Ns-3 Based WiMAX Emulation System

Evaluating a system in real-time to test its performance has always been a challenging task. Although real-world wireless testbeds offer great value, on the other hand they are expensive in terms of hardware cost and very hard to maintain. Network simulations are synthetic environments for running representations of mathematical models. However, network emulation studies are preferred for system modeling and its evaluation in a real-time environment. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a WiMAX emulation system. By making use of the open-source ns-3 simulation framework, we developed an emulation system of WiMAX entities, protocols and procedures. Our approach provides the means of transferring real application data on real network between ns-3 simulation entities, and allows physical hosts to connect with the simulated WiMAX network. Thus, the proposed system offers realism and accuracy similar to that of hardware with the cost, configurability and scalability of simulation. To show the feasibility of our design, we include several validation experiments, including using real application data in the emulated environment. Through this system we ease the prototyping of technology that will bring us closer to the realization of the present and future mobile Internet.