall
for example TCP, UDP and ICMP Packets etc.

8.1.16 Advanced Metrics

In the Application metrics table, in addition to packets generated and packets received,
additional information on duplicate packets that were received can be obtained. This is
achieved by adding the following environment variable:

PC Settings  Properties  Advance system settings  Environment Variables  User

Variables  New

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Figure 8-7: Environment Variables window

The Application metrics table in the results dashboard will display an additional column –
Duplicate packet received as shown below Figure 8-8

Figure 8-8: Application metrics table in results window

Note: Note that keeping track of duplicate packets will slow down the simulation

8.1.17 Notes on metrics

1. The metrics are calculated at each layer and might not be equivalent to the same metric
calculated at a different layer. For exactness and precision, we recommend users also
verify the results with the event trace & packet trace generated by NetSim.
2. Broadcast / Multicast application will have no entries under Application Metrics in
Results window if there are zero packets received. In other words, it will not show ‘0’
throughput. Users may notice that ‘0’ throughput is shown for unicast applications, and
this is because of the way Broadcast/Multicast application metrics is architected in
NetSim.

8.1.18 The different results files written at the end of simulation

The following table lists the various files that will be written in the NetSim install directory/ IO
path on completion of simulation.

S. No File Contents
Contains the metrics of the network
1 Metrics.xml that is simulated recently.
Contains the information of captured
2 Node.pcap packets that is recently simulated.
Contains the status of the
LicenseErrorLog.txt communication between the NetSim
3
dongle and the client

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This file will be written while reading

the Configuration file.
4 ConfigLog.txt Provides errors if there are errors in
the configuration file.
Contains the logs as the control flows
LogFile.txt across various layers in the Network
5
Stack
Contains the detailed packet
PacketTrace.csv information. This file will be written
6
only when Packet Trace is enabled.
Contains the information about each
EventTrace.csv event. This file will be written only
7
when Event Trace is enabled.
Contains the information about the
8 Animation.txt flow of the packet.
Contains the information about the
Static ARP.txt dropped devices like Ip address and
9
mac address.

Table 8-1: Different results files written at the end of simulation in I/O Path
If NetSim runs via the UI, then the metrics will be displayed automatically at the end of
simulation with illustrative tables.

If NetSim runs via CLI, then the metrics will be written into Metrics.txt and MetricsGraph.txt.

8.2 Export to .csv

In NetSim Result Dashboard, users can use the option Export Results (.xls/.csv) to export
all the metrics file to XL/CSV file for the further computation or analysis using it.

Figure 8-9: Select Option Export Results (.xls/.csv) in Result window

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XL/CSV file:

Figure 8-10: Option Export Results (.xls/.csv) to export all the metrics
A web formatted (html file) report can be generated for simulations performed in NetSim, using
the Print button present in the results window as shown below Figure 8-11.

Figure 8-11: Print Results(.html) in Results window

The report that is generated contains:

 A screenshot of the network scenario created in NetSim GUI.

 All the metrics tables that were part of the Simulation Results Window
 Dynamic Metrics Plots (if Dynamic Metrics is enabled prior to Simulation).

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Figure 8-12: html report generated in PDF format

• The report that is generated makes it convenient for documentation, reference, study
and further analysis.
• This html report can be printed as PDF or printed out by selecting printer options.

8.3 Packet Animation

NetSim provides the feature to play and record animations to the user. Packet animation
enables users to watch traffic flow through the network for in-depth visualization and analysis.
Users have the following options before running simulation:

 Record the animation.

 Don’t play/ record animation and
 Play and record animation while running simulation.

Figure 8-13: Run Simulation window

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The packet animation would then be recorded and the user can view the animation from the
NetSim Packet Animation window as shown below Figure 8-14.

Figure 8-14: Packet Animation window

While viewing packet animation, user can see the flow of packets as well as the type of packet.
Blue color packet denotes control packet, green color is used for data packet and red color is
error/collided packet.

8.3.1 Packet animation Table

Packet Animation table is also provided for users to see the flow of packets along with packet
animation.

Figure 8-15: Packet Animation table in animation window

The “Table Filters” option available in the Packet Animator Window allows users to filter the
parameters that will be displayed in the Packet Trace Window displayed alongside animation.

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Figure 8-16: Table Filters option available in the Packet Animator Window
Note: Packet Animation table would be displayed only if Packet Trace is enabled in the
network before running the simulation.

8.3.2 Packet animation – Display Settings

NetSim Packet Animation can be customized using the View More drop-down list provided
with the display settings as shown below Figure 8-17.

Figure 8-17: Display Settings in Packet animation window

The View More Animation options can be used to view (enable/disable)

 Device Name
 IP address of devices
 VLAN ID
 Application Flow
 Node Movement
 Packet Flow
 Battery Level
 Route tables etc alongside animation

Note: The options displayed under View more drop down are dependent on the network that
is simulated and features that are enabled.

8.3.3 Example on how to use NetSim packet animation feature:

Case 1: ARP PROTOCOL - WORKING

Figure 8-18: Intra LAN IP Forwarding

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 Create a scenario with 3 wired nodes, 2 switches and 1 router and connect it based on
the following scenario.
 Disable TCP in all the wired nodes.
 Click on application and set Source_Id and Destination_Id as 1 and 2 respectively.
 Set Simulation time = 100s. After clicking on Run Simulation, edit Static ARP
Configuration tab by setting Static ARP as Disable. Click on OK button to simulate.

Now click on packet animation and analyse the following:

Figure 8-19: Packet animation window

 NODE-1 sends ARP_Request which is then broadcasted by SWITCH-4.

 During the process the devices that receive the ARP_Request packet (Switch, Router,
and Node-2) will update their ARP table or the switch table.
 NODE -2 sends the ARP_Reply to NODE-1 via SWITCH-4.
 Now NODE-1 updates its ARP table with the MAC address of NODE-2 on receiving
the ARP_Reply.
 After this step, NODE-1 starts sending data packets to NODE-2 since the source now
has both IP and MAC addresses of destination.

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Case 2: Across-Router-IP-forwarding

Figure 8-20: Across Router IP Forwarding

 Follow all the steps till Step 2 and perform the following sample.
 To run the simulation, click on the Application icon and set the Source_Id and
Destination_Id as 1 and 3 respectively.
 Click on Run Simulation and set Simulation time as 100 sec.
 Then go to Static ARP Configuration tab and set Static ARP as Disable. Click on OK
button to simulate.

Click on packet animation to analyse the following:

Figure 8-21: Packet animation window

 NODE-1 transmits ARP_Request which is further broadcasted by SWITCH-4.
ROUTER-6 sends ARP_Reply to NODE-1 which goes through SWITCH-4. Then
NODE-1 starts to send data to NODE-3.

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 If the router has the address of NODE-3 in its routing table, ARP protocol ends here
and data transfer starts that is PACKET_ID 1 is being sent from NODE-1 to NODE-3.
 In other case, Router sends ARP_Request to appropriate subnet and after getting the
MAC ADDRESS of the NODE-3, it forwards the packet which it has received from
NODE-1.
 When a node has to send data to a node with known IP address but unknown MAC
address, it sends an ARP request. If destination is in same subnet as the source (found
through subnet mask) then it sends the ARP (broadcast ARP message) request,
otherwise it forwards it to the default gateway.
 Former case happens in case of intra-LAN communication. The destination node
sends an ARP response which is then forwarded by the switch to the initial node. Then
data transmission starts.
 In latter case, a totally different approach is followed. Source sends the ARP request
to the default gateway and gets back the MAC address of default gateway. (If it knows
which router to send then it sends ARP request to the corresponding router and not to
Default gateway).
 When source sends data to default gateway (a router in this case), the router
broadcasts ARP request for the destined IP address in the appropriate subnet. On
getting the ARP response from destination, router then sends the data packet to
destination node.

8.3.4 How to record and save Packet animation as a Video file

Note: The following procedure applies to Windows 10 Operating system only. Users with other
versions of Windows can use third-party video capture tools (Link to a list of common tools) to
save NetSim packet animation as a video.

To quickly capture NetSim packet animation, launch the packet animation window. Before
playing the animation, press Windows key + G on the keyboard to open Game bar. (or Select
windows settings and then select Gaming option for Game bar related settings). Now start
recording by pressing record option as shown below. (Shortcut to start recording Windows
key + Alt + R)

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Figure 8-22: In packet animation window press Windows key + G on the keyboard and Select Start
recording
Then select the checkbox “Enable gaming features for this app to record gameplay” option.

Figure 8-23: Select the checkbox “Enable gaming features for this app to record gameplay” option
Once you select the checkbox, recording window will open as shown below.

Figure 8-24: Recording window

Now start playing the animation in NetSim using play button in packet animation window.

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Figure 8-25: Start playing the animation in animation window

Once the animation has been recorded stop recording (Shortcut to stop recording Windows
logo key + Alt + R). Recorded clips will be saved in windows default videos folder (E.g.:
C:\Users\PC\Videos\Captures).

8.4 Packet Trace

NetSim allows users to generate trace files which provide detailed packet information useful
for performance validation, statistical analysis and custom code de-bugging. Packet Trace logs
a set of chosen parameters for every packet as it flows through the network such as arrival
times, queuing times, departure times, payload, overhead, errors, collisions etc.

The packet trace is written whenever a packet is received at a device. For example, if we have
transmission N1 -> N2 -> N3, then the packet trace is written for every packet being received
at N2 and at N3. Note that it not written for every packet being transmitted by N1 and the
subsequently by N2. This means that packet which are transmitted from N1 but which may
have been errored or collided before being received by N2 are not written in the packet trace.

By providing a host of information and parameters of every packet that flows through the
network, packet trace provides necessary forensics for users to catch logical errors without
setting a lot of breakpoints or restarting the program often. Window size variation in TCP,
Route Table Formation in OSPF, Medium Access in Wi-fi, etc., are examples of protocol
functionalities that can be easily understood from the trace.

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Note: By default, packet tracing option is turned off. Turning on Packet Trace will slow down the simulation
significantly. After simulation, users would get the “open packet trace” link in the metrics window (will also
get Packet_Trace.csv file in the saved folder).

8.4.1 How to set filters to NetSim trace file

Step 1: Open the trace file. (In this example packet trace is opened)

Figure 8-26: Packet Trace

Step 2: Click the arrow in the header of the column you want to filter. In the list of text or
numbers, uncheck the (Select All) box at the top of the list, and then check the boxes of the
items you want to show.

For example, click on arrow of SOURCE_ID and uncheck the “Select all” check box and select
NODE 2 then click on OK.

All the rows which are having NODE 2 as source id will be shown below Figure 8-28.

Figure 8-27: Select Transmitter ID arrow mark in the header in packet trace

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Figure 8-28: Filter Transmitter ID to NODE 2 in packet trace

Typically, filters can be set to observe “Errored/Collided/Successful “packets, packets of
destination and packets of source.

8.4.2 Observing packet flow in the Network through packet trace file

Open the packet trace file, Click the arrow in the header of the column PACKET_ID and
uncheck the “Select all” check box and select the packet id which you want to observe, for
example 1, and then click on OK.

Figure 8-29: Select Packet ID arrow mark in the header in packet trace
Scenario is as shown below Figure 8-30 and traffic flow is from Wired Node 2 to Wired Node
3.

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Figure 8-30: Traffic flow is from Wired Node 2 to Wired Node 3

Flow of packet 1 can be observed from the packet trace as shown below Figure 8-31.

Figure 8-31: Flow of packet observed in the packet trace

Note: In the trace file device IDs are shown not device names. Wired Node 1’s ID is 2 so it is Shown as
NODE-2, Wired Node 2’s ID is 3 so it is shown as NODE -3, Router-1’ ID is 1 so it is shown as ROUTER-1.
Device IDs are shown on the top of the device icon in the above scenario.

In a scenario source and destinations are fixed but transmitter and receiver are changed. For
example, in the above scenario NODE-2 is the source and NODE-3 is the destination, but
when NODE- 2 sending the packet to the ROUTER-1 then NODE-2 is the transmitter and
ROUTER-1 is the receiver. When ROUTER-1 sending the packet to the NODE-3, ROUTER-
1 is the transmitter and NODE-3 is the receiver.

8.4.3 Analysing Packet Trace using Pivot Tables

NetSim Packet trace is saved as a spread sheet. Packet Trace can be converted to an Excel
table to make the management and analysis of data easier. A table typically contains related
data in a series of worksheet rows and columns that have been formatted as a table. By using
the table features, you can then manage the data in the table rows and columns independently
from the data in other rows and columns on the worksheet.

PivotTables are a great way to summarize, analyse, explore, and present your data, and you
can create them with just a few clicks. PivotTables are highly flexible and can be quickly

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adjusted depending on how you need to display your results. You can also create Pivot Charts
based on PivotTables that will automatically update when your PivotTables do.

If you enable packet trace, Open Packet Trace link present in the Simulation Results Window
can be used to load the packet Trace file in MS-Excel. Formats the spread sheet as a table
for convenient analysis.

Figure 8-32: Sheet 1 is the packet trace

Sheet 2 of the packet trace file has a pivot table – Pivot Table (TX-RX) automatically populated
to analyze the packets that were transmitted and received in the network that was simulated.
Further users can modify the table by adding or deleting the column headers.

Figure 8-33: Sheet 2 of the packet trace file has a pivot table

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Sheet 3 of the packet trace has a blank pivot table – Pivot Table (Custom) which can be used
to create additional pivot tables from scratch.

Figure 8-34: Sheet 3 of the packet trace file has a blank pivot table
Steps to analyse the packet trace using pivot tables
Step 1: Click on Packet Trace in the result dashboard, you can find 3 sheets will be created
i.e. Packet Trace, Pivot Table (TX-RX), Pivot Table (Custom)

Figure 8-35: Packet Trace, Pivot Table (TX-RX), Pivot Table (Custom) in packet trace
Step 2: Click on Pivot Table (Custom) to create your own pivot table.

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Figure 8-36: Select Blank Pivot Table (Custom) to create your own pivot table
Once you open the sheet PivotTable (Custom), you'll need to decide which fields to add.
Each field is simply a column header from the source data. In the PivotTable Field List,
check the box for each field you want to add.

8.4.4 Packet Transmitted / Received Analysis

• If you want to analyse packets sent from all sources to all destinations, then check
SOURCE_ID, DESTINATION_ID and CONTROL_PACKET_TYPE/APP_NAME as
shown below Figure 8-37.

Figure 8-37: Select the check box of SOURCE_ID, DESTINATION_ID and

CONTROL_PACKET_TYPE/APP_NAME in PivotTable Fields

• The selected fields will be added to one of the four areas below the Field List. Click
SOURCE_ID, hold it and drag to the ROW field. Similarly, DESTINATION_ID to
COLUMNS and CONTROL_PACKET_TYPE/APP_NAME to VALUES.

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Figure 8-38: Selected fields add to one of the four areas below the Field List

• The PivotTable will calculate and summarize the selected fields. In this example, the
PivotTable shows the packets sent from all sources to all destinations.

Figure 8-39: PivotTable Created with selected fields

• The above example shows all the packets which including data packets and control
packets.
• If you wish to know how many Data and how many were control packets then, check
the PACKET_TYPE and drag it to the ROWS field as shown below Figure 8-40.

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Figure 8-40: Select the PACKET_TYPE Check Box and drag it to the ROWS fields

 This will look like

Figure 8-41: PivotTable Created with Packet Type

 Further, if you wish to know how many packets got errored and how many were
successful, check the PACKET_STATUS field and drag it to the ROWS field.

Figure 8-42: PivotTable Created with Packet Status

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8.4.5 Delay analysis

We explain this using a packet trace generated per the following network scenario.

Figure 8-43: Network Topology with different application

Create a network scenario with 1 router and 6 wired nodes. Create 3 applications as per the
following Table 8-2.

Application Source Destination Transport Packet Size Inter arrival time

Type Id Id Protocol (Bytes) (μs)
CBR 2 3 TCP 1460 20000
VOICE 4 5 UDP 1500 20000
CUSTOM 6 7 TCP 1200 20000
Table 8-2: Application Properties
Note: Users need to select Codec as CUSTOM for voice application as shown in the below
screenshot Figure 8-44.

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Figure 8-44: Application properties Window

Enable Packet Trace and simulate the scenario for 10 seconds. Open packet trace and
perform the following steps:

 Insert a column after PHY_LAYER_END_TIME, then select the whole column and
calculate delay for each and every packet by using the formula.

