How To Implement Optical Network in NS3

Implementing an optical network in ns-3 involves simulating a network topology that utilizes optical fiber links for transmitting the data in high-speed. Rather wireless networks, ns-3 does not have a built-in module for optical network. Hence, we need to simulate the optical networks by using the point-to-point link. The point-to-point link should have very high data rates and low propagation delays. The following steps illustrates the set up for a basic optical network simulation in ns-3.

Prerequisites

• You should have a system with ns-3 installed in it.
• You should have a basic understanding of ns-3 and C++ programming language.

Steps to Implement an Optical Network in ns-3

Install ns-3: Make sure that you have ns-3 installed in your system. You can download it from the official website and follow the installation instructions.

wget https://www.nsnam.org/release/ns-allinone-3.xx.tar.bz2

tar -xjf ns-allinone-3.xx.tar.bz2

cd ns-allinone-3.xx

./build.py –enable-examples –enable-tests

Include Necessary Headers: Include the headers for network modules, mobility, internet, and point-to-point links.

#include “ns3/core-module.h”

#include “ns3/network-module.h”

#include “ns3/mobility-module.h”

#include “ns3/internet-module.h”

#include “ns3/point-to-point-module.h”

#include “ns3/applications-module.h”

Create Network Topology: Create nodes that represents the devices in the optical network.

NodeContainer nodes;

nodes.Create(4); // Create 4 nodes

Set Up Point-to-Point Links: set point-to-point links to simulate optical communication. Note that you have to Set high data rates and low propagation delays.

PointToPointHelper pointToPoint;

pointToPoint.SetDeviceAttribute(“DataRate”, StringValue(“10Gbps”));

pointToPoint.SetChannelAttribute(“Delay”, StringValue(“2ms”));

NetDeviceContainer devices;

devices = pointToPoint.Install(nodes);

Install Internet Stack: Install the internet stack on the nodes.

InternetStackHelper stack;

stack.Install(nodes);

Assign IP Addresses: Assign IP addresses to the devices.

Ipv4AddressHelper address;

address.SetBase(“10.1.1.0”, “255.255.255.0”);

Ipv4InterfaceContainer interfaces = address.Assign(devices);

Create Applications: Create and install applications to transmit the data between the nodes.

uint16_t port = 9;

OnOffHelper onoff(“ns3::UdpSocketFactory”, Address(InetSocketAddress(interfaces.GetAddress(1), port)));

onoff.SetConstantRate(DataRate(“1Gbps”));

ApplicationContainer app = onoff.Install(nodes.Get(0));

app.Start(Seconds(1.0));

app.Stop(Seconds(10.0));

PacketSinkHelper sink(“ns3::UdpSocketFactory”, Address(InetSocketAddress(Ipv4Address::GetAny(), port)));

app = sink.Install(nodes.Get(1));

app.Start(Seconds(0.0));

app.Stop(Seconds(10.0));

Run the Simulation: Finally, you can set the simulation stopping time and start the simulator.

Simulator::Stop(Seconds(10.0));

Simulator::Run();

Simulator::Destroy();

Example Complete Script

#include “ns3/core-module.h”

#include “ns3/network-module.h”

#include “ns3/internet-module.h”

#include “ns3/point-to-point-module.h”

#include “ns3/applications-module.h”

using namespace ns3;

int main(int argc, char *argv[])

{

    NodeContainer nodes;

    nodes.Create(4); // Create 4 nodes

    PointToPointHelper pointToPoint;

    pointToPoint.SetDeviceAttribute(“DataRate”, StringValue(“10Gbps”));

    pointToPoint.SetChannelAttribute(“Delay”, StringValue(“2ms”));

    NetDeviceContainer devices;

    devices = pointToPoint.Install(nodes);

    InternetStackHelper stack;

    stack.Install(nodes);

    Ipv4AddressHelper address;

    address.SetBase(“10.1.1.0”, “255.255.255.0”);

    Ipv4InterfaceContainer interfaces = address.Assign(devices);

    uint16_t port = 9;

OnOffHelper onoff(“ns3::UdpSocketFactory”, Address(InetSocketAddress(interfaces.GetAddress(1), port)));

    onoff.SetConstantRate(DataRate(“1Gbps”));

    ApplicationContainer app = onoff.Install(nodes.Get(0));

    app.Start(Seconds(1.0));

    app.Stop(Seconds(10.0));

PacketSinkHelper sink(“ns3::UdpSocketFactory”, Address(InetSocketAddress(Ipv4Address::GetAny(), port)));

    app = sink.Install(nodes.Get(1));

    app.Start(Seconds(0.0));

    app.Stop(Seconds(10.0));

    Simulator::Stop(Seconds(10.0));

    Simulator::Run();

    Simulator::Destroy();

    return 0;

}

Running the Script

Use the following commands to compile and run the script.

./waf configure –enable-examples

./waf build

./waf –run <script-name>

We simulate all types of optical networks and work on all modules stay in touch with us for more support.