The document provides an overview of OPNET Modeler, a network simulation tool. It describes OPNET Modeler's architecture, which includes tools for model specification, data collection and simulation, and analysis. It also discusses how to locate models and components using the model library and its organization. The goal is to help users understand what problems can be solved with OPNET Modeler and how to get started using it.

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OPNET Technologies, Inc.
OPNET Modeler
Presented By : Eng. Sherif Belal
Supervised By : Dr. Nabil Hamdy Shaker

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Content
1-Introduction :
a- What is Modeler ?
b- Questions and Goals.
c- OPNET Suites.
2-OPNET Modeler Architecture :
a- Model Specification
1) Specification Editors.
2) Modeling Domains.
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes.
b- Data Collection and Simulation .
c- Analysis.
3- Projects and Scenarios :
4- Locating the Right Models and Components :
a- Model Library
b- Organization of the Model Library
5- OPNET Features :

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Content
1-Introduction :
a- What is Modeler ?
b- Questions and Goals.
c- OPNET Suites.
2-OPNET Modeler Architecture :
a- Model Specification
1) Specification Editors.
2) Modeling Domains.
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes.
b- Data Collection and Simulation .
c- Analysis.
3- Projects and Scenarios :
4- Locating the Right Models and Components :
a- Model Library
b- Organization of the Model Library
5- OPNET Features :

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OPNET Technologies, Inc.
1-Introduction

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Content
1-Introduction :
a- What is Modeler ?
b- Questions and Goals.
c- OPNET Suites.
2-OPNET Modeler Architecture :
a- Model Specification
1) Specification Editors.
2) Modeling Domains.
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes.
b- Data Collection and Simulation .
c- Analysis.
3- Projects and Scenarios :
4- Locating the Right Models and Components :
a- Model Library
b- Organization of the Model Library
5- OPNET Features :

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a- What is Modeler?
• OPNET stands for Optimum Network Performance .
• OPNET is a network simulation tool .
• OPNET Modeler, in particular, is a research oriented
package .

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a- What is Modeler? (Cont. )
• An environment for building protocols and device models.
• An environment to plan changes by illustrating how the
networked environment will perform.
• An environment that includes hundreds of pre-built models,
used to study performance changes of your network:
organizational scaling, technology changes, and
application deployment.

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Content
1-Introduction :
a- What is Modeler ?
b- Questions and Goals.
c- OPNET Suites.
2-OPNET Modeler Architecture :
a- Model Specification
1) Specification Editors.
2) Modeling Domains.
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes.
b- Data Collection and Simulation .
c- Analysis.
3- Projects and Scenarios :
4- Locating the Right Models and Components :
a- Model Library
b- Organization of the Model Library
5- OPNET Features :

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b- Questions and Goals
•Questions to be answered :
–What does Modeler do?
–How can it help me?
–How easy is it to use?
–How can I get started?
•Goals :
–Learn what problems can be solved with Modeler
–Learn how to use the Modeler software in a hands-on environment
–Use Modeler to solve real problems

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Content
1-Introduction :
a- What is Modeler ?
b- Questions and Goals.
c- OPNET Suites.
2-OPNET Modeler Architecture :
a- Model Specification
1) Specification Editors.
2) Modeling Domains.
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes.
b- Data Collection and Simulation .
c- Analysis.
3- Projects and Scenarios :
4- Locating the Right Models and Components :
a- Model Library
b- Organization of the Model Library
5- OPNET Features :

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c- OPNET Suites

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Content
1-Introduction :
a- What is Modeler ?
b- Questions and Goals.
c- OPNET Suites.
2-OPNET Modeler Architecture :
a- Model Specification
1) Specification Editors.
2) Modeling Domains.
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes.
b- Data Collection and Simulation .
c- Analysis.
3- Projects and Scenarios :
4- Locating the Right Models and Components :
a- Model Library
b- Organization of the Model Library
5- OPNET Features :

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OPNET Technologies, Inc.
2-OPNET Modeler Architecture

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2- OPNET Modeler Architecture
OPNET Modeler :
• Provides a comprehensive development environment for modeling and
performance-evaluation of communication networks and distributed systems.
•The package consists of a number of tools, each one focusing on particular
aspects of the modeling task.
•These tools fall into three major categories that correspond to the three phases
of modeling and simulation projects:
a- Model Specification
b- Data Collection and Simulation
c- Analysis