=PHY_LAYER_END_TIME – APPLICATION_LAYER_ARRIVAL_TIME

Figure 8-45: Calculate delay in packet trace using PHY_LAYER_END_TIME –

APPLICATION_LAYER_ARRIVAL_TIME then Press CTRL + ENTER
 Then Press CTRL + ENTER. This will calculate delay for the whole column shown
below.

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Figure 8-46: Calculate delay for the whole column

 Name the column as DELAY.
 Go to Insert->PivotTable and click on OK to create a blank Pivot Table with the newly
added column listed under the PivotTable Fields.
 Drag and drop DESTINATION_ID, RECEIVER_ID, PACKET_STATUS and
CONTROL_PACKET_TYPE/APP_NAME to FILTERS field shown below Figure 8-47.

Figure 8-47: Added Selected fields to Filter

 Filter RECEIVER_ID to Node-3 by clicking on the drop down and select OK.

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Figure 8-48: Filter RECEIVER_ID to Node-3 by clicking on the drop down

 Similarly filter CONTROL_PACKET_TYPE/APP_NAME to APP1_CBR,
DESTINATION_ID to NODE-3 and PACKET_STATUS to Successful

Figure 8-49: Similarly filter other fields as per screenshot

 Drag and drop PACKET_ID to ROWS and the Delay value that we calculated earlier
to VALUES area.

Figure 8-50: Drag and drop DELAY value that we have calculated earlier to
ROWS and VALUES field
 Click on Count of DELAY drop down and select Value Field settings, then Select SUM
and click on OK.

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Figure 8-51: Select Count of DELAY drop down and select Value Field settings as SUM
 Again, Drag and drop DELAY to VALUES field.

Figure 8-52: Drag and drop DELAY to VALUES field

 Select one cell and calculate the Application Delay, which is the average delay faced
by a packet by using the formula

𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃

𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 =
𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃

Figure 8-53: Calculated the Application Delay in Pivot table

 Compare the obtained value with the DELAY in Application Metrics

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Figure 8-54: Compare the obtained DELAY with Application Metrics DELAY
 To calculate DELAY for VOICE application, filter DESTINATION_ID to Node-5,
RECEIVER_ID to Node-5, CONTROL_PACKET_TYPE/APP_NAME to APP2_VOICE
and PACKET_STATUS to Successful
 Similarly calculate and compare DELAY for other applications by following the above
procedure.

8.4.6 Throughput analysis

To explain how users can perform Throughput Analysis, we have used same network design
example as was used for Delay analysis above.

After loading the packet trace switch to sheet Pivot Table (Custom), drag and drop
SOURCE_ID, RECEIVER_ID, CONTROL_PACKET_TYPE / APP_NAME and
PACKET_STATUS to FILTERS field.

 Similarly drag and drop APP_LAYER_PAYLOAD to ROWS field and VALUES field.
 Filter SOURCE_ID to NODE-2, CONTROL_PACKET_TYPE APP_NAME to
APP1_CBR, PACKET_STATUS to Successful and RECEIVER_ID to NODE-3
 Click on Count of APP_LAYER_PAYLOAD drop down and select Value Field settings,
then Select Sum and click on OK.
 The pivot table would look like.

Figure 8-55: Pivot Table

 Select 1 cell and calculate the throughput by using the formula.

𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 (𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵) ∗ 8

𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟ℎ𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 (𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀) =
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 (𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇 )

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Figure 8-56: Calculate the throughput by using the formula in Pivot Table
EmptyCell=GETPIVOTDATA("APP_LAYER_PAYLOAD(Bytes)",$A$6,"APP_LAYER_PA
YLOAD(Bytes)",1460)*8/10000000

 Now compare the throughput calculated using pivot table with the Application Metrics
throughput.

Figure 8-57: Compared the calculated throughput using pivot table with the Application
Metrics throughput
 To calculate THROUGHPUT for VOICE application, filter SOURCE_ID to Node-4,
RECEIVER_ID to Node-5, CONTROL_PACKET_TYPE/APP_NAME to APP2_VOICE
and PACKET_STATUS to Successful
 Similarly calculate and compare THROUGHPUT for other applications by following the
above procedure.

8.4.7 Plotting with Pivot Charts

In a pivot table, you can create a new field that performs a calculation on the sum of other
pivot fields.

 Open Packet Trace, switch to sheet Pivot Table (Custom)

 Drag and drop SOURCE_ID, RECEIVER_ID and PACKET_STATUS to FILTERS field,
then CONTROL_PACKET_TYPE/APP_NAME, APP_LAYER_PAYLOAD to ROWS
field and APP_LAYER_PAYLOAD to VALUES field as shown below Figure 8-58.

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Figure 8-58: Drag and drop Sleeted Fields to one of the four areas
below the Field List
 Filter SOURCE_ID to Node 2, Node 4 and Node 6, then RECEIVER_ID to Node 3,
Node 5 and Node 7 and PACKET_STATUS to successful

Figure 8-59: Filter Source ID and Destination ID

 Filter CONTROL_PACKET_TYPE/APP_NAME to APP1_CBR, APP2_VOICE and
APP3_CUSTOM
 Select a cell in the pivot table, and on the Excel Ribbon, under the PivotTable Tools
tab, click the Options tab (Analyse tab in Excel 2013).
 In the Calculations group, click Fields, Items, & Sets, and then click Calculated Field.

Figure 8-60: In Calculations group Select Calculated Field

 Type a name for the calculated field, Application Throughput.
 Then click on ADD to save the calculated field.

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Figure 8-61: Insert calculated field name and select Add

 Click on Formula text box and then select APP_LAYER_PAYLOAD in the Fields list
and click on Insert Field.
 Calculate the throughput by using the following formula shown below and click on OK.

𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 (𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵) ∗ 8

𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟ℎ𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 (𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀) =
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 (𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇 )

Figure 8-62: Calculate the throughput by using the following formula

 Select a cell in the pivot table, and on the Excel Ribbon, under the PivotTable Tools
tab, click the Options tab (Analyze tab in Excel 2013).
 In the Tools group, click Pivot chart and select OK.

Figure 8-63: In the Tools group Select Pivot chart

 This will display a pivot chart shown below.

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Figure 8-64: Pivot Chart

(Note: The procedure may vary with different versions of excel, the given procedure is according to the
Excel 2013.)

8.4.8 Packet Trace Fields

GENERAL FIELDS DESCRIPTION

Specifies the ID of the Data Packets.
For control packets this value is set to 0
PACKET_ID For every application packet IDs are assigned in serial order. The
Packet ID is not a unique number. It is the tuple {Application ID,
Packet_ID} that is unique.
Specifies the ID of the segment of the Data Packet. Segmentation is
done in transport layer. If the packet size (generated in the APP layer)
SEGMENT_ID is greater than the maximum segment size in TRANSPORT layer,
packet will get segmented.
For control packets it is N/A
Specifies the type of application that generates the packet.
PACKET_TYPE It can be Control Packet, Custom, CBR, Peer_to_peer, E-Mail,
DataBase, FTP, Video, Voice, HTTP.
Specifies the type of Control Packet transmitted.
Following are the Protocol specific control packets
WLAN: WLAN_ACK, WLAN_BlockACK
OSPF: OSPF_HELLO, OSPF_D-D, OSPF_LSR, OSPF_LSU,
OSPF_LSA
RIP: RIP_Message
GSM: GSM_Channel_Request, GSM_Channel_Granted,
GSM_Call_Request, GSM_Channel_Request_For_Incoming,
GSM_Call_Accepted
CDMA: CDMA_Channel_Request, CDMA_Channel_Granted,
CONTROL_PACKET_TYPE CDMA_Call_Request, CDMA_Channel_Request_For_Incoming,
CDMA_Call_Accepted
DSR, AODV, ZRP, OLSR: RREQ, RREP, NDP_HELLO_MESSAGE,
OLSR_TC_MESSAGE
Zigbee: Zigbee_BEACON_FRAME, Zigbee_ACK
Cognitive Radio: SCH, FCH, DS-MAP, US-MAP, UCD, DCD,
BW_REQUEST, UCS_NOTIFICATION
LTE: LTE_Measurement_Report, LTE_RRC_CONNECTION_SETUP,
LTE_RLC_SDU, LTE_RRC_CONNECTION_REQUEST,
LTE_RRC_CONNECTION_SETUP_COMPLETE, LTE page, LTE Ack
etc.
Specifies the <Device-type>-<ID> of the source set in the application.
SOURCE_ID Note that if the device name is changed the new name will not reflect in
the trace.

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Specifies the <Device-type>-<ID> of the destination set in the

application. Note that if the device name is changed the new name will
DESTINATION_ID
not reflect in the trace. If the application is a broadcast application the
destination field will show 0
Specifies the <Device-type>-<ID> of the current node which is
transmitting the packet. Note that if the device name is changed the
new name will not reflect in the trace. The difference between a Source
TRANSMITTER_ID
node and a Transmitter, is that when the Source remains constant
across the entire packet transmission whereas the transmitter ID
changes with each hop of the packet.
Specifies the <Device-type>-<ID> of the current node which is
receiving the packet. Note that if the device name is changed the new
name will not reflect in the trace. The difference between a Destination
RECEIVER_ID
node and a Receiver, is that when the Destination remains constant
across the entire packet transmission whereas the receiver ID changes
with each hop of the packet.
Specifies the time at which packet is at the Application_Layer of
APP_LAYER_ARRIVAL_TI
Source_ID (or Transmitter_ID). This is usually the time at which the
ME (μs)
packet is generated at Source_ID
Specifies the time at which packet reaches the Transport_layer from
TRX_LAYER_ARRIVAL_TI
the application layer. This will usually be the same as
ME (μs)
Application_layer_Arrival_Time unless there are TCP re-transmissions
Specifies the time at which packet reaches the Network_Layer of
NW_LAYER_ARRIVAL_TIM Transmitter_ID if this is a Router (or) Time at which packet reaches the
E (μs) Network_layer of previous Router / Source_ID (immediate previous
Layer 3 or higher device) if current device is Switch / Access Point.
MAC_LAYER_ARRIVAL_TI Specifies the time at which packet reaches MAC_Layer of
ME (μs) Transmitter_ID
PHY_LAYER_ARRIVAL_TI Specifies the time at which packet reaches PHY_layer of
ME (μs) Transmitter_ID

PHY_LAYER_START_TIME Specifies the time at which packet starts betting transmitted in the link
(μs) between Transmitter_ID and Receiver_ID

PHY_LAYER_END_TIME
Specifies the time at which packet reaches Phy_Layer of Receiver_ID
(μs)
APP_LAYER_PAYLOAD
Specifies the size of the Payload at Application Layer
(Bytes)
TRX_LAYER_PAYLOAD
Specifies the size of the Payload at Transport Layer
(Bytes)
NW_LAYER_PAYLOAD
Specifies the size of the Payload at Network Layer
(Bytes)
MAC_LAYER_PAYLOAD
Specifies the size of the Payload at Data Link Layer
(Bytes)
PHY_LAYER_PAYLOAD
Specifies the size of the Payload at Physical Layer
(Bytes)
PHY_LAYER_OVERHEAD
Specifies the size of the overhead in Physical layer
(Bytes)
PACKET_STATUS Specifies whether the Packet is Successful, Collided or Errored
Specifies the Port Number at Source Node. Port Numbers are chosen
LOCAL_ADDRESS
randomly by NetSim.
Specifies the Port Number at Destination Node. Port Numbers are
FOREIGN_ADDRESS
chosen randomly by NetSim.
CWND (bytes) Specifies the current size of the TCP congestion window
SEQ_NO If TCP is enabled, it specifies the TCP Sequence number of the packet
If TCP is enabled, it specifies the TCP Acknowledgement number of
ACK_NO
the packet

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RTT (seconds) Specifies the Round-Trip Time for the packet

RTO (seconds) Specifies the Retransmission Timeouts
CONNECTION_STATE Specifies the state of TCP connection
isSyn If TCP is enabled, it specifies whether the packet is TCP_SYN or not
If TCP is enabled, it specifies whether the packet is
isAck
TCP_ACK/TCP_SYN_ACK or not
isFin If TCP is enabled, it specifies whether the packet is TCP_FIN or not
SEGMENT_LENGTH Specifies the segment length of the packet
SOURCE_IP Specifies the IP address of the source
DESTINATION_IP Specifies the IP address of the destination
GATEWAY_IP Specifies the IP address of the device which is transmitting a packet
NEXT_HOP_IP Specifies the IP address of the next hop

Table 8-3: Packet Trace Fields and Description

NOTE:

 Each line in the packet trace represents one hop of one packet.

 The packet trace is logged in ascending order of time as measured in Phy_Layer_End_Time.

8.5 Event Trace (only in Standard/Pro Version)

8.5.1 NetSim Network Stack and Discrete Event Simulation working

NetSim’s Network Stack forms the core of NetSim and its architectural aspects are
diagrammatically explained below. It exactly mirrors the TCP/IP stack and has the following
five layers.

 Application Layer – CBR, Voice, Video, HTTP, COAP etc.

 Transport Layer – TCP, UDP
 Network Layer – IP, OSPF, AODV, OLSR etc.
 MAC Layer – 802.11, 802.15.4, LTE etc.
 Physical Layer – Wired (P2P, P2MP, MP2MP), Wireless (RF Propagation)

Network Stack accepts inputs from the end-user in the form of Configuration file and the data
flows as packets from one layer to another layer in the Network Stack.

All packets, when transferred between devices move up and down the stack, and all events in
NetSim fall under one of these ten categories of events, namely, Physical IN, Data Link IN,
Network IN, Transport IN, Application IN, Application Out, Transport OUT, Network OUT,
Data Link OUT and Physical OUT. The IN events occur when the packets are entering a
device while the OUT events occur while the packet is leaving a device. In addition to these
events there can be TIMER events associated with each protocol.

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Figure 8-65: Flow of one packet from a Wired node to a Wireless node
Every device in NetSim has an instance of the Network Stack shown above. Switches &
Access points have a 2-layer stack, while routers have a 3 layer stack. End-nodes have a 5
layer stack.

The protocol engines are called based on the layer at which the protocols operate. For
example, TCP is called during execution of Transport IN or Transport OUT events, while
802.11b WLAN is called during execution of MAC IN, MAC OUT, PHY IN and PHY OUT
events.

When these protocols are in operation, they in turn generate events for NetSim's discrete event
engine to process. These are known as SUB EVENTS. All SUB EVENTS, fall into one of the
above 10 types of EVENTS and TIMER events if applicable.

Each event gets added in the Simulation kernel by the protocol operating at the particular layer
of the Network Stack. The required sub events are passed into the Simulation kernel. These
sub events are then fetched by the Network Stack in order to execute the functionality of each
protocol. At the end of Simulation, Network Stack writes trace files and the Metrics files that
assist the user in analyzing the performance metrics and statistical analysis.

8.5.2 Event Trace

The event trace records every single event along with associated information such as time
stamp, event ID, event type etc. in a text file or .csv file which can be stored at a user defined
location. Apart from a host of information, the event trace has two special information fields for
diagnostics.

 A log of the file name and line number from where the event was generated (Please
refer “Writing Custom Code in NetSim  Debugging your code  Via CLI”) and

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 Previous event which triggered the current event.

Note: Turning on Event Trace will slow down the simulation significantly

NetSim provides users with the option of turning on "Event Traces".

How to enable Event Trace via GUI?

If NetSim runs via GUI, event trace can be turned on by clicking the Event Trace icon in the
tool bar and selecting the required fields in the event trace.

How to enable Event Trace via CLI?

If NetSim runs via CLI, then the event trace can be turned on by enabling the event trace in
the STATISTICS_COLLECTION tag of the configuration file. Following is a screenshot of a
Configuration.netsim file with Event Trace disabled:

Figure 8-66: Open Configuration.netsim in Visual Studio and Event Trace disabled
You can see that the STATUS is set to DISABLE, file name and file path are not set. To enable
Event trace these parameters can be modified by editing the Configuration file. Open
Configuration.netsim file and provide the file name, path and set status as Enable. Following
is a screenshot of a Configuration.netsim file with Event Trace enabled:

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Figure 8-67: Event Trace enabled in Configuration.netsim file

Event Trace Metrics:

Event_Id Specifies the ID of the Event

Specifies the type of event being performed, for e.g. -
Event_Type APPLICATION_IN, APPLICATION_OUT, MAC_OUT, MAC_IN,
PHYSICAL_OUT, PHYSICAL_IN, etc.
Specifies the time (in microseconds) at which the event is being
Event_Time
executed
Specifies the type of device in which the current event is being
Device_Type
executed
Device_Id Specifies the ID of device in which the current event is being executed
Specifies the Interface_Id of device in which the present event is being
Interface_Id
executed.
Specifies the ID of the Application on which the specific event is
Application_Id
executed
Specifies the ID of the packet on which the current event is being
Packet_Id
executed
Specifies the ID of the segment of packet on which the current event is
Segment_Id
being executed
Protocol_Name Specifies the Protocol which is presently executed
Specifies the protocol sub event which is being executed. If the sub
event value is 0, it indicates interlayer communication (Ex: MAC_OUT
Subevent_Type
called by NETWORK_OUT) or a TIMER_EVENT which has no sub
event.
Packet_Size Specifies the size of packet during the current event
Prev_Event_Id Specifies the ID of the event which generated the current event.
Table 8-4: Event Trace fields and Descriptions
8.5.3 Calculation of Delay and Application throughput from event trace

1. Enable Event trace and run simulation.

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2. Click Event Trace option (Open Event Trace) in the Simulation results window as
shown in below Figure 8-68.

