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1 .. include:: replace.txt |
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2 |
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3 |
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4 Conceptual Overview |
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5 ------------------- |
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6 |
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7 The first thing we need to do before actually starting to look at or write |
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8 |ns3| code is to explain a few core concepts and abstractions in the |
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9 system. Much of this may appear transparently obvious to some, but we |
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10 recommend taking the time to read through this section just to ensure you |
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11 are starting on a firm foundation. |
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12 |
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13 Key Abstractions |
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14 **************** |
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15 |
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16 In this section, we'll review some terms that are commonly used in |
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17 networking, but have a specific meaning in |ns3|. |
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18 |
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19 Node |
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20 ++++ |
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21 In Internet jargon, a computing device that connects to a network is called |
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22 a *host* or sometimes an *end system*. Because |ns3| is a |
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23 *network* simulator, not specifically an *Internet* simulator, we |
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24 intentionally do not use the term host since it is closely associated with |
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25 the Internet and its protocols. Instead, we use a more generic term also |
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26 used by other simulators that originates in Graph Theory --- the *node*. |
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27 |
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28 In |ns3| the basic computing device abstraction is called the |
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29 node. This abstraction is represented in C++ by the class ``Node``. The |
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30 ``Node`` class provides methods for managing the representations of |
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31 computing devices in simulations. |
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32 |
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33 You should think of a ``Node`` as a computer to which you will add |
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34 functionality. One adds things like applications, protocol stacks and |
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35 peripheral cards with their associated drivers to enable the computer to do |
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36 useful work. We use the same basic model in |ns3|. |
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37 |
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38 Application |
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39 +++++++++++ |
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40 Typically, computer software is divided into two broad classes. *System |
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41 Software* organizes various computer resources such as memory, processor |
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42 cycles, disk, network, etc., according to some computing model. System |
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43 software usually does not use those resources to complete tasks that directly |
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44 benefit a user. A user would typically run an *application* that acquires |
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45 and uses the resources controlled by the system software to accomplish some |
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46 goal. |
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47 |
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48 Often, the line of separation between system and application software is made |
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49 at the privilege level change that happens in operating system traps. |
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50 In |ns3| there is no real concept of operating system and especially |
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51 no concept of privilege levels or system calls. We do, however, have the |
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52 idea of an application. Just as software applications run on computers to |
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53 perform tasks in the "real world," |ns3| applications run on |
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54 |ns3| ``Nodes`` to drive simulations in the simulated world. |
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55 |
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56 In |ns3| the basic abstraction for a user program that generates some |
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57 activity to be simulated is the application. This abstraction is represented |
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58 in C++ by the class ``Application``. The ``Application`` class provides |
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59 methods for managing the representations of our version of user-level |
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60 applications in simulations. Developers are expected to specialize the |
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61 ``Application`` class in the object-oriented programming sense to create new |
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62 applications. In this tutorial, we will use specializations of class |
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63 ``Application`` called ``UdpEchoClientApplication`` and |
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64 ``UdpEchoServerApplication``. As you might expect, these applications |
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65 compose a client/server application set used to generate and echo simulated |
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66 network packets |
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67 |
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68 Channel |
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69 +++++++ |
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70 |
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71 In the real world, one can connect a computer to a network. Often the media |
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72 over which data flows in these networks are called *channels*. When |
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73 you connect your Ethernet cable to the plug in the wall, you are connecting |
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74 your computer to an Ethernet communication channel. In the simulated world |
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75 of |ns3|, one connects a ``Node`` to an object representing a |
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76 communication channel. Here the basic communication subnetwork abstraction |
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77 is called the channel and is represented in C++ by the class ``Channel``. |
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78 |
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79 The ``Channel`` class provides methods for managing communication |
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80 subnetwork objects and connecting nodes to them. ``Channels`` may also be |
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81 specialized by developers in the object oriented programming sense. A |