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1-Introduction :
a- What is Modeler ?
b- Questions and Goals.
c- OPNET Suites.
2-OPNET Modeler Architecture :
a- Model Specification
1) Specification Editors.
2) Modeling Domains.
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes.
b- Data Collection and Simulation .
c- Analysis.
3- Projects and Scenarios :
4- Locating the Right Models and Components :
a- Model Library
b- Organization of the Model Library
5- OPNET Features :
Content

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a. Model Specification
OPNET Modeler supports the concept of model reuse so that most models are
based on lower level models developed beforehand and stored in model libraries
1) Specification Editors
2) Modeling Domains
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes

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Content
1-Introduction :
a- What is Modeler ?
b- Questions and Goals.
c- OPNET Suites.
2-OPNET Modeler Architecture :
a- Model Specification
1) Specification Editors.
2) Modeling Domains.
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes.
b- Data Collection and Simulation .
c- Analysis.
3- Projects and Scenarios :
4- Locating the Right Models and Components :
a- Model Library
b- Organization of the Model Library
5- OPNET Features :

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1) Specification Editors
• Project Editor
–Create node and link objects to
represent network topology –Lay out
trajectories to define node mobility
• Node Editor
–Represent protocol and application
functions, and the flow of data
internal to the device
Project Editor
Node Editor
• Process Editor
–Use extended Finite State Machines to
define protocol logic and control flow –
C/C++ code controls the behavior of each
state
• Other Editors
–Packet Format Editor.
– Link Model Editor.
– ICI Editor interface control information
(ICI) formats.
– PDF Editor probability density functions
(PDFs).
Process Editor
Open Model Source Code

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Content
1-Introduction :
a- What is Modeler ?
b- Questions and Goals.
c- OPNET Suites.
2-OPNET Modeler Architecture :
a- Model Specification
1) Specification Editors.
2) Modeling Domains.
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes.
b- Data Collection and Simulation .
c- Analysis.
3- Projects and Scenarios :
4- Locating the Right Models and Components :
a- Model Library
b- Organization of the Model Library
5- OPNET Features :

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2) Modeling Domains
The Network, Node, Process, and External System modeling environments
are sometimes referred to as the modeling domains of OPNET Modeler
because they span all the hierarchical levels of a model.
Domain Editor Modeling Focus
Network Domain Project Network topology described in terms of subnetworks,
nodes, links, and geographical context.
Node Domain Node Node internal architecture described in terms of
functional elements and data flow between them.
Process Domain Process Behavior of processes (protocols, algorithms,
applications), specified using finite state machines and
extended high-level language.

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Content
1-Introduction :
a- What is Modeler ?
b- Questions and Goals.
c- OPNET Suites.
2-OPNET Modeler Architecture :
a- Model Specification
1) Specification Editors.
2) Modeling Domains.
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes.
b- Data Collection and Simulation .
c- Analysis.
3- Projects and Scenarios :
4- Locating the Right Models and Components :
a- Model Library
b- Organization of the Model Library
5- OPNET Features :

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3) Models, Objects, and Attributes
Objects
Objects represent entities that are part of the system
of interest.
Node Editor
Typical roles of an object in a model :
• Specify behavior
• Create information
• Store and manage information
• Process, modify, or relay information
• Respond to events
• Contain other objects

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Attributes
Attributes are data items used to configure an object and represent
the control that the object's designer has made available to the user.
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes

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Content
1-Introduction :
a- What is Modeler ?
b- Questions and Goals.
c- OPNET Suites.
2-OPNET Modeler Architecture :
a- Model Specification
1) Specification Editors.
2) Modeling Domains.
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes.
b- Data Collection and Simulation .
c- Analysis.
3- Projects and Scenarios :
4- Locating the Right Models and Components :
a- Model Library
b- Organization of the Model Library
5- OPNET Features :

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b- Data Collection and Simulation
•The objective of most modeling efforts is to obtain measures of a system's
performance or to make observations concerning a system's behavior.
•OPNET Modeler supports these activities by creating an executable model of the
system.
• Provided that the model is sufficiently representative of the actual system,
OPNET Modeler allows realistic estimates of performance and behavior to be
obtained by executing simulations.
•Several mechanisms are provided to collect the desired data from one or more
simulations of a system.