Note: Event tracing is available only in NetSim standard and pro versions.

Figure 8-68: Select Event Trace option in results window

3. Click on Pivot Table (Custom) in excel sheet as shown below Figure 8-69.

Figure 8-69: Select Pivot Table (Custom) in excel sheet

4. A blank PivotTable and Field List will appear on a new worksheet.
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© TETCOS LLP. All rights reserved

Figure 8-70: A blank PivotTable

5. Once PivotTable worksheet open, you'll need to decide which fields to add. Each field
is simply a column header from the source data. In the PivotTable Field List, check
the box for each field you want to add.

8.5.3.1 Application Delay Analysis:

1. Drag and drop the Event_Type, Protocol_Name Fields into FILTERS, Packet_Id into
ROWS and Device_Id into COLUMNS.
2. Drag and Drop Event_Time Field into VALUES twice, then both will show Sum of
Event_Time. Recheck that you have dropped the Event_Time field twice.
3. Click on the second Event_Time field in the VALUES and select the Value Field
Settings.

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Figure 8-71: Select Second Event_Time field in the VALUES and select the Value Field Settings

Figure 8-72: Select Summarize value field by Count

4. A window named Value Field Settings opens then select Count option and click OK
button.
5. Then finally the Pivot Table Fields will be as shown below Figure 8-73.

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Figure 8-73: Sleeted Fields to one of the four areas Field list
6. In the Event_Type select APPLICATION_IN and APPLICATION_OUT,
Protocol_Name select APPLICATION and in Column Labels select the Source_Id
and Destination_Id. In our example source node ID is 1 and destination node ID is 10

Figure 8-74: Select the Event type, Protocol Name, Source and Destination ID etc
And the Pivot Table created will be as shown (1 in the table is Source_Id and 10 is the
Destination_Id)

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Figure 8-75: Created Pivot Table

7. Select the entire empty column H then and enter the formula =IF(AND(LEN(A1),
INT(A1)=A1),F1-G1*B1) in function and press CTRL+ENTER
F column is Total Sum of Event_Time, G Column is Total Count of Event_Time, B
Column is Sum of Event_time(µs) of the Source.

Figure 8-76: Select Entire empty column H then and enter the formula =IF(AND(LEN(A1),
INT(A1)=A1),F1-G1*B1) in function and press CTRL+ENTER
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
App Delay =
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

Note: If the packet size is > 1500 then fragmentation occurs and the packet is received as multiple
segments. In NetSim the destination counts each segment as different packet.

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Then in an empty cell enter

=SUMIF(H:H,">0")/GETPIVOTDATA("Count of Event_Time(US)2",$A$4,"Device_Id",10)
where

GETPIVOTDATA ("Count of Event_Time(US)2",$A$4,"Device_Id",10) gives the total

number of packets received by the destination (in this case 10). This will give the exact
Application Delay.

Figure 8-77: Calculated Application Delay using Formula in Pivot table

Compare with the Delay in Application_Metrics_Tables and it would exactly match. There
might be slight difference in the decimals due to Excel’s round offs.

Figure 8-78: Compare the Application_Metrics_Tables Delay and Pivot table Delay

8.5.3.2 Application Throughput Analysis

1. For Application Throughput drag and drop Event_type, Protocol_Name Fields in

FILTERS, Device_Id in ROWS, Packet_Size(Bytes) into VALUES. Change the Value
Field Settings of Packets_Size(Bytes) to SUM as mentioned in Delay Analysis.

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Figure 8-79: Sleeted Fields to one of the four areas Field list
Then Select the Event_Type as APPLICATION_IN, Protocol_Name as APPLICATION and
Device_Id as the Destination (in this case 10).

Figure 8-80: Select the Event type, Protocol Name, Source and Destination ID etc
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒
2. App Throughput =
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖

Then in an empty cell type =GETPIVOTDATA ("Packet_Size(Bytes)",$A$4)*8/10000000

This give the Application Throughput in Mbps (Multiplied by 8 to convert Bytes to bits, and
divided by 100000 to convert into Mega)

Figure 8-81: Calculate Application Throughput using formula

Compare with the Application throughput in the Application_Metrics_Table

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Figure 8-82: Compare the Application_Metrics_Tables throughput and Pivot table throughput

8.6 Packet Capture & analysis using Wireshark

8.6.1 Enabling Wireshark Capture in a node for packet capture

NetSim provides functionality to capture packets in the virtual nodes. The pcap file written by
NetSim contains fields of packet layer 3 and above. This pcap file can be opened using the
popular software, Wireshark (formerly Ethereal).

To enable packet capture in Wireshark, Right Click on the device where wireshark should be
run. In the properties, go to General_Properties and set the Wireshark Capture parameter as
Online.

Figure 8-83: Enable Wireshark in General Properties for wired node

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Wireshark Capture Options

Online option will initiate a live interactive packet capture,
Online
displaying packets while running simulation
Offline option will initiate silent packet capture and generate
Offline a pcap file which can be opened using Wireshark post-
simulation
Disable Packets are not captured by Wireshark during simulation.
Table 8-5: Wireshark Capture Options and Description
8.6.2 Viewing captured packets

If enabled, Wireshark Capture automatically starts during simulation and displays all the
captured packets. To view the details of the packet displayed, click-on the packet as shown
below Figure 8-84.

Figure 8-84: Packets Captured in Wireshark

The detail of the contents of the selected packet can be seen in the below panes as shown
below Figure 8-85.

Figure 8-85: Packet Information in below panes

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In the above figure, the details of the packet are displayed in both tree form and bytes form. In
the tree form, user can expand the data by clicking on the part of the tree and view detailed
information about each protocol in each packet.

8.6.3 Filtering captured packets

Display filters allow you to concentrate on the packets you are interested in while hiding the
currently uninteresting ones. Packets can be filtered by protocol, presence of a field, values of
field’s etc. To select packets based on protocol, type the protocol in which you are interested
in the Filter: field of the Wireshark window and presenter to initiate the filter. In the figure below
Figure 8-86, tcp protocol is filtered.

Figure 8-86: TCP Protocol is filtered in Wireshark

You can also build display filters that compare values using a number of different comparison
operators like ==, != , >, <, <=, etc. Following is an example displaying filtered packets whose
SYN Flag and ACK Flag are set to 1 in a TCP Stream.

Figure 8-87: Filtered SYN Flag and ACK Flag are set to 1 in a TCP Stream
8.6.4 Analyzing packets in Wireshark

8.6.4.1 Analyzing Conversation using graphs

A network conversation is the traffic between two specific end points. For example, an IP
conversation is all the traffic between two IP addresses. In Wireshark, Go to Statistics Menu
Conversations as shown below Figure 8-88.

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Figure 8-88: In Wireshark, Go to Statistics Menu > Conversations

Different types of protocols will be available. User can select the specific conversation by going
to the desired protocol. For example, in the following diagram, we have selected TCP.

Figure 8-89: TCP Wireshark Conversion for Wired Nodes

User can also analyze each of the conversation and can create graphs by selecting them and
clicking on “Graph”.

Figure 8-90: Select Graph in Wireshark Conversion

Different types of graphs are possible for Round Trip time, Throughput, Time/Sequence
(Stevens), Time/Sequence (tcptrace) and Window Scaling

8.6.5 Window Scaling

Click on data packet i.e. <None>.

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Figure 8-91: Select one data Packet <None>in Wireshark

Choose statisticsTCP Stream GraphWindow Scaling.

Figure 8-92: Statistics>TCP Stream Graph>Window Scaling

Click on Switch Direction in the window scaling graph window.

Fig 8-93: TCP congestion window Plot

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8.6.5.1 Comparing the packet lengths

To analyze the packet sizes of all packets transmitted, go to Statistics MenuPacket

lengths. Users can also set filter to analyze a collection of specific packets only. For example,
tcp filter is set to obtain the packet length below Figure 8-94.

Figure 8-94: Comparing the packet lengths in Wireshark

8.6.5.2 Creating IO graphs

To get the graph, go to Statistics Menu  IO Graph.

Figure 8-95: Statistics Menu > IO Graph in Wireshark

8.6.5.3 Creating Flow graphs

The flow graph feature provides a quick and easy to use way of checking connections between
a client and a server. It can show where there might be issues with a TCP connection, such
as timeouts, re-transmitted frames, or dropped connections. To access flow graph, go to
Statistics Menu  Flow Graph and select the flow type. By default, you can see the flow

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graph of all the packets. To get the TCP flow, select TCP flow in “Flow Type” dropdown box
and you will obtain the flow as shown Figure 8-96.

Figure 8-96: Statistics Menu > Flow Graph in Wireshark

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9 Writing Custom Code in NetSim

9.1 Writing your own code

NetSim allows the user to write the custom code for all the protocols by creating a DLL
(Dynamic Link Library) for their custom code.

There are various important steps in this process, and each of these steps has various options
as explained in the subsequent pages.

9.1.1 Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 Installation Settings

NetSim requires only a few components of Visual Studio Community 2019 edition to be
installed. Upon starting the installer:

1. Under the Workloads tab users can select Desktop Development with C++ as
shown below Figure 9-1.

Figure 9-1: In Workloads tab select Desktop Development with C++

2. Under the Individual components tab select VC++2015.3 V140 toolset for desktop
(x86,x64).

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Figure 9-2: In Individual components tab select VC++2015.3 V140 toolset for desktop
(x86,x64).
9.1.2 Modifying code

DLL is the shared library concept, implemented by Microsoft. All DLL files have a .dll file
extension. DLLs provide a mechanism for sharing code and data to upgrade functionality
without requiring applications to be re-linked or re-compiled. It is not possible to directly
execute a DLL, since it requires an EXE for the operating system to load it through an entry
point. NetSim requires Visual Studio Compiler for building DLL’s.

Note: Make sure that Visual Studio 2015 or above is installed in your system.

Refer section 4.12 section “How does a user open and modify source codes” to open NetSim
Source Codes

1. After this you may modify the source codes of any project. You can also add new files
to the project if required. As an example, let us make a simple source code modification
to TCP. Inside Solution Explorer pane in Visual Studio, double click on TCP project.
Then open TCP.c file by double clicking on it. Using the drop down list of functions that
are part of the current file, choose fn_Netsim_TCP_Init().

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Figure 9-3: Select fn_Netsim_TCP_Init() in TCP.C in Visual Studio

2. Add the line fprintf(stderr, "\nSource is Modified\n"); statement inside the
fn_Netsim_TCP_Init() function as shown below to print “Source is modified”.
_getch(); is added in the next line for the simulation to wait until it gets a user input.

Figure 9-4: Source Code modified in fn_Netsim_TCP_Init() function in TCP project

3. Once this is done click to save the changes and overwrite the file (in case of write
protection).

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Figure 9-5: Select Overwrite in save of Read Only File

9.1.3 Building Dlls

1. Identify the build of NetSim that is installed in your system from NetSim Home Screen
as shown below Figure 9-6.

Figure 9-6: In NetSim Home Screen Identify the build of NetSim

2. Based on the build of NetSim installed modify the solution platform in Visual studio
from the drop down as shown below Figure 9-7.

Figure 9-7: Based on the build of NetSim select Win32/x64 in Visual studio

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3. Choose x64 for 64 bit version of NetSim and Win32 for 32 bit version of NetSim. After
changing the solution platform, changes will be automatically applied to all projects that
are displayed in the Solution Explorer.
4. Now rebuild the network by right clicking on the project header and selecting Rebuild
creates a Dll file in the bin folder of NetSim’s current workspace path
<C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default\bin\bin_x64> for 64-bit
and <C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default\bin\bin_x86> for 32-
bit which contains your modifications. If build is successful a message similar to the
following will be displayed in the output window as shown below Figure 9-8.

Figure 9-8: Build is successful a message similar to the following will be displayed in the output
window
9.1.4 Running Simulation

1. After rebuilding the code, user can run the simulation via GUI (Please refer section 3).
In this case, user can create a scenario in any network which involves TCP protocol.
Running the simulation with the custom DLL will initially display a warning message as
shown below Figure 9-9.

Figure 9-9: Modified Project display a DLL warning message to NetSim Console
2. The warning message lists the Dll files which have been modified in the bin folder
(bin\bin_x86 for 32-bit and bin\bin_x64 for 64-bit) of NetSim’s current workspace path.

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After pressing any key, the statement “Source is modified” will be printed to console as
shown below Figure 9-10.

Figure 9-10: Printf Statement written to console

3. Press any key to proceed with the simulation.
4. The warning message will not be displayed if no Dll’s are modified in the bin folder of
current workspace path (bin\bin_x86 for 32-bit and bin\bin_x64 for 64-bit).

9.1.5 Source Code Dependencies

The following are the list of projects that are part of NetSim source codes present in
<NetSim_Install_Directory>/src/Simulation directory and their dependencies:

PROJECT DEPENDENCY
Application IP
Cellular Application
CLIInterpertor Firewall, IP
Cognitive Radio Application
Ethernet Firewall
IEEE802_11 Battery Model
OSPF IP
Routing IP
RPL IP
ZigBee Battery Model
ZRP IP
Aloha -
AODV -

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ARP` -
Battery Model -
CSMACD -
DSR -
Firewall -
IEEE1609 -
IP -
LTE NR
Mobility -
P2P -
SDN -
Support Function -
TCP -
Token_BR -
UDP -
UWAN
DTDMA -
TDMA -
Satellite Comm. Networks -

Table 9-1: Source Code Dependencies

For E.g.: To perform modifications to Application Project, IP folder will also be required in
addition to lib folder, Include folder and NetSim.sln file.

9.1.6 Enabling Additional Security Checks

SDL – Security Development Lifecycle checks adds recommended Security Development

Lifecycle. These checks include extra security-relevant warnings as errors, and additional
secure code-generation features.

/sdl enables a superset of the baseline security checks provided by /GS and overrides /GS-.
By default, /sdl is off. /sdl- disables the additional security checks.

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Figure 9-11: Enabling Additional Security Checks application properties window

If SDL checks is enabled (/sdl), following warnings will be treated as errors:

Warning Equivalent
enabled by command-line Description
/sdl switch
A unary minus operator was applied to an unsigned
C4146 /we4146
type, resulting in an unsigned result.
A negative integral constant converted to unsigned
C4308 /we4308
type, resulting in a possibly meaningless result.
Use of continue, break or goto keywords in a
C4532 /we4532 __finally/finally block has undefined behavior during
abnormal termination.
C4533 /we4533 Code initializing a variable will not be executed.
C4700 /we4700 Use of an uninitialized local variable.
Use of a potentially uninitialized local pointer
C4703 /we4703
variable.
Buffer overrun when specific C run-time (CRT)
C4789 /we4789
functions are used.
C4995 /we4995 Use of a function marked with pragma deprecated.
C4996 /we4996 Use of a function marked as deprecated.

Table 9-2: SDL Warnings Messages

Reference: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/build/reference/sdl-enable-additional-
security-checks?view=vs-2019

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9.2 Implementing your code - Examples

9.2.1 Hello World Program

Objective: Print Hello World from TCP protocol.

Implementation: Add fprintf (stderr, “<MESSAGE>”) statement inside the source code of TCP
as shown below to print “Hello World” when custom built dll is executing.

fprintf(stderr, "\nHello World\n");

_getch();

Figure 9-12: Hello World Printf Statement added in TCP Project

Build DLL as explained in Section 9.1.3 and run the simulation, you can see the following
output on the console.

Figure 9-13: Hello World Statement written to console

Press enter then simulation will continue.

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9.2.2 Introducing Node Failure in MANET

Objective: Node failure using MANET-DSR using Device Id.

Implementation: Identify the Device ID of the particular node to be failed.

Step 1: Create a file with the name NodeFailure.txt inside the bin folder of NetSim’s current
workspace path <C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default\bin\bin_x64> for
64-bit and <C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_32_std_default\bin\bin_x86> for 32-
bit. The file will contain two columns: one being the Node ID of the device to be failed and
other being the failure time (in microseconds).