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82 ``Channel`` specialization may model something as simple as a wire. The |
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83 specialized ``Channel`` can also model things as complicated as a large |
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84 Ethernet switch, or three-dimensional space full of obstructions in the case |
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85 of wireless networks. |
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86 |
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87 We will use specialized versions of the ``Channel`` called |
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88 ``CsmaChannel``, ``PointToPointChannel`` and ``WifiChannel`` in this |
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89 tutorial. The ``CsmaChannel``, for example, models a version of a |
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90 communication subnetwork that implements a *carrier sense multiple |
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91 access* communication medium. This gives us Ethernet-like functionality. |
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92 |
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93 Net Device |
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94 ++++++++++ |
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95 It used to be the case that if you wanted to connect a computers to a network, |
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96 you had to buy a specific kind of network cable and a hardware device called |
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97 (in PC terminology) a *peripheral card* that needed to be installed in |
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98 your computer. If the peripheral card implemented some networking function, |
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99 they were called Network Interface Cards, or *NICs*. Today most |
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100 computers come with the network interface hardware built in and users don't |
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101 see these building blocks. |
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102 |
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103 A NIC will not work without a software driver to control the hardware. In |
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104 Unix (or Linux), a piece of peripheral hardware is classified as a |
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105 *device*. Devices are controlled using *device drivers*, and network |
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106 devices (NICs) are controlled using *network device drivers* |
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107 collectively known as *net devices*. In Unix and Linux you refer |
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108 to these net devices by names such as *eth0*. |
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109 |
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110 In |ns3| the *net device* abstraction covers both the software |
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111 driver and the simulated hardware. A net device is "installed" in a |
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112 ``Node`` in order to enable the ``Node`` to communicate with other |
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113 ``Nodes`` in the simulation via ``Channels``. Just as in a real |
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114 computer, a ``Node`` may be connected to more than one ``Channel`` via |
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115 multiple ``NetDevices``. |
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116 |
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117 The net device abstraction is represented in C++ by the class ``NetDevice``. |
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118 The ``NetDevice`` class provides methods for managing connections to |
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119 ``Node`` and ``Channel`` objects; and may be specialized by developers |
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120 in the object-oriented programming sense. We will use the several specialized |
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121 versions of the ``NetDevice`` called ``CsmaNetDevice``, |
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122 ``PointToPointNetDevice``, and ``WifiNetDevice`` in this tutorial. |
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123 Just as an Ethernet NIC is designed to work with an Ethernet network, the |
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124 ``CsmaNetDevice`` is designed to work with a ``CsmaChannel``; the |
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125 ``PointToPointNetDevice`` is designed to work with a |
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126 ``PointToPointChannel`` and a ``WifiNetNevice`` is designed to work with |
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127 a ``WifiChannel``. |
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128 |
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129 Topology Helpers |
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130 ++++++++++++++++ |
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131 In a real network, you will find host computers with added (or built-in) |
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132 NICs. In |ns3| we would say that you will find ``Nodes`` with |
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133 attached ``NetDevices``. In a large simulated network you will need to |
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134 arrange many connections between ``Nodes``, ``NetDevices`` and |
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135 ``Channels``. |
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136 |
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137 Since connecting ``NetDevices`` to ``Nodes``, ``NetDevices`` |
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138 to ``Channels``, assigning IP addresses, etc., are such common tasks |
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139 in |ns3|, we provide what we call *topology helpers* to make |
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140 this as easy as possible. For example, it may take many distinct |
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141 |ns3| core operations to create a NetDevice, add a MAC address, |
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142 install that net device on a ``Node``, configure the node's protocol stack, |
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143 and then connect the ``NetDevice`` to a ``Channel``. Even more |
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144 operations would be required to connect multiple devices onto multipoint |
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145 channels and then to connect individual networks together into internetworks. |
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146 We provide topology helper objects that combine those many distinct operations |
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147 into an easy to use model for your convenience. |
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148 |
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149 A First ns-3 Script |
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150 ******************* |
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151 If you downloaded the system as was suggested above, you will have a release |
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152 of |ns3| in a directory called ``repos`` under your home |
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153 directory. Change into that release directory, and you should find a |
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154 directory structure something like the following: |
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155 |
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156 :: |
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157 |
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158 AUTHORS doc/ README src/ waf.bat* |
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159 bindings/ examples/ RELEASE_NOTES utils/ wscript |
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160 build/ LICENSE samples/ VERSION wutils.py |