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• Several mechanisms are provided to collect the desired data from
one or more simulations of a system :
1) Simulation Output Data Types.
- Output Vectors
- Output Scalars
- Animations
2) Selecting Data for Collection.
b- Data Collection and Simulation
• Discrete event simulations are capable of producing many types of output.
because of the general programmability of process models and link models
• Because standard models typically contain a very large number of
potential statistics and animations of interest, collection mechanisms are
not active by default when a simulation is executed.
• Instead, OPNET Modeler provides a mechanism to explicitly activate
particular statistics or animations so that they will be recorded in
appropriate output files.

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Content
1-Introduction :
a- What is Modeler ?
b- Questions and Goals.
c- OPNET Suites.
2-OPNET Modeler Architecture :
a- Model Specification
1) Specification Editors.
2) Modeling Domains.
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes.
b- Data Collection and Simulation .
c- Analysis.
3- Projects and Scenarios :
4- Locating the Right Models and Components :
a- Model Library
b- Organization of the Model Library
5- OPNET Features :

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c- Analysis
•The third phase of the simulation project involves examining the results
collected during simulation.
•OPNET Modeler provides a graphing and numerical processing environment
in the Results Browser of the Project Editor.

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Content
1-Introduction :
a- What is Modeler ?
b- Questions and Goals.
c- OPNET Suites.
2-OPNET Modeler Architecture :
a- Model Specification
1) Specification Editors.
2) Modeling Domains.
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes.
b- Data Collection and Simulation .
c- Analysis.
3- Projects and Scenarios :
4- Locating the Right Models and Components :
a- Model Library
b- Organization of the Model Library
5- OPNET Features :

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OPNET Technologies, Inc.
3- Projects and Scenarios

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• Project-and-Scenario approach to modeling network
– Project: collection of related network scenarios , All projects
contain at least one scenario
3- Projects and Scenarios
– Scenario: is a single instance of the
network. Typically, a scenario
represents a unique configuration
of the network, where
configuration can refer to aspects
such as topology, protocols,
applications, baseline traffic, and
simulation settings.

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OPNET Modeler: Main

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• Create project
• Create baseline scenario
–Import or create topology
–Import or create traffic
–Choose results and reports to be collected
–Run simulation
–View results
• Duplicate scenario
–Make changes
–Re-run simulation
–Compare results
Project/Scenario Workflow

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Project Editor
•Several tools are included in Modeler to intuitively map from network
specifications to a modeled network.
Example network model:
–Use the Startup Wizard to specify the
initial environment of a scenario.
–Select objects from an Object Palette.
–Use Node and Link objects to represent
actual topology.
OR
–Use Rapid Configuration to quickly
deploy common network topologies.
–Edit the Attributes of nodes and links
to customize their behavior.

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Project Editor
Example network model:

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Project Editor
Example network model:

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Subnets
4 Subnet Types
•A subnet object abstracts network components specified within it
into a single container
•Subnet objects:
–Are simply containers used to organize your nodes
–Can represent identical constructs in an actual network.
–Have no behavioral aspects, but simplify representation of
large networks.
–May be stationary or mobile.

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Why Use Subnets?
• Subnets are a powerful mechanism for breaking down a system’s
complexity through abstraction.

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Object Palettes – Tree View
Name of current Project and Scenario Selected model icon
Switch to icon view
Display details of currently
selected model

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Object Palettes – Icon View
Model list pull-down Menu
Switch to tree view
Right-click an icon to display
details of a model
Modify this palette or create new palette

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Object Hierarchy
•Subnets represent various network
components in a single object.
This object could contain various LAN,
node, and link models.
•LANs represent a local area network
abstracted into a single node.
•Nodes represent servers, workstations,
switches, gateways or any other physical
devices associated with communication
networks.
•Links represent the physical links
between nodes.

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Object Attributes (cont.)
• All objects have attributes that
control aspects of their behavior.
• Attributes may vary from one model
to the next.
• Attribute values may vary between
objects of the same model type.
• Right click on an object and select
“Edit Attributes” to view or change its
attributes
• Click the “Advanced” checkbox to
see built-in attributes
–Position on map
–icon
–Model type
–Etc.

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Group Attribute Assignment
•A group of objects can have their attributes assigned simultaneously by using the
“Apply to selected objects” button.
•Note that selected objects that do not contain the attribute being changed
will not be affected by the group assignment.

