MILCOM 2004 - 2004 IEEE Military CammunicationsConference

USAGE OF OPNET SIMULATION TOOL FOR VALIDATION OF ROUTING IN ATM BACKBONE

NETWORKS OF TACTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
M. Sc. Eng. Emil Kubera
M. Sc. Eng. Joanna Sliwa
M. Sc. Eng. Krzysztof Zubel
Eng. Adrian Mroczko
Military Communication Institute
05-130 Zegrze, Poland
E-mail: kubcra@,wil.waw.pl

ABSTRACT

requires that participating countries

corresponding to TP2K standardization.

In the article there have been presented issues related to

dynamic routing in ATM backbone networks, which are
part of tactical communication systems of new generation.
There has been characterized tactical communication
system, which is being designed in MCI as well as rules of
using ATM technique and necessity of using virtual
switched connections and dynamic routing. Moreover
rhere have been described main features of PNNI - routing
protocol that meets imposed requirements. There have
been specified initial rules of dividing ATM backbone
network into routing domains to limit the number of nonuser traflc sent in the network and decrease the Load of
the radio relays with this kind of trafic. Based on
exemplary topology of the system, in OPNET sojhvare
there has been built simulation model, which was used to
verifi the accuracy of the proposed division into peer
groups. Results captured in particular experiments have
been presented. A special attention was paid to the amount
of information sent in the network in case of j7atnetwork
a d network divided into routing domains.

systems

For the last few years Poland have been involved in

performing research projects on appIicatioa of new
telecomunication techniques in tactical communication
systems for Polish Army. Projects carried out by Military
Communication Institute concern developing broadband
communication system for Polish Land Forces, which will
meet the requirements of TP2K. This system is to fulfil
future needs of military users, which means to provide
wide range of advanced telecommunication services. It
should also enable integration of different communication
equipment (radio relay, cable, fibre optic, radio, satellite)
and use various techniques of message transfer. The
conception assumes wide utilization of devices based on
COTS (Commercial OffThe Shelf) principle in switching
subsystem. This relates to ATM trunk and access nodes,
ISDN exchanges and IP routers. It is proposed to use new
generation broadband radio relays, fibre optical links and
cable links as transmission facilities. In local computer
networks, deployed on command posts, it is proposed to
use new technologies, including wireless (wireless LAN}.

INTRODUCTION
For the past years in many NATO participating countries
projects on developing of new generation tactical
communication systems have been carried out. These
systems are to fulfil future needs of the command and
control systems users. The biggest projects are, inter alia,
TACOMS-Post 2000 (Tactical Communications Systems
for the Land Combat Zone Post-2000 - TP2K) and
national ones: WIN-T (Wag5ghter Information Network Tactical) - U S A , RITA
2000
France,
FALCON/CORMORANT - Great Britain.
The TP2K foHows the principle of technological
independency in national systems. Developed standards
will concern different areas of communication systems
functionality, first of all: interoperability and access points,
services, numbering and addressing rules, etc. However
interoperation with other NATO corninmication systems
0-7803-8847-X/04/$20.0002004 IEEE

use

Broadband communication system of Polish Land Forces

should consist of three main subsystems (wide area
subsystem WAS, local area subsystem LAS and mobile
subsystem MS), see Fig. 1. It should also enable
interworking with external networks and existing tactical
communication systems. Moreover it should have an
efficient management subsystem (SMCS - System
Management and Control Subsystem) and high level of
security.
Following the conception of this communication system, it
is assumed that ISDN (for audio services) and IP (for data
transfer) technologies will be applied. ATM switches will
be used ifs elements providing integration of services in
trunk nodes as well as in access nodes.
Selection of the ATM technique derives from its huge
possibilities to provide advanced services, integrate

586

when network consists of several dozen of nodes and often

changes its topology would be almost impossible. It would
be also very complicated to manage such a big number of
connections (while the number of communication nodes of
tactical level is about 80 and the number of users is about
several thousands). Static routing can be implemented only
in the situation when network consists of a few nodes and
operates in a static topology. In addition, reservation of
a big number of virtual channels with an appropriate
throughput is not feasible because of the restrictions on the
speed of transferring information resulting from the
necessity of using long range wireless transmission
facilities.

different techniques, and from its flexibility of usage. It

efficiently utilizes transmission media throughput and is
able to provide real time services, since it enables
reservation of the bandwidth for particular application.
Due to implementation of suitable service mechanisms,
A T M provides QoS (Quality of Service) which is crucial
from the point of view of basic requirements on military
system, like punctuality, continuity, reliability, etc.

It is necessary to use switched virtuaI connections and

dynamic routing in developed system to assure its accurate
work in dynamic military operations' circumstances. After
the analysis of the documents developed by ATM Forum it
appears that there is a standard routing-signalling protocol,
which meets requirements presented above. This is the
PNNI protocol (Private Network-Ne"+
Znterjke).