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161 CHANGES.html ns3/ scratch/ waf* wutils.pyc |
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162 |
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163 Change into the ``examples/tutorial`` directory. You should see a file named |
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164 ``first.cc`` located there. This is a script that will create a simple |
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165 point-to-point link between two nodes and echo a single packet between the |
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166 nodes. Let's take a look at that script line by line, so go ahead and open |
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167 ``first.cc`` in your favorite editor. |
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168 |
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169 Boilerplate |
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170 +++++++++++ |
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171 The first line in the file is an emacs mode line. This tells emacs about the |
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172 formatting conventions (coding style) we use in our source code. |
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173 |
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174 :: |
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175 |
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176 /* -*- Mode:C++; c-file-style:"gnu"; indent-tabs-mode:nil; -*- */ |
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177 |
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178 This is always a somewhat controversial subject, so we might as well get it |
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179 out of the way immediately. The |ns3| project, like most large |
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180 projects, has adopted a coding style to which all contributed code must |
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181 adhere. If you want to contribute your code to the project, you will |
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182 eventually have to conform to the |ns3| coding standard as described |
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183 in the file ``doc/codingstd.txt`` or shown on the project web page |
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184 `here |
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185 <http://www.nsnam.org/codingstyle.html>`_. |
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186 |
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187 We recommend that you, well, just get used to the look and feel of |ns3| |
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188 code and adopt this standard whenever you are working with our code. All of |
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189 the development team and contributors have done so with various amounts of |
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190 grumbling. The emacs mode line above makes it easier to get the formatting |
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191 correct if you use the emacs editor. |
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192 |
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193 The |ns3| simulator is licensed using the GNU General Public |
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194 License. You will see the appropriate GNU legalese at the head of every file |
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195 in the |ns3| distribution. Often you will see a copyright notice for |
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196 one of the institutions involved in the |ns3| project above the GPL |
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197 text and an author listed below. |
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198 |
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199 :: |
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200 |
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201 /* |
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202 * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify |
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203 * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as |
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204 * published by the Free Software Foundation; |
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205 * |
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206 * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, |
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207 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of |
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208 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the |
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209 * GNU General Public License for more details. |
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210 * |
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211 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License |
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212 * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software |
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213 * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA |
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214 */ |
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215 |
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216 Module Includes |
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217 +++++++++++++++ |
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218 The code proper starts with a number of include statements. |
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219 |
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220 :: |
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221 |
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222 #include "ns3/core-module.h" |
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223 #include "ns3/simulator-module.h" |
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224 #include "ns3/node-module.h" |
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225 #include "ns3/helper-module.h" |
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226 |
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227 To help our high-level script users deal with the large number of include |
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228 files present in the system, we group includes according to relatively large |
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229 modules. We provide a single include file that will recursively load all of |
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230 the include files used in each module. Rather than having to look up exactly |
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231 what header you need, and possibly have to get a number of dependencies right, |
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232 we give you the ability to load a group of files at a large granularity. This |
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233 is not the most efficient approach but it certainly makes writing scripts much |
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234 easier. |
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235 |
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236 Each of the |ns3| include files is placed in a directory called |
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237 ``ns3`` (under the build directory) during the build process to help avoid |
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238 include file name collisions. The ``ns3/core-module.h`` file corresponds |
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239 to the ns-3 module you will find in the directory ``src/core`` in your |
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240 downloaded release distribution. If you list this directory you will find a |
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241 large number of header files. When you do a build, Waf will place public |
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242 header files in an ``ns3`` directory under the appropriate |
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243 ``build/debug`` or ``build/optimized`` directory depending on your |
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244 configuration. Waf will also automatically generate a module include file to |
