Co-simulation Tools for Networked Control Systems

In this paper, we argue that simulation of Networked Control Systems (NCSs) needs to be carried out through co-simulation, which requires the joint and simultaneous simulation of both physical and communication networks dynamics. Co-simulation enables construction of synthetic large-scale networks and workloads, replay of collected traces, and obtaining a complete snapshot of both the network behavior and the physical systems states. Therefore, co-simulation provides in-depth understanding of the interaction between communication networks and physical systems dynamics. In this paper, we overview three co-simulation tools that we have developed for NCS co-simulation. The first two tools are extensions to ns-2 called Agent/Plant and NSCSPlant; the third tool integrates Modelica and ns-2. For each tool, we present demonstrative case studies that highlight its capabilities.