For example, to fail Node Id 2 from10th sec onwards and fail Node Id 1 from 90th sec onwards,
the NodeFailure.txt file will be as follows Figure 9-14.

Figure 9-14: NodeFailure.txt file

Step 2: Go to DSR.c in DSR protocol.

Step 3: The function fn_NetSim_DSR_Init() will execute before the protocol execution starts.
So, in this function, we will read the NodeFailure.txt and save information regarding which
nodes will fail at which time. Add the following code inside the specified function.

int i;

FILE *fp1;

char *pszFilepath;

char pszConfigInput[1000];

pszFilepath = fnpAllocateMemory(36,sizeof(char)*50);

strcpy(pszFilepath,pszAppPath);

strcat(pszFilepath,"/NodeFailure.txt");

fp1 = fopen(pszFilepath,"r");

i=0;

if(fp1)

while(fgets(pszConfigInput,500,fp1)!= NULL)

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sscanf(pszConfigInput,"%d %d",&NodeArray[i],&TimeArray[i]);

i+=1;

fclose(fp1);

Step 4: The fn_NetSim_DSR_Run() is the main function to handle all the protocol
functionalities. So, add the following code to the function at the start.

int i,nFlag=1;

if(nFlag)

for(i=0;i<100;i++)

if((pstruEventDetails->nDeviceId== NodeArray[i]) &&

(pstruEventDetails->dEventTime >= TimeArray[i]))

pstruEventDetails->nInterfaceId = 0;

pstruEventDetails->pPacket=NULL;

return 0;

Step 5: Add the following code inside DSR.h header file.

//Node failure model

int NodeArray[200];

int TimeArray[200];

Step 6: Build DLL as explained in Section 9.1.3.

Step 7: Create a scenario in MANET where data packets should be travelling from source to
destination through the mentioned node in NodeFailure.txt file. For that user can increase the
pathloss exponent value and the distance among the nodes. User can utilize Packet Animation

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to check the node failure (i.e. no packets are forwarded by failed nodes) after the mentioned
time.

9.3 Debugging your code

This section is helpful to debug the code which user has written. To write your own code please
refer Section 9.1.2.

9.3.1 Via GUI

Debugging your code via GUI there are two methods available.

 Using _getch()
 Using Environment Variables (NETSIM_BREAK)

9.3.1.1 Using _getch()

Step 1: Perform the required modification of the protocol source code and add _getch() (used
to hold the program execution until the user enters a character) statement inside init function
of the modified protocol. For example, take DSR protocol and add the following lines of code
in the init function as shown in the below screenshot Figure 9-15.

fprintf(stderr, "\nAttach to Process now\n");

_getch();

Figure 9-15: Added Two line of Code in DSR protocol

Step 2: Build the DSR protocol as explained in Section 9.1.3. Do not close Visual Studio.

Step 3: In NetSim, create a network scenario where the protocol is being used and start the
simulation. In the console window user would get a warning message shown in the below
screenshot Figure 9-16 and the simulation will pause for user input (because of _getch()
added in the init function)

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Figure 9-16: Attach to Process Statement written to console

Step 4: In Visual Studio, put break point inside the source code where you want to debug.

Step 5: Go to “DebugAttach to Process” in Visual studio as shown and attach to

NetSimCore.exe.

Figure 9-17: Debug > Attach to Process in Visual studio

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Figure 9-18: Select NetSimCore.exe in Attach to Process Window

Click on Attach. Press enter in the command window. Then control goes to the project and
stops at the break point in the source code as shown below Figure 9-19. All debugging options
like step over (F10), step into (F11), step out (Shift + F11), continue (F5) are available.

Figure 9-19: Control goes to the project and stops at the break point in the source code
After execution of the function, the control goes back to NetSim and then comes back to the
custom code the next time the function is called in the simulation.

To stop debugging and continue execution, press Shift+F5 (key). This then gives the control
back to NetSim, for normal execution to continue.

9.3.1.2 Using Environment Variable

This section is helpful to Debug Using Environment Variable (NETSIM_BREAK). To set

Environment variable follow the steps as shown.

Note: Setting NETSIM_BREAK Environment Variable will cause the simulation to slow down and it is
recommended to remove this Environment Variables after debugging the simulation

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Step 1: Right click on My Computer\ This PC and select Properties.

Step 2: Go to Advanced System setting  Advanced Tab  Environment Variables option

Step 3: Click New in System variables. Type “NETSIM_BREAK” as Variable name and any
positive integer as variable value (e.g., 2). Click OK. The value of the variable is the event ID
at which you want NetSim Simulation to break. In this example we have set the value to 2,
which means that the simulation will break at the previous event.

Figure 9-20: Environment Variable Window

Figure 9-21: Add Variable name and Variable Value in New in System Variable
Step 4: Open NetSim and then open the source codes. Please refer Section 4.12 “How does
a user open and modify source codes” for more information.

Step 5: Create a network scenario in NetSim (Internetworks or any other networks)

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Figure 9-22: Network Topology

Step 6: In this example we are placing a break point in TCP source code and thus TCP should
be select in Application properties window.

Step 7: Enable Event trace option and run the simulation.

Simulation will break at event ID 1 as we have set the environment variable to 2 as shown
below Figure 9-23.

Figure 9-23: Simulation will break at event ID 1

Here NetSim breakpoint has been triggered.

Step 8: Inside Solution Explorer pane in Visual Studio, double click on TCP project. Then open
TCP.c file by double clicking on it. Using the drop down list of functions that are part of the
current file, choose fn_NetSim_TCP_Run().

Step 9: In Visual Studio, Set the breakpoint in the code by clicking on the grey area on the left
of the line or by right clicking on the line and selecting Breakpoint->Insert Breakpoint.

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Figure 9-24: Added Break point in line number 50

Step 10: Go to “DebugAttach to Process” in Visual studio as shown Figure 9-25 and select
NetSimCore.exe from the list of processes displayed.

Figure 9-25: Debug > Attach to Process in Visual studio

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Figure 9-26: Select NetSimCore.exe in Attach to Process Window

Click on Attach. Press any key in the command window to continue the process.

Step 11: Now we need to enter next event ID to break.

Figure 9-27: Enter next event ID to break

Then control goes to the project and stops at the break point in the source code (NetSim will
break wherever user has set the breakpoint) as shown below Figure 9-28. All debugging
options like step over (F10), step into (F11), step out (Shift + F11), continue (F5) are
available.

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Figure 9-28: Control goes to the project and stops at the break point in the source code.
After execution of the function, the control goes back to NetSim and then comes back to the
custom code the next time the function is called in the simulation. To stop debugging and
continue execution, press Shift+F5 (key). This then gives the control back to NetSim, for
normal execution to continue.

If NETSIM_BREAK environment variable is set, NetSim event trace file additionally logs the
file name and line number of the source code where the event was added as shown below:

Figure 9-29: NetSim event trace file additionally added two columns the file name and line number of
the source code.

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9.3.2 Via CLI

Modify the DSR protocol and build the code. Create a scenario on MANET then follow the
below steps.

Step 1: Open the Command prompt. Press “windows+R” and type “cmd”.

Step 2: To run the NetSim via CLI copy the path where “NetSimCore.exe” is present.

>cd <apppath>

>NetSimCore.exe<space>-apppath<space><apppath><space>-
iopath<space><iopath><space>-license<space>5053@<ServerIP Address><space> -d

Step 3: Type the following command.

Figure 9-30: Run the NetSim via CLI Mode use the following Command.
Press enter, now you can see the following screen.

Figure 9-31: Enter the Event ID

Step 4: Open the Project in Visual Studio and put break point inside the source code.

Step 5: Go to “DebugAttach to Process”.

Figure 9-32: Debug > Attach to Process

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Attach to NetSimCore.exe.

Figure 9-33: Select NetSimCore.exe in Attach to Process Window

Click on Attach.

Step 6: Go to command prompt which is already opened in Step 3. Enter the Event Id.

Note: If you don’t want to stop at any event you can specify 0 as event id.

Figure 9-34: Enter the Event Id

Execution will stop at the specified event.

Figure 9-35: Execution stops at the specified event

Press enter then control goes to the project and stops at the break point in the source code as
shown below Figure 9-36.

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Figure 9-36: Control goes to the project and stops at the break point in the source code
All debugging options like step over (F10), step into (F11), step out (Shift + F11), continue (F5)
are available.

After execution of the function, the control goes back to NetSim and then comes back to the
custom code the next time the function is called in the simulation.

To stop debugging press Shift+F5. This then gives the control back to NetSim, for normal
execution to continue.

9.3.3 Co-relating with Event Trace

To debug your own (custom) code, it is often helpful to know which section of the code (file
name & line number) generated the event under study. There are 2 ways to enable this feature.

Procedure 1

Step 1: Open configuration.netsim file and provide the file name, path and set status as
Enable.

Figure 9-37: Enable Event Trace by editing Configuration.netsim and provide the file name, path and
set status as Enable
Step 2: Run the NetSim via CLI in debug mode (Refer NetSim Help in Section 7Running
Simulation via CLI) with –d as the fourth parameters.

Press enter.

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Figure 9-38: Run the NetSim via CLI

Step 3: Enter -1 as the event ID.

Figure 9-39: Enter -1 as the event ID

Upon running, NetSim will write the file name and line number of the source code that
generated each event.

Figure 9-40: NetSim writes the file name and line number of the source code in Event Trace
Note: In the above trace file Event Id 56 is triggered inside the IEEE802_11_Phy.c file which is present in
IEEE802_11 project. Since all the lib files are opaque to the end user, you cannot see the source code of
the lib file. However, Event Id 56 is triggered at line number 396 of IEEE802_11_Phy.c file and you can find
the location of the event by opening the IEEE802_11_Phy.c file as shown below.

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Figure 9-41: IEEE802_11_Phy.c file Code in Visual Studio

Procedure 2:

Step 1: Right click on my computer and select Properties.

Step 2: Go to Advanced System setting  Advanced Tab  Environment Variables.

Step 3: Click New. Type “NETSIM_BREAK” as Variable name and any negative integer as
Variable value. Click OK.

Figure 9-42: Environment Variables Window

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Figure 9-43: Enter Variable name and Value in New System Variable
Step 4: Restart the system.

Step 5: Now perform simulation in NetSim (Enable event trace in GUI). Upon running, NetSim
will write the file name and line number of the source code that generated each event.

Figure 9-44: NetSim writes the file name and line number of the source code in Event Trace
9.3.4 Viewing & Accessing variables

Viewing variables while debugging code

To see the value of a variable, when debugging hover the mouse over the variable name in
the code. A text box with variable contents appears. If the variable is a structure and contains
other variables, then click on the plus sign which is there to the left of the text box. Users can
pin the variable to watch by clicking on the pin icon to the right of that variable in the text box.

Figure 9-45: Viewing variables while debugging code

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Adding the variable to watch

Figure 9-46: Adding the variable to watch

Watch the change in the variable as the code progress by right clicking on the variable &
clicking on "add watch" tab. This is useful if to continuously monitor the change in the variable
as the code progresses.

Viewing external variables

During the process of debug users would come across variables that are defined outside the
source file being built as a .dll. Such variables cannot be viewed directly when added in the
watch tab, as this would throw the error.

CX0017: Error:symbol “Variable_Name”not found.

Figure 9-47: Viewing external variables

In the call stack window one can find the file in which that variable is situated. Right click on
the dll file name in the call stack window, in this case NetworkStack.dll. Then in the pull-down
menu which appears, select "load symbols from" and give the path of the pdb (program
database) file.

A program database (.pdb) file, also called a symbol file, maps the identifiers that a user
creates in source files for classes, methods, and other code to the identifiers that are used in
the compiled executables of the project. The .pdb file also maps the statements in the source
code to the execution instructions in the executables. The debugger uses this information to

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determine: the source file and the line number displayed in the Visual Studio IDE and the
location in the executable to stop at when a user sets a breakpoint. A symbol file also contains
the original location of the source files, and optionally, the location of a source server where
the source files can be retrieved from.

When a user debugs a project in the Visual Studio IDE, the debugger knows exactly where to
find the .pdb and source files for the code. If the user wants to debug code outside their project
source code, such as the Windows or third-party code the project calls, the user has to specify
the location of the .pdb (and optionally, the source files of the external code) and those files
need to exactly match the build of the executables.

The pdb files are usually available in NetSim’s install directory, else write to
[email protected] for the latest copy of these debug files. Go to Tools >
options>debugging>load all symbols.

Figure 9-48: Go to Tools > options > debugging > load all symbols in Visual Studio
Note: If the load symbols menu option is greyed, then it means symbols are already loaded

In the watch window, the variable which the user has to watch should be edited by double
clicking on it and prefixing {,, NetworkStack.dll} to the variable name and pressing enter. (The
name of the respective file in which the variable is defined should be mentioned - in this case
NetworkStack.dll).

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Figure 9-49: Variable In the watch window

Accessing External Variables

Each protocol in NetSim has a separate Dll file which contains the variables and functions
which can be shared. In case of cross layer protocol implementations variables of one protocol
may have to be accessed from another Dll.

An example is given below showing how Physical layer parameters of devices running
IEEE802.11 can be accessed in the Network Layer with DSR protocol configured.

The variable battery is defined in a structure stru_802_11_Phy_Var which is part of

IEEE802_11_Phy.h file. So the user will have to access a pointer of type
stru_802_11_Phy_Var. In the header file where the structure definition is given, the following
line of code must be written –

#ifndef SHARE_VARIABLE
_declspec(dllexport) IEEE802_PHY_VAR *var1;
#else
_declspec(dllimport) IEEE802_PHY_VAR *var1;
#endif

In the example, the code line must be written in IEEE802_11_Phy.h file present inside
IEEE802_11 folder.

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Figure 9-50: Code Modification done in IEEE802_11_Phy.h file present inside IEEE802_11 folder
In the main function where a user wishes to find the dReceivedPower_mw, the variable must
be assigned the respective value. In the above case, the following line of code must be written
inside fn_NetSim_IEEE802_11_PhyIn() function in IEEE802_11_Phy.c file present inside
IEEE802_11 folder.

var1 = DEVICE_PHYVAR(pstruEventDetails->nDeviceId,pstruEventDetails-
>nInterfaceId);

Note that the parameters given in the macro or any function which assigns a value to the
variable must be defined beforehand in the code. Here nDeviceId and nInterfaceId are defined
beforehand.

Figure 9-51: Code Modification done in IEEE802_11_Phy.c file present inside IEEE802_11 folder

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The IEEE802_11 project must be built and the resulting libIEEE802.11.dll file which gets
created in the bin folder of NetSim’s current workspace
<C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default\bin\bin_x64> for 64-bit and
<C:\Users\PC\NetSim_13.0.14_32_std_default\bin\bin_x86> for 32-bit NetSim.

The Object file IEEE802_11.lib which is also got created in the lib folder located in the
current workspace path
<C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default\src\Simulation\lib_x64> for 64-bit
and <C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_32_std_default\src\Simulation\lib> for 32-bit.

Now expand the DSR project in solution explorer. For accessing the IEEE802_11 variable, the
following lines must be added in DSR.h file

#define SHARE_VARIABLE
#pragma comment(lib,"IEEE802_11.lib")

Figure 9-52: Accessing the IEEE802_11 variable, Modification done in DSR.h file
Add the following lines of code to the DSR.c file as shown below Figure 9-53.

#include "../IEEE802_11/IEEE802_11_Phy.h"

#include "../BatteryModel/BatteryModel.h"

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Figure 9-53: Add the following lines of code to the DSR.c file in DSR Project
In the fn_NetSim_DSR_Run() function add the following lines of code to print the value of
dReceivedPower_mw variable from DSR project.

if (var1)
fprintf(stderr, "\n Remaining Energy(mJ): %lf\n"
,battery_get_remaining_energy((ptrBATTERY)var1->battery));

Figure 9-54: Code Related to Remaining Energy for nodes

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The DSR project must be built and the resulting libDSR.dll file gets created in the bin folder
of NetSim’s current workspace path
<C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default\bin\bin_x64> for 64-bit and
<C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_32_std_default\bin\bin_x86> for 32-bit. When a
scenario is run, the remaining energy of the node will be printed to the simulation console as
shown below Figure 9-55.

Figure 9-55: Remaining energy of the node printed in NetSim console

9.3.5 Print to console window in NetSim

Users can try printing the Device ID, Application ID, Duplicate Ack Count etc.