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245 load all of the public header files. |
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246 |
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247 Since you are, of course, following this tutorial religiously, you will |
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248 already have done a |
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249 |
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250 :: |
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251 |
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252 ./waf -d debug configure |
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253 |
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254 in order to configure the project to perform debug builds. You will also have |
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255 done a |
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256 |
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257 :: |
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258 |
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259 ./waf |
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260 |
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261 to build the project. So now if you look in the directory |
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262 ``../../build/debug/ns3`` you will find the four module include files shown |
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263 above. You can take a look at the contents of these files and find that they |
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264 do include all of the public include files in their respective modules. |
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265 |
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266 Ns3 Namespace |
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267 +++++++++++++ |
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268 The next line in the ``first.cc`` script is a namespace declaration. |
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269 |
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270 :: |
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271 |
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272 using namespace ns3; |
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273 |
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274 The |ns3| project is implemented in a C++ namespace called |
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275 ``ns3``. This groups all |ns3|-related declarations in a scope |
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276 outside the global namespace, which we hope will help with integration with |
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277 other code. The C++ ``using`` statement introduces the |ns3| |
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278 namespace into the current (global) declarative region. This is a fancy way |
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279 of saying that after this declaration, you will not have to type ``ns3::`` |
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280 scope resolution operator before all of the |ns3| code in order to use |
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281 it. If you are unfamiliar with namespaces, please consult almost any C++ |
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282 tutorial and compare the ``ns3`` namespace and usage here with instances of |
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283 the ``std`` namespace and the ``using namespace std;`` statements you |
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284 will often find in discussions of ``cout`` and streams. |
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285 |
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286 Logging |
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287 +++++++ |
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288 The next line of the script is the following, |
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289 |
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290 :: |
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291 |
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292 NS_LOG_COMPONENT_DEFINE ("FirstScriptExample"); |
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293 |
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294 We will use this statement as a convenient place to talk about our Doxygen |
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295 documentation system. If you look at the project web site, |
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296 `ns-3 project |
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297 <http://www.nsnam.org>`_, you will find a link to "Doxygen |
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298 (ns-3-dev)" in the navigation bar. If you select this link, you will be |
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299 taken to our documentation page for the current development release. There |
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300 is also a link to "Doxygen (stable)" that will take you to the documentation |
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301 for the latest stable release of |ns3|. |
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302 |
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303 Along the left side, you will find a graphical representation of the structure |
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304 of the documentation. A good place to start is the ``NS-3 Modules`` |
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305 "book" in the |ns3| navigation tree. If you expand ``Modules`` |
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306 you will see a list of |ns3| module documentation. The concept of |
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307 module here ties directly into the module include files discussed above. It |
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308 turns out that the |ns3| logging subsystem is part of the ``core`` |
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309 module, so go ahead and expand that documentation node. Now, expand the |
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310 ``Debugging`` book and then select the ``Logging`` page. |
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311 |
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312 You should now be looking at the Doxygen documentation for the Logging module. |
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313 In the list of ``#define``s at the top of the page you will see the entry |
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314 for ``NS_LOG_COMPONENT_DEFINE``. Before jumping in, it would probably be |
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315 good to look for the "Detailed Description" of the logging module to get a |
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316 feel for the overall operation. You can either scroll down or select the |
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317 "More..." link under the collaboration diagram to do this. |
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318 |
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319 Once you have a general idea of what is going on, go ahead and take a look at |
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320 the specific ``NS_LOG_COMPONENT_DEFINE`` documentation. I won't duplicate |
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321 the documentation here, but to summarize, this line declares a logging |
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322 component called ``FirstScriptExample`` that allows you to enable and |
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323 disable console message logging by reference to the name. |
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324 |
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325 Main Function |
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326 +++++++++++++ |
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327 The next lines of the script you will find are, |
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328 |
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329 :: |
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330 |
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331 int |
