Using Realistic Internet Topology Data for Large Scale Network Simulations in OMNeT++

Results from simulation models can be used to derive implications for real scenarios only when the model is designed very close to reality. Besides solving the question of how to generate data traffic in the simulation, one has to solve also the problem of how to generate larger realistic topologies. The latter are required in many cases to evaluate protocols and mechanisms with respect to scalability. Instead of using algorithms for generating Internet-like topologies artificially, it is possible to use sources of the Internet’s real Autonomous System topology for generating the simulation topology. This paper describes a first approach of how to make use of such data for OMNeT++ simulations and presents first experiences with this approach.