Towards scalable and realistic node models for network simulators

Network simulators typically do not include node models. Our studies show that in networks such as mobile networks, the impact of nodes on performance can be significant. Existing techniques to simulate nodes' are not scalable for network simulations, and require a too large modelling effort to be feasible for network research. In this paper, we propose to capture flexible per-protocol performance profiles from real, running systems using instrumentation and traffic benchmarking techniques. By using the obtained profiles as input into an extended scheduler simulator, the behaviour of the node can be accurately reproduced. Since the processing overhead is represented statistically, we preserve scalability and a low modelling overhead.