HOWTO create a new type of protocol header or trailer

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At some point you may wish to create a new or existing protocol which is currently not implemented in ns-3. This protocol will likely require a new type of header. Creating a new header or trailer for this protocol is relatively straightforward and requires subclassing the ns3::Header class described below.

HOWTO make and use a new application

The key is to implement a new subclass of the ns3::Header base class to represent your protocol header:

   class YHeader : public Header
   {
   public:
     // must be implemented to become a valid new header.
     static TypeId GetTypeId (void);
     virtual TypeId GetInstanceTypeId (void) const;
     virtual uint32_t GetSerializedSize (void) const;
     virtual void Serialize (Buffer::Iterator start) const;
     virtual uint32_t Deserialize (Buffer::Iterator start);
     virtual void Print (std::ostream &os) const;

     // allow protocol-specific access to the header data.
     void SetData (uint32_t data);
     uint32_t GetData (void) const;
   private:
     uint32_t m_data;
   };