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332 main (int argc, char *argv[]) |
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333 { |
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334 |
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335 This is just the declaration of the main function of your program (script). |
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336 Just as in any C++ program, you need to define a main function that will be |
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337 the first function run. There is nothing at all special here. Your |
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338 |ns3| script is just a C++ program. |
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339 |
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340 The next two lines of the script are used to enable two logging components that |
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341 are built into the Echo Client and Echo Server applications: |
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342 |
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343 :: |
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344 |
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345 LogComponentEnable("UdpEchoClientApplication", LOG_LEVEL_INFO); |
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346 LogComponentEnable("UdpEchoServerApplication", LOG_LEVEL_INFO); |
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347 |
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348 If you have read over the Logging component documentation you will have seen |
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349 that there are a number of levels of logging verbosity/detail that you can |
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350 enable on each component. These two lines of code enable debug logging at the |
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351 INFO level for echo clients and servers. This will result in the application |
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352 printing out messages as packets are sent and received during the simulation. |
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353 |
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354 Now we will get directly to the business of creating a topology and running |
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355 a simulation. We use the topology helper objects to make this job as |
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356 easy as possible. |
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357 |
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358 Topology Helpers |
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359 ++++++++++++++++ |
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360 NodeContainer |
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361 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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362 The next two lines of code in our script will actually create the |
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363 |ns3| ``Node`` objects that will represent the computers in the |
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364 simulation. |
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365 |
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366 :: |
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367 |
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368 NodeContainer nodes; |
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369 nodes.Create (2); |
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370 |
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371 Let's find the documentation for the ``NodeContainer`` class before we |
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372 continue. Another way to get into the documentation for a given class is via |
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373 the ``Classes`` tab in the Doxygen pages. If you still have the Doxygen |
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374 handy, just scroll up to the top of the page and select the ``Classes`` |
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375 tab. You should see a new set of tabs appear, one of which is |
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376 ``Class List``. Under that tab you will see a list of all of the |
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377 |ns3| classes. Scroll down, looking for ``ns3::NodeContainer``. |
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378 When you find the class, go ahead and select it to go to the documentation for |
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379 the class. |
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380 |
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381 You may recall that one of our key abstractions is the ``Node``. This |
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382 represents a computer to which we are going to add things like protocol stacks, |
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383 applications and peripheral cards. The ``NodeContainer`` topology helper |
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384 provides a convenient way to create, manage and access any ``Node`` objects |
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385 that we create in order to run a simulation. The first line above just |
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386 declares a NodeContainer which we call ``nodes``. The second line calls the |
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387 ``Create`` method on the ``nodes`` object and asks the container to |
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388 create two nodes. As described in the Doxygen, the container calls down into |
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389 the |ns3| system proper to create two ``Node`` objects and stores |
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390 pointers to those objects internally. |
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391 |
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392 The nodes as they stand in the script do nothing. The next step in |
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393 constructing a topology is to connect our nodes together into a network. |
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394 The simplest form of network we support is a single point-to-point link |
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395 between two nodes. We'll construct one of those links here. |
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396 |
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397 PointToPointHelper |
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398 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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399 We are constructing a point to point link, and, in a pattern which will become |
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400 quite familiar to you, we use a topology helper object to do the low-level |
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401 work required to put the link together. Recall that two of our key |
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402 abstractions are the ``NetDevice`` and the ``Channel``. In the real |
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403 world, these terms correspond roughly to peripheral cards and network cables. |
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404 Typically these two things are intimately tied together and one cannot expect |
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405 to interchange, for example, Ethernet devices and wireless channels. Our |
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406 Topology Helpers follow this intimate coupling and therefore you will use a |
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407 single ``PointToPointHelper`` to configure and connect |ns3| |
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408 ``PointToPointNetDevice`` and ``PointToPointChannel`` objects in this |
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409 script. |
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410 |
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411 The next three lines in the script are, |
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412 |
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413 :: |
