The nsclick Simulation Environment

What is nsclick?

In short, nsclick is the Click Modular Router embedded inside of the ns-2 network simulator. With minor modifications, a Click routing graph may run both on an actual system as well as under ns-2. This facilitates testing and debugging of network code. For example, a number of ad hoc routing protocols have been implemented and examined under ns-2. This is all well and good, but when time comes to construct a real ad hoc network, the routing code must be redesigned and rewritten. Using nsclick the implementation could be coded in Click, initial testing and debugging performed under ns-2, and that same code, with only minor modifications, deployed on an actual system.

Who

Using and citing this work

If you use nsclick in your own work, please cite the current paper describing it rather than this webpage.

That citation is here

Downloads and Support

Download the patch release as a tar.gz file here, or take a look at the individual files here. Support occurs via the nsclick-users e-mail list. To sign up, see http://www.cs.colorado.edu/mailman/listinfo/nsclick-users.

Those running the original Click 1.2.4 based nsclick patchset are strongly encouraged to upgrade. That release has some known problems with the scheduler which could affect your simulations. If for some reason you need access to this old patch, it is still available here, but it is no longer a supported release of nsclick. The current user manual has instructions for upgrading an existing 1.2.4 based nsclick to the current one.

Documentation

There's also a user manual available with information on installation, use, and development of nsclick, and a paper published at MSWiM 2002.

Patch for ns-2.26 Now Available

This patch has not yet undergone extensive testing, but if you'd prefer to run nsclick with ns-2.26 feel free to give it a spin. You can download it from here:

nsclick-2.26.patch