Configuring Simulator 3 for IP Application Note AN405 Revision v1.0 August 2012
AN405 Configuring Simulator 3 for IP 1 Overview This Application Note is designed to help to configure a Sim 3 to run in IP mode. The Sim 3 allows you to simulate delay, packet loss, jitter, and other variables that you would encounter in a typical satellite network. This document will help with the initial setup of the unit. For a more complete explanation of all the options available please refer to your Sim 3 User Manual. 2 Equipment Sim 3, with or without an Ethernet Switch module. The IP Feature Key must be enabled. 3 Configuration Figure 1 Sim 3 System menu The default SIMULATION MODE for the Sim 3 is SERIAL SIMULATION, so the first thing you will have to do is change this to IP SIMULATION. Simply move the cursor to SERIAL SIMULATION and press <Spacebar>, this will change the option to IP SIMULATION. Page 1 of 6
Figure 2 Sim 3 System menu, with IP SIMULATION mode selected After you change to IP SIMULATION you need to press <Esc>. The Sim 3 will ask if you would like to save the changes. If you press <Y> for yes, then the Sim 3 will reboot and come back up in IP SIMULATION mode. Figure 3 Sim 3 Main menu - in IP SIMULATION mode The first thing to configure will be the IP addresses of each Sim 3 port. Select the IP menu by moving the cursor to IP and pressing <Enter>. Page 2 of 6
Figure 4 Sim 3 IP menu Once in the IP menu you will want to select NETWORKS. Figure 5 Sim 3 IP > Networks menu For simplicity this screenshot shows an IP address for each Ethernet port on the Sim 3. Note: If your Sim 3 has an Ethernet Switch module this will be plugged into the switch module. If the Ethernet Switch module is installed the single Ethernet port on that side of the Simulator is disabled. For Router mode UDP Gateway determines if broadcast UDP packets are forwarded between Ethernet ports. The default is OFF. For Router mode Bridge should also be set to OFF. The MTU is set to 1514 by default but can be set between 128 and 1514. Fragment selects whether packets larger than MTU are will be fragmented or discarded. Yes means they will be fragmented. No means they will be discarded. Page 3 of 6
In Bridge mode, IP should be set to OFF for both ports and Bridge to ON. Set the IP addresses to 0.0.0.0. The UDP Gateway is not used in Bridge mode. Figure 6 Sim 3 Main menu - in IP SIMULATION mode Then select IP SIMULATION CONTROL to configure the Ethernet ports with the error set you would like to run. Figure 7 Sim 3 IP Simulation Control menu The IP Simulation Control menu allows you to set the mode that the Ethernet port runs in: Normal or a Script. If a Script is selected then the QOS, Priority, and Parameter Set is selected from the profile. If Normal is selected, then the user can set the Bandwidth manually, as well as choosing QOS Profiles, Priorities, and Parameter Set manually. When first getting started it is recommended that you choose Normal and select the options manually. Once you are more familiar with the unit you may find that you want to run scripts to simulate particular settings. More detailed information about working with Scripts can be found in the Sim 3 User Manual (Software Guide). Page 4 of 6
Figure 8 Sim 3 Main menu - in IP SIMULATION mode Select IP PARAMETER SETS to configure the individual errors you want to run in your simulation. The Sim 3 allows for up to 10 different Parameter Sets. Figure 9 Sim 3 IP Parameter Sets menu Setting Delay Type as RANDOM will allow the Sim 3 to insert jitter. In the screenshot above there is 100 ms of jitter selected. The amount of jitter is the difference between the min and max, which in this case would be 100ms. There are 3 different options for the Delay Type field. They are: CONSTANT a constant delay period is introduced; RANDOM a random delay period is introduced; GAUSSIAN a Gaussian distribution is used to introduce delay. Page 5 of 6
Figure 10 Sim 3 IP Parameter Sets menu - Discard selected The screenshot above shows the option for Discard set to RANDOM. The parameter Burst can be set to: CONTINUOUS Continuous operation with no Gap (Burst duration is indefinite) CONSTANT Bursts are of constant duration. The length of the Gap is configured. RANDOM Bursts are of random duration, following a regular distribution. The minimum and maximum values of the Gap are configured. GAUSSIAN Bursts are of random duration, following a Gaussian distribution. The Normal and Sigma (Standard Deviation) are configured. Setting delay up with a constant burst and a random discard rate of 5% will allow the discarded packets to happen constantly, but also at random intervals. NONE No packets are discarded. LINEAR Packets are discarded at a constant rate defined by the Rate %. RANDOM Packets are discarded at a Random rate, following a regular distribution defined by the Rate %. While the Sim 3 is capable of much more, this setup should allow you to quickly configure the Sim 3 in your test environment and setup the Delay and Error rate you would like to simulate. 4 About Application Notes Application Notes are intended as a supplement to, rather than a substitute for, your User Manual. Should you have queries which are not answered by our current documentation, your local Vocality support team would be happy to hear from you. E-mail support@vocality.com. Page 6 of 6