Hi, I'm pretty much new to NS2 (built a couple of tutorial level networks, but have a fairly good idea of how it works, and the concepts behind DES simulators), and I am in the process of evaluating NS2 to see if we can use it to do what we need to do.
I want to measure the processing loads produced in the operation of a selection of network protocols. I.e. measure the processing involved in the receiving, processing, and transmitting of a packet in the packet forwarding path. My first question is, does NS2 have any awareness of how much processing is involved inside a protocol implementation (or even of how much time this processing takes), or if not, does it supply any tools (or could tools be integrated) that would enable this. I am trying to estimate the processing loads in real networks in supporting different protocols. So my next question is: how optimised or realistic are the protocol implementations. For example, OPNET models use a lot of tool specific functions and APIs that I'm sure will have significant impact on processing load measurements. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Kindest regards, Bruce