How to Implement Network Traffic Congestion in OMNeT++

To implement network traffic congestion in OMNeT++ has several steps to emulate the scenario where network traffic exceeds the available capacity that leading to delays, packet loss, and minimized throughput. This can be especially relevant in studying the performance of network protocols under heavy load conditions, designing congestion control mechanisms, and asses the efficiency of various traffic management strategies.

The given below are the procedures to implement the network traffic congestion in OMNeT++:

Steps to Implement Network Traffic Congestion in OMNeT++

Install OMNeT++ and INET Framework:
- Make sure that OMNeT++ and the INET framework are installed. INET delivers the necessary components for emulating the network protocols, traffic generation, and congestion management.
Define the Network Topology:
- Generate a network topology using a .ned file that has involves multiple nodes like hosts, routers that interconnected in a way that can lead to potential congestion, like bottleneck link or a heavily loaded router.
Implement Traffic Generation:
- Improve or use existing traffic generation modules to replicate heavy traffic loads. This could contain the multiple nodes sending data simultaneously or creating the traffic at a rate higher than the network can manage.
Simulate Various Scenarios:
- Setup the scenarios where traffic congestion is likely to occur. For example, we could emulate a high number of simultaneous file transfers, video streaming sessions, or other bandwidth-intensive applications.
Configure the Simulation Environment:
- Use the .ini file to simulate the metrics like link capacities, buffer sizes, traffic generation rates, and congestion control mechanisms.
Run the Simulation and Analyse Results:
- Implement the simulation and measure the effects of traffic congestion on network performance. The parameters that contains throughput, packet loss, delay, and queue lengths at bottleneck nodes.

Example: Implementing Basic Network Traffic Congestion in OMNeT++

Define the Network Topology in a .ned File

// TrafficCongestionNetwork.ned

package networkstructure;

import inet.node.inet.StandardHost;

import inet.node.inet.Router;

network TrafficCongestionNetwork

{

parameters:

int numSources = default(5); // Number of source nodes generating traffic

int numDestinations = default(1); // Number of destination nodes

submodules:

router: Router {

@display(“p=200,200”);

}

source[numSources]: StandardHost {

@display(“p=100,100”);

numApps = 1;

app[0].typename = “TrafficGeneratorApp”;

}

destination[numDestinations]: StandardHost {

@display(“p=300,200”);

numApps = 1;

app[0].typename = “SinkApp”;

}

connections:

source[*].ethg++ <–> Ethernet100m <–> router.ethg++;

router.ethg++ <–> Ethernet100m <–> destination[*].ethg++;

}

Implement Traffic Generation

Generate a C++ class for the source nodes that creates traffic at a high rate, potentially leading to congestion at the router.

Traffic Generator Application

#include <omnetpp.h>

#include <inet/applications/base/ApplicationBase.h>

using namespace omnetpp;

using namespace inet;

class TrafficGeneratorApp : public ApplicationBase

{

protected:

virtual void initialize(int stage) override;

virtual void handleMessageWhenUp(cMessage *msg) override;

void generateTraffic();

public:

virtual int numInitStages() const override { return NUM_INIT_STAGES; }

};

Define_Module(TrafficGeneratorApp);

void TrafficGeneratorApp::initialize(int stage)

{

ApplicationBase::initialize(stage);

if (stage == INITSTAGE_APPLICATION_LAYER) {

// Schedule initial traffic generation

scheduleAt(simTime() + uniform(0, 1), new cMessage(“generateTraffic”));

}

void TrafficGeneratorApp::handleMessageWhenUp(cMessage *msg)

{

if (strcmp(msg->getName(), “generateTraffic”) == 0) {

generateTraffic();

scheduleAt(simTime() + par(“trafficInterval”).doubleValue(), msg); // Re-schedule traffic generation

} else {

delete msg;

}

void TrafficGeneratorApp::generateTraffic()