To print to console: Print node positions in MANET

Open Mobility Project, and in Mobility.c file go to fn_NetSim_Mobility_Run() function. Inside

the default case add following codes

fprintf(stderr,"\n The position of %s at time %.2lfms is X=%.2lf and Y = %.2lf

\n",DEVICE_NAME(pstruEventDetails->nDeviceId),

pstruEventDetails->dEventTime,

DEVICE_POSITION(pstruEventDetails->nDeviceId)->X,

DEVICE_POSITION(pstruEventDetails->nDeviceId)->Y);

_getch();

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Figure 9-56: Code for Print node positions in MANET

Building Mobility project creates libMobility.dll inside the binary folder of NetSim’s current
workspace path <C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default\bin\bin_x64> for
64-bit and <C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_32_std_default\bin\bin_x86> for 32-bit.
Create a scenario in MANET and configure the mobility model of the nodes. During simulation
users can notice that the positions of the nodes are displayed in the console w.r.t. the
simulation time.

9.4 Creating a new packet and adding a new event in

NetSim
In this example we show how users can create their own packet & event in 802.15.4 Zigbee.
The same methodology can be applied to any network / protocol.

1. Open the Source codes in Visual studio using the NetSim.sln file.
2. Go to ZigBee project and Open 802_15_4.h file and add a subevent called
“MY_EVENT” inside enum_IEEE802_15_4_Subevent_Type as shown below Figure
9-57.

Figure 9-57: Add “MY_EVENT” inside enum_IEEE802_15_4_Subevent_Type

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3. To add a new packet in NetSim first user has to initialize their new packet name inside
802_15_4.h file. Let us assume the new packet be “MY_PACKET” and it is a control
packet. So user has to define it inside the following enum as shown below Figure 9-58.

Figure 9-58: Add “MY PACKET” inside enum_IEEE802_15_4_ControlPacket_Type

4. We assume that MY_PACKET has the same fields as a Zigbee Ack and hence we are
adding the following ack frame to 802_15_4.h file(Add this code just above the enum
enum_IEEE_802_15_4_ControlPacket_Type{} defenition):

struct stru_My_Frame
{
int nBeaconId;
int nSuperFrameId;
int nBeaconTime;
double dPayload;
double dOverhead;
double dFrameSize;
};
typedef struct stru_My_Frame MY_FRAME;
enum enum_IEEE_802_15_4_ControlPacket_Type
{

5. Open 802_15_4.c file, go to the case TIMER_EVENT and add the following code to
the subevent type :-

case SUBEVENT_GETLINKQUALITY:
{
--------------------------
}
break;
case MY_EVENT:
{
//my event//

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fprintf(stderr, "My_event");
pstruEventDetails->dEventTime = pstruEventDetails->dEventTime + 1 *
SECOND;
pstruEventDetails->nDeviceId = nGlobalPANCoordinatorId;
pstruEventDetails->nInterfaceId = 1;
pstruEventDetails->nEventType = TIMER_EVENT;
pstruEventDetails->nSubEventType = MY_EVENT;
pstruEventDetails->nProtocolId = MAC_PROTOCOL_IEEE802_15_4;
fnpAddEvent(pstruEventDetails);
fn_NetSim_WSN_MY_PACKET();
//my event//
}
break;
Here we are adding a new event inside the timer event, and this event will occur every 1
second in the GlobalPANCoordinator. i.e. sink node. In this event,
fn_NetSim_WSN_MY_PACKET() is called as explained in step 5.

6. Inside 802_15_4.c file, add the following code at the end of the file for sending ack
(broadcast):

int fn_NetSim_WSN_MY_PACKET()
{
double dTime;
NETSIM_ID nDeviceId = pstruEventDetails->nDeviceId;
NETSIM_ID nInterfaceId = pstruEventDetails->nInterfaceId;
IEEE802_15_4_MAC_VAR *pstruMacVar =
DEVICE_MACVAR(nDeviceId, nInterfaceId);
IEEE802_15_4_PHY_VAR *pstruPhyVar =
DEVICE_PHYVAR(nDeviceId, nInterfaceId);
NetSim_PACKET *pstruPacket = pstruEventDetails->pPacket;
NetSim_PACKET *pstruAckPkt;
MY_FRAME *pstruAck;
dTime = pstruEventDetails->dEventTime;

// Create MY_Frame
pstruAckPkt = fn_NetSim_Packet_CreatePacket(MAC_LAYER);
pstruAckPkt->nPacketType = PacketType_Control;
pstruAckPkt->nPacketPriority = Priority_High;

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pstruAckPkt->nControlDataType = MY_PACKET;
pstruAck = fnpAllocateMemory(1, sizeof(MY_FRAME));

// Update packet fields

pstruAckPkt->nSourceId = nDeviceId;
pstruAckPkt->nTransmitterId = nDeviceId;
pstruAckPkt->nReceiverId = 0;
add_dest_to_packet(pstruAckPkt, pstruAckPkt->nReceiverId);
pstruAckPkt->pstruMacData->Packet_MACProtocol = pstruAck;
pstruAckPkt->pstruMacData->dArrivalTime = dTime;
pstruAckPkt->pstruMacData->dStartTime = dTime;
pstruAckPkt->pstruMacData->dEndTime = dTime;
pstruAckPkt->pstruMacData->dPacketSize =
pstruAckPkt->pstruMacData->dOverhead;
pstruAckPkt->pstruMacData->nMACProtocol =
MAC_PROTOCOL_IEEE802_15_4;
pstruAckPkt->nPacketId = 0;
strcpy(pstruAckPkt->szPacketType, "MY_PACKET");
//to see the packet in animation
// Add SEND ACK subevent
pstruEventDetails->dEventTime = dTime;
pstruEventDetails->dPacketSize =
pstruAckPkt->pstruMacData->dPacketSize;
pstruEventDetails->nSubEventType = 0;
pstruEventDetails->nEventType = PHYSICAL_OUT_EVENT;
pstruEventDetails->pPacket = pstruAckPkt;
fnpAddEvent(pstruEventDetails);

//Free the packet

fn_NetSim_Packet_FreePacket(pstruPacket);
pstruPacket = NULL;
return 0;
}

7. Inside the above function NetSim API

fn_NetSim_Packet_CreatePacket(MAC_LAYER); is used. This is the API which

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creates a new packet in NetSim. Since in this example, new packet is created in MAC
layer, it is passed as an argument. Users can give the respective Layer name for
creating packets in any other layers. In the above code users can see the following
line:

strcpy(pstruAckPkt->szPacketType, "MY_PACKET");

This is used visualize the packet transmission in the packet animation.

8. In 802_15_4.c file, goto fn_NetSim_Zigbee_Init() function and add the following code
in red color to call the timer_event. i.e. MY_EVENT

declspec (dllexport) int fn_NetSim_Zigbee_Init(struct stru_NetSim_Network

*NETWORK_Formal,\NetSim_EVENTDETAILS
*pstruEventDetails_Formal,char *pszAppPath_Formal,\char
*pszWritePath_Formal,int nVersion_Type,void **fnPointer)
{
pstruEventDetails=pstruEventDetails_Formal;
NETWORK=NETWORK_Formal;
pszAppPath =pszAppPath_Formal;
pszIOPath = pszWritePath_Formal;
//MY_EVENT
pstruEventDetails->nDeviceId = nGlobalPANCoordinatorId;
pstruEventDetails->nInterfaceId = 1;
pstruEventDetails->dEventTime = pstruEventDetails->dEventTime;
pstruEventDetails->nEventType = TIMER_EVENT;
pstruEventDetails->nSubEventType = MY_EVENT;
pstruEventDetails->nProtocolId = MAC_PROTOCOL_IEEE802_15_4;
fnpAddEvent(pstruEventDetails);
//MY_EVENT
fn_NetSim_Zigbee_Init_F(NETWORK_Formal,pstruEventDetails_Formal,psz
AppPath_Formal,\pszWritePath_Formal,nVersion_Type,fnPointer);
return 0;
}
In the above function, subevent type, “MY_EVENT” is called. So this function calls the
MY_EVENT, timer event to execute.

9. fn_NetSim_Zigbee_Trace() is an API to print the trace details to the event trace. So

inside 802_15_4.c file add the following lines of code in red color inside
fn_NetSim_Zigbee_Trace(int nSubEvent) as shown below:-
_declspec (dllexport) char *fn_NetSim_Zigbee_Trace(int nSubEvent)
{
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© TETCOS LLP. All rights reserved

if (nSubEvent == MY_EVENT)
return "MY_EVENT";
return (fn_NetSim_Zigbee_Trace_F(nSubEvent));
}
10. Save the code and build Zigbee project, libZigBee.dll will get created in the bin folder
of NetSim’s current workspace path
<C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default\bin\bin_x64> for 64-bit
and <C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_32_std_default\bin\bin_x86> for 32-
bit. Create a basic scenario in WSN with 2 sensors and 1 sink node.
11. While creating the application between two sensors, set

Application Type - Sensor App

Interarrival Time - 5000

12. Run simulation for 10 seconds.

13. Play packet animation. Here users can see that Sink node broadcasts “MY_PACKET”
to the sensor.

Figure 9-59: In animation window Sink node broadcasts “MY_PACKET” to the sensor
14. Also, open packet trace and users can filter the control packet and see all the packet
details of “MY_PACKET” written in the packet trace.

Figure 9-60: Filter the Packet Type to control packet and See “MY_PACKET” in Packet Trace

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15. To analyse the “MY_EVENT” users can open event trace and filter the subevent type
as “MY_EVENT”. Here users can analyse that the event occurs for every 1 seconds.

Figure 9-61: Filter Subevent type to “MY_EVENT”

9.5 NetSim API’s

NetSim provides a wide variety of APIs for protocol developers. These are available in

1. packet.h – Packet related APIs

 Create a new packet.

o fn_NetSim_Packet_CreatePacket_dbg(int nLayer,int line,const char* file);

 Copy a packet into a new packet.

o fn_NetSim_Packet_CopyPacket_dbg(const NetSim_PACKET* pstruPacket,int

line,const char* file);

 Create error in packet.

o fn_NetSim_Packet_DecideError(double dBER, long double dPacketSize);

 Free a packet

o fn_NetSim_Packet_FreePacket_dbg(NetSim_PACKET** pstruPacket,int
line,char* file);
2. stack.h – Network / device / link and event related APIs

 Calculate distance between nodes.

o fn_NetSim_Utilities_CalculateDistance(NetSim_COORDINATES*
coordinate1,NetSim_COORDINATES* coordinates2);

 Stores the event details. Only one-time memory is allocated. Most used variable

o struct stru_NetSim_EventDetails* pstruEventDetails;

 Retrieve values from xml file.

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o GetXmlVal(void* var,char* name,void* xmlNode,int flag, XMLDATATYPE type);

3. list.h -- Optimized list operation calls since NetSim uses lists extensively.

 Add elments in list.

o list_add(void** list,void* mem,size_t offset,int (check)(void current,void* mem));

 Sorting the list

o list_sort(void** list,size_t offset,int (check)(void current, void* mem));

4. IP_Addressing.h – For setting & getting IP address per the appropriate format.

 Set Ip address of any node.

o NETSIM_IPAddress

 Checking ip address is broadcast or multicast.

o isBroadcastIP(NETSIM_IPAddress ip);
o isMulticastIP(NETSIM_IPAddress ip);

For detailed help please refer the appropriateheader (.h) files

inside:/NetSim_Standard/src/simulation/include or read through the doxygen source code
documentation available inside NetSim Help NetSim source code Help

 Include all the header (.h) files from the include folder
 NetworkStack.lib is a “import library” file and has the definitions for the functions
present in the NetworkStack.dll
 When developing new protocols users should create their own protocol.h and
declare all the protocol specific variables here. Stack & packet related variables
should be used from stack.h and packet.h

NetSim Network Stack calling individual Protocol

Every protocol should provide the following APIs as hooks to the network stack:

 int (fn_NetSim_protocol_init)(conststruct stru_NetSim_Network,conststruct

stru_NetSim_EventDetails*,constchar*,constchar*,int,constvoid**);
 Using this API the stack passes all the relevant pointers to variables, paths etc
needed for the protocol. Inside this function a) local variables should be initialized,
b) Initial events if any should be written, eg: Hello packet in RIP, STP in Ethernet c)
File pointers for reading & writing protocol_specific_IO files.
 int (*fn_NetSim_protocol_Configure)(conststruct stru_NetSim_Network*,int
nDeviceId, int nINterfaceID, int nlayertype, fnpAllocateMemory, fnpFreeMemory,
fpConfigLog );

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 The stack calls this API when reading the config file. Upon reaching the appropriate
protocol definition in the XML file, the stack calls this and passes all these pointers
to the protocol
 int (*fn_NetSim_protocol_run)(): This is called by the stack to run the protocol
 char* (*fn_NetSim_protocol_trace)(int): This called by the stack to write the event
trace
 int(*fn_NetSim_protocol_CopyPacket)(constNetSim_PACKET*
pstruDestPacket,const NetSim_PACKET* pstruSrcPacket):
 This is for copying protocol specific parameters / data into the packed
 int (*fn_NetSim_protocol_FreePacket)(const NetSim_PACKET* pstruPacket): The
this to free the protocol specific parameters / data in the packet
 (*fn_NetSim_protocol_Metrics)(const FILE* fpMetrics): This is to write the metrics
file upon completion of the simulation
 int (*fn_NetSim_protocol_Finish)(): To release all memory after completion
 char* (*fn_NetSim_protocol_ConfigPacketTrace)(constvoid* xmlNetSimNode); To
configure the packet packet trace in terms of the parameters to be logged
char* (*fn_NetSim_protocol_WritePacketTrace)(const NetSim_PACKET*); To
configure the event trace in terms of the parameters to be logged.

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10 Advanced Features

10.1 Random Number Generator and Seed Values

NetSim includes protocol and traffic models which include stochastic behaviour. Typical
examples are a) wi-fi node’s random back-off after collisions, and b) packet error decision by
comparing a random number chosen between 0 and 1 against the packet error probability.

NetSim uses an in-built linear congruential Random Number Generator (RNG) to generate the
randomness. The RNG uses two seeds values to initialize the RNG. Having the same set of
seed values ensures that for a particular network configuration the same output results will be
got, irrespective of the system or time at which the simulation is run. This ensures repeatability
of experimentation.

Modifying the seed value will lead to the generation of a different set of random numbers and
thereby lead to a different sequence of events in NetSim. Therefore, the results are dependent
on the initial seeding of the RNG. Because a particular random seed can potentially result in
an anomalous, or non-representative behavior, it is important for each network scenario to be
simulated with several random number seeds, to ascertain typical performance.

To calculate confidence intervals, users can run multi-seed parametric experiments, where
one or more input parameters are varied, and for each input parameter value, multiple random
number seeds are used to obtain a set of performance metrics.

10.2 Interfacing MATLAB with NetSim (Std/Pro versions)

NetSim provides run-time interfacing with MATLAB so that users don’t have to rewrite code in
C for features that are already available in MATLAB. They can simply reuse MATLAB code.
Lot of work related to machine learning, artificial intelligence and specialized mathematical
algorithms which can be used for networking research, can be carried out using exisiting
MATLAB code.

Figure 10-1: Interfacing MATLAB with NetSim

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This interfacing feature can be used to either replace an existing functionality in NetSim or to
incorporate additional functionalities supported by MATLAB. Any existing
command/function/algorithm in MATLAB or a MATLAB M-script can be used.

In general, the following are done when a user interfaces NetSim to MATLAB:

 Initialize a MATLAB engine process in parallel with NetSim,

 Execute MATLAB workspace commands,
 Pass parameters to MATLAB workspace,
 Read parameters from MATLAB workspace,
 Generate dynamic three-dimensional plots,
 Make calls to functions that are part of MATLAB M-scripts or .m files, and
 Terminate the MATLAB engine process at NetSim simulation end.

Pre-requisites for Interfacing NetSim with MATLAB

 MATLAB Interfacing requires an installed version of MATLAB. Engine API functions

cannot be run on a machine that only has the MATLAB Runtime.
 Both NetSim and MATLAB should use the same build; either 32-bit or 64-bit.

MATLAB functions can be called from NetSim's underlying protocol C source codes using
MATLAB APIs. Following are some of the MATLAB Engine API functions that can be used
from NetSim C source codes:

Engine Type for MATLAB engine

engOpen Start MATLAB engine session
engOpenSingleUse Start MATLAB engine session for single,
nonshared use
engClose Quit MATLAB engine session
engEvalString Evaluate expression in string
engGetVariable Copy variable from MATLAB engine
workspace
engPutVariable Put variable into MATLAB engine
workspace
engGetVisible Determine visibility of MATLAB engine
session
engSetVisible Show or hide MATLAB engine session
engOutputBuffer Specify buffer for MATLAB output

Table 10-1: MATLAB Engine API functions

Guidelines to interface NetSim with MATLAB

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 Analyze what parameters the function or code in MATLAB expects as input.

