A Simulation Template For Wireless Sensor Networks: Stefan Dulman, Paul Havinga

A Simulation Template for Wireless Sensor
Networks
Stefan Dulman, Paul Havinga
EEMCS Faculty, University of Twente, the Netherlands
Emails: {dulman,havinga}@cs.utwente.nl
Abstract— In this paper we introduce a new simulation tem- II. T EMPLATE DESCRIPTION
plate for wireless mobile sensor networks. It is built upon the
OMNeT++ networks simulator and it contains the main features
In this section we will briefly introduce the OMNeT++
needed for simulating large ad-hoc networks of autonomous simulator and then the main characteristics of the template
mobile nodes with sensing capabilities. Simulations can be per- we are developing.
formed both for the networking issues and for various distributed
algorithms. A. OMNeT++ simulator
The template provides besides the easy integration of new code, The OMNeT++ simulator is a simulator originally designed
a graphical interface useful for debugging or illustration purposes for fixed, wired, distributed systems (such as: computer net-
and a collection of tools that help modifying or implementing new
features in an easy fashion.
works, multiprocessor systems,etc.). Its main features are:
The code is still under development. This paper gives an outline • it is a discrete time simulator. The simulated objects
of what the template presently offers and on what features are communicate with each-other by exchanging messages
planned to be added to it. at discrete moments of time;
• it is written in C++ and Tcl/Tk. One of the main advan-
I. I NTRODUCTION tages is the code portability: it runs on DOS, UNIX and
WINDOWS without requesting the user to perform any
In this paper we introduce a new simulation template for changes;
wireless mobile sensor networks [2]. It is built upon the • several graphical interfaces allows easy debugging and
OMNeT++ networks simulator [3] and it contains the main variables inspection. It also offers support for recording
features needed for simulating large ad-hoc networks of au- data vectors and scalars in output files;
tonomous mobile nodes with sensing capabilities. The wireless • it offers support for parallel execution;
sensor networks are a particular example of autonomous • simulated objects are represented by modules. The mod-
decentralized systems. They are made up of hundreds of sensor ules can be simple or composed (depth of module nesting
nodes (having limited resources) that organize themselves into is not limited). The modules communicate by messages
an ad-hoc network. There is no central server to control this (sent directly or via gates). Each module description
network. consists of: an interface description and a behavior de-
We have designed our template because the OMNeT++ scription;
simulator does not include support for mobile networks that • several random number generators (also from several
communicate using radios. We chose to design this framework distributions) with different starting seeds;
in such a way that allows easy modifications of the main • simulations are easy to configure using .ini file. Batch
parameters and, at the same time, the implementation details execution of the same simulation for different parameters
are transparent to the user. is also included.
The template provides besides the easy integration of new All the simulated objects (modules, gates and links) can be
code a graphical interface useful for debugging or illustration created either statically (at the beginning of the simulation,
purposes and a collection of tools that help modifying or from the configuration files), or dynamically (during the sim-
implementing new features in an easy fashion. The code is ulation).
still under development. This paper gives an outline of what
the template presently offers and on what features are planned B. Wireless Sensor Network Simulation Template
to be added to it. Our template is, in fact, a fully working project consisting of
This work is performed as a part of the European EYES a network of mobile nodes that can communicate by wireless
project (IST-2001-34734) on self-organizing and collaborative means.
energy-efficient sensor networks. It addresses the convergence The user has to write the code for his own protocols and to
of distributed information processing, wireless communication integrate it into the template (we provide tools that generate
and mobile computing [1]. Part of the code was developed empty modules where this code should reside). Then the
while visiting the Telecommunication Networks Group from user has to specify the general network parameters and the
the Technical University of Berlin. simulations can start.
Fig. 2. Sensor Node Description
Fig. 1. Simulation Example
presented in Figure 2. The OSI network layers are displayed

All the parameters of the network can be changed without only as an example. The user can modify them by adding,
any need of rewriting any code. We have defined (a lot of) removing or replacing any of them. The internal modules
easy to use macros for accessing the main functionalities of inside each sensor node can exchange information using the
the code. This way, even if we are making changes to the module called blackboard.
template and improving the functionality, the already existing There is another module in there called layer 0. It is the
code created by users still runs on a newer version. interface between two sensor nodes and also between each
The already implemented features are: sensor node and the central manager. It provides all the
• mobility is implemented (Random Way Point algorithm
functionality described above to the custom network layers.
by default). Each node is responsible for defining its own When the lower (in the protocol stack) custom layer wants to
trajectory and announcing it to the simulator; send a message to the neighbors within transmission range, it
• nodes exchange messages using wireless communication.
just forwards this message to the layer 0 module.
A message will be heard by all the neighbors situated III. C ONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK
within the transmission range (the modules within trans- The template that we have just briefly described is still
mission range are connected automatically to each-other); under development. In our research group, we have been
• the user can specify if unidirectional or bidirectional links
implemented and tested already several algorithms using this
have to be used. Each node can specify and update its software (MAC protocols, routing algorithms, clustering algo-
transmission range independently; rithms, localization algorithms, etc.). It proves to be quite fast
• some basic energy management is also included;
and reliable. New features are added upon request.
• the nodes have different kinds of failing probabilities
As future work we plan to add some more features. The
(individual failures, failures that affect regions of the map, most important one is related to making a library with the
etc.) Maps for area failures can be specified and used. algorithms we have already implemented. Other algorithms de-
Other maps can easily used for obstacles, fading, etc. signed for the general OMNeT++ simulator will be adapted to
In order to perform all of this features we have chosen to use work with the new template. Other additional features include
a central manager that takes care of storing the connectivity a new traffic generator, an automatic statistical data collection
map and updating it upon request. It also takes care of reading and representation, a central database for data collection, etc.
additional configuration files and sending the information to
each sensor node. The manager it is hidden from the display R EFERENCES
and all the communication between the nodes and the manager [1] EYES project.
is hidden from the user. This way, the graphical display http://eyes.eu.org.
[2] Simulation template website.
represents only the network the user is interested in (see http://wwwhome.cs.utwente.nl/ dulman/tools.htm.
Figure 1). [3] OMNeT++ website.
Each sensor node has an architecture similar to the one http://whale.hit.bme.hu/omnetpp/.

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A Simulation Template for Wireless Sensor

presented in Figure 2. The OSI network layers are displayed

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