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414 |
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415 PointToPointHelper pointToPoint; |
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416 pointToPoint.SetDeviceAttribute ("DataRate", StringValue ("5Mbps")); |
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417 pointToPoint.SetChannelAttribute ("Delay", StringValue ("2ms")); |
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418 |
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419 The first line, |
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420 |
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421 :: |
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422 |
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423 PointToPointHelper pointToPoint; |
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424 |
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425 instantiates a ``PointToPointHelper`` object on the stack. From a |
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426 high-level perspective the next line, |
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427 |
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428 :: |
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429 |
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430 pointToPoint.SetDeviceAttribute ("DataRate", StringValue ("5Mbps")); |
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431 |
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432 tells the ``PointToPointHelper`` object to use the value "5Mbps" |
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433 (five megabits per second) as the "DataRate" when it creates a |
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434 ``PointToPointNetDevice`` object. |
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435 |
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436 From a more detailed perspective, the string "DataRate" corresponds |
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437 to what we call an ``Attribute`` of the ``PointToPointNetDevice``. |
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438 If you look at the Doxygen for class ``ns3::PointToPointNetDevice`` and |
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439 find the documentation for the ``GetTypeId`` method, you will find a list |
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440 of ``Attributes`` defined for the device. Among these is the "DataRate" |
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441 ``Attribute``. Most user-visible |ns3| objects have similar lists of |
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442 ``Attributes``. We use this mechanism to easily configure simulations without |
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443 recompiling as you will see in a following section. |
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444 |
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445 Similar to the "DataRate" on the ``PointToPointNetDevice`` you will find a |
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446 "Delay" ``Attribute`` associated with the ``PointToPointChannel``. The |
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447 final line, |
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448 |
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449 :: |
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450 |
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451 pointToPoint.SetChannelAttribute ("Delay", StringValue ("2ms")); |
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452 |
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453 tells the ``PointToPointHelper`` to use the value "2ms" (two milliseconds) |
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454 as the value of the transmission delay of every point to point channel it |
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455 subsequently creates. |
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456 |
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457 NetDeviceContainer |
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458 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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459 At this point in the script, we have a ``NodeContainer`` that contains |
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460 two nodes. We have a ``PointToPointHelper`` that is primed and ready to |
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461 make ``PointToPointNetDevices`` and wire ``PointToPointChannel`` objects |
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462 between them. Just as we used the ``NodeContainer`` topology helper object |
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463 to create the ``Nodes`` for our simulation, we will ask the |
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464 ``PointToPointHelper`` to do the work involved in creating, configuring and |
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465 installing our devices for us. We will need to have a list of all of the |
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466 NetDevice objects that are created, so we use a NetDeviceContainer to hold |
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467 them just as we used a NodeContainer to hold the nodes we created. The |
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468 following two lines of code, |
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469 |
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470 :: |
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471 |
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472 NetDeviceContainer devices; |
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473 devices = pointToPoint.Install (nodes); |
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474 |
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475 will finish configuring the devices and channel. The first line declares the |
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476 device container mentioned above and the second does the heavy lifting. The |
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477 ``Install`` method of the ``PointToPointHelper`` takes a |
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478 ``NodeContainer`` as a parameter. Internally, a ``NetDeviceContainer`` |
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479 is created. For each node in the ``NodeContainer`` (there must be exactly |
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480 two for a point-to-point link) a ``PointToPointNetDevice`` is created and |
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481 saved in the device container. A ``PointToPointChannel`` is created and |
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482 the two ``PointToPointNetDevices`` are attached. When objects are created |
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483 by the ``PointToPointHelper``, the ``Attributes`` previously set in the |
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484 helper are used to initialize the corresponding ``Attributes`` in the |
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485 created objects. |
|
486 |
|
487 After executing the ``pointToPoint.Install (nodes)`` call we will have |
|
488 two nodes, each with an installed point-to-point net device and a single |
|
489 point-to-point channel between them. Both devices will be configured to |
|
490 transmit data at five megabits per second over the channel which has a two |
|
491 millisecond transmission delay. |
|
492 |
|
493 InternetStackHelper |
|
494 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
495 We now have nodes and devices configured, but we don't have any protocol stacks |
|
496 installed on our nodes. The next two lines of code will take care of that. |
|
497 |
|
498 :: |
|
499 |
|
500 InternetStackHelper stack; |
|
501 stack.Install (nodes); |
|
502 |
|
503 The ``InternetStackHelper`` is a topology helper that is to internet stacks |
|
504 what the ``PointToPointHelper`` is to point-to-point net devices. The |
|
505 ``Install`` method takes a ``NodeContainer`` as a parameter. When it is |
|
506 executed, it will install an Internet Stack (TCP, UDP, IP, etc.) on each of |
|
507 the nodes in the node container. |
|
508 |
|
509 Ipv4AddressHelper |
|
510 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
511 Next we need to associate the devices on our nodes with IP addresses. We |
|
