An Introduction to Network Modeling and Simulation for the Practicing Engineer: 5

“This book provides principles, guidelines, and the do’s and don’ts for practical use of the art of modeling and simulation. The authors have many years of experience in the field and are insightful with their assessment of a very important engineering discipline. The book can be used for guidance and learning ‘best practices’ on M&S as it covers very broad areas in all key protocols layers of communications. The authors also pointed out many subtleties of M&S, which are easily overlooked by many practitioners. This is a must-read book for program managers who make decisions about setting scope, considering tradeoffs, and defining metrics, before committing to a M&S project.”
―Richard Lau, Chief Scientist and Telcordia Fellow, Telcordia Technologies

With this practical guide as a reference, engineers and students can select and take full advantage of the best tools for network modeling and simulation (M&S). It alerts readers to all the potential pitfalls that can occur in developing and implementing network M&S, offering a clear set of rules to streamline the entire process and ensure the validity of results. The book focuses on wireless network M&S; however, the authors’ expert advice, based on their own firsthand experience and review of the current literature, is applicable to network M&S in general.

An Introduction to Network Modeling and Simulation for the Practicing Engineer begins with a brief summary of the advantages and disadvantages of M&S as well as an overview of common M&S tools. Next, it explores the core components of wireless network M&S:

• Radio frequency propagation M&S

• Physical layer M&S

• Medium access control M&S

• Higher layer M&S

After discussing each of these components, the authors explain how they can be integrated in order to perform M&S of a complete wireless networking system. Throughout the book, examples guide readers through each M&S task, with descriptive diagrams providing additional clarification.

In many cases, M&S is the only viable way to understand the behavior of a proposed network prior to its deployment. Working with An Introduction to Network Modeling and Simulation for the Practicing Engineer, readers can ensure that their models and simulations are as accurate a reflection of reality as possible.