Graphic Visualization of the 802.11 DCF Protocol under the NS-2 Simulator

Author

Ben-El-Kezadri, Ryad ; Kamoun, Farouk

Author_Institution

Univ. de Paris VI

fYear

2007

fDate

39142

Firstpage

324

Lastpage

333

Abstract

The IEEE 802.11 standard uses the distributed coordination function (DCF) protocol to share the medium among multiple stations. DCF is implanted in all the mobile ad-hoc networks (MANET) simulators but its validation poses a true problem considering both the diversity of the models and their simplicity. The validation systems being hard to implement, the visualization tools represent, by comparison, auxiliary applications much more simple to develop. Behind their apparent simplicity, the graphic traces are extremely powerful teaching aids able to bring images of the DCF dysfunctions observed during the simulation execution. For this purpose, the simulation events are logged in trace files and then displayed in the form of timeline. The main contribution of this work is the definition of a tool allowing visualization of the network simulators activity at the data link layer. To show the potential of the approach, screenshots showing the dysfunctions observed in the NS-2 simulator are presented and analyzed

Keywords

IEEE standards; ad hoc networks; discrete event simulation; mobile computing; protocols; wireless LAN; 802.11 DCF protocol; IEEE 802.11 standard; MANET simulators; NS-2 simulator; distributed coordination function; graphic visualization; mobile ad-hoc networks; Ad hoc networks; Animation; Data visualization; Debugging; Displays; Graphics; Microscopy; Mobile ad hoc networks; Network topology; Protocols;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Simulation Symposium, 2007. ANSS '07. 40th Annual

Conference_Location

Norfolk, VA

ISSN

1080-241X

Print_ISBN

0-7695-2814-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ANSS.2007.23

Filename

4127233