Virtual ad hoc network testbeds for network-aware applications

摘要

A virtual ad hoc network testbed provides the capability to instrument a testbed in order to support the execution of network-aware applications “as is.” Network aware applications are a special class of applications that interact with a network not only by using the network for communication purposes, but also configure or read the status of network devices. Local stack management provides the means to automatically construct standard APIs for accessing the information residing in a simulated or emulated network, and instantiate these APIs. The testbed is designed to bridge a standard management module (such as SNMP) and a simulation or emulation model, starting from a MIB module. The testbed uses CORBA as a communication means. The process is divided into two parts, agent side and model side.

主权项

1. A testbed that transforms a formal specification of a structured management information into a software system that allows retrieval and modification of management information from a running network model comprising:
virtual machines installed on physical hosts; packet routers to transfer packets generated by an application running on a network to a simulator; shadow nodes for receiving transferred packets and further transferring the packets into simulated packets, management agents that communicate with network management tools by a standard network management protocol; software function prototypes for the management instrumentation of the network model; and means for connecting the management agents with the software function comprising virtual machines and a network simulator; wherein the simulated packets are transformed into real packets and are transferred to a destination virtual machine and its corresponding application; and wherein the testbed includes a split stack comprising an upper half stack and a lower half stack and the upper half stack is implemented in the virtual machine and the lower half stack is implemented in the network simulator.