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Content
1-Introduction :
a- What is Modeler ?
b- Questions and Goals.
c- OPNET Suites.
2-OPNET Modeler Architecture :
a- Model Specification
1) Specification Editors.
2) Modeling Domains.
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes.
b- Data Collection and Simulation .
c- Analysis.
3- Projects and Scenarios :
4- Locating the Right Models and Components :
a- Model Library
b- Organization of the Model Library
5- OPNET Features :

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OPNET Technologies, Inc.
4- Locating the Right Models and Components

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4- Locating the Right Models and Components
•Selecting the right models and components is essential to accurate modeling.
•Modeler provides a suite of standard and vendor models.
•You can also create new models or derive models from an existing database.
•Modeler’s naming conventions, custom palettes, icons, and derived
models all facilitate your selection of the correct components for your network.

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Content
1-Introduction :
a- What is Modeler ?
b- Questions and Goals.
c- OPNET Suites.
2-OPNET Modeler Architecture :
a- Model Specification
1) Specification Editors.
2) Modeling Domains.
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes.
b- Data Collection and Simulation .
c- Analysis.
3- Projects and Scenarios :
4- Locating the Right Models and Components :
a- Model Library
b- Organization of the Model Library
5- OPNET Features :

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a- Model Library
• OPNET Modeler provides an extensive library of models that you can use to
build networks.
• These models are called standard models because users can also develop their
own models.
• Models are created using published protocol standards and other widely used
vendor implementations.
–IEEE Specifications (e.g., 802.1q, 802.3, 802.11, etc.)
–ANSI Standards (e.g., X3.139, T1.513, etc.)
–ATM Forum Specifications (e.g, UNI 3.1, TM 4.0, etc.)
–RFC Documents (e.g., RFC-793, RFC-1058, RFC-1771, etc.)
–Vendor Technologies (e.g., VLAN tagging, EIGRP, etc.)

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Content
1-Introduction :
a- What is Modeler ?
b- Questions and Goals.
c- OPNET Suites.
2-OPNET Modeler Architecture :
a- Model Specification
1) Specification Editors.
2) Modeling Domains.
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes.
b- Data Collection and Simulation .
c- Analysis.
3- Projects and Scenarios :
4- Locating the Right Models and Components :
a- Model Library
b- Organization of the Model Library
5- OPNET Features :

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The standard model library consists of the following types of objects :
Organization of the Model Library
•Device Models
•Link Models
•LAN and Cloud Models
•Utility Objects

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Routers – Switches – Hubs – Workstations – Servers – Firewalls – Printers
Device Models

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Vendor Models
•In addition to our standard models, OPNET contains vendor specific models.
3Com Ascend
Avici
Bay Networks
Brocade
Cabletron
Fore Systems
Foundry
Hewlett Packard
Juniper Networks
Lucent
McData
Cisco Systems
Equipe eXtreme
NEC
Newbridge
Nortel

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Link Models
• An appropriate link must be chosen to match interfaces on connected devices.
• Data rate, protocol, and number of available interfaces are the requirements
that must be met.
• Link model naming convention:
–<protocol>_<modifier>
• Example:
–100BaseT_int

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LAN and Cloud Models
•OPNET Modeler lets you model the end systems of your network in explicit
detail, representing each device, if necessary.
•However, in many simulation studies, you will prefer to abstract local area
network infrastructure into one object, called a LAN object.
•Cloud models are special objects in the model library used to represent wide
area network infrastructure
•The ATM, Frame Relay, and IP model suites all include cloud models.

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Utilities Objects
Objects that don't correspond to actual physical infrastructure are also
used to construct network models.

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Content
1-Introduction :
a- What is Modeler ?
b- Questions and Goals.
c- OPNET Suites.
2-OPNET Modeler Architecture :
a- Model Specification
1) Specification Editors.
2) Modeling Domains.
3) Models, Objects, and Attributes.
b- Data Collection and Simulation .
c- Analysis.
3- Projects and Scenarios :
4- Locating the Right Models and Components :
a- Model Library
b- Organization of the Model Library
5- OPNET Features :

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OPNET Technologies, Inc.
5- OPNET Features

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OPNET Features
•Hundreds of protocol and vendor device
models with source code
•Fastest discrete event simulation engine
among leading industry solutions
•Scalable simulation environment
including support for parallel and
distributed simulation
•Integrated GUI-based debugging and
analysis
•Open interface for integrating external
object files, libraries, and other simulators

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