 Identify the relevant variables in NetSim to be passed as input to MATLAB.
 Make calls from relevant places of NetSim source code to
o Pass parameters from NetSim to MATLAB.
o To read computed parameters from MATLAB workspace
 Identify and update the appropriate simulation variables in NetSim.

10.2.1 Implement Weibull Distribution of MATLAB without using .m file

In this example we will replace the default Rayleigh Fading (part of the path loss calculation)
used in NetSim, with a Fading Power calculated using the Weibull Distribution from
MATLAB.

Note: This example uses 32-bit version of NetSim and MATLAB. Settings will slightly vary in case of 64-bit
version of the software.

Procedure:

1. Create a MATLAB_Interface.c file inside the IEEE802_11 folder which can be found in
the current workspace location of NetSim that you are running and it would be
something like
“C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default\src\Simulation\IEEE802_1
1” For more information on NetSim workspace refer Section 4 “Workspaces and
Experiments”. Write the following code inside the MATLAB_Interface.c file:

/*
*
* This is a simple program that illustrates how to call the MATLAB
* Engine functions from NetSim C Code.
*
*/
#include<windows.h>
#include<stdlib.h>
#include<stdio.h>
#include<string.h>
#include"engine.h"
#include"mat.h"
#include"mex.h"

char buf[BUFSIZ];
Engine *ep;

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int status;
mxArray *h = NULL, *i = NULL, *j = NULL, *k = NULL;
mxArray *out;
double *result;
double fn_netsim_matlab_init()
{
/*
* Start the MATLAB engine
*/
fprintf(stderr, "\nPress any key to Initialize MATLAB\n");
_getch();
if(!(ep = engOpen(NULL))) {
MessageBox((HWND)NULL, (LPCWSTR)"Can't start MATLAB engine",
(LPCWSTR) "MATLAB_Interface.c", MB_OK);
exit(-1);
}

engEvalString(ep, "desktop");

return 0;
}

double fn_netsim_matlab_run()
{

//write your own implementation here

int weibull_noncentrality = 1, weibull_scale = 2;

engPutVariable(ep, "h", h);

//use ProbDistUnivParam() function for matlab 2016
sprintf_s(buf, BUFSIZ, "h=ProbDistUnivParam('weibull',[%d %d])",
weibull_noncentrality, weibull_scale);
//use makedist() function for matlab 2017
//sprintf_s(buf, BUFSIZ, "h=makedist('weibull',%d,%d)", weibull_noncentrality,
weibull_scale);

status = engEvalString(ep, buf);

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engPutVariable(ep, "i", i);

sprintf_s(buf, BUFSIZ, "i=random(h,1)");

status = engEvalString(ep, buf);

out = engGetVariable(ep, "i");
result = mxGetPr(out);

return *result;
}

double fn_netsim_matlab_finish()
{
fprintf(stderr, "\nPress any key to close MATLAB\n");
_getch();
status = engEvalString(ep, "exit");
return 0;
}

Figure 10-2: Create a MATLAB_Interface.c inside the IEEE802_11 folder

2. Now open the code and Based on whether you are using NetSim 32 bit or 64 bit setup
you can configure Visual studio to build 32 bit or 64 bit Dll files respectively.
3. Right click on “IEEE802_11 Project” present in “Solution Explorer” window and select
Add  Existing Item and select the MATLAB_Interface.c file.

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4. MATLAB_Interface.c file contains the following functions.

i. fn_netsim_matlab_init() - Opens the MATLAB Engine
ii. fn_netsim_matlab_run() - Communicates with MATLAB Command Window
iii. fn_netsim_matlab_finish() - Closes the MATLAB Engine
5. In the Solution Explorer double click on the IEEE802_11.c file.

Figure 10-3: Solution Explorer double click on the IEEE802_11.c file

6. Add a call to fn_netsim_matlab_init(); inside the fn_NetSim_IEEE802_11_Init()
function.

Figure 10-4: Added a fn_netsim_matlab_init(); inside the fn_NetSim_IEEE802_11_Init() function

7. Similarly add a call to fn_netsim_matlab_finish(); inside the
fn_NetSim_IEEE802_11_Finish() function.

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Figure 10-5: Added a fn_netsim_matlab_finish(); inside the fn_NetSim_IEEE802_11_Finish() function

8. In the Solution Explorer double click on the IEEE802_11.h file. Add definitions of the
following functions

double fn_netsim_matlab_init();

double fn_netsim_matlab_run();

double fn_netsim_matlab_finish();

Figure 10-6: Added Matlab definitions in IEEE802_11.h file

9. In the Solution Explorer double click on the IEE802_11_PHY.c file.
10. Inside fn_Netsim_IEEE802_11_PHYIn() function comment the lines,

dFadingPower = propagation_calculate_fadingloss(propagationHandle,

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packet->nTransmitterId,ifid,pstruEventDetails->nDeviceId, pstruEventDetails-
>nInterfaceId);

11. Make a call to the fn_netsim_matlab_run() function by adding the following line,

dFadingPower = fn_netsim_matlab_run();

Figure 10-7: Call to the fn_netsim_matlab_run() function

12. To compile a MATLAB engine application in the Microsoft Visual Studio (2017)
environment, Right click on the IEEE802_11 project and select PROPERTIES in the
solution explorer. Once this window has opened, make the following changes:

Figure 10-8: Right click on the IEEE802_11 project and select Properties

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13. Under C/C++  General, add the following directory to the field ADDITIONAL
INCLUDE DIRECTORIES:

<Path where MATLAB is installed>\extern\include

NOTE: To determine path where MATLAB is installed, entering the following command in the MATLAB command
prompt:

matlabroot

Figure 10-9: MATLAB Command Prompt

Figure 10-10: Determine MATLAB Path in Additional Include Directories

14. Under C/C++  Precompiled Headers, set PRECOMPILED HEADERS as "Not Using
Precompiled Headers".

Figure 10-11: Select Precompiled Header as “Not Using Precompiled Headers”

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15. Under Linker  General, add the directory to the field ADDITIONAL LIBRARY
DIRECTORIES:

<Path where MATLAB is installed>\extern\lib\win32\microsoft

Figure 10-12: Set Additional Library Directories to <Path where MATLAB is

installed>\extern\lib\win32\microsoft

16. Under Configuration Properties Debugging, Add the following Target path in the
ENVIRONMENT: <Path where MATLAB is installed>\bin\win32

Figure 10-13: Set Environment to <Path where MATLAB is installed>\bin\win32

17. Under Linker  Input, add the following names to the field marked ADDITIONAL
DEPENDENCIES: libeng.lib;libmx.lib;libmat.lib;

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Figure 10-14: Set Additional Dependencies as libeng.lib;libmx.lib;libmat.lib;

18. Make sure that the following directory is in the environment variable PATH:

<Path where MATLAB is installed>\bin\win32.

Notes:

1. To do step 14, check the Windows system path by clicking on Start  Right click on Computer 
Properties  Advanced System Settings  Environment variables  System Variables  Open "Path"
for editing.
2. If the machine has more than one MATLAB installed, the directory for the target platform must be ahead
of any other MATLAB directory (for instance, when compiling a 32-bit application, the directory in the
MATLAB 32-bit installation must be the first one on the PATH). To run 64-bit NetSim, users has to change
the above mentioned matlab paths to 64-bit matlab paths.
19. Now Right Click on IEEE802_11 project and select Rebuild.

Figure 10-15: Rebuild IEEE802_11 project

20. A new libIEEE802.11.dll gets created in the bin folder of NetSim’s current workspace
path <C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default\bin\bin_x64> for 64-
bit and <C:\Users\PC\\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_32_std_default\bin\bin_x86> for
32-bit. For more information, follow steps provided in Section 9.1 “Writing your own
code”.

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21. Run NetSim in Administrative mode. Create a Network scenario involving

IEEE802_11 say MANET, right click on the Adhoc link and select properties. Make
sure that the Channel Characteristics is set to PathLoss and Fading and Shadowing.

Figure 10-16: Wireless Link Properties Window

22. Perform Simulation. You will find that once the Simulation starts MATLAB command
window starts and gets closed once the simulation is over.

Note: On Windows systems, engOpen opens a COM channel to MATLAB. The MATLAB software you
registered during installation starts. If you did not register during installation, enter the following
command at the MATLAB prompt:

!matlab -regserver

10.2.2 Debug and understand communication between NetSim and MATLAB

1. In the Solution Explorer double click on MATLAB_Interface.c file and place a

breakpoint inside the fn_netsim_matlab_run() function before the return statement.

Figure 10-17: Place a breakpoint inside the fn_netsim_matlab_run() function

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2. Rebuild the code.

3. Now run the NetSim Scenario. The simulation window stops for user interrupt.
4. In Visual studio, go to Debug  Attach to Process.
5. From the list of Processes select NetSimCore.exe and click on Attach.

Figure 10-18: Select NetSimCore.exe in Attach to Process Window

6. Now go to the Simulation window and press Enter.
7. MATLAB Command Window and MATLAB Desktop Window will start and breakpoint
in Visual Studio gets triggered.

Figure 10-19: Once Simulation Start and breakpoint gets triggered in Visual Studio
8. Now when debugging (say, by pressing F5 each time) you will find the computation
taking place in the MATLAB Workspace.

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Figure 10-20: MATLAB Workspace

9. This value of i obtained from MATLAB is used to calculate fading power instead of
the already available models in NetSim.
10. Now place another breakpoint after the line dFadingPower = fn_netsim_matlab_run()

Figure 10-21: Added Another breakpoint after the line dFadingPower = fn_netsim_matlab_run()
11. Add the variable dFadingPower in IEEE802_11.Phy.c file, to watch. For this, right
click on the variable dFadingPower and select “Add Watch” option. You will find a
watch window containing the variable name and its value in the bottom left corner.

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Figure 10-22: Right Click on dFadingPower and Select “Add Watch” option
12. Now when debugging (say by pressing F5 each time) you will find that the watch
window displays the value of dFadingPower whenever the control reaches the
recently set breakpoint. You will also find that the value of dFadingPower in the Visual
Studio Watch window and the value of i in the MATLAB workspace window are
similar.

Figure 10-23: The Visual Studio Watch window and the value of i in the MATLAB workspace window
are similar
10.2.3 Implement Weibull Distribution of MATLAB in NetSim using .m file:

Procedure:

1. Create a file named weibull_distribution.m file inside <Path where MATLAB is

installed>. The weibull_distribution.m file contains the following code:

function WLAN= weibull_distribution(noncentrality,scale)

%use ProbDistUnivParam() function for matlab 2016

h=ProbDistUnivParam('weibull',[noncentrality,scale]);
%use makedist() function for matlab 2017

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%h=makedist('weibull',noncentrality,scale);
i=random(h,1);
WLAN=i;
2. Place this file in the MATLAB’s default working directory. This will usually be MATLAB’s
root directory or the bin folder in MATLAB’s installation path.

NOTE: To determine path where MATLAB is installed, entering the following command in the MATLAB
command prompt:

matlabroot

Figure 10-24: MATLAB Command Prompt

3. You will have to create a MATLAB_Interface.c file in the IEEE802_11 folder similar to
the previous example. The functions fn_netsim_matlab_init() and
fn_netsim_matlab_finish() will remain the same. Modify the function
fn_netsim_matlab_run() that is part of MATLAB_Interfacing.c which was used in the
previous example as shown below:

double fn_netsim_matlab_run()

//write your own implementation here

int weibull_noncentrality = 1, weibull_scale = 2;

engPutVariable(ep, "h", h);

sprintf_s(buf,BUFSIZ, "k=weibull_distribution(%d,%d)", weibull_noncentrality,

weibull_scale);

status = engEvalString(ep, buf);

out = engGetVariable(ep, "k");

result = mxGetPr(out);

return *result;

4. Follow steps 2 to 14 as explained in the section “Implement Weibull Distribution of

MATLAB in NetSim without using .m file” above.

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5. A call to the weibull_distribution () function inside the weibull_distribution.m file is made,

and weibull_noncentrality and weibull_scale parameters are passed from NetSim.
6. Right Click on IEEE802_11 project and select Rebuild.
7. A new libIEEE802.11.dll will get created in the bin folder of NetSim’s current workspace
path <C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default\bin\bin_x64> for 64-
bit and <C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_32_std_default\bin\bin_x86> for
32-bit. Open NetSim in Administrative mode. Create a Network scenario involving
IEEE802_11 say MANET, right click on the environment and select properties. Make
sure that the Channel Characteristics is set to PathLoss and Fading and Shadowing.
8. You will find that once the Simulation is run MATLAB Command Window starts and
gets closed once the Simulation is over. You can also debug the code to understand
the communication between NetSim and MATLAB as explained in the DEBUGGING
section above.

10.2.4 Plot a histogram in MATLAB per a Weibull distribution (using .m file)

Procedure:

1. Create a file NETSIM_MATLAB.m file containing the following code:

function WLAN=NETSIM_MATLAB(choice,varargin)

switch(choice)

case'weibull'

%use ProbDistUnivParam function for matlab 2016

h=ProbDistUnivParam('weibull',[varargin{1},varargin{2}]);

%use makedist function for matlab 2017

%h=makedist('weibull',varargin{1}, varargin{2});

i=random(h,1);

fid = fopen('plotvalues.txt','a+');

fprintf(fid,'%f',i);

fprintf(fid,'\r\n');

fclose('all');

WLAN=i;

case'plothistogram'

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fid=fopen('plotvalues.txt');

mx=fscanf(fid,'%f');

hist(mx);

fclose('all');

end

2. Modify the function fn_netsim_matlab_run() that is part of MATLAB_Interfacing.c which

was used in the previous example.

double fn_netsim_matlab_run(char *arr)

{
//write your own implementation here

int weibull_noncentrality = 1, weibull_scale = 2;

if (strcmp(arr, "weibull") == 0)
{
engPutVariable(ep, "h", h);
sprintf_s(buf,BUFSIZ, "h=NETSIM_MATLAB('weibull',%d,%d)",
weibull_noncentrality, weibull_scale);
status = engEvalString(ep, buf);
out = engGetVariable(ep, "h");
result = mxGetPr(out);
return *result;
}
else if (strcmp(arr, "plothistogram") == 0)
{
status = engEvalString(ep, "NETSIM_MATLAB('plothistogram')");
return 0;
}
else
return 0;

Follow steps 2 to 11 as explained in the section on “Implement weibull Distribution of MATLAB

in NetSim without using .m file” above.

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 A call to the NetSim_MATLAB() function inside the NetSim_MATLAB.m file is made, for
fading power calculation with parameters distribution(‘weibull’), weibull_noncentrality and
weibull_scale parameters are passed from NetSim.
 A call to the NetSim_MATLAB() function inside the NetSim_MATLAB.m file is made, for
plotting histogram for the values generated by MATLAB.
 Also add the following call to fn_netsim_matlab_run() function along with a _getch() to plot
the histogram before closing the MATLAB Engine.

Figure 10-25: Added fn_netsim_matlab_run() function along with a _getch() to get histogram plot
before closing the MATLAB Engine
 Similarly in the call made to fn_netsim_matlab_run() function in IEEE802_11_Phy.c file
add the parameter “weibull” as shown below:-

Figure 10-26: Added the parameter “weibull” in fn_netsim_matlab_run() function in

IEEE802_11_Phy.c file
 Also modify the function definition of fn_netsim_matlab_run() function in IEEE802_11.h file
as shown below:

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Figure 10-27: Modify the Function definition of fn_netsim_matlab_run() function in IEEE802_11.h file
 Right Click on IEEE802_11 project and select Rebuild will create a new libIEEE802.11. in
the bin folder of NetSim’s current workspace path
<C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default\bin\bin_x64> for 64-bit and
<C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_32_std_default\bin\bin_x86> for 32-bit.
 Open NetSim in Administrative mode. Create a Network scenario involving IEEE802_11
say MANET, right click on the environment and select properties. Make sure that the
Channel Characteristics is set to PathLoss and Fading and Shadowing.
 You will find that once the Simulation is run MATLAB Command Window starts and once
the Simulation is over a histogram is displayed in MATLAB for the values that were
generated using weibull distribution.

Figure 10-28: Histogram plot is displayed in MATLAB

 The graph and the MATLAB windows get closed once you press any key.

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You can also debug the code to understand the communication between NetSim and MATLAB
as explained in the DEBUGGING section above.

