Realistic link modeling and simulation using WiLinkSim

Researchers can evaluate new applications, protocols and algorithms on wireless networks either by running them on a real network or on top of a network simulator such as ns or OpNet. Neither approach is ideal. Real evaluation on deployed networks can be costly in time and resources, and lacks reproducibility. On the other hand, simulators provide repeatable results, but often struggle to capture realistic wireless conditions such as Rayleigh fading and multipath fading. This paper presents WiLinkSim, a wireless link level modeling and simulation platform that provides the repeatability of traditional simulators, but also uses trace-driven models to provide the realism of a real network deployment. WiLinkSim includes a number of prebuilt models varying in complexity, including two data-preconditioning error models that produce highly representative traces of wireless links. The designed of WiLinkSim is presented, and detailed case studies show how researchers can use it to guide the design of new wireless protocols and applications.