NS 3 - Network Simulator

Ns is a discrete event simulator targeted at networking research. Ns provides substantial support for simulation of TCP, routing, and multicast protocols over wired and wireless (local and satellite) networks.

The ns-3 project is committed to building a solid simulation core that is well documented, easy to use and debug, and that caters to the needs of the entire simulation workflow, from simulation configuration to trace collection and analysis. Furthermore, the ns-3 software infrastructure encourages the development of simulation models which are sufficiently realistic to allow ns-3 to be used as a realtime network emulator, interconnected with the real world and which allows many existing real-world protocol implementations to be reused within ns-3.

The ns-3 simulation core supports research on both IP and non-IP based networks. However, the large majority of its users focuses on wireless/IP simulations which involve models for Wi-Fi, WiMAX, or LTE for layers 1 and 2 and a variety of static or dynamic routing protocols such as OLSR and AODV for IP-based applications.