15.3 Commands at a glance

Following is a list of commands used in wireless simulations:

$ns_ node-config -addressingType \
                 -adhocRouting   \
                 -llType         \
                 -macType        \
                 -propType       \
                 -ifqType        \
                 -ifqLen         \
                 -phyType        \
                 -antType        \
                 -channelType    \
                 -topoInstance   \
                 -wiredRouting   \
                 -mobileIP       \
                 -energyModel    \
                 -initialEnergy  \
                 -rxPower        \
                 -txPower        \
                 -agentTrace     \
                 -routerTrace    \
                 -macTrace       \
                 -movementTrace  \

This command is used typically to configure for a mobilenode. For more info about this command (part of new node APIs) see chapter titled "Restructuring ns node and new Node APIs" in ns Notes and Documentation.

$ns_ node optional:hier address
This command is used to create a mobilenode after node configuration is done as shown in the node-config command. Incase hierarchical addressing is being used, the hier address of the node needs to be passed as well.

$node log-movement
This command previously used to enable logging of mobilenode's movement has now been replaced by $ns_ node-config -movementTrace ON or OFF.

create-god num_nodes
This command is used to create a God instance. The number of mobilenodes is passed as argument which is used by God to create a matrix to store connectivity information of the topology.

$topo load_flatgrid X Y optional:res
This initializes the grid for the topography object. <X> and <Y> are the x-y co-ordinates for the topology and are used for sizing the grid. The grid resolution may be passed as <res>. A default value of 1 is normally used.

$topo load_demfile file-descrptor
For loading DEMFile objects into topography. See /dem.cc,.h for details on DEMFiles.

$ns_ namtrace-all-wireless namtrace X Y
This command is used to initialize a namtrace file for logging node movements to be viewed in nam. The namtrace file descriptor, the X and Y co-ordinates of the wireless topology is passed as parameters with this command.

$ns_ nam-end-wireless stop-time
This command is used to tell nam the simulation stop time given by <stop-time>.

$ns_ initial_node_pos node size
This command defines the node initial position in nam. <size> denotes the size of node in nam. This function must be called after mobility model has been defined.

$mobilenode random-motion 0 or 1
Random-motion is used to turn on random movements for the mobilenode, in which case random destinations are assigned to the node. 0 disables and 1 enables random-motion.

$mobilenode setdest X Y s
This command is used to setup a destination for the mobilenode. The mobile node starts moving towards destination given by <X> and <Y> at a speed of <s> m/s.

$mobilenode reset
This command is used to reset all the objects in the nodes (network components like LL, MAC, phy etc).

Internal procedures
Following is a list of internal procedures used in wireless networking:

$mobilenode base-station BSnode-hier-addr
This is used for wired-cum-wireless scenarios. Here the mobilenode is provided with the base-stationnode info for its domain. The address is hierarchical since wired-cum-wireless scenarios typically use hierarchical addressing.

$mobilenode log-target target-object
The <target-object>, which is normally a trace object, is used to log mobilenode movements and their energy usage, if energy model is provided.

$mobilenode topography topoinstance
This command is used to provide the node with a handle to the topography object.

$mobilenode addif
A mobilenode may have more than one network interface. This command is used to pass handle for a network interface to the node.

$mobilenode namattach namtracefd
This command is used to attach the namtrace file descriptor <namtracefd> to the mobilenode. All nam traces for the node are then written into this namtrace file.

$mobilenode radius r
The radius <r> denotes the node's range. All mobilenodes that fall within the circle of radius <r> with the node at its center are considered as neighbours. This info is typically used by the gridkeeper.

$mobilenode start
This command is used to start off the movement of the mobilenode.