Network Simulation 2024s [NwSim 2024s]

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

There are no formal prerequisites for joining. Still, certain background knowledge is not taught in this course, but assumed for lecture, labs, or exams:

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

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, two alternatives will be offered in parallel:

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

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!

Grading

Oral examination (by appointment).

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

If you want to take an exam, please pre-register 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

In the first week only, the class is run as both a physical and a web meeting, to decide how to continue the course (physical or virtual).

In first week’s hybrid class we decided to move to fully-physical classes until further notice. If we must move to fully-virtual classes, this will be announced here. Until then, no web meetings are taking place.

• web meeting room (unused)

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.
• Ronald E. Walpole, Raymond H. Myers, Sharon L. Myers and Keying Ye, Probability and Statistics for Engineers and Scientists, ed. 9 (international), Pearson, 2012.