Realistic Simulation of Urban Mesh Networks - Part I: Urban Mobility

It is a truism that simulations of mobile wireless networks (e.g., MANETs) are not realistic. There has been little effort in developing realistic mobility models and while propagation is well understood, it is rarely applied. In urban areas, the mobility of vehicles and pedestrians is greatly influenced by the environment (e.g., the location of buildings) as well as by interaction with other nodes (e.g., congestion). On the other hand, in urban areas, buildings, and hence streets lined with buildings, have a significant impact on the propagation of wireless signals. As a result, simulation techniques such as random way-point mobility and free-space propagation cannot be used to investigate the large-scale urban mesh networks that are currently being deployed around the world. In this paper, a realistic mobility model for urban wireless networks is presented. In a companion paper, propagation simulation is addressed. Both simulators are part of a freely available suite of tools for simulating urban networks. A distinguishing feature of the urban mobility model presented here is that nearly all aspects of the mobility models and model parameters are derived from urban planing and traffic engineering research.