Network Co-Processor Solutions for IoT Designs on ns-3

Reliability and realism are critical factors when choosing network simulators. One of the most effective ways to achieve these objectives is to enable simulators to interact with real devices. Currently, the ns-3 simulator offers various methods for interacting with physical hardware; however, none of the publicly available options extend to IoT devices, which typically operate on micro controller units (MCUs). In this paper, we address this gap by proposing a co-processor solution that allows the ns-3 network simulator to interact with real IEEE 802.15.4 devices. This approach takes any protocol stacks and applications previously developed for this standard in ns-3 and enables them to communicate directly with real IoT hardware. The advantages of this approach are substantial, as it permits the development of more accurate IoT protocols within ns-3 that can effectively operate on both simulated and real hardware. Additionally, due to the small size and low cost of IoT devices, our proposal facilitates the creation of portable IoT devices testbeds on the fly using ns-3. Our experiments demonstrate the ease of use and effectiveness of this proposal.