PNNI PROTOCOL
Figure 1. General architecture of broadband
communication system

One of the most important elements of developed

communication system is the method of finding the route
for the connection - routing, In ATM network two major
types of routing are available: static and dynamic routing.
They relate in some way to the methods of connection
establishing in ATM network, i.e. PVC ( P e m n e n t
Virtual Connection) and SVC (Switched Virtual
Connection). When network uses PVCs, the path for
connection establishing is defmed by assigning the value
of the virtual path and virtual channel identifiers
(VPWCI) in switches. In this case routing is designed
before the beginning of system's work by the ATM
network administrator. Each topolo'& change needs
further manual creation of suitable virtual connections by
administrator.
When network operates in SVC mode, connections are
established automatically by ATM signalling protocol,
without network administrator's intervention. SVCs can be
established in cooperation with the static routing protocol
(defined routing tables) or using dynamic routing (source
routing), In case of source routing, the path for transferring
connection request is computed dynamically - depending
on the actual network's state and requirements included in
connection request,
Summing up, utilization of the PVC connections and static
routing in developed broadband communication system is
not acceptable. The declaration of ail connection paths

PNNI protocol has been developed by ATM Forum and

described in recommendation af-pnni-0055.000 - Private
Network-Network Interface Specification (PNNI v. 1 .O).
PNNI protocol consists of two main components. The fmt
one is the signalling protocol, whose fundamental task is
connection estabIishing and switching off in ATM
network. This protocol follows ATM Forum
recommendations of UNI (User-Network /nreq%ce) series
with the enhancements of additiona1 mechanisms (source
routing, crankback, choosing altemative paths). The
second component of the PNNI is the routing protocol
which is to find the way to the destination, distribute
information describing current network's topology state
among ATM switches and enabIe operation in wide area
networks due to application of different Ievels of hierarchy
and routing domains.
Routing and signalling processes in PNNI are often
analyzed separately however they are closely related and
operate simultaneously during the work of the system.
PNNI in fact uses source routing, which enables path
selection by the edge switch when the subscriber generates
its connection request. The edge node analyses the
connection request (subscriber address, traffic parameters,
QoS), and then performs selection of the path to the
destination based on the information describing the
topology state provided by suitable routing protocols. The
resdt, within the form of the selected path, is inserted in
the call request (SETUP signalling message) as one of the
information elements called DTL (Designated Transit
List). The DTL is actually the stack of ATM switches'
addresses, through which the SETUP message will be

587

transferred. Each switch in the path must c o n f m its

possibilities of meeting the requirements ffom the call
request and then pass the SETUP message to the next
node. When there is no possibility to fulfil the
requirements, an alternative path is computed or the call
request is sent back to the previous switch (crankback).
When the last switch on the path accepts the connection, it
sends the confirmation message, which allocates suitable
resources in each switch. This is how the signalling and
routing PNNI protocols interoperate so that the connection
can be established and the ATM cells can be transmitted.
PNNI routing protocol uses advanced mechanisms to
inform alt switches about the network state. Based on this
information it is possible to choose (in fact pre-choose) the
connection path to the destination. This path must provide
suitable values of parameters from the connection request
and can consist only of nodes that meet the requirements.
When analyzing the PNNI routing protocol in terms of the
possibilities of performing dynamic routing in tactical
networks, attention to several crucial issues must be paid:
- The necessity of creating logical nodes (peer group) sending important information about the topology only
within one group and limiting the amount of
information sent to other groups;
- Hierarchical character of the routing protocol - safety
aspects;
- Creating peer group leaders nodes, which act as
databases sending information about the topologies of
the other groups;
- Frequency of sending information between nodes.
Performed analyses indicate on necessity of logical
association of communication nodes of the tactical
networks into suitable peer groups. All detailed
information about the topology state is sent then within the
peer group. By creating suitable groups it is possible to
limit the amount of information that support routing to the
minimum. However inappropriate creation of peer groups
could possibly enlarge the amount of information about
network topology and later on - cause utilization of great
part of the bandwidth and limit the bandwidth for user
information.
~

To conclude, there is a strong necessity of promoting the

group leader in ATM networks using PNNI protocol. This
will enable communication between nodes of different
peer groups due to the possibility to store information
about other groups. The group leader selection is a
continuous process, so that there is no possibility that any
peer group could not communicate with the rest of the
system.
Unfortunately the theoretical analyses do not find answers
to questions related to the optimal configuration of the
PNNI protocoI parameters. To make it possible, it has been

necessary to perform advanced simulation researches on

the model of the system.

