HLA interfaces for ns-3

Student: Mudit Raj Gupta
Mentors: Tommaso Pecorella
Abstract: The project deals with writing a HLA compliant scheduler for NS-3 and relevant supporting classes with a HLA API to help NS-3 participate in distributed simulations with other simulators, preferably scenario simulators. HLA is an IEEE standard, facilitates interoperability among simulations and promotes reuse of simulation models. Project also deals with testing of the same by using a portico RTI.The complete proposal can be found here.
About me: I'm a fourth year student presently working for my M.Sc (H) in Chemistry and B.E. (H) in Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering at Birla Institute of Technology and Science - Pilani at Goa Campus. My research interest include modelling and simulation of complex systems and use and analysis of evolutionary algorithms for swarms.

Approach

I plan to incorporate a TestSuite with a few Unit Tests, System Integration Tests and Validation Tests. The details are as follows:

Validation Test 1 (V1): Compare Random Walk
System Integration Test 1 (S1): Message Passing between ns3Federate Ambassador and rtiScheduler.
System Integration Test 2(S2): Message Passing between RTI and ns3FederateAmbassador
Unit Test 1 (U1): Checking standard scheduler functionalities
Unit Test 2 (U2): Check whether rtischeduler is decoding the message properly and adding is to event queue.
Unit Test 3 (U3): Checking whether the scheduler is generating a Time advance request sending to the ports in MessagePack format
Unit Test 4 (U4): Check whether ns3FederateAmbassdor is decoding/encoding the message properly and sending it to ports/RTI.
API (API1) test is to be done with the final HLA RTI API.

1.0 rtiScheduler
- 1.1 The class will be the sub class of the base class ns3::Scheduler and all virtual functions defined would be written like – Insert, PeakNext, IsEmpty, Remove, Remove. Activating a thread responsible to manage the MessagePack packet messages received from the ns3FederateAmbassador and uses them appropriately.
- 1.2 Setting up a message server and using appropriate sockets to get messages from ns3FederateAmbassador
- 1.3 Handling/decoding messages received and adding it in proper format to the event queue for the simulator to process using ns3::Simulator::Schedule
- 1.4 Generating and Sending Time advance Request and taking proper action on the request being granted from the RTI.

2.0 ns3FederateAmbassador
- 2.1 Define socket communication with rtischeduler and conversion of message to MessagePack packet format
- 2.2 Define Semantics for other federates to send message to ns-3
- 2.3 Define ambassador for ns3 according to poRTIco definition and adding various functions ton interface with poRTIco to receive messages and send request and various other functions
- 2.4 Integrate all the above classes and write a test code to run the ns3FederateAmbassador.

3.0 HLA API
- 3.1 Writing the Informer function and update HLA class
- 3.2 Writing HLA API for the designed system

4.0 Complex Network Simulation
- 4.1 Writing a demo Repast symphony model which is HLA compliant*
- 4.2 Writing a ns3 model which is HLA compliant* and using both simultaneously

0.0 If time permits/future plans (post GSoC)
- 0.1 Adding the possibility of object publication and sharing in the existing code and integrating it.
- 0.2 Addition of a functionality in which ns-3 will also be used as a source.
- 0.3 Making more refined and complex model in which ns-3 will be a federate.