Applicable Versions

NetSim Standard

NetSim Pro


Applicable Releasesv13



In a network such as MANET, VANET, WSN, or IoT with a large number of devices, the initial position coordinates can be set by reading from a CSV file input by choosing random entries by modifying the source codes of the Mobility source code project.

However, initially, the network needs to be created manually by dragging and dropping or by using NetSim's Automatic device placement utility which supports random and uniform placement.

The following changes have been made in the NetSim source codes, to modify the RSU coordinates during run-time:

1. Open NetSim source code in Visual Studio 2019 by clicking on the Open Code button present in NetSim Home Screen via Your Work->Workspace Options->Open Code. 

2. Go to Mobility project through the solution explorer and open the file Mobility. c. Add/modify the lines of code highlighted in red at the beginning of the file as shown below:

#include "main.h"
#include "Mobility.h"
#include "Animation.h"

static unsigned int nCallBackCount=0;

int fn_NetSim_Mobility_configure_NodeJoinProfile(void* xmlNode,NETSIM_ID nDeviceId);
int fn_NetSim_Mobility_NodeJoinInit(NETSIM_ID nDevIndex);
int fn_NetSim_Mobility_NodeJoined();
int fn_NetSim_Mobility_NodeLeaved();

char* set_node_position(int nDeviceID, char* filename);
int lines = 0;
bool flag = false;

char* set_node_position(int nDeviceID, char* filename)
{
    char ch;
    FILE* fp;
    int id;
    int row,col;
    int i = 0, j = 0;
    char line[4098];
    const char* tok;
    double x, y;

    if (!flag)
    {
        fp = fopen(filename, "r");
        if (!fp)
        {
            fnNetSimError("Unable to open %s file %s\n", filename);
            return;
        }


        while ((ch = fgetc(fp)) != EOF)
        {
            if (ch == '\n')
                lines++;
        }
        flag = true;
        fprintf(stderr, "\nTotal number of lines are: %d\n", lines);
        fclose(fp);
    }
        

    fp = fopen(filename, "r");
    if (!fp)
    {
        fnNetSimError("Unable to open %s file %s\n", filename);
        return;
    }

    row = NETSIM_RAND_RN((lines-1), 1);
    if (fp)
        //Match Row
        while (fgets(line, 4098, fp) && (i < row))
        {
            if (i == row)
                break;
            i++;
        }
    else
    {
        fprintf(stderr, "\nRow: %d, Column: %d, Value: Error", row, col);
        _getch();
        return "";
    }

    char* rest = line;
    //Match Column for X-axis
    col = 0;//column number containing the X axis values, Y is assumed to be in the next immediate column
    while ((tok = strtok_s(rest, ",", &rest)))
    {
        if (j == col)
        {
            if (fp)
                fclose(fp);
            
            sscanf(tok, "%lf", &x);

            tok = strtok_s(rest, ",", &rest);
            sscanf(tok, "%lf", &y);

            fprintf(stderr, "\nDevice %d detected at position (%lf,%lf)\n",

                nDeviceID, DEVICE_POSITION(nDeviceID)->X, DEVICE_POSITION(nDeviceID)->Y);


            NetSim_COORDINATES* dc = DEVICE(nDeviceID)->pstruDevicePosition;

            dc->X = x; dc->Y = y;


            fprintf(stderr, "\nDevice %d position updated to (%lf,%lf)\n", 

                nDeviceID, DEVICE_POSITION(nDeviceID)->X, DEVICE_POSITION(nDeviceID)->Y);



        }
        j++;
    }

}

ANIM_HANDLE animHandle;


3. Go to the fn_NetSim_Mobility_Init() function and add the following lines of code(highlighted in red) as shown below:

_declspec(dllexport) int fn_NetSim_Mobility_Init(struct stru_NetSim_Network *NETWORK_Formal,
    NetSim_EVENTDETAILS *pstruEventDetails_Formal,
    char *pszAppPath_Formal,
    char *pszWritePath_Formal,
    int nVersion_Type,
    void **fnPointer)
{
    NETSIM_ID nLoop;
    NETWORK = NETWORK_Formal;        //Get the Network structure from NetworkStack    
    pstruEventDetails=pstruEventDetails_Formal;    //Get the Eventdetails from NetworkStack    
    pszAppPath=pszAppPath_Formal;    //Get the application path from NetworkStack    
    pszIOPath=pszWritePath_Formal;    //Get the write path from NetworkStack    
    nVersion_Type = nVersion_Type; //Get the version type from NetworkStack
         
    srand(1); //Initialize seed as 1 for same result for every run

    char fname[BUFSIZ] = "nodesXY_file.csv";

    for (int i = 0; i < NETWORK->nDeviceCount; i++)

    {

        set_node_position(i + 1, fname);

    }


   
    init_mobility_animation();
.
.
.
}

5. If the positions need to be updated only for specific type of devices, then the condition can be written inside the for loop before calling the set_node_position() function for updating the coordinates.


4. Right-click on the Mobility source code project and select the Rebuild option. Once the build is successful, NetSim will automatically use the modified binaries for any further simulations done in this workspace.

5. Consider a CSV log file containing the X and Y coordinates as shown below:



Place the CSV file which contains the coordinates to be read during runtime in <NetSim_Install_Directory>/bin folder. For E.g. C:\Program Files\NetSim\Standard_v13_0\bin


6. Create a network scenario in MANET/VANET/WSN/IoT network with a grid area as per the range of coordinates present in the input CSV file. If the coordinates present in the input file lies in the range 0 to 1000 meters, then the simulation grid can be set to 1000 meters while creating the network scenario.

8. Now upon running the simulation, NetSim will automatically detect the current location of the devices in the network and update the positions based on the input CSV file provided.


Setting RSU positions by reading from an excel file for a VANET network scenario:

For example, if the RSU positions need to be set, reading from an excel sheet containing the coordinates, initially RSU's need to be manually placed in the grid environment based on how many are required.  While placing the RSU's the position can be random, since, it will get overwritten when the simulation starts, by reading the excel file.


1. In Step 3 explained in the code modification section above, a condition can be added to call the set_node_position() function only in the case of RSU's and rebuild the code.

char fname[BUFSIZ] = "nodesXY_file.csv";

    for (int i = 0; i < NETWORK->nDeviceCount; i++)
    {
        if (DEVICE(i + 1)->pstruDeviceMobility->nMobilityType == MobilityModel_NOMOBILITY)//RSU
        {
            fprintf(stderr, "\nRSU %d detected at (%lf,%lf)\n", i + 1, DEVICE_POSITION(i + 1)->X, DEVICE_POSITION(i + 1)->Y);
            set_node_position(i + 1, fname);
        }
    }
 
2. Import the SUMO configuration file in NetSim by going to New Simulation and selecting the Vehicular Adhoc Networks option. 


3. Once the roads and vehicles are loaded in NetSim, manually click and drop RSU's into the grid, based on how many of them you require. You need not worry about the placement since it will be handled during runtime. You can drop the RSU's in the blank area of the grid, which makes it easier to connect them to the network using the Adhoc link.


4. After connecting all the dropped RSU's to the Adhoc link, configure traffic in the network by clicking on the Application option.


5. Now upon running simulation, NetSim will automatically detect the presence of RSU's in the network and update the positions based on the input nodesXY_file.csv file provided.

 

Useful references:

how-do-i-interface-with-sumo-for-vanet-simulation-

how-to-include-rsu-rtu-in-netsim-vanet-simulations-

how-to-move-a-node-from-one-coordinate-to-another-pre-decided-coordinate-say-100-100-