512 provide a topology helper to manage the allocation of IP addresses. The only |
|
513 user-visible API is to set the base IP address and network mask to use when |
|
514 performing the actual address allocation (which is done at a lower level |
|
515 inside the helper). |
|
516 |
|
517 The next two lines of code in our example script, ``first.cc``, |
|
518 |
|
519 :: |
|
520 |
|
521 Ipv4AddressHelper address; |
|
522 address.SetBase ("10.1.1.0", "255.255.255.0"); |
|
523 |
|
524 declare an address helper object and tell it that it should begin allocating IP |
|
525 addresses from the network 10.1.1.0 using the mask 255.255.255.0 to define |
|
526 the allocatable bits. By default the addresses allocated will start at one |
|
527 and increase monotonically, so the first address allocated from this base will |
|
528 be 10.1.1.1, followed by 10.1.1.2, etc. The low level |ns3| system |
|
529 actually remembers all of the IP addresses allocated and will generate a |
|
530 fatal error if you accidentally cause the same address to be generated twice |
|
531 (which is a very hard to debug error, by the way). |
|
532 |
|
533 The next line of code, |
|
534 |
|
535 :: |
|
536 |
|
537 Ipv4InterfaceContainer interfaces = address.Assign (devices); |
|
538 |
|
539 performs the actual address assignment. In |ns3| we make the |
|
540 association between an IP address and a device using an ``Ipv4Interface`` |
|
541 object. Just as we sometimes need a list of net devices created by a helper |
|
542 for future reference we sometimes need a list of ``Ipv4Interface`` objects. |
|
543 The ``Ipv4InterfaceContainer`` provides this functionality. |
|
544 |
|
545 Now we have a point-to-point network built, with stacks installed and IP |
|
546 addresses assigned. What we need at this point are applications to generate |
|
547 traffic. |
|
548 |
|
549 Applications |
|
550 ++++++++++++ |
|
551 Another one of the core abstractions of the ns-3 system is the |
|
552 ``Application``. In this script we use two specializations of the core |
|
553 |ns3| class ``Application`` called ``UdpEchoServerApplication`` |
|
554 and ``UdpEchoClientApplication``. Just as we have in our previous |
|
555 explanations, we use helper objects to help configure and manage the |
|
556 underlying objects. Here, we use ``UdpEchoServerHelper`` and |
|
557 ``UdpEchoClientHelper`` objects to make our lives easier. |
|
558 |
|
559 UdpEchoServerHelper |
|
560 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
561 The following lines of code in our example script, ``first.cc``, are used |
|
562 to set up a UDP echo server application on one of the nodes we have previously |
|
563 created. |
|
564 |
|
565 :: |
|
566 |
|
567 UdpEchoServerHelper echoServer (9); |
|
568 |
|
569 ApplicationContainer serverApps = echoServer.Install (nodes.Get (1)); |
|
570 serverApps.Start (Seconds (1.0)); |
|
571 serverApps.Stop (Seconds (10.0)); |
|
572 |
|
573 The first line of code in the above snippet declares the |
|
574 ``UdpEchoServerHelper``. As usual, this isn't the application itself, it |
|
575 is an object used to help us create the actual applications. One of our |
|
576 conventions is to place *required* ``Attributes`` in the helper constructor. |
|
577 In this case, the helper can't do anything useful unless it is provided with |
|
578 a port number that the client also knows about. Rather than just picking one |
|
579 and hoping it all works out, we require the port number as a parameter to the |
|
580 constructor. The constructor, in turn, simply does a ``SetAttribute`` |
|
581 with the passed value. If you want, you can set the "Port" ``Attribute`` |
|
582 to another value later using ``SetAttribute``. |
|
583 |
|
584 Similar to many other helper objects, the ``UdpEchoServerHelper`` object |
|
585 has an ``Install`` method. It is the execution of this method that actually |
|
586 causes the underlying echo server application to be instantiated and attached |
|
587 to a node. Interestingly, the ``Install`` method takes a |
|
588 ``NodeContainter`` as a parameter just as the other ``Install`` methods |
|
589 we have seen. This is actually what is passed to the method even though it |
|
590 doesn't look so in this case. There is a C++ *implicit conversion* at |
|
591 work here that takes the result of ``nodes.Get (1)`` (which returns a smart |
|
592 pointer to a node object --- ``Ptr<Node>``) and uses that in a constructor |
|
593 for an unnamed ``NodeContainer`` that is then passed to ``Install``. |
|
594 If you are ever at a loss to find a particular method signature in C++ code |
|
595 that compiles and runs just fine, look for these kinds of implicit conversions. |
|
596 |
|
597 We now see that ``echoServer.Install`` is going to install a |
|
598 ``UdpEchoServerApplication`` on the node found at index number one of the |
|
599 ``NodeContainer`` we used to manage our nodes. ``Install`` will return |
|
600 a container that holds pointers to all of the applications (one in this case |
|
601 since we passed a ``NodeContainer`` containing one node) created by the |
|
602 helper. |
|
603 |
|
604 Applications require a time to "start" generating traffic and may take an |
|
605 optional time to "stop". We provide both. These times are set using the |
|
606 ``ApplicationContainer`` methods ``Start`` and ``Stop``. These |
|
607 methods take ``Time`` parameters. In this case, we use an *explicit* |
|
608 C++ conversion sequence to take the C++ double 1.0 and convert it to an |
|
609 |ns3| ``Time`` object using a ``Seconds`` cast. Be aware that |
|
610 the conversion rules may be controlled by the model author, and C++ has its |
|
611 own rules, so you can't always just assume that parameters will be happily |
|
612 converted for you. The two lines, |
|
613 |
|
614 :: |
|
615 |
|
616 serverApps.Start (Seconds (1.0)); |
|
617 serverApps.Stop (Seconds (10.0)); |
|
618 |
|
619 will cause the echo server application to ``Start`` (enable itself) at one |
|
620 second into the simulation and to ``Stop`` (disable itself) at ten seconds |
|
621 into the simulation. By virtue of the fact that we have declared a simulation |
|
622 event (the application stop event) to be executed at ten seconds, the simulation |
|
623 will last *at least* ten seconds. |
|
624 |
|
625 UdpEchoClientHelper |
|
626 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
627 |
|
628 The echo client application is set up in a method substantially similar to |
|
629 that for the server. There is an underlying ``UdpEchoClientApplication`` |
|
630 that is managed by an ``UdpEchoClientHelper``. |
|
631 |
|
632 :: |
|
633 |
|
634 UdpEchoClientHelper echoClient (interfaces.GetAddress (1), 9); |
|
635 echoClient.SetAttribute ("MaxPackets", UintegerValue (1)); |
|
636 echoClient.SetAttribute ("Interval", TimeValue (Seconds (1.))); |
|
637 echoClient.SetAttribute ("PacketSize", UintegerValue (1024)); |
|
638 |
|
639 ApplicationContainer clientApps = echoClient.Install (nodes.Get (0)); |
|
640 clientApps.Start (Seconds (2.0)); |
|
641 clientApps.Stop (Seconds (10.0)); |
|
642 |
|
643 For the echo client, however, we need to set five different ``Attributes``. |
|
644 The first two ``Attributes`` are set during construction of the |
|
645 ``UdpEchoClientHelper``. We pass parameters that are used (internally to |
|
646 the helper) to set the "RemoteAddress" and "RemotePort" ``Attributes`` |
|
647 in accordance with our convention to make required ``Attributes`` parameters |
|
648 in the helper constructors. |
|
649 |
|
650 Recall that we used an ``Ipv4InterfaceContainer`` to keep track of the IP |
|
651 addresses we assigned to our devices. The zeroth interface in the |
|
652 ``interfaces`` container is going to correspond to the IP address of the |
|
653 zeroth node in the ``nodes`` container. The first interface in the |
|
654 ``interfaces`` container corresponds to the IP address of the first node |
|
655 in the ``nodes`` container. So, in the first line of code (from above), we |
|
656 are creating the helper and telling it so set the remote address of the client |
|
657 to be the IP address assigned to the node on which the server resides. We |
|
658 also tell it to arrange to send packets to port nine. |
|
659 |
|
660 The "MaxPackets" ``Attribute`` tells the client the maximum number of |
|
661 packets we allow it to send during the simulation. The "Interval" |
|
662 ``Attribute`` tells the client how long to wait between packets, and the |
|
663 "PacketSize" ``Attribute`` tells the client how large its packet payloads |
|
664 should be. With this particular combination of ``Attributes``, we are |
