Implementation and Performance Evaluation of a Complete, Accurate, Versatile and Realistic Simulation Model for Mobile WiMAX in NS-2

IEEE 802.16e-based Mobile WiMAX has gained considerable popularity recently. However, there is no current simulation model that provides feature completeness and performance accuracy. In this paper we propose the design and implementation methodology of a complete, accurate, realistic and versatile simulation model to support Mobile WiMAX for the NS-2 simulation platform. In the proposed simulation model design, all major mandatory as well as many optional features in the IEEE 802.16e standard are implemented based on the enhancement of an open-source WiMAX model published by NIST. The major contributions of this work are: 1) the additional features integrated to the NIST model including OFDMA physical layer, 2) periodical ranging and Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC) for robust link adaptation, 3) multi-hop support for large-scale test-bed simulation, as well as 4) the simulation model validation using WiMAX Forum certified devices. Versatile simulation scenarios are also designed to validate the implemented features.