Vacha Dave, University of Texas

at Austin
1
Network Simulator Tutorial
Advanced Computer Networks
(CS378)

*Jim Kurose, University of
Massachusets, Amherst
2
Network Simulation *
Motivation:
Learn fundamentals of
evaluating network
performance via
simulation

Overview:
fundamentals of discrete
event simulation
ns-2 simulation

*Jim Kurose, University of
Massachusets, Amherst
3
What is simulation? *
system under study
(has deterministic rules
governing its behavior)
exogenous inputs
to system
(the environment)
system boundary
observer
real life
computer program
simulates deterministic
rules governing behavior
psuedo random inputs
to system
(models environment)
program boundary
observer
simulated life
*Jim Kurose, University of
Massachusets, Amherst
4
Why Simulation? *
real-system not available, is complex/costly or
dangerous (eg: space simulations, flight simulations)
quickly evaluate design alternatives (eg: different
system configurations)
evaluate complex functions for which closed form
formulas or numerical techniques not available
*Jim Kurose, University of
Massachusets, Amherst
5
Simulation: advantages/drawbacks*
advantages:
sometimes cheaper
find bugs (in design) in advance
generality: over analytic/numerical techniques
detail: can simulate system details at arbitrary level
drawbacks:
caution: does model reflect reality
large scale systems: lots of resources to simulate
(especially accurately simulate)
may be slow (computationally expensive 1 min real
time could be hours of simulated time)
art: determining right level of model complexity
statistical uncertainty in results


*Jim Kurose, University of
Massachusets, Amherst
6
The evaluation spectrum*
Numerical models
Simulation
Emulation
Prototype
Operational system
*Jim Kurose, University of
Massachusets, Amherst
7
Programming a simulation*
What s in a simulation program?
simulated time: internal (to simulation program) variable that
keeps track of simulated time
system state: variables maintained by simulation program
define system state
e.g., may track number (possibly order) of packets in queue, current
value of retransmission timer
events: points in time when system changes state
each event has associate event time
e.g., arrival of packet to queue, departure from queue
precisely at these points in time that simulation must take action
(change state and may cause new future events)
model for time between events (probabilistic) caused by external
environment
*Jim Kurose, University of
Massachusets, Amherst
8
Simulator Structure*
simulation program maintains and
updates list of future events: event list

Need:
well defined set of events
for each event: simulated system action,
updating of event list

*Jim Kurose, University of
Massachusets, Amherst
9
initialize event list
get next (nearest future)
event from event list
time = event time
update statistics
done?
n
process event
(change state values, add/delete
future events from event list)
Simulator Block Diagram*
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at Austin
10
NS2 Outline
What is it?
How do I get it?
How do I use it?
How do I add to it?
Documentation
Bug-Fixing
Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
11
What is NS2?
Network Simulator
A package of tools that simulates behavior of
networks
Create Network Topologies
Log events that happen under any load
Analyze events to understand the network
behavior
Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
12
Creating Topologies
n1
n4
n2
n5
n6
n3
5Mbps,
10ms
2Mbps,
20ms
300Kbps,
100ms
300Kbps,
100ms
500Kbps,
50ms
Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
13
Creating Topologies
Nodes
Set properties like queue length, location
Protocols, routing algorithms
Links
Set types of link Simplex, duplex, wireless,
satellite
Set bandwidth, latency etc.
Done through tcl Scripts
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at Austin
14
Observing Network Behavior
Observe behavior by tracing events
Eg. packet received, packet drop etc.


time
Src Dst IP
Address, Port
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at Austin
15
Observing Network Behavior
NAM:
Network Animator
A visual aid showing how packets flow along the
network
Well see a demo..
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at Austin
16
Outline
What is it?
How do I get it?
How do I use it?
How do I add to it?
Documentation
Bug-Fixing
Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
17
How Do I get NS2?
NS already Installed for us at:
/u/yzhang/ns-allinone-2.27-oolsr-0.99.15/ns-2.27
NAM already installed at :
/u/yzhang/ns-allinone-2.27-oolsr-0.99.15/nam-
1.10
Add this to the PATH variable of your shell
For tcsh, add the following lines to your ~/.cshrc file


setenv PATH /u/yzhang/ns-allinone-2.27-ooslr-0.99.15/ns-2.27:$PATH
setenv PATH /u/yzhang/ns-allinone-2.27-ooslr-0.99.15/nam1.10:$PATH

Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
18
Outline
What is it?
How do I get it?
How do I use it?
How do I add to it?
Documentation
Bug-Fixing
Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
19
How Do I use it?
Creating a Simple Topology
Getting Traces
Using NAM

Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
20
Basics of using NS2
Define Network topology, load, output files in
Tcl Script
To run,
$ ns simple_network.tcl
Internally, NS2 instantiates C++ classes
based on the tcl scripts
Output is in form of trace files

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at Austin
21
A simple Example Creating the
topology
n1 n2
Bandwidth:1Mbps
Latency: 10ms
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at Austin
22
#create a new simulator object
set ns [new Simulator]

#open the nam trace file
set nf [open out.nam w]
$ns namtrace-all $nf

#define a 'finish' procedure
proc finish {} {
global ns nf
$ns flush-trace

#close the trace file
close $nf

#execute nam on the trace file
exec nam out.nam &

exit 0
}

Creating the topology
Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
23
Creating the topology (Contd)
#create two nodes
set n0 [$ns node]
set n1 [$ns node]

#create a duplex link between the nodes
$ns duplex-link $n0 $n1 1Mb 10ms DropTail

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at Austin
24
Demo
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at Austin
25
Adding traffic
n1 n2
1Mbps,10ms
udp
null
cbr
Packet Size: 500 bytes
rate: 800Kbps
cbr traffic
0.0
0.5
5.0
4.5
time
node
agent
source
link
Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
26
Putting it together..
#create a udp agent and attach it to node n0
set udp0 [new Agent/UDP]
$ns attach-agent $n0 $udp0

#Create a CBR traffic source and attach it to udp0
set cbr0 [new Application/Traffic/CBR]
$cbr0 set packetSize_ 500
$cbr0 set interval_ 0.005
$cbr0 attach-agent $udp0

#create a Null agent(a traffic sink) and attach it to node n1
set null0 [new Agent/Null]
$ns attach-agent $n1 $null0

#Connect the traffic source to the sink
$ns connect $udp0 $null0

#Schedule events for CBR traffic
$ns at 0.5 "$cbr0 start"
$ns at 4.5 "$cbr0 stop"

#call the finish procedure after 5 secs of simulated time
$ns at 5.0 "finish"

#run the simulation
$ns run

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at Austin
27
Demo
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at Austin
28
A second Scenario * (from NS by
Example)
Taken from NS by
Example by Jae Chung
and
Mark Claypool

Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
29
A second Example (From NS by
Example)
#Create a simulator object
set ns [new Simulator]

#Define different colors for data flows (for NAM)
$ns color 1 Blue
$ns color 2 Red

#Open the NAM trace file
set nf [open out.nam w]
$ns namtrace-all $nf

#Define a 'finish' procedure
proc finish {} {
global ns nf
$ns flush-trace
#Close the NAM trace file
close $nf
#Execute NAM on the trace file
exec nam out.nam &
exit 0
}
Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
30
A Second Scenario (Contd.)
#Create four nodes
set n0 [$ns node]
set n1 [$ns node]
set n2 [$ns node]
set n3 [$ns node]

#Create links between the nodes
$ns duplex-link $n0 $n2 2Mb 10ms DropTail
$ns duplex-link $n1 $n2 2Mb 10ms DropTail
$ns duplex-link $n2 $n3 1.7Mb 20ms DropTail

#Set Queue Size of link (n2-n3) to 10
$ns queue-limit $n2 $n3 10

Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
31
A Second Scenario (Contd.)

#Give node position (for NAM)
$ns duplex-link-op $n0 $n2 orient right-down
$ns duplex-link-op $n1 $n2 orient right-up
$ns duplex-link-op $n2 $n3 orient right

#Monitor the queue for link (n2-n3). (for NAM)
$ns duplex-link-op $n2 $n3 queuePos 0.5

Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
32
A Second Scenario (Contd.)
#Setup a TCP connection
set tcp [new Agent/TCP]
$tcp set class_ 2
$ns attach-agent $n0 $tcp
set sink [new Agent/TCPSink]
$ns attach-agent $n3 $sink
$ns connect $tcp $sink
$tcp set fid_ 1

#Setup a FTP over TCP connection
set ftp [new Application/FTP]
$ftp attach-agent $tcp
$ftp set type_ FTP



To create agents or traffic sources, we need
to know the class names these objects
(Agent/TCP, Agent/TCPSink, Application/FTP
and so on).
This information can be found in the NS
documentation.
But one shortcut is to look at the "ns-
2/tcl/libs/ns-default.tcl" file.

Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
33
A Second Scenario (Contd.)
#Setup a UDP connection
set udp [new Agent/UDP]
$ns attach-agent $n1 $udp
set null [new Agent/Null]
$ns attach-agent $n3 $null
$ns connect $udp $null
$udp set fid_ 2

#Setup a CBR over UDP connection
set cbr [new Application/Traffic/CBR]
$cbr attach-agent $udp
$cbr set type_ CBR
$cbr set packet_size_ 1000
$cbr set rate_ 1mb
$cbr set random_ false

Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
34
A Second Scenario (Contd.)
#Schedule events for the CBR and FTP agents
$ns at 0.1 "$cbr start"
$ns at 1.0 "$ftp start"
$ns at 4.0 "$ftp stop"
$ns at 4.5 "$cbr stop"

#Detach tcp and sink agents (not really necessary)
$ns at 4.5 "$ns detach-agent $n0 $tcp ; $ns detach-agent $n3 $sink"

#Call the finish procedure after 5 seconds of simulation time
$ns at 5.0 "finish"

#Print CBR packet size and interval
puts "CBR packet size = [$cbr set packet_size_]"
puts "CBR interval = [$cbr set interval_]"

#Run the simulation
$ns run

Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
35
Demo
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at Austin
36
Outline
What is it?
How do I get it?
How do I use it?
How do I add to it?
Documentation
Bug-Fixing
Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
37
How can I add to NS2?
Adding Protocols to NS2 is possible
Need to create the C++ class
Need to create the OTcl Linkage
More info at:
http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/tutorial/index.html
Tutorial about how to add a simple protocol to
NS2

Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
38
Outline
What is it?
How do I get it?
How do I use it?
How do I add to it?
Documentation
Bug-Fixing
Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
39
Documentation NS2 Documentation
NS2 Manual
Information about Otcl interpreter, C++ class
hierarchy, parameters for various protocols
http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/doc/index.html
Very detailed, useful when looking for something
specific, like:
What are the shadowing models available for wireless?
How do I select them?
How do I make my routing strategy to be Distance
Vector routing?

Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
40
Documentation NS2 documentation
NS2 Tutorial by Marc Greis
http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/tutorial/index.html
Good starting point for understanding the overall
structure of NS2
Examples:
What is the relation between c++ classes and Otcl
classes?
basic info on instantiating NS2 instance, tcl scripting

Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
41
Documentation NS2 Documentation
NS2 for beginners
http://www-sop.inria.fr/maestro/personnel/Eitan.Altman/COURS-NS/n3.pdf
More detailed than Marc Greis Tutorial
More info on getting it up and running rather
than internals
Examples:
What does each line of a tcl script do?
Most common examples of trace formats that are useful
Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
42
Documentation Tcl Documentation
Tcl Tutorial
http://www.tcl.tk/man/tcl8.5/tutorial/tcltutorial.html
Tcl Manual
All commands and their explanation
http://www.tcl.tk/man/tcl8.6/TclCmd/contents.htm
Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
43
Outline
What is it?
How do I get it?
How do I use it?
How do I add to it?
Documentation
Bug-Fixing
Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
44
Bug-Fixing When things go wrong..
Googling for the problem!
Extensive NS2 mailing lists
Chances are that other people have had the
same problem are very high
Responsive forums

Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
45
Bug-Fixing When things go wrong..
NS2 in-built examples
Extensive inbuilt examples
diffing with the examples helps a lot
Sometimes a good idea to start from a script that
does something similar

Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
46
Bug-Fixing When things go wrong..
Taking a look at the code
Everyone adds to NS2
May not always confirm to the norms
IP TTL set to 32 instead of 256

Vacha Dave, University of Texas
at Austin
47
Bug-Fixing Questions
What is the expected behaviour of the network?
Have I connected the network right?
Am I logging trace information at the right level? Can
I change it to narrow down on the problem?
Has anyone else out there had the same problem?
Is there something similar in examples that I can
look at, and build upon?
Does the code really do what the protocol says? Are
all the default parameters correct?
Is Tcl being picky here?