|
665 telling the client to send one 1024-byte packet. |
|
666 |
|
667 Just as in the case of the echo server, we tell the echo client to ``Start`` |
|
668 and ``Stop``, but here we start the client one second after the server is |
|
669 enabled (at two seconds into the simulation). |
|
670 |
|
671 Simulator |
|
672 +++++++++ |
|
673 What we need to do at this point is to actually run the simulation. This is |
|
674 done using the global function ``Simulator::Run``. |
|
675 |
|
676 :: |
|
677 |
|
678 Simulator::Run (); |
|
679 |
|
680 When we previously called the methods, |
|
681 |
|
682 :: |
|
683 |
|
684 serverApps.Start (Seconds (1.0)); |
|
685 serverApps.Stop (Seconds (10.0)); |
|
686 ... |
|
687 clientApps.Start (Seconds (2.0)); |
|
688 clientApps.Stop (Seconds (10.0)); |
|
689 |
|
690 we actually scheduled events in the simulator at 1.0 seconds, 2.0 seconds and |
|
691 two events at 10.0 seconds. When ``Simulator::Run`` is called, the system |
|
692 will begin looking through the list of scheduled events and executing them. |
|
693 First it will run the event at 1.0 seconds, which will enable the echo server |
|
694 application (this event may, in turn, schedule many other events). Then it |
|
695 will run the event scheduled for t=2.0 seconds which will start the echo client |
|
696 application. Again, this event may schedule many more events. The start event |
|
697 implementation in the echo client application will begin the data transfer phase |
|
698 of the simulation by sending a packet to the server. |
|
699 |
|
700 The act of sending the packet to the server will trigger a chain of events |
|
701 that will be automatically scheduled behind the scenes and which will perform |
|
702 the mechanics of the packet echo according to the various timing parameters |
|
703 that we have set in the script. |
|
704 |
|
705 Eventually, since we only send one packet (recall the ``MaxPackets`` |
|
706 ``Attribute`` was set to one), the chain of events triggered by |
|
707 that single client echo request will taper off and the simulation will go |
|
708 idle. Once this happens, the remaining events will be the ``Stop`` events |
|
709 for the server and the client. When these events are executed, there are |
|
710 no further events to process and ``Simulator::Run`` returns. The simulation |
|
711 is then complete. |
|
712 |
|
713 All that remains is to clean up. This is done by calling the global function |
|
714 ``Simulator::Destroy``. As the helper functions (or low level |
|
715 |ns3| code) executed, they arranged it so that hooks were inserted in |
|
716 the simulator to destroy all of the objects that were created. You did not |
|
717 have to keep track of any of these objects yourself --- all you had to do |
|
718 was to call ``Simulator::Destroy`` and exit. The |ns3| system |
|
719 took care of the hard part for you. The remaining lines of our first |
|
720 |ns3| script, ``first.cc``, do just that: |
|
721 |
|
722 :: |
|
723 |
|
724 Simulator::Destroy (); |
|
725 return 0; |
|
726 } |
|
727 |
|
728 Building Your Script |
|
729 ++++++++++++++++++++ |
|
730 We have made it trivial to build your simple scripts. All you have to do is |
|
731 to drop your script into the scratch directory and it will automatically be |
|
732 built if you run Waf. Let's try it. Copy ``examples/tutorial/first.cc`` into |
|
733 the ``scratch`` directory after changing back into the top level directory. |
|
734 |
|
735 :: |
|
736 |
|
737 cd .. |
|
738 cp examples/tutorial/first.cc scratch/myfirst.cc |
|
739 |
|
740 Now build your first example script using waf: |
|
741 |
|
742 :: |
|
743 |
|
744 ./waf |
|
745 |
|
746 You should see messages reporting that your ``myfirst`` example was built |
|
747 successfully. |
|
748 |
|
749 :: |
|
750 |
|
751 Waf: Entering directory `/home/craigdo/repos/ns-3-allinone/ns-3-dev/build' |
|
752 [614/708] cxx: scratch/myfirst.cc -> build/debug/scratch/myfirst_3.o |
|
753 [706/708] cxx_link: build/debug/scratch/myfirst_3.o -> build/debug/scratch/myfirst |
|
754 Waf: Leaving directory `/home/craigdo/repos/ns-3-allinone/ns-3-dev/build' |
|
755 'build' finished successfully (2.357s) |
|
756 |
|
757 You can now run the example (note that if you build your program in the scratch |
|
758 directory you must run it out of the scratch directory): |
|
759 |
|
760 :: |
|
761 |
|
762 ./waf --run scratch/myfirst |
|
763 |
|
764 You should see some output: |
|
765 |
|
766 :: |
|
767 |
|
768 Waf: Entering directory `/home/craigdo/repos/ns-3-allinone/ns-3-dev/build' |
|
769 Waf: Leaving directory `/home/craigdo/repos/ns-3-allinone/ns-3-dev/build' |
|
770 'build' finished successfully (0.418s) |
|
771 Sent 1024 bytes to 10.1.1.2 |
|
772 Received 1024 bytes from 10.1.1.1 |
|
773 Received 1024 bytes from 10.1.1.2 |
|
774 |
|
775 Here you see that the build system checks to make sure that the file has been |
|
776 build and then runs it. You see the logging component on the echo client |
|
777 indicate that it has sent one 1024 byte packet to the Echo Server on |
|
778 10.1.1.2. You also see the logging component on the echo server say that |
|
779 it has received the 1024 bytes from 10.1.1.1. The echo server silently |
|
780 echoes the packet and you see the echo client log that it has received its |
|
781 packet back from the server. |
|
782 |
|
783 Ns-3 Source Code |
|
784 **************** |
|
785 |
|
786 Now that you have used some of the |ns3| helpers you may want to |
|
787 have a look at some of the source code that implements that functionality. |
|
788 The most recent code can be browsed on our web server at the following link: |
|
789 http://code.nsnam.org/ns-3-dev. There, you will see the Mercurial |
|
790 summary page for our |ns3| development tree. |
|
791 |
|
792 At the top of the page, you will see a number of links, |
|
793 |
|
794 :: |
|
795 |
|
796 summary | shortlog | changelog | graph | tags | files |
|
797 |
|
798 Go ahead and select the ``files`` link. This is what the top-level of |
|
799 most of our *repositories* will look: |
|
800 |
|
801 :: |
|
802 |
|
803 drwxr-xr-x [up] |
|
804 drwxr-xr-x bindings python files |
|
805 drwxr-xr-x doc files |
|
806 drwxr-xr-x examples files |
|
807 drwxr-xr-x ns3 files |
|
808 drwxr-xr-x samples files |
|
809 drwxr-xr-x scratch files |
|
810 drwxr-xr-x src files |
|
811 drwxr-xr-x utils files |
|
812 -rw-r--r-- 2009-07-01 12:47 +0200 560 .hgignore file | revisions | annotate |
|
813 -rw-r--r-- 2009-07-01 12:47 +0200 1886 .hgtags file | revisions | annotate |
|
814 -rw-r--r-- 2009-07-01 12:47 +0200 1276 AUTHORS file | revisions | annotate |
|
815 -rw-r--r-- 2009-07-01 12:47 +0200 30961 CHANGES.html file | revisions | annotate |
|
816 -rw-r--r-- 2009-07-01 12:47 +0200 17987 LICENSE file | revisions | annotate |
|
817 -rw-r--r-- 2009-07-01 12:47 +0200 3742 README file | revisions | annotate |
|
818 -rw-r--r-- 2009-07-01 12:47 +0200 16171 RELEASE_NOTES file | revisions | annotate |
|
819 -rw-r--r-- 2009-07-01 12:47 +0200 6 VERSION file | revisions | annotate |
|
820 -rwxr-xr-x 2009-07-01 12:47 +0200 88110 waf file | revisions | annotate |
|
821 -rwxr-xr-x 2009-07-01 12:47 +0200 28 waf.bat file | revisions | annotate |
|
822 -rw-r--r-- 2009-07-01 12:47 +0200 35395 wscript file | revisions | annotate |
|
823 -rw-r--r-- 2009-07-01 12:47 +0200 7673 wutils.py file | revisions | annotate |
|
824 |
|
825 Our example scripts are in the ``examples`` directory. If you click on ``examples`` |
|
826 you will see a list of files. One of the files in that directory is ``first.cc``. If |
|
827 you click on ``first.cc`` you will find the code you just walked through. |
|
828 |
|
829 The source code is mainly in the ``src`` directory. You can view source |
|
830 code either by clicking on the directory name or by clicking on the ``files`` |
|
831 link to the right of the directory name. If you click on the ``src`` |
|
832 directory, you will be taken to the listing of the ``src`` subdirectories. If you |
|
833 then click on ``core`` subdirectory, you will find a list of files. The first file |
|
834 you will find (as of this writing) is ``abort.h``. If you click on the |
|
835 ``abort.h`` link, you will be sent to the source file for ``abort.h`` which |
|
836 contains useful macros for exiting scripts if abnormal conditions are detected. |
|
837 |
|
838 The source code for the helpers we have used in this chapter can be found in the |
|
839 ``src/helper`` directory. Feel free to poke around in the directory tree to |
|
840 get a feel for what is there and the style of |ns3| programs. |