Editing Network simulation (section)

==Uses of network simulators ==
Network simulators provide a cost-effective method for

* 5G, 6G coverage, capacity, throughput and latency analysis
* Network R & D (More than 70% of all Network [[Academic paper|Research paper]] reference a network simulator) 
* Defense applications such as [[UHF]]/[[VHF]]/L-Band Radio based [[MANET]] Radios, Dynamic TDMA MAC, PHY Waveforms etc. 
* [[Internet of things|IOT]], [[VANET]] simulations 
* [[Unmanned aerial vehicle|UAV]] network/[[wikt:drone|drone]] swarm communication simulation
* [[Machine Learning]] for communication networks
* Education: Online courses, Lab experimentation, and R & D. Most universities use a network simulator for teaching / R & D since it is too expensive to buy hardware equipment

There are a wide variety of network simulators, ranging from the very simple to the very complex. Minimally, a network simulator must enable a user to

* Model the [[network topology]] specifying the nodes on the network and the links between those nodes 
* Model the application flow (traffic) between the nodes
* Providing network performance metrics such as throughput, latency, error, etc., as output
* Evaluate protocol and device designs 
* Log radio measurements, packet and events for drill-down analyses and debugging