The ARL Topodef Tool for Designing Mobile Ad-Hoc Network Topologies to Support Emulation

Emulating a mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) often calls for a way to specify a dynamic topology as a function of time. The development and evaluation of MANET technologies require a method to generate controllable topologies to ease experimentation with various scenarios. The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) developed the ARL Topodef
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topology-definition tool to meet this requirement. The tool enables the user to visually design and verify an ad-hoc topology by placing the participating nodes at exact locations and creating specific data communication links. This paper provides an overview of two supported emulation environments, summarizes the design process, and documents some essential features and benefits of the tool and novel methods for creating desired dynamic topologies. The current use of the tool at various government and industrial laboratories attests to its relevancy, reliability, effectiveness, and usefulness.