Design and Implementation of Riverbed Modeler M&S Framework for Multi-Layered Future Tactical Networks with Intelligent SDN Control Architecture

Abstract

Software Defined Networking (SDN) divides the network functions into control and data planes so that a controller in the control plane can dynamically control the operations of switches in the data plane. Efforts to adopt the SDN structure for tactical networks composed of heterogeneous and complex devices and systems are being made. Since tactical networks have multi-layered complex structures, it is not easy to construct Modeling and Simulation (M&S) environments supporting SDN structure. This paper proposes an M&S framework for multi-layered future tactical networks employing intelligent SDN control architectures. As an M&S tool, we utilize Riverbed Modeler, which is widely used and proven for tactical network performance analysis. The proposed M&S framework is implemented, and the experimental results show its effectiveness.