Cloud-based network simulator for next generation wireless technology (WiMAX and LTE)

Abstract

In today's modern world, the high demand for wireless data has brought about a continued surge in global mobile data traffic. It is reported that several countries experience extremely high growth rates for wireless data. With this high demand, the wireless telecom industry has invested their time, money, and effort to define a new air interface for broadband wireless network which provides high mobility internet service and increases system capacity. Among the many emerging technologies, WiMAX which is defined by IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and LTE which is defined by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) are the only technologies that provides high peak data rates, mobility service, and high spectral efficiency. These technologies are considered the fourth generation (4G) cellular wireless mobile network. Both are widely used in research and development. Doing research and development on the next generation wireless technologies such as LTE and WiMAX pose many challenges. Deployments are expensive and particularly difficult to emulate in real hardware making simulation models very important during research and development. One of the biggest challenges for the network simulator is the amount of processing power required to simulate real world performance. A prototype of a cloud-based network simulator that involves ns-3 and NetML shall be implemented that can support both WiMAX and LTE network simulation and perform test scenarios such as ping test and throughput measurement.