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Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II




Extended Nam Editor

Donato Emma - Roberto Canonico - Giorgio Ventre


The Extended Nam Editor is an editor that allows the graphical creation of ns2 scripts. It extends the basic Nam Editor with the following features:
  1. Integration with existing topology generators
  2. Localization and visualization of set of nodes on large network topologies according to different selection criteria;
  3. Instantiation of agents of any types on all the nodes of a given node set;
  4. Definition of new node types;
  5. Support for simulations of web cache systems.
The Extended Nam Editor work under Linux operating system; it is available for download in source and binary format (install instruction).

Topology Generator Interface

The manual generation of complex Network Topology is a tedious and error prone activity.
In order to simulate networks with realistic topologies, it is a common practice to use ad-hoc topology generators, whose output is usually not compatible with the ns2 syntax. Hence, several tools have been developed to translate topology descriptions generated by topology generators in ns-scripts that can be used in the definition of a simulation scenario.
Unfortunately, scripts produced in this way are not compatible with the Nam Editor, hence networks created by common topology generators cannot be modified interactively. Such a limitation is sometimes annoying, in particular when the automatically generated topology needs to be further adapted, e.g. by instantiating agents on particular network nodes.
Our extended Nam-Editor provides a graphical interface to: It is now possible to create, visualize and modify topologies created according to the following topology models:
  1. flat-itm;
  2. hierarchical-itm;
  3. transit-stub-itm;
  4. INET;
In order to integrate the above mentioned topology generators in Nam-Editor, our tool not only provides the generators with the required input parameters, but it also translates the generated topology description in the Nam-Editor internal representation of a network. To create a new network topology the user must:
  1. select a generation method from the generator list (see fig.1);
  2. click the "Topology Generation" button (see fig.1);


    3. Fig. 1: Topology Generation

  3. fill in a generator-specific input masks, in order to provide the selected generator with the required parameters (see fig. 2; for the meaning of these parameters, please refer to the generators documentation);
  4. click the "Create Topology" button (see fig.2);

Fig. 2: Parameter mask

Node Set Tool

Localization of a network agent in a simulation scenario is a two steps process, which requires: To support agent instantiation in large topologies we have included in the extended Nam-Editor the concept of Node Set.
A Node Set is a set of nodes selected according to one of the following criteria:
  1. leaf node;
  2. mutual distance;
  3. randomly.
When a network topology is created with one of the supported topology generators, a few Node Sets are automatically created, reflecting the topology model. For instance, in the case of a transit-stub topology, a Node Set is associated to each transit domain and to each stub domain. With the Node Set Tool it is possible to (see fig. 3):
  1. visualize all the nodes included in a given set;
  2. associate a color to all the nodes included in a given set;
  3. instantiate an agent on all the nodes of a given set;
  4. instantiate a Web Server on all the nodes of a given set (See Web Tool);
  5. instantiate a Web Client on all the node of a given set (See Web Tool);
  6. instantiate a Web Cache on all the node of a given set (See Web Tool);

Fig. 3: Node Set Tool

Editor Configuration

The ns2 is an extensible network simulator.
New protocols can be simulated through the definition of a new Agent type.
Likewise, particular network scenarios may require the definition of new Node types.
The GUI of our Extended Nam Editor can be customized to:
  1. add an user-defined agent to the agent list;
  2. customize the parameters of a user-defined agent;
  3. define new node type and its parameters;
  4. associate a particular node type to any node.
To create a new agent type (or a new node type) the user must:
  1. select the "Configure Editor" entry from the Edit menu;
  2. click the "Define New Agent" button (see fig. 4);
  3. fill in the new agent mask and click the "Continue" button (see fig. 4);


    4. Fig. 4: New Agent mask

  4. define the Name and the Default value for any agent parameter (see fig. 5);
  5. click the "Continue" button (see fig. 5).

Fig 5: New Agent Parameter mask

Once the previos steps have been completed, the new agent type is permanently included in the agent list.

Web Tool

A special support as been provided in our Extended Nam Editor for simulating web cache systems. A proper tool (see fig. 6) can be used to create web-page pools and to deploy system of caches, servers and clients onto a previously generated topology.


Fig. 6: Web Tool

The configuration of any web element is made through a configuration window (see fig. 7); for the meaning of the parameters included in this window please refer to the ns Manual.


Fig. 7: Configuration window for web client

Install instructions

If you start from the source distribution:
  1. cd to your ns-allinone
  2. remove the nam-1.0a11 directory (rm -rf nam-1.0a11)
  3. expand the ext-nam-1.0a11.tar.gz archive (tar xzvf ext-nam-1.0a11.tar.gz)
  4. cd nam-1.0a11
  5. build the extended nam editor (./configure; make clean; make)
If you start from the binary distribution:
  1. expand the ext-nam-1.0a11.gz file (gunzip ext-nam-1.0a11.gz);
  2. put the nam binary in your path.

For questions, bug reporting, suggestions etc... please send an email to: Donato Emma