How to start Industrial Internet of Things Projects using NS2

To stimulate an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) project using Network Simulator 2 (NS2) has involves the replicate of network environment and communication systems used in industrial applications like as smart factories, predictive maintenance, remote monitoring, and automation systems. IIoT networks typically contain of devices for sample sensors, actuators, and machines which require communicating through every other, frequently by wireless or wired networks. The focus of IIoT projects is to ensure real-time communication, low latency, and high reliability.

NS2 is a powerful tool for replicating the communication networks and can be adjusted to replicate the communication protocols and performance parameter metrics of IIoT systems.

Steps to start Industrial Internet of Things Projects using NS2

Key Components of IIoT Networks

  1. IoT Devices: These devices are includes the sensors, actuators, and machines used for industrial applications. They frequently communicate in the wirelessly using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LoRa, Zigbee, or 5G.
  2. Gateways: Gateways help as intermediaries among the IoT devices and the cloud or control center. They aggregate data from devices and sending for analysis.
  3. Data Communication: IIoT networks require the reliable communication protocols such as real-time data modification. This can be containing the UDP or TCP/IP protocols for data transmission, and MQTT or CoAP for messaging protocols.
  4. Network Topology: IIoT networks are frequently model in star, mesh, or hybrid topologies, in which devices are, communicate directly by every other or through gateways.
  5. Performance Metrics: Latency, throughput, packet loss, and energy consumption are core parameter metrics in IIoT network replications.

Steps to Start an IIoT Project Using NS2

Step 1: Install NS2

Assure which NS2 is installed on the machine. If you have not previously complete this, follow the installation procedures for the platform from the official NS2 website.

To check if NS2 is installed properly:

ns

If the NS2 prompt start, then NS2 is correctly installed.

Step 2: Define the IIoT System Components

In an IIoT network, key components include:

  • Sensors: The devices which seizure industrial data for sample temperature, pressure, vibration, etc.
  • Actuators: It contains the devices which take movements according to their data or instructions for sample robotic arms.
  • Gateways: The devices which relay data among their sensors and a central system.
  • Controller/Cloud Server: The central system are responsible for processing the examine data.

The network typically has includes the wireless communication for sample Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, LPWAN among the sensors and gateways and TCP/IP for communication by a cloud or server.

Step 3: Define the Network Topology

Intended for an IIoT replication, the network could have the following structure:

  • Sensors forward data to Gateways.
  • Gateways aggregate data and transmit the central controller or cloud server.
  • The cloud server procedures the data can forward instructions back to the sensors or actuators.

A common topology for IIoT includes:

  • Star topology: Where multiple sensors communicate with a central gateway.
  • Mesh topology: which sensors can transmit by every other gateways.

Step 4: Create the Simulation Script

Here is a simple replication of an IIoT network using NS2 that replicates the wireless communication (Wi-Fi) among a few sensors and a gateway.

Example: Basic IIoT Simulation Using NS2

# Create the simulator object

set ns [new Simulator]

# Create nodes (representing IIoT devices: sensors, gateway)

set gateway [$ns node]

set sensor1 [$ns node]

set sensor2 [$ns node]

set sensor3 [$ns node]

# Set the position of the nodes (in a 500×500 area)

$ns at 0.0 “$gateway set X_ 250; $gateway set Y_ 250”

$ns at 0.0 “$sensor1 set X_ 150; $sensor1 set Y_ 200”

$ns at 0.0 “$sensor2 set X_ 300; $sensor2 set Y_ 200”

$ns at 0.0 “$sensor3 set X_ 200; $sensor3 set Y_ 300”

# Set the wireless communication model (Wi-Fi)

$ns node-config -adhocRouting AODV -llType LL -macType Mac/802_11 -ifqType Queue/DropTail \

-ifqLen 50 -antType Antenna/OmniAntenna -phyType Phy/WirelessPhy -topoInstance $topo

# Create agents (UDP for data traffic between sensors and gateway)

set udp_sensor1 [new Agent/UDP]

set udp_sensor2 [new Agent/UDP]

set udp_sensor3 [new Agent/UDP]

set udp_gateway [new Agent/UDP]