RULES OF DIVIDING ATM BACKBONE INTO

ROUTING DOMAINS
Verification of the accuracy of dynamic PNNI routing
operation in ATM core network requires developing the
initial rules of dividing the system into routing domains
and levels of hierarchy. Division proposed in this article
has been tested in exemplary system on the corps echelon,
consisting of three military divisions.
PNNI is able to operate both in flat and hierarchical
networks. Flat network consists of nodes that are on the
same Ievel of hierarchy. In this case each node in the wide
area ATM network collects information about the state of
other links and nodes. This situation is acceptable in small
networks. When the number of ATM nodes is big, using
only one level of hierarchy would cause a significant
enlargement of the amount of information exchanged
among nodes in the core network, which means - an
increase of the load of the network with non-user
information.
PerEormed analyses resulted in the following conclusions:
- There has been assumed the possibility of using only
one peer group - flat network. This option must be
considered when tactical communication system
consists of a small number of nodes (over a dozen). In
this configuration it is not necessary to divide the
system into groups of nodes since the number of
information that support routing should not
considerably load the network.
- When the communication system consists of several
tens of nodes (corps echelon) it is necessary to divide
the elements of the system into peer groups. This
derives from the fact that such a number of nodes
could overload the network built based on small
capacity wireless media with information supporting
routing.
- Division of the system into routing domains should
base on, so called, information associations. It is
important to take this into consideration since most of
the connections should be established within the peer
group, Each connection with the user of the different
peer group loads edge links and, so called, peer group
leaders (nodes that have databases about other group
ofnodes in the communication system).
- Division of the system into peer groups should take
into consideration geographical location. Nodes that
belong to the peer group should be concentrated in one
area. Big distances between communication nodes of
one peer group could significantly load the network
resources with information supporting routing.

588

The analysis of the above information resutted in

conclusion that in the communication system on the corps
echelon the most efficient is choosing peer groups
corresponding to
military
divisions.
Proposed
fragmentation of the system into peer groups and levels of
hierarchy is shown in Fig. 2. There has been proposed to
place all physical nodes of the corps in the lowest level of
hierarchy. Logical nodes that represent peer groups should
be declared on higher level. The value of proposed levels
derives ftom the addressing rules in ATM network.

During the performed tests the only traffic generated in the

communication network should be routing traffic related to
exchange of information about the network topology and
databases synchronization. Therefore, only ATM
switches, without workstations, have been modeled.
As the simulation object there has been chosen an
exemplary topology of the system on the corps echelon,
consisting of three divisions, see Fig. 3. It has been
assumed that it consists of 80 communication nodes (24
trunk nodes and 56 access nodes). Simulation results for
such a network will be representative aIso for any other,
differcnt configurations of the communication systems.

Figure 2. Proposed fragmentation of the system into

groups and levels of hierarchy.
The above rules have been the basis for developing
assumptions on simulation models of the A T M core
network.

CONCEPTION OF VALIDATION
As the simulation tool for validation of the routing
protocol in ATM network there has been chosen OPNET
Modeler (version 9.1). It enables testing different
telecommunication areas, including routing protocols and
modelling network in great detail. OPNET is suitable to
simulate packet switched, circuit switched and radio
networks.

PNNI module in OPNET Modeler has been built based on

A T M Forum PNNI specification in version 1.0. It enables
to parameterize the PNNI protocol in a similar way to the
real parameterization in ATM switches. Special reports
enable capturing many output parameters. It is possible to
work in Fast-Mode PNNI, which makes the simulation
faster, but disables capturing the characteristic of the
routing traffic load and in the Explicit PNNI, which offers
a complete process of sending information about the
network topology (HELLO, flooding, databases
synchronization). The Explicir mode has been chosen as
accurate for reaching the simulation objective.

The basis of the conception was the assumption that the

simulation results for the network with proposed division
into peer groups and levels of hierarchy will be compared
with results for the flat network in the same topoIogy.

Figure 3. The simulation object - communication network

divided into peer groups.

In Fig. 3 there have been applied the following symbols:

- Yellow nodes - No. 1 peer group;
- Red nodes -No. 2 peer group;
- Green nodes - No. 3 peer group;
- Blue nodes - No. 4 peer group.
According to the basic assumption of the conception of
simulation, there has been proposed also the reference
topology of the flat network with the same architecture as
shown in Fig. 3. All the nodes in this topology belong to
one peer group, on the same level of hierarchy. Both
topologies have been modelled in OPNET Modeler and
were the basis for testing two main simulation scenarios,
The model of the communication network has been built
using models of nodes and llaks available in the OPNET
model library. As communication nodes there have been
chosen: atmld-crossconn-adv as trunk nodes and
atm4-crussconn-adv as access nodes. They have had
suitable set of parameters and ports for the simulation. As
the link model there has been chosen ATM-adv, since it
enables assigning every transmission throughput.
During the declaration of parameters of communication
nodes default values proposed by the OPNET Modeler
have been used to large extend, since they correspond to
the default parameters offered by the ATM switches
available in the market. In order to model fragmentation
into the peer groups it was necessary to define in switch

589

Based on presented conception of validation, in the

OPNET Modeler have been developed two main
simulation models: the first one for testing the network
divided into routing domains, and the second one for
testing the flat network. In further parts of the article there
have been shown main results related to the load of the
network and its elements with the routing information.

models Level Information parameter that required defining

the values of Level ID, Group ID and Peer Group Leader
Priority. Node models in the scenario related to the
network divided into peer groups have been parameterized
as follows:
- Physical