Subject: New Ad-hoc test-bed software released!

From: Henrik Lundgren <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 20:52:57 +0100 (MET)

APE test-bed v0.3 released today!
---------------------------------

As there is an increasing need for more real-world 
experiments and evaluations of ad hoc routing protocols
we are happy to officially announce the release our
 
  Ad hoc Protocol Evaluation test-bed (APE).

Binary distribution and source code (GPL) can be downloaded from:
http://apetestbed.sourceforge.net/

APE aims at making the process of real-world ad hoc routing 
experiments as simple as possible. It focuses on smooth deployment,
customization and ability to easily repeat experiments with 
different protocols for comparison (including tools to assess
the similarity between repeated testruns). Scenarios can be  
scripted and test-participants only need to follow on-screen 
movement instructions. APE includes several tools for performing
post-test analysis of collected testrun data.

APE consists of an encapsulated, pre-configured Linux execution
environment (only 8M!). It can be easily installed on nodes 
running Linux or Windows (with DOS support): download, install
and reboot into the testbed execution environment. This simple 
procedure is crucial when performing large tests and makes it 
easy to invite people to participate in testruns.

APE can potentially be used for evaluation of any ad hoc protocol
implemented under Linux. Currently, APE is prepared to support 
the following:
- AODV-UU (Uppsala University - source included in APE)
- MAD-HOC (KTH - source included in APE)
- DSR (University of Queensland)
- OLSR (Inria)
- TORA (UMD)
- LUNAR (Uppsala University - source included in APE)

Other misc. useful things in APE includes:
- A MAC-filter tool (mackill) to fake connectivity in scenarios.
- TTCP for performance testing.
- A simple MP3 streamer (mp3stream) for audible demos.
- A graphical tool (APE-view) that can re-play a testrun's 
topological configurations over time (based on signal quality).

A technical report about APE is available at 
http://www.it.uu.se/research/reports/2001-029/
(a version of this paper was accepted for publication at WCNC'02)

Don't hesistate to send any comments, suggestions or possible
problems you encounter to: 
[email-masked]

Henrik Lundgren & Erik Nordström

Department of Computer Systems,
Uppsala University