Simulating a communication system

This chapter looks at the basics of simulation of communication systems, covering topics such as strategy, modeling, general methodology, link and network-level categorization, error sources, performance evaluation, and practical issues. It focuses on some of the critical questions regarding the choices concerning a simulation setup. The chapter discusses the strategies that can be opted for when developing such a system. It provides the general steps to follow in solving any problem using a simulation approach. The chapter also provides a summary of the different levels of modeling that make up a simulation and a brief description of the different blocks that constitute a typical communication link from the simulation perspective. Code snippets for different blocks of the communication system are provided considering the selected case study, i.e. communication in the presence of an additive white Gaussian noise. The chapter describes network layout generation and some popular methods for it.