VR traffic model for ns-3

NOTE: You can find detailed information about this module in the referenced papers below.

Examples of usage for the newly introduced features can be found in the examples/ folder.

Features

This module comprises the following features:

• Adds BurstyApplication and BurstSink as ns-3 applications: they allow to model complex applications by sending large data packets over UDP sockets, fragmenting them into bursts of smaller packets, and reassembling the packets at the receiver, if possible
• A tracing system allows to obtain burst-level and fragment-level information at both the transmitter and receiver side
• Models Virtual Reality traffic sources with realistic head movements in popular VR applications
• 40 of the acquired VR traffic traces can be found in model/BurstGeneratorTraces/ and can be used directly in a simulation, using the TraceFileBurstGenerator. More information can be found in the folder and in the documentation.
• Additional traffic models can be implemented by simply extending the BurstGenerator interface

Future releases will aim to:

• Model second-order statistics for VR traffic
• Include a head-rotation model, coupled with the VR traffic generator
• Optionally include sound traffic in the VR traffic generator, other than video traffic
• Optionally include uplink/downlink control packets for the VR traffic model
• Improve BurstSink to also include some form of forward error correction

More information can be found in the reference paper(s).

Install

Prerequisites

To run simulations using this module, you will need to install ns-3, and clone this repository inside the contrib directory. Required dependencies include git and a build environment.

Installing dependencies

Please refer to the ns-3 wiki for instructions on how to set up your system to install ns-3.

Please check the releases for further information about dependencies.

Downloading

First, clone the main ns-3 repository:

git clone https://gitlab.com/nsnam/ns-3-dev ns-3-dev

Then, clone the vr-app module:

git clone https://github.com/signetlabdei/ns-3-vr-app ns-3-dev/contrib/vr-app

Compilation

Configure and build ns-3 from the ns-3-dev folder:

./ns3 configure --enable-tests --enable-examples
./ns3 build

This module does not provide Python bindings at the moment.

Documentation

To compile the documentation, please follow the instructions from the ns-3 manual.

Basic steps:

1. Install the documentation-specific dependencies as described in the ns-3 installation guide
2. You might need to fix the ImageMagick permissions for ghostscript files

Compiling standalone documentation:

1. Run in your terminal, in the ns-3 root folder, make -C contrib/vr-app/doc html
2. Open with your browser the file contrib/vr-app/doc/models/build/html/bursty-framework.html to visualize the documentation of the model

Reference papers

• M. Lecci, M. Drago, A. Zanella, M. Zorzi, "An Open Framework for Analyzing and Modeling XR Network Traffic," in IEEE Access, vol. 9, pp. 129782-129795, 2021. Open Access DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3113162.
• M. Lecci, A. Zanella, M. Zorzi, "An ns-3 Implementation of a Bursty Traffic Framework for Virtual Reality Sources," Workshop on ns-3 (WNS3), Jun. 2021, Virtual Event, USA, Open access DOI: 10.1145/3460797.3460807.