A module-based wireless node for NS-2

Abstract

Over the last decade an extraordinary amount of research work at all layers of the network stack has focused on wireless and mobile networks, e.g. wireless local area networks (WLAN), in parallel with their wide acceptance as access technologies. Simulation has been used massively to develop, test and compare new ideas and protocols tailored for such networks and ns-2 has been the most used network simulator for these studies. However, the support for wireless and mobile networking in ns-2 is monolithic and not entirely consistent with basic design principles so that it becomes now a burden for making the simulator evolve. It makes it tedious, if not impossible, to support new features such as multiple wireless interfaces. To overcome the current limitations, the MobileNode object itself is questioned and a new, more flexible and better integrated layout of existing components to support wireless and mobile networking using modules (MW-Node) is presented.