Performance evaluation of virtual wireless networks for Internet of Things applications.
IoT, network simulators, performance analysis, virtualization.
Nowadays Internet of Things (IoT) is a reality and its applications has been applied in many different scenarios, each with its own constraints and requirements. Each new IoT application developed to a specific scenario is tested and validated before being shipped on real devices for production. During the application’s validation process aspects of software, hardware and communications are evaluated. In this work we will cover the aspects of communications, since IoT devices mostly adopt wireless technologies. In this way, exists basically two validation methodologies: real testbeds or network simulators. Real testbeds is the method that provides the most accurate results as it uses real devices. However, in more complex scenarios, with high density of devices or mobility, the validation process using real testbeds is very costly. On the other hand, network simulation environments doesn’t have these constraints, being limited by the quality of mathematical models used during simulations, the resources available and by the simulator. Among the existing challenges in network simulations, incorporate techniques using real communication protocol’s code produce more accurate results compared to real testbeds. A potential solution is the virtual network simulation, in the context of this work, virtual wireless networks. The virtualization of wireless networks enable environment variables being manipulated and extended by a very low cost compared to real testbed methods. Thus, this work aims the performance validation and applicability of a virtual wireless network simulator in validation of new IoT applications with complex constraints.