Cumulative Noise and 5.9 GHz DSRC Extensions for ns-2.28

The network simulator ns-2 [1] is a widely used tool in the field of wired and wireless communications research. Although the ns-2 implementation is in constant evolution, it fails, for obvious reasons, to reflect all aspects related to the newest communication technologies. One example of such technology is 5.9 GHz Direct Short Range Communications (DSRC) [2] for vehicular environments, which is currently attracting attention due to its promises to reduce the amount of road fatalities and improve vehicular traffic efficiency on public roads. The IEEE 802.11p group is currently developing a standard to enable future 5.9 GHz DSRC based inter-vehicle communications. In this report, we describe the modifications realized in ns-2 in order to model more accurately future wireless communications in vehicular environments. Section 2 reports the extensions performed to the PHY and MAC modules in order to include cumulative noise capabilities. Note that vehicular environments are specially sensible to the way interferences are modeled since safety related information will be commonly transmitted in a broadcast fashion. Section 3 describes the adjustments required to the MAC and PHY modules to reflect the behavior described in the current draft of IEEE 802.11p [3].