NS-3 EmuNetDevice evolution to support binding to PPP interfaces

Network Simulator 3 (NS-3) enables the interaction of simulated network nodes with real ones through the use of special emulated network devices (EmuNetDevices) and real time execution. A virtual node can use an EmuNetDevice to bind its network device to a real network device of the computer hosting the simulation; however, the real network device must operate at MAC layer and be persistent. This paper presents an evolution of the ns-3 EmuNetDevice module enabling the support for binding simulated nodes to PPP network interfaces, which operate at IP layer and only exist when the connection is active, e.g. 3G client network interfaces. This EmuNetDevice evolution is expected to implement the new features without introducing a significant network delay. Simulation results are presented, validating the new module correct operation, and is shown that the introduced delay is negligible and can be despised, taking into account the high delays that usually characterize the 3G operator networks.