10.3 Interfacing tail with NetSim

What is a tail command?

The tail command is a command-line utility for outputting the last part of files given to it via
standard input. It writes results to standard output. By default, tail returns the last ten lines of
each file that it is given. It may also be used to follow a file in real-time and watch as new lines
are written to it.

PART 1:

Tail options

 The following command is used to log the file.

tail " path_to_file " -f
where -f option is used to watch a file for changes with the tail command pass the -f option.
This will show the last ten lines of a file and will update when new lines are added. This is
commonly used to watch log files in real-time. As new lines are written to the log the console
will update will new lines.
 If users don’t want the last ten lines of the file, then use the following command.
tail -n 0 " path_to_file " –f
where –n option is used to show the last n number of lines.
 If you want to open more than 1 file then use the following command
tail –n 0 " path_to_file " " path_to_file " –f

PART 2:

Steps to log NetSim files using tail console.

 Open bin folder of NetSim’s current workspace path

(<C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default\bin\bin_x64> for 64-bit and
<C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_32_std_default\bin\bin_x86> for 32-bit) which
contains tail.exe
 Open command window and change the directory to bin path of NetSim’s current
workspace path (bin\bin_x86 for 32-bit and bin\bin_x64 for 64-bit)
 Type the following command to open ospf_log.txt file and press enter.

tail -n 0 "C:\Users\PC\AppData\Local\Temp\NetSim\ospf_SPF_log.txt" –f

Note: Users need to change the path of the file. In this example we are using ospf_log.txt file

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Figure 10-29: Enter the ospf_log.txt file path is Command Prompt

 Open solution file and add the following line in fn_NetSim_OSPF_Init() function in ospf.c
file present inside OSPF project

Figure 10-30: Add the following line in fn_NetSim_OSPF_Init() function in ospf.c file present inside
OSPF project
 Rebuild the project.
 Upon rebuilding, libOSPF.dll will get created in the bin folder of NetSim’s current
workspace path <C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_64_std_default\bin\bin_x64>
for 64-bit and <C:\Users\PC\Documents\NetSim_13.0.14_32_std_default\bin\bin_x86> for
32-bit.
 Create a scenario in NetSim as per the screenshot below and run simulation.

Figure 10-31: Network Topology

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 In the console window user would get a warning message shown in the below screenshot
Figure 10-32 (because of changed DLL) and then the simulation will pause for user input
(because of _getch() added in the init function)

Figure 10-32: Modified Project DLL Warning Message in NetSim Console

 In Visual Studio, put break point inside all the functions in OSPF_SPF.c file present inside
OSPF project.
 Go to “Debug->Attach to Process” in Visual studio and attach to NetSimCore.exe.
 Press enter in the command window. Then control goes to the project and stops at the
break point in the source code as shown below Figure 10-33.

Figure 10-33: Control goes to the project and stops at the break point in the source code.
 Press F5 and check the tail console to watch the ospf_SPF log would look like the following
screenshot Figure 10-34 which calculates the shortest path for Router2.

Figure 10-34: Calculates the shortest path for Router 2 in Console

 Keep pressing F5 will add the ospf_SPF log to the tail console. The below screenshot
Figure 10-35 examines the WAN links connected to Router2 i.e., 11.2.1.2 and 11.5.1.2

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Figure 10-35: WAN links connected to Router 2 i.e., 11.2.1.2 and 11.5.1.2
 In the above screenshot, the shortest path for Router2 is 11.2.1.2 with Metrics 0 since it is
one of the Router2’s interface.
 The below screenshot Figure 10-36 calculates the shortest path for Router5 and examines
the WAN links connected to Router5 i.e., 11.4.1.1 and 11.5.1.1

Figure 10-36: WAN links connected to Router 5 i.e., 11.4.1.1 and 11.5.1.1
 In the above screenshot Figure 10-36, the shortest path for Router5 is 11.4.1.1 with
Metrics 0 since it is one of the Router5’s interface.
 The below screenshot Figure 10-37 calculates the shortest path for Router1 and examines
the WAN links connected to Router1 i.e., 11.2.1.1 and 11.4.1.2

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Figure 10-37: WAN links connected to Router1 i.e., 11.2.1.1 and 11.4.1.2
 In the above screenshot, the shortest path for Router1 is 11.4.1.2 with Metrics 0 since it is
one of the Router5’s interface.
 As shown in the below screenshot, the router1 calculates another new entry i.e. 11.4.1.1
with metrics 100 since it is the next hop (Router5’s 1st interface) connected to Router1

Figure 10-38: Router1 calculates another new entry

 Similarly, users can debug the code and observe how the OSPF tables get filled.
 Users can also open multiple files by using the command given in Section 1.

10.4 Adding Custom Performance Metrics

NetSim allows users to add additional metrics tables to the Simulation Results window in
addition to the default set of tables that are available at the end of any simulation. This can be
achieved by editing the source codes of the respective protocol.

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General format to add custom metrics in Result window:

Every protocol has a main C file which contains a Metrics () function. For E.g., TCP project will
have a TCP.c file, UDP will have an UDP.c file etc. In the following example we have added a
new table as part of TCP protocol. TCP.c file contains fn_NetSim_TCP_Metrics() function
where code related to custom metrics is added as shown below:

_declspec(dllexport) int fn_NetSim_TCP_Metrics(PMETRICSWRITER metricsWriter)

{
//CUSTOM METRICS
//Set table name
PMETRICSNODE table = init_metrics_node(MetricsNode_Table, "CUSTOM METRICS",
NULL);
//set table headers
add_table_heading(table, "COLUMN_HEADER_1", true, 0);
add_table_heading(table, "COLUMN_HEADER_2", false, 0);
//Add table data
add_table_row_formatted(false, table, "%s,%s,", "ROW_DATA1","ROW_DATA2");
PMETRICSNODE menu = init_metrics_node(MetricsNode_Menu,"CUSTOM_METRICS",
NULL);
//Add table to menu
add_node_to_menu(menu, table);
//Write to Metrics file
write_metrics_node(metricsWriter, WriterPosition_Current, NULL, menu);
delete_metrics_node(menu);
//CUSTOM METRICS
return fn_NetSim_TCP_Metrics_F(metricsWriter);
}

Figure 10-39: Added Custom metrics table to the Simulation Results window
For illustration, an example regarding Wireless Sensor Network is provided. In this example,
parameters such as Sensor Node Name, Residual Energy, State (On/Off) and turn–off time
are tracked and added to a new table in the Simulation Results window.

Refer Section 8.1 on writing your own code, for more information.

After loading the source codes in Visual Studio, perform the following modifications:

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Step 1: Copy the provided code at the top in 802_15_4.h file.

double NetSim_Off_Time[100]; //Supports upto Device ID 100. Array size can be increased
for higher number of Devices/Device ID's
Step 2:

Add the header file in 802_15_4.c file.

#include "../BatteryModel/BatteryModel.h"
Step 3:

Copy the below code (in red colour) in 802_15_4.c file (inside fn_NetSim_Zigbee_Metrics()
function)

/** This function write the metrics in metrics.txt */

_declspec(dllexport) int fn_NetSim_Zigbee_Metrics(PMETRICSWRITERmetricsWriter)

{
//CUSTOM METRICS
ptrIEEE802_15_4_PHY_VAR phy;
ptrBATTERY battery;
char radiostate[BUFSIZ];
NETSIM_ID nDeviceCount = NETWORK->nDeviceCount;
//Set table name
PMETRICSNODE table = init_metrics_node(MetricsNode_Table,
"NODE_FAILURE_METRICS", NULL);
//set table headers
add_table_heading(table, "Node Name", true, 0);
add_table_heading(table, "Status(ON/OFF)", true, 0);
add_table_heading(table, "Residual_Energy (mJ)", true, 0);
add_table_heading(table, "Time - Turned OFF (microseconds)", false, 0);
for (int i = 1; i <= nDeviceCount; i++)
{
sprintf(radiostate, "ON");
phy = WSN_PHY(i);
if (strcmp(DEVICE(i)->type, "SENSOR"))
continue;
if (WSN_MAC(i)->nNodeStatus == 5 || phy->nRadioState==RX_OFF)
sprintf(radiostate, "OFF");
//Add table data
add_table_row_formatted(false, table, "%s,%s,%.2lf,%.2lf,", DEVICE_NAME(i),
radiostate, battery_get_remaining_energy((ptrBATTERY)phy->battery), NetSim_Off_Time[i]);

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}
PMETRICSNODE menu = init_metrics_node(MetricsNode_Menu, "CUSTOM_METRICS",
NULL);
add_node_to_menu(menu, table);
write_metrics_node(metricsWriter, WriterPosition_Current, NULL, menu);
delete_metrics_node(menu);
//CUSTOM METRICS
return fn_NetSim_Zigbee_Metrics_F(metricsWriter);
}
Step 4:

Copy the below code (in red colour) at the end of ChangeRadioState.c file.

if(isChange)
{
phy->nOldState = nOldState;
phy->nRadioState = nNewState;
}
else
{
phy->nRadioState = RX_OFF;
WSN_MAC(nDeviceId)->nNodeStatus = OFF;
NetSim_Off_Time[nDeviceId] = ldEventTime;
}
return isChange;
}
Step 5:
Build DLL with the modified code and run a Wireless Sensor Network scenario. After
Simulation, user will notice a new Performance metrics named “Custom Metrics” is added. The
newly added NODE_FAILURE_METRICS table is shown below Figure 10-40.

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Figure 10-40: Added Custom metrics table to the Simulation Results window

10.5 Simulation Time and its relation to Real Time (Wall

clock)
The notion of time in a simulation is not directly related to the actual time that it takes to run a
simulation (as measured by a wall-clock or the computer's own clock), but is a variable
maintained by the simulation program. NetSim uses a virtual clock which ticks virtual time.
Virtual time starts from zero progresses as a positive real number.

This virtual time is referred to as simulation time to clearly distinguish it from real (wall-clock)
time. NetSim is a discrete event simulator (DES), and in any DES, the progression of the model
over simulation time is decomposed into individual events where change can take place. The
flow of time is only between events and is not continuous. Therefore, simulation time is not
allowed to progress during an event, but only between events. In fact, the simulation time is
always equal to the time at which the current event occurs. Therefore, simulation time can be
viewed as a variable that "jumps" to track the time specified for each new event.

The answer to the question "Will NetSim run for 10 seconds if Simulation time is set to 10
sec?" is, the simulation may take more than 10 seconds (Wall clock) if the network scenario is
very large and heavy traffic load. It may take a much shorter time (wall clock) for small networks
with low traffic loads.

Note that when running in "Emulation mode" simulation time and wall clock will be exactly
synchronized since it involves the transfer of real packets across the virtual network in NetSim.

In NetSim, the current simulation time can be got using -pstruEventDetails->dEventTime

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10.6 Adding Custom Plots

NetSim’s plot option can be used to obtain Link and application throughput plots, which can
be accessed from the results dashboard after the simulation. In addition, TCP Congestion
Window plots and Buffer occupancy plots can be obtained by enabling the respective option
in the device properties.

Users can also log additional parameters with respect to time and get them plotted in NetSim
results dashboard. Following are some of the API’s which are part of NetSim_Plots.h file that
can be used for this purpose:

 fn_NetSim_Install_Metrics_Plot() - This function creates a plot log file and returns a value
of type PNETSIMPLOT which can be stored in a pointer and be used for adding values
using add_plot_data_formatted(). This function can generally be called at simulation start.
This function can be called one time for each plot that is to be generated.

For Eg: If a plot is to be generated for each node. Then this function needs to be called
the number of device times.

 add_plot_data_formatted() - This function can be used to add values to the plot log created
using the call to fn_NetSim_Install_Metrics_Plot(). This function needs to be called each
time you want to add new values to the plot log file. The call should be made at appropriate
section of code where the value being plotted changes with time.

10.6.1 Plotting SNR for each UE-gNB pair in 5G NR

SNR measured by UE’s from each gNB can be logged and plotted as part of NetSim results
window without having to use additional tools. Following is one such example where we log
the SNR for each UE-gNB pair and obtain plots at the end of the simulation.

Step 1: Open NetSim source code in NetSim current workspace. For more information, please
refer section “3.12 How does a user open and modify source codes”.

Step 2: Go to LTE_NR project through the solution explorer and open the LTE_NR.c file. In
the function fn_NetSim_LTE_NR_Init(), modify code as shown below:

_declspec(dllexport) int fn_NetSim_LTE_NR_Init()

//custom plot

int ret = fn_NetSim_LTE_NR_Init_F();

for (NETSIM_ID r = 0; r < NETWORK->nDeviceCount; r++)

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for (NETSIM_ID rin = 0; rin < DEVICE(r + 1)->nNumOfInterface; rin++)

if (!isLTE_NRInterface(r + 1, rin + 1))

continue;

ptrLTENR_PROTODATA data = LTENR_PROTODATA_GET(r + 1, rin + 1);

switch (data->deviceType)

case LTENR_DEVICETYPE_UE:

for (NETSIM_ID r1 = 0; r1 < NETWORK->nDeviceCount; r1++)

for (NETSIM_ID rin1 = 0; rin1 < DEVICE(r1 + 1)->nNumOfInterface; rin1++)

if (!isLTE_NRInterface(r1 + 1, rin1 + 1))

continue;

ptrLTENR_PROTODATA data = LTENR_PROTODATA_GET(r1 + 1, rin1 + 1);

switch (data->deviceType)

case LTENR_DEVICETYPE_GNB:

char heading[BUFSIZ], plotname[BUFSIZ];

sprintf(heading, "UE_%d_GNB_%d_SNR", r + 1, r1 + 1);

sprintf(plotname, "plot_UE_%d_GNB_%d_SNR", r + 1, r1 + 1);

fn_NetSim_Install_Metrics_Plot(Plot_Custom, "LTE_NR SNR Plot", heading,

"SNR(dB)", 1, plotname);

break;

default:

break;

Ver 13.0 Page 263 of 281

break;

default:

break;

return ret;

//custom plot

}
Step 3: In the file LTENR_GNBRRC.c go to the function
fn_NetSim_LTENR_RRC_GENERATE_UE_MEASUREMENT_REPORT() and add the lines
of code highlighted in red as shown below:

void fn_NetSIM_LTENR_RRC_GENERATE_UE_MEASUREMENT_REPORT()

NETSIM_ID d = pstruEventDetails->nDeviceId;

NETSIM_ID in = pstruEventDetails->nInterfaceId;

ptrLTENR_UERRC ueRRC = LTENR_UERRC_GET(d, in);

ptrLTENR_GNBRRC gnbRRC = LTENR_GNBRRC_GET(ueRRC->SelectedCellID, ueRRC-

>SelectedCellIF);

ptrLTENR_RRC_UE_MEASUREMENT_REPORT report = NULL;

ptrLTENR_RRC_UE_MEASUREMENT_REPORT temp = NULL;

ptrLTENR_GNBPHY phy = NULL;

Ver 13.0 Page 264 of 281

for (NETSIM_ID r = 0; r < NETWORK->nDeviceCount; r++)

for (NETSIM_ID rin = 0; rin < DEVICE(r + 1)->nNumOfInterface; rin++)

if (!isLTE_NRInterface(r + 1, rin + 1))

continue;

ptrLTENR_PROTODATA data = LTENR_PROTODATA_GET(r + 1, rin + 1);

switch (data->deviceType)

case LTENR_DEVICETYPE_GNB:

temp = MEASUREMENT_REPORT_ALLOC();

temp->ueID = d;

temp->cellID = r + 1;

temp->cellIF = rin + 1;

temp->rs_type = RS_TYPE_SSB;

temp->reportAmount = ReportAmount_r1;

temp->reportInteval = gnbRRC->ueMeasReportInterval;

phy = LTENR_GNBPHY_GET(r + 1, rin + 1);

temp->sinr = LTENR_PHY_RRC_RSRP_SINR(r + 1, rin + 1, d, in);

//custom plot

Ver 13.0 Page 265 of 281

char plotname[BUFSIZ];

sprintf(plotname, "%s\\plot_UE_%d_GNB_%d_SNR.txt",pszIOPath, d, r + 1);

FILE* fp = fopen(plotname, "a+");

if (fp)

fprintf(fp, "%lf,%lf\n",pstruEventDetails->dEventTime,temp->sinr);

fclose(fp);

//custom plot

LIST_ADD_LAST((void**)&report, temp);

break;

default:

break;

ptrLTENR_RRC_Hdr hdr = calloc(1, sizeof * hdr);

hdr->msg = report;

hdr->msgType = LTENR_MSG_RRC_UE_MEASUREMENT_REPORT;

hdr->SenderID = d;

Ver 13.0 Page 266 of 281

hdr->SenderIF = in;

fn_NetSIm_LTENR_RRC_ADD_HDR_INTO_PACKET(pstruEventDetails->pPacket, hdr,
ueMEASID, LTENR_MSG_RRC_UE_MEASUREMENT_REPORT);

LTENR_CallPDCPOut();

}
Step 4: In LTENR.c add the following lines #include "NetSim_Plot.h".

