Packet Switching II

Introduction
This tutorial assumes that you completed the Packet
Switching I tutorial.

In Packet Switching I, you created a simple packet

switching network with a hub and four peripheral
nodes.

After running the simulation, you discovered that

packets went across the network with or without
queuing delays, depending on the packet generation
rate.

In this lesson, you will see how adding a second

network affects the end-to-end delays of packets in the
network.

1
The Expanded Network

You will also accomplish the following goals:

• Learn about logical associations in node models
• Redesign the hub model to handle an additional
subnet

2
Getting Started
Begin by opening the project you created in the
Packet Switching I lesson.

1 Close any editors you still have open from the last
lesson.

2 Choose File > Open… and verify that the “Files of

type:” menu (Windows) or Filters menu (Linux) is
set to Project Files (*.prj).

3 If the displayed directory is not your active

working directory (typically
<username>/op_models), then navigate to it.

4 Choose <initials>_pksw_net and click Open.

5 Select Scenarios > Duplicate Scenarios… and

name the new scenario dual_subnet.

3
Enhancing the Node Model

To accommodate more connections, the hub node

model must have an additional point-to-point
transmitter and receiver.

Because the expanded network will connect through

the hub, you must add a transmitter/receiver pair to the
hub node model.

Adding the Transmitter/Receiver Pair

To add a transmitter/receiver pair, perform the
following steps:

1 Choose File > Open… and change the "Files of

type" menu (Windows) or Filters menu (Linux) to
Node Model Files (*.nd.m). Then select the
<initials>_pksw_hub model and click Open.

2 Add a point-to-point transmitter and receiver, as

shown in the next figure.

4
 Transmitter and Receiver Added to the Hub Node

3 Set the name attributes to rcv4 and xmt4.

4 Connect the new modules to the hub with packet

streams.

5 Right-click on the packet stream from the hub to

xmt4 and select Edit Attributes. Note that the src
stream is [4], which means that in the process
model, the processor should send packets to the
transmitter over stream 4.

6 Close the Attributes dialog box.

Setting the Channel Data Rate and Packet Formats

Set the channel data rate and supported packet
formats for both new modules:

1 Select the new transmitter.

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2 Right-click on the transmitter and select Edit
Attributes.

3 Click on the value of the channel attribute.

4 Change the data rate to 9600.

5 Support the <initials>_pksw_format format.

5.1 Click on the value of the packet formats

attribute.

5.2 Click on both checkboxes to turn off

Support all packet formats and
Support unformatted packets.

5.3 Click on the Status field for

<initials>_pksw_format.

5.4 Close the Select Supported Packet

Formats dialog box.

5.5 Close the (channel) Table dialog box.

6 Click OK to close the Attributes dialog box.

7 Repeat steps 2 through 6 for the receiver module.

6
Associating Transmitters and Receivers
To ensure the correct transmitter/receiver pairs are
used when connecting links to nodes at the network
level, you can logically associate pairs of transmitters
and receivers:

1 Click the Create Logical Tx/Rx Association tool

button.

2 Connect the modules as shown in the following

figure:
Two of Five Logical Associations Circled

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3 When you are finished, save the node model and
close the Node Editor.

8
Adding a New Subnet
Now that an extra transmitter/receiver pair is available,
the network model can be expanded to connect an
additional subnet using point-to-point links.

Adding the Second Subnet

To add a second subnet to the existing network, you
can copy the original network and connect the two.

1 If the <initials>_pksw_net project is not already

open, open it.

2 Click on the Go to Parent Subnetwork tool

button.

3 Left-click on the subnet to select it, select Edit >

Copy, then Edit > Paste.

4 Position the cursor to the right of the existing

subnet and left-click to place the second subnet.

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 Placing the Second Subnet

5 Open the <initials>_pksw_palette object palette.

6 Select the <initials>_pksw_link link model in the

<initials>_pksw_palette object palette and
connect the two subnets. Click OK in the
Select Nodes dialog box.
Connecting the Hubs of the Two Subnets

The Link Appears Between the Selected Subnets

10
Adding a user id Attribute
You also need to add a user id attribute so each
subnet can be uniquely identified when routing
packets.

1 Right-click on the pksw1 subnet and choose

Edit Attributes (Advanced) from the pksw1
pop-up menu.

2 Change the user id attribute to 1, then click OK.

3 Right-click on the pksw2 subnet and choose Edit

Attributes (Advanced) from the pksw2 pop-up
menu.

4 Change the user id attribute to 2, then click OK to

close the dialog box.
➥ The user IDs are assigned to both subnets.

5 Save the project, then close the Project Editor.

11
Redefining the Packet Format
There are several ways to deal with the problem of
node addressing in different subnets. Adding a packet
field that identifies the subnet of the destination node
is an easy method.

1 Choose File > Open… and change the "Files of

type" menu (Windows) or Filters menu (Linux) to
Packet Format Files (*.pk.m). Select the
<initials>_pksw_format and click Open.

2 Click on the Create New Field tool button, then

place the new field directly beneath the
dest_address field.

3 Right-click on the new field and select

Edit Attributes, then change the attributes as
follows:
• name = dest_subnet
• size = 1 (We only need 1 bit to choose
between the two subnets.)
• set at creation = unset

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 Changing the Attributes

4 Click OK when you are finished to close the

dialog box.
➥ The name and size of the packet field are
displayed in the field.
Packet with New Packet Field

5 Save the packet format and exit the Packet

Format Editor.

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Modifying the Process Model
Before the new network configuration will work, the
hub and peripheral node process models must be
modified to handle the routing of packets between the
two subnets.

Peripheral nodes must assign a destination subnet

and destination node address. The subnet address will
be either 1 or 2 (these values correspond to a subnet
user id attribute). A new line of code in the
xmt transition executive will assign a destination
subnet randomly.