{

// Example: Generate packets at a constant rate

cPacket *dataPacket = new cPacket(“DataPacket”);

dataPacket->setByteLength(par(“packetSize”).intValue());

// Send the packet to the router

send(dataPacket, “ethg$o”);

}

Sink Application

class SinkApp : public ApplicationBase

{

protected:

virtual void initialize(int stage) override;

virtual void handleMessageWhenUp(cMessage *msg) override;

public:

virtual int numInitStages() const override { return NUM_INIT_STAGES; }

};

Define_Module(SinkApp);

void SinkApp::initialize(int stage)

{

ApplicationBase::initialize(stage);

}

void SinkApp::handleMessageWhenUp(cMessage *msg)

{

if (cPacket *pkt = dynamic_cast<cPacket *>(msg)) {

EV << “Packet received: ” << pkt->getName() << “, size: ” << pkt->getByteLength() << ” bytes” << endl;

delete pkt;

} else {

delete msg;

}

Configure the Simulation in the .ini File

network = networkstructure.TrafficCongestionNetwork

sim-time-limit = 300s

# Traffic generator settings

*.source[*].app[0].trafficInterval = 0.01s; # Interval between packet generation

*.source[*].app[0].packetSize = 1024; # Size of each packet in bytes

# Router settings

*.router.ethg[*].queue.typename = “DropTailQueue”; # Use a simple drop-tail queue

*.router.ethg[*].queue.packetCapacity = 50; # Queue capacity in packets

# Sink settings

*.destination[*].app[0].sinkInterval = 1s; # Example processing interval at the sink

Explanation of the Example

Network Topology (TrafficCongestionNetwork.ned):
- The network consists of multiple source nodes that creatng traffic and sending it to a single destination node via a shared router. The router acts as a bottleneck, where traffic congestion can occur.
Traffic Generation (TrafficGeneratorApp.cc):
- The TrafficGeneratorApp creates packets at a high rate, potentially important to congestion at the router. The rate of traffic generation can be adjusted through the trafficInterval parameter.
Sink Application (SinkApp.cc):
- The SinkApp receives and processes the packets sent by the source nodes. It logs the received packets but does not contribute to traffic generation.
Simulation Configuration (omnetpp.ini):
- The .ini file configures the traffic generation interval, packet size, router queue capacity, and other parameters to replicate scenarios where network traffic congestion is likely to occur.

Running the Simulation

Compile project in OMNeT++ IDE and execute the simulation.
Use OMNeT++’s tools to measure how traffic congestion impacts network performance that concentrate on parameters such as queue lengths at the router, packet loss, delay, and throughput.

Extending the Example

Congestion Control Mechanisms: Execute and compare various congestion control mechanisms, like TCP congestion control techniques, Random Early Detection (RED) queues, or traffic shaping techniques.
Adaptive Traffic Generation: Adjust the traffic generation application to adapt the packet generation rate dynamically based on network conditions, simulating real-world traffic patterns.
Priority Queuing: Establish priority queuing at the router to give assured types of traffic like real-time traffic higher priority over others that can help in managing congestion.
Multihop Networks: Expand the topology to involve multiple routers and multihop paths that simulating more complex network scenarios where congestion can ensue at different points in the network.
QoS-Aware Traffic Management: Execute Quality of Service (QoS)-aware traffic management strategies, where various traffic classes are manage based on their particular requirements like guaranteed bandwidth, low latency.
Monitoring and Visualization: Add monitoring tools and visualization methods to monitor the behaviour of the network under congestion, like real-time graphs of queue lengths, packet drops, or throughput.

In the conclusion, we had executed the network traffic congestion using the OMNeT++ tool that effectively manages the network under numerous conditions. We deliver more information regarding the network traffic congestion.

Scholars can receive the best implementation support for Network Traffic Congestion in the OMNeT++ tool from us. Get Traffic Congestion project topic ideas. We also share and guide you through project performance analysis support.