Integrated Fluid and Packet Network Simulations

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Date
2002-10Author
Riley, George F.
Jaafar, Talal Mohamed
Fujimoto, Richard M.
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Show full item recordAbstract
A number of methods exist that can be used to create simulation
models for measuring the performance of computer
networks. The most commonly used method is
packet level simulation, which models the detailed behavior
of every packet in the network, and results in a
highly accurate picture of overall network behavior. A
less frequently used, but sometimes more computationally
efficient, method is the fluid model approach. In this
method, aggregations of flows are modeled as fluid flowing
through pipes, and queues are modeled as fixed capacity
buckets. The buckets are connected via pipes, where
the maximum allowable flow rate of fluid in the pipes represents
the bandwidth of the communication links being
modeled. Fluid models generally result in a less accurate
picture of the network’s behavior since they rely on aggregation
of flows and ignore actions specific to individual
flows.
We introduce a new hybrid simulation environment that
leverages the strong points of each of these two modeling
methods. Our hybrid method uses fluid models to represent
aggregations of flows for which less detail is required,
and packet models to represent individual flows for which
more detail is needed. The result is a computationally efficient
simulation model that results in a high level of accuracy
and detail in some of the flows, while abstracting
away details of other flows. We show a computational
speedup of more than twenty in some cases, with little reduction in accuracy of the simulation results.
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- MANIACS Publications [35]