# Attach UDP agents to the nodes

$ns attach-agent $sensor1 $udp_sensor1

$ns attach-agent $sensor2 $udp_sensor2

$ns attach-agent $sensor3 $udp_sensor3

$ns attach-agent $gateway $udp_gateway

# Create traffic (CBR traffic to simulate sensor data transmission)

set cbr_sensor1 [new Application/Traffic/CBR]

set cbr_sensor2 [new Application/Traffic/CBR]

set cbr_sensor3 [new Application/Traffic/CBR]

$cbr_sensor1 attach-agent $udp_sensor1

$cbr_sensor2 attach-agent $udp_sensor2

$cbr_sensor3 attach-agent $udp_sensor3

# Set packet size and interval for traffic generation (simulating sensor data)

$cbr_sensor1 set packetSize_ 512

$cbr_sensor1 set interval_ 1.0

$cbr_sensor2 set packetSize_ 512

$cbr_sensor2 set interval_ 1.0

$cbr_sensor3 set packetSize_ 512

$cbr_sensor3 set interval_ 1.0

# Set up the start and stop times for the traffic generation

$ns at 1.0 “$cbr_sensor1 start”

$ns at 1.0 “$cbr_sensor2 start”

$ns at 1.0 “$cbr_sensor3 start”

$ns at 4.0 “$cbr_sensor1 stop”

$ns at 4.0 “$cbr_sensor2 stop”

$ns at 4.0 “$cbr_sensor3 stop”

# Finish the simulation after 5 seconds

$ns at 5.0 “finish”

# Define finish procedure

proc finish {} {

global ns

$ns flush-trace

exit 0

}

# Run the simulation

$ns run

Explanation of the Script:

  1. Create the Simulator Object:
    • set ns [new Simulator]: Start with NS2 simulator object.
  2. Node Creation:
    • Build a nodes which classify the gateway and sensors using $ns node.
  3. Node Placement:
    • Configure the place for the nodes in a 500×500 area using $ns at 0.0.
  4. Wireless Communication Setup:
    • Use the 802.11 Wi-Fi models to replicate the wireless communication among their devices. The nodes will transmit using AODV as the routing protocol that is a decentralized protocol.
  5. Traffic Generation:
    • CBR (Constant Bit Rate) congestion is used to replicate the sensor data being communicated from the sensor nodes to the gateway.
  6. Traffic Control:
    • The congestion gets starts at 1.0 seconds and drop at 4.0 seconds.
  7. Finish Simulation:
    • The replication can ends at 5.0 seconds, and complete the procedure is called drop the replication and flush the trace data.

Step 5: Run the Simulation

We process for the replication, store the script as iiot_simulation.tcl and perform it in NS2:

ns iiot_simulation.tcl

Step 6: Analyze the Results

Next process for the replication, we will need a trace file (*.tr). This file logs during the action for the replication has including the packet transmissions, receptions, and more. We can examine this trace file to extract performance metrics like as:

  • Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR)
  • Latency
  • Throughput
  • Energy Consumption (if modeled)

We can use tools such as AWK to filter and examine the trace file:

awk ‘{ if ($1 == “r”) print $0 }’ tracefile.tr > received_packets.txt

Step 7: Extend the Simulation

We can improve the replication for different path:

  1. Add More Sensors: Maximum number of sensors or gateways to design the larger industrial network.
  2. Use Different Protocols: Use several protocols such as MQTT, CoAP, or AMQP to simulate messaging protocols.
  3. Dynamic Topology: Replicate the mobility for devices or network failures to view on how the network adjusts.
  4. Security: Enhance the security protocols and assure the data privacy and integrity in industrial applications.
  5. Advanced Traffic Models: Advanced use the further congestion models like as event-driven traffic according to industrial events for sample sensor-triggered data.
  6. IoT Network Simulation Tools: Deliberate the incorporate NS2 through other tools such as OMNeT++ or NS-3 for further complete IoT and IIoT replication.

By using the ns2 tool, we performed a complete Industrial Internet of Things project analysis through the simulation procedure that is given above and basically it is used to interact and communicate to enhance the processes. Additional information will be provided if needed.