Simulation of wireless multi-* networks in NS-2

Multi-technology, multi-homed, multi-hop, multi-interface, multi-channel, multi-route, multi-destination... Emerging wireless networks are multi-* networks. Emerging wireless networks are also no longer stand-alone and self-contained networks but connected to external networks. Simulating such complex systems requires advanced network simulation tools. The network simulator 2 (ns-2) is one of the most widely used simulators and has constantly been enriched to design, test and evaluate new network architectures and protocols. This paper motivates and presents the design and implementation of a network layer architecture that extends the functionality of ns-2 to support the aforementioned features. In particular, it provides support for multiple interfaces, potentially of different types, and multiple routing and forwarding protocols running on the same node.