COMMUNICATIONS EFFECTS IN NETWORK SIMULATIONS

• US 20120155522A1
• Filed: 12/15/2010
• Published: 06/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Custer, Robert C., Harrison, Robert J., Waltersdorf, Brian J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,902,767 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/22 Traffic simulation tools or models

Abstract

Real-time, high fidelity communication effects are simulated. A transmitter in a platform simulation is requested to send a surrogate message to a receiver in the platform simulation. Communications effects are computed in response to the message, and the communications effects are saved for later use. When a future communication event involving the transmitter and receiver occurs, the saved effects are used to simulate the communication effects for that event.

Claims

1. A method comprising using a communications effects engine to simulate real-time, high fidelity communication effects for a platform simulation, including:

requesting a transmitter in the platform simulation to send a surrogate message to a receiver in the platform simulation;

computing communications effects in response to the message and saving the communications effects for later use; and

when a future communication event involving the transmitter and receiver occurs, using the saved effects to simulate the communication effects for that event.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein additional surrogate messages are requested periodically;

and wherein the saved communications effects are updated.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein saving the communications effects includes building tables of communications effects for the transmitter-receiver pair;

and distributing the tables to platform simulators.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the distributed tables are updated only by sending changed table entries.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein a platform simulator performs a table lookup to determine the communication effects for a future communications event, and delivers a message in accordance with the looked-up effects.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the saved effects indicate statistical connectivity, delay, and error characteristics.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a network simulator tool is used to compute the communications effects in response to the surrogate message.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising listening to network traffic in the platform simulation, and identifying the transmitter-receiver pair prior to sending the surrogate message.

9. A system comprising:

a platform simulation engine for performing a platform simulation, the platform simulation including a plurality of transmitter-receiver pairs; and

a communications effects engine for simulating real-time, high fidelity communications effects of transmissions between the transmitter-receiver pairs,

wherein for each pair, the platform simulation periodically sends probes from the transmitter to the receiver;

wherein in response to each probe, the communications effects engine computes and saves communications effects for the corresponding transmitter-receiver pair; and

wherein when a future communication event in the platform simulation involves a transmitter-receiver pair, the communications effects engine uses the saved effects of that pair to simulate the communication effects for the event.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the platform simulation engine includes a plurality of distributed platform force effects simulators for performing the platform simulation;

and wherein the communications effects engine includes a network simulator for computing the communications effects in response to the probes, and a server for saving the communications effects and distributing the saved effects to the platform simulators.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the server builds tables of the saved communications effects and distributes the tables to the platform simulators;

and wherein the platform simulators perform table look-up to determine the communications effects for communications events.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the server supplies each platform simulator only with needed table information.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the server updates the distributed tables by only sending changed table entries.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the server also listens to network traffic in the platform simulation, and identifies the transmitter-receiver pairs of interest.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the saved effects indicate statistical connectivity, delay, and error characteristics.

16. An article for causing a server to interact with a platform simulation engine including a plurality of distributed platform simulators, the article comprising memory encoded with data for causing the server to:

periodically request the platform simulator to generate probes for all transmitter-receiver pairs of interest;

receive communications effects data in response to the probes and save the communications effects data; and

distribute the saved communications effects data to the plurality of platform simulators in advance of future communications events so the simulators can use the data to simulate the future communications events.

17. The article of claim 16, wherein the data causes the server to builds tables of the saved communications effects data and distribute table information to the platform simulators.

18. The article of claim 17, wherein the table information is updated only by sending changed table entries.

19. The article of claim 17, wherein each platform simulator is supplied only with needed table information.

20. The article of claim 16, wherein the saved effects indicate statistical connectivity, delay, and error characteristics.