1.1 Why a new simulator?
There is a variety of simulators that WSN researchers are using to cover their needs.
Simulators that emulate a common processor found in sensor nodes (to test actual binary code
written for certain platforms), simulators written in C++ or Matlab to test some first order
property of an algorithm, or simulators used in traditional data networks modified in some
way to serve the WSN community. So why try to build a new one?
It all started from our own needs in a WSN project. We wanted to test some
communication patterns in simulation before moving in real systems. In order to do so we
wanted accurate enough radio/channel models so that the simulation results would become
meaningful and guide us in our search. We knew of the recent work by Zuniga et al.
[1] that
explained empirically measured data from WSN platforms (more specifically packet
reception rate as a function of distance) by combining known wireless channel and radio
models. We found that all the available WSN simulators were falling short of the current
state of the art modelling done in sensor networks. Especially in communication where the
impact to the result can be significant
[2], models remain simplistic or unsuitable for short
range low power communications despite the existence of proper models developed the last
couple of years. This was the major reason we decided to build our own simulator. Since we
started this effort we have decided to "up the ante", capture realistic node behaviour beyond
the channel and build an open expandable and reliable simulator that has a chance of
becoming a de facto standard for certain WSN simulation needs. More specifically, the need
for early stage, platform-independent, algorithm/protocol validation. This was/is our primary
need too, and we believe this is the area that WSN simulation lacks the most rigor. Castalia is
not actually built from scratch in the sense that is using OMNeT++ as the base to build a
reliable and fast event-driven simulator. Using OMNeT++ as our platform we implement
proper models for WSN based on recent literature.
2 Overview
Castalia is using OMNeT++ as its base so it is suggested that you have a fair
understanding of the basic concepts of OMNeT although this is not required, especially if you
want to use Castalia in a basic form (tune some parameters, build your own parameter-less
application).
OMNeT’s basic concepts are modules and messages. A simple module is the basic unit
of execution. It accepts messages from other modules or itself and according to the message it
executes a piece of code. The code can keep state that is altered and can send new messages
4
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