Step 5: Save the changes and right-click on the LTE_NR module in the solution explorer and
select Rebuild.

Step 6: Upon a successful build, NetSim will automatically update the modified binaries in the
respective binary folder.

Step 7: Now on running any simulation in LTE/5G NR networks, you will get individual SNR
plots for each UE-GNB/UE-ENB pair, in the NetSim Metrics window under Plots ->LTE_NR
SNR Plot shown below Figure 10-41.

Figure 10-41: LTE_NR SNR Plots in Result Window

Ver 13.0 Page 267 of 281

Figure 10-42: SNR Plot

The above results are based on the Handover in 5G NR Experiment which is part of NetSim
v13.0 experiment manual. The plot shows how the SNR drops as UE 3 moves away from GNB
1.

10.7 Environment Variables in NetSim

1. NETSIM_PACKET_FILTER = <filter_string> //used by NetSim developers to debug.
Emulator code to passes filter string to windivert. See windivert doc for more information.
2. NETSIM_EMULATOR_LOG = <log_file_path> // Used by Real time sync function to log
get event and add event. Used by NetSim developers to debug.
3. NETSIM_EMULATOR = 1 // Set by application dll or user to notify NetSim internal modules
to run in emulation mode
4. NETSIM_CUSTOM_EMULATOR = 1 // To notify NetworkStack to not load emulation dll
and to only do time sync.
5. NETSIM_SIM_AREA_X = <int> // Area used by Mobility functions for movement of device.
Set by config file parser or user.
6. NETSIM_SIM_AREA_Y = <int> // Same as above
7. NETSIM_ERROR_MODE = 1 // if set then windows won't popup gui screen for error
reporting on exception.
8. NETSIM_BREAK = <int> // Event id at which simulation will break and wait for user input.

Equivalent to -d command in CLI mode.

Ver 13.0 Page 268 of 281

9. NETSIM_AUTO = <int> // If set NetSim will not ask for keypress after simulation. //Useful
to run batch simulations.
10. NETSIM_IO_PATH = <path> // IO path of NetSim from where it will read Config file and
write output file. Equivalent to -IOPATH command in CLI mode.
11. NETSIM_MAP = 1 // Set by Networkstack to inform other modules that simulation is
running per map view.
12. NETSIM_ADVANCE_METRIC // If set, NetSim provides a set of extra metrics.

In application metrics, you can see duplicate packets received.

13. NETSIM_CONFIG_NAME = <FILE NAME> // Config file name. This file must present in
IOPath. If not set default value is Configuration.netsim
14. NETSIM_NEG_ID = 1 // If set, then control packets will have negative id.
15. NETSIM_PACKET_DBG = 1 // If set, then Simulation engine will log the packet creation
and freeing
16. NETSIM_MEMCHECK = 1 // If set, then simulation will enable memory check.
17. NETSIM_MEMCHECK_1 = x // Lower event id
18. NETSIM_MEMCHECK_2 = x // Upper event id

10.8 Best practices for running large scale simulations

As we scale simulations, the number of events processed and the memory consumed
increase. Simulation scale can be defined in terms of:

1. Number of Nodes
 End nodes
 Intermediate devices
2. Total traffic in the network
 Number of traffic sources
 Average generation rate per source
3. Simulation time

The simulators performance is additionally affected by:

 Protocols running
 Network Parameters such as Topology, Mobility, Wireless Channel etc.
 Enabling/Disabling - Animation, Plots, Traces and Logs
 External Interfacing – MATLAB, Wireshark, SUMO

NetSim GUI limitation on total number of Nodes is as follows:

 NetSim Academic – 100

Ver 13.0 Page 269 of 281

 NetSim Standard – 500

 NetSim Professional – No software limit

Recommended best practices for running large scale simulations are:

 Run 64-bit Build of NetSim

 Use the latest Windows 10 Build.
 Use a system running a high-end processor with minimum 32 GB RAM
 Disable Animation – NetSim writes one file per node and windows limits the number of
simultaneously opened files to 512.
 Disable plots, traces and logs to speed up the simulation.
 If plots are enabled NetSim writes one file for each link and for each application.
Therefore, it is recommended users only select those links/applications for which they
wish to plot output performance. Plots for all other applications/links should be
disabled.
 NetSim writes one packet trace and one event trace file per simulation. If users wish to
open this file in MS-Excel, please note Excel’s limit of 1 Million rows.
 Packet trace and Event trace can be disabled to speed up the simulation.
 Running simulations via CLI mode will save memory.

10.9 Batch experimentation and automated simulations

NetSim Batch Automation allows users to execute a series of simulations without manual
intervention. Consider a requirement, where a user wishes to create and simulate hundreds of
network scenarios and store and analyse the performance metrics of each simulation run. It is
impossible to do this manually using the GUI. This requirement can be met using NetSim Batch
Automation script which runs NetSim via CLI.

A related requirement of advanced simulation users is a multi-parameter sweep. When

you sweep one or more parameters, you change their values between simulation runs, and
compare and analyze the performance metrics from each run.

The documentation and codes for batch experimentation script is available TETCOS -
https://www.tetcos.com/file-exchange.html

Ver 13.0 Page 270 of 281

11 NetSim Emulator
NOTE: Emulator will be featured in NetSim only if license for Emulator Add-on is available

11.1 Introduction
A network simulator mimics the behavior of networks but cannot connect to real networks.
NetSim Emulator enables users to connect NetSim simulator to real hardware and interact
with live applications.

11.1.1 Simulating and Analyzing Emulation Examples

To simulate the different types of Emulations Examples such as PING (both one-way and two-
way communications), Video (one-way communication), File transfer using FileZilla, Skype
etc.

1. Refer to the Emulation Technology Library document, which explains the following:
i. Introduction to Emulation.
ii. How to set up and configure Emulation Server in NetSim
iii. NetSim Emulation Features with added examples
iv. Latest FAQs
2. To access the Emulation Technology Library document,
i. You can access from the Technology Libraries link present under Documentation in
NetSim Homescreen
ii. From the Help Menu inside the design window, choose Technology Libraries Manuals
 Emulation.

Ver 13.0 Page 271 of 281

12 Troubleshooting in NetSim
This section discusses some common issues and solutions:

12.1 CLI mode

While running NetSim via CLI for the scenarios described in the Configuration file, you may
bump into few problems.

Note that while running NetSim via CLI, try to ensure that there are no errors in the
Configuration.netsim file. The file, ConfigLog.txt, written to the windows temp path would show
errors, if any, found by NetSim’s config parser.

12.2 I/O warning displayed in CLI mode

Reason: While typing the CLI command if you enter wrong I/O Path, or if there is no
Configuration.netsim file then the following error is thrown

Figure 12-1: I/O warning displayed in CLI mode

Solution: Please check the I/O path.

12.2.1 Connection refused at server<-111> error displayed

Reason: Unable to communicate with the license server

Ver 13.0 Page 272 of 281

Figure 12-2: Connection refused at server<-111> error displayed

Solution: In this example, license server IP address is 192.168.0.185 but it is given as

192.168.0.180. Here server IP address is wrong. Same error message is shown for wrong port
number, wrong tag name like–apppath,-iopath,-license. For example, if –appppath is typed
instead of –apppath then this message will be shown. So, check those details.

12.2.2 Unable to load license config dll(126)

Reason: Apppath and I/O path have white spaces

Figure 12-3: Unable to load license config dll

Solution: If the folder name contains white space, then mention the folder path within double
quotes while specifying the folder name in the command prompt. For example, if app path
contains white space, then the app path must be mentioned within double quotes in the
command prompt.

12.2.3 “Error in getting License” error in CLI mode

Simulation does not commence. “No license for product (-1)” is displayed in the command
prompt.

Ver 13.0 Page 273 of 281

Example:

Figure 12-4: “Error in getting License” error in CLI mode

Solution: NetSim is based on the client-server architecture. When NetSim runs in the client
machine, it will check for the license in the same machine, first. If license is not available in the
same machine, then “No license for product (-1)” will be displayed in the command prompt and
the server machine will be checked for the availability of license. If no license is available in
the server machine also, then again “No license for product (-1)” will be displayed in the
command prompt.

If “No license for product(-1)” is displayed in the command prompt two times, then check in the
NetSim license server to know about the availability of license and adjust the number of current
users of NetSim, in order to get the license.

12.2.4 Unable to load license config dll displayed

Reason: If the command/iopath provided by the user is first written in MS Word and then copy
pasted to Command prompt, some special characters (not visible in command prompt) gets
inserted and on execution, license config dll is not found.

Ver 13.0 Page 274 of 281

Figure 12-5: Unable to load license config dll

Solution: Type the command manually or copy paste the command/iopath from notepad.

12.3 Configuration.netsim
12.3.1 Invalid attribute in configuration file attributes

Specific attributes in the Configuration file are highlighted with zigzag lines

Reason: If invalid input is given in the Configuration file, then the corresponding attribute is
highlighted as blue lines as shown in the figure given below Figure 12-6.

Figure 12-6: Invalid attribute in configuration file

Solution: To resolve this issue mouse over the corresponding attribute, in order to get the tool
tip that furnishes the details about the valid input for that attribute.

Note: If the schema file and the configuration file are not present in the same folder, the zigzag lines won’t appear.
So, place the Configuration file and Schema File in the same location or change the path of schema file in the
configuration file.

12.3.2 Error in tags in configuration file attributes

Simulation does not commence, and error is displayed at the command prompt. Also, red lines
appearing at the tag specifying the Layer in the Configuration file

Reason: This issue arises mainly when the closing tag is not specified correctly for a particular
layer in the Configuration file.

Ver 13.0 Page 275 of 281

Example: If the closing tag is not specified for the Data link Layer, then the zigzag lines appear
at the starting tags of Data link Layer and the Network Layer.

Figure 12-7: Error in tags in configuration file

When NetSim is made to run through CLI, then the following error gets displayed in the
command prompt.

Figure 12-8: NetSim Run through CLI and following error displayed in the command prompt
Solution: The bug can be fixed by setting the closing tag correctly in the Configuration file

12.3.3 Error lines in configuration.xsd in the Configuration file

Blue lines appear at configuration.xsd in the Configuration file.

Reason: This issue arises when the schema and the configuration file are not in the same
folder.

Ver 13.0 Page 276 of 281

Figure 12-9: Error lines in configuration.xsd in the Configuration file

Solution: The bug can be fixed by placing the Configuration file and schema in the same
folder.

12.4 Simulation terminates and “NetSim Backend has

stopped working” displayed
Simulation terminates and exhibits unpredictable behavior. An error message stating, “An exe
to run NetSim backend has stopped working” is thrown.

Example:

Figure 12-10: Simulation terminates and “NetSim Backend has stopped working” displayed
This problem arises if there is any flaw in the Configuration.netsim or in the dll.

Solution: Check whether the desired scenario has been configured properly in the
Configuration.netsim.

12.5 Monitor screen resolution is less than 1024X768

While starting NetSim, error shows the monitor screen resolution is less than 1024 X 768.

Reason: This error will come if monitor resolution is less than 1024 X 768. For example, 1260
X 720 will also show this error.

Ver 13.0 Page 277 of 281

Solution: Change your monitor resolution to 1024 X 768 or above.

12.6 Licensing
12.6.1 No License for product (-1) error

NetSim dongle is running in the server system. When running the NetSim in the Client system
showing “No License for product (-1)” error.

Possible Reasons:

1. Firewall in the client system is blocking the Network traffic.

2. No network connection between Client and Server.
3. License Server is not running in the Server system.

Solution:

1. The installed firewall may block traffic at 5053 port used for licensing. So, either the
user can stop the firewall, or may configure it to allow port 5053.
2. Contact the Network-in-charge and check if the Server system can be pinged from
client.
3. Check whether License Server is running in the Server system or not.

12.7 Troubleshooting VANET simulations that interface

with SUMO
12.7.1 Guide for Sumo

 Link for the Sumo Website - http://www.dlr.de/ts/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-

9883/16931_read-41000/for help related to Sumo.
 In case sumo Configuration files do not open, Right click on any Sumo Configuration
file, go to propertiesopen withsumo.
 While Running NetSim Vanet Simulation – If any message pops up as
“SUMO_HOME” Not found Go to My computer  System Properties  Advanced
system settings  Environment Variables. Add an Environment variable as
“SUMO_HOME”.
 Sumo Configuration File must contain the paths of the Vehicle routes and Networks
file.
 Set the exact End Time for Sumo Simulation in Sumo Configuration File.

Ver 13.0 Page 278 of 281

12.7.2 Guide for Python

 Any Python 2.7 version Installer would work fine for running simulations.
 If you have installed python by an external Installer, make sure the Python Path is set.
It would be set automatically by python installer that comes with NetSim.
 In case “Pywin 32” is not getting installed, or during simulation, error occurs as “win32
modules not found” try the code below (Run it as a python Code).

import sys
from _winreg import *
# tweak as necessary
version = sys.version[:3]
installpath = sys.prefix
regpath = "SOFTWARE\\Python\\Pythoncore\\%s\\" % (version)
installkey = "InstallPath"
pythonkey = "PythonPath"
pythonpath = "%s;%s\\Lib\\;%s\\DLLs\\" % (
installpath, installpath, installpath
)
def RegisterPy():
try:
reg = OpenKey(HKEY_CURRENT_USER, regpath)
except EnvironmentError as e:
try:
reg = CreateKey(HKEY_CURRENT_USER, regpath)
SetValue(reg, installkey, REG_SZ, installpath)
SetValue(reg, pythonkey, REG_SZ, pythonpath)
CloseKey(reg)
except:
print "*** Unable to register!"
return
print "--- Python", version, "is now registered!"
return
if (QueryValue(reg, installkey) == installpath and
QueryValue(reg, pythonkey) == pythonpath):
CloseKey(reg)
print "=== Python", version, "is already registered!"
return

Ver 13.0 Page 279 of 281

CloseKey(reg)
print "*** Unable to register!"
print "*** You probably have another Python installation!"
if __name__ == "__main__":
RegisterPy()
12.7.3 VANET Simulation

i. Changing Vehicle (Node) Names, Moving or deleting vehicles etc. are disabled in
Vanets Simulation.
ii. On running simulation, Backend calls Python file.
iii. NetSim protocol engine waits for the Pipes connection to be established.

12.7.4 Python

 SUMO_HOME Environment variable is checked. If Environment variable is not

present, Error is displayed as “key interrupt error” in SUMO_HOME.
 Python File waits for Pipes connection. (“waiting for pipes to connect”).
 It reads initial data as GUI enable/disable from simulation engine.
 “Checking sumo” is printed. If the environment variable SUMO_HOME points to wrong
directory, error is displayed.
 Sumo Simulation is started where Sumo Binary is checked (To check Sumo.exe or
Sumo GUI are working in the system or not). Then a TCP connection is made
 A while loop runs – It follows the following procedure.
i. Send Garbage value to Backend to clear pipe buffers (pipes).
ii. Read Vehicle name from NetSim (pipes).
iii. Compare with each vehicle present in Sumo. If vehicle is present –Then write
confirmation (pipes) and read its position from NetSim (2pipes for X and Y
coordinates). Also, sumo is stepped forward for every first vehicle in the list of
current vehicles in sumo.
 If vehicle not present, fail (‘f’) is sent.
 Pipes and TCP closed.

12.7.5 NetSim Core Protocol Library

 After establishing the connection, NetSim VANET Library checks for GUI flag, and
sends ‘1’ if animation status is online.
 As simulation proceeds, NetSim VANET library sends vehicle name to python, and
receives XY positions, which are passed from python.
 Positions are updated and simulation proceeds.

Ver 13.0 Page 280 of 281

13 NetSim Videos
In order to have a better understanding of NetSim, users can access YouTube channel of
Tetcos at www.youtube.com/tetcos and check out the various videos available.

14 R&D projects in NetSim

Example R & D projects in NetSim is available in www.tetcos.com/file-exchange.

15 NetSim FAQ/Knowledgebase
NetSim knowledgebase with hundreds on FAQs on how NetSim works is available at
https://tetcos.freshdesk.com/support/home

List of known issues in v13.0 is available at

https://support.tetcos.com/support/solutions/articles/14000101817-list-of

Ver 13.0 Page 281 of 281

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