An overview of OpenAirInterface wireless network emulation methodology

The OpenAirInterface wireless network emulator, a tool with the dual objective of performing protocol and application performance evaluation, in addition to real-time layer 2/3 protocol implementation validation, is described. The current example protocol implementations closely resemble those of evolving UMTS-LTE and 802.16e/m networks with the additional possibility for creating mesh network topologies. They do not provide any form of compliance, however, with these standards. The emulation environment comes in both real-time and non-real-time flavors based on RTAI/Linux open-source developments. Novel ideas for physical layer (PHY) abstraction are also reviewed.