Modifying the Node Process Model

1 Open the <initials>_pksw_nd_proc model in the

Process Editor.

2 Open the Function Block and add the line of

code marked in bold text to the xmt() function:
. . .
pkptr = op_pk_get (SRC_IN_STRM);

op_pk_nfd_set_int32 (pkptr, "dest_subnet",

(int)op_dist_uniform (2.0) + 1);

op_pk_nfd_set_int32 (pkptr, "dest_address",

(int)op_dist_outcome (address_dist));

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 op_pk_send (pkptr, XMT_OUT_STRM);

FOUT;

3 The dest_subnet field in the packet format has

been defined as a 1-bit field. It is going to store
the user ID of the destination subnet, i.e. a value
of 1 or 2. In a real packet, storing a value of ‘2’
would need more than 1 bit, but in the simulated
space, we are just using two arbitrary values that
are using just 1 bit of packet space, regardless of
their actual binary representation.

4 Select File > Save from the Function Block

menu.

5 Compile the process model. You do not need to

save the model because it is saved before the
compilation.

Modifying the Hub Process Model

With the addition of the second subnet, the hub node
process model must now also determine which subnet
a packet belongs in and route packets accordingly. An
initial state must be added in which the process model
determines its surrounding subnet.

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 1 Open the <initials>_pksw_hub_proc model in
the Process Editor.

2 Add a new state to the left of the idle state. Make

it an initial state by selecting it and clicking the
Set Initial State tool button.

3 Change the name attribute to init and change the

status attribute to forced.
Adding a New State and Transition

4 Create an unconditional transition from the init

state to the idle state, as shown above.

Modify the code in the process model as follows:

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 1 Open the Header Block and add the line of code
marked in bold text:
#define PK_ARRVL (op_intrpt_type () == OPC_INTRPT_STRM)
#define OTHER_SUBNET_STRM 4

The OTHER_SUBNET_STRM symbolic constant

refers to the stream attached to the newly created
transmitter linked to the other subnet. This is the
same as the src stream index value of the packet
stream from the hub to xmt4.

2 Close the Header Block and save your changes.

3 Open the state variable block and add the

variable subnet_id of type int.

4 Open the init state’s Enter Executives and add

the following lines of code:
Objid parent_subnet;
parent_subnet = op_topo_parent (op_topo_parent
(op_id_self ()));
op_ima_obj_attr_get_int32 (parent_subnet, "user id",
&subnet_id);

The first statement determines the object

identifier of the parent subnet using chained calls
to the op_topo_parent() procedure.

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 The second statement uses this value as an
argument to the op_ima_obj_attr_get_int32()
procedure to obtain the user id attribute of the
subnet.

5 Close the Enter Executives and save your

changes.

6 Open the Function Block and add the new lines

of code marked in bold text to the route_pk()
function:
int dest_address;
int dest_subnet;
Packet *pkptr;
FIN (route_pk());
pkptr = op_pk_get (op_intrpt_strm ());
op_pk_nfd_get_int32 (pkptr, "dest_subnet", &dest_subnet);
if (dest_subnet == subnet_id)
{
op_pk_nfd_get_int32 (pkptr, "dest_address",
&dest_address);
op_pk_send (pkptr, dest_address);
}
else
op_pk_send (pkptr, OTHER_SUBNET_STRM);

The modified route_pk() function sends the

packet to a local node if the destination subnet
value matches the subnet_id obtained in the init
state. Otherwise, the packet is sent to the other
subnet.
18
7 Select File > Save from the Function Block
menu.

8 Compile the process model, then close the two

open Process Editors.

19
Running the Simulation
Now that all the enhancements to the model are
complete, you can run the simulations.

1 In the <intials>_pksw_net Project Editor, select

DES > Configure/Run Discrete Event
Simulation...
Note—If the Configure/Run Discrete Event
Simulation dialog box is in Simple view (without
a treeview in the left pane), click the Detailed
button in the lower-left corner.

2 Click Common in the treeview and change the

Simulation set name to <initials>_pksw_out80
(in the right panel).

3 Verify that Duration is set to 1000 seconds.

4 Select and expand the Inputs node, then click on

Object Attributes.

5 Delete the pksw1.*.source interarrival time

attribute, as follows:

5.1 Click the attribute name in the Attribute

column to select the attribute.

5.2 Click the Delete button.

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6 Add *.*.source interarrival time.

7 In the Simulation Set dialog box, set the value for

*.*.source interarrival time to 80, 8 using the
Enter Multiple Values... button.
Setting the Value of *.*.source.interarrival time to 80, 8

8 Click Run to save and execute the new settings.

The simulation runs should take a few seconds to
run.

9 When the simulation completes, close the DES

Execution Manager dialog box. If you had
problems, see "Troubleshooting Tutorials".

21
Viewing Results
You can now determine how the addition of a second
subnet affects the simulation results by reviewing the
graph of ETE delay:

1 Right-click in the workspace and select

View Results.

2 Select the Global Statistics > ETE Delay global

statistic.

3 Make sure the graph is set to Overlaid Statistics

and change the graph type to average.

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Choosing ETE Delay Statistics

4 Click Show.
➥ The graph opens in a new window.

ETE Delay should resemble the following graph. Your

results may differ somewhat because of the position of
the nodes in your model.

23
ETE Delay Graph

Notice both simulations converge to steady state after

initial spikes. Further, ETE Delay is lower for the first
simulation, which is experiencing less traffic. These
results seem reasonable.

You might also want to look at other graphs, such as

the time average end-to-end delay. When you are
finished with this tutorial, close all open editors.

Return to the list of tutorials in the Contents pane and

choose CSMA/CD.
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