Network Simulation 2023s [NwSim 2023s]

Contents

Studying hypotheses for novel networked systems often requires rigorous performance evaluation. Oftentimes, modern – and particularly wireless – networks are too complex to be studied using mathematical models alone. Physical testing (e.g., in the form of field operational tests) would often be prohibitively expensive – or, in the case of as-of-yet theorized techniques, impossible. Thus, the only feasible option is a computer simulation. This course will cover the basics of network simulation with a focus on discrete event simulation. We will cover all steps of how to conduct a simulation study, from modeling, to implementation, to evaluation.

Prerequisites

This class may have substantial online components. To be able to join, you must be able to make use of

• web video conferencing systems
• a virtual machine, e.g., using Oracle VM VirtualBox

Before enrolling, please try these out and contact us if you do not fulfill these requirements.

Beyond this, there are no formal prerequisites for joining. Still, certain background knowledge is not taught in this course, but assumed for all of lecture, labs, and exams.

• For the labs, simulations will be designed, written (in C++), and run (on Linux systems). For this, both programming and computer skills are essential.

Learning Outcome

See above.

General Information / Methods

This course consists of lectures and labs. The lecture covers theoretical parts of the course, the labs cover practical parts.

This course will be held in English (German, if universally preferred) and all the course material is available in English. Course material will be distributed/collected via OPAL.

For participation, three alternatives exist:

• All slides along with written commentary will be made available online for download and asynchronous learning.
• All slides will be presented in a weekly interactive live stream for synchronous learning. The streaming platform is the TU Dresden BigBlueButton instance, with Zoom as a fall-back. Times and dates as well as links will be published here.
• All slides will be presented in a weekly interactive meeting on campus. Times and dates will be published here.

Questions? Comments? Join the discussion in our Matrix Room #nsm-course-nwsim:tu-dresden.de (reachable from the TU Dresden Matrix server) or add a post to our OPAL forum!

Exams

Oral examination (by appointment).

Option of written exam if 32 participants or more where covered by degree program regulations.

If you want to get a grade, please pre-register the exam with us in the first two weeks of lecture. This is in addition to the regular exam registration you will need to do later in the semester. See the organizational slide deck for details.

Instructors

• Lecture: Christoph Sommer
• Labs: Christoph Sommer

Timeline

For timeline information, see both the section “In a nutshell” above and the slide deck “Organization” below.

Web Meeting Links

The class will be run both physically and as a web meeting in the first week. For the location on campus, see the section “In a nutshell” above. For the link to the web meeting, see below. We will begin by discussing how to continue the course (physical or virtual).

• Click here to join the web meeting

In case of technical difficulties, please check the Matrix room.

Slides

• 00-org.pdf - Organization
• more: see OPAL

Sheets

• installation.pdf - Installation
• sheet0.pdf - Sheet 0: Installation, TicToc & Warmup
• more: see OPAL

Literature

• Averill M. Law, Simulation, Modeling and Analysis, ed. 4, Singapore, Singapore, McGraw-Hill, 2007. [BibTeX, Details...]
• Ronald E. Walpole, Raymond H. Myers, Sharon L. Myers and Keying Ye, Probability and Statistics for Engineers and Scientists, ed. 9 (international), Pearson, 2012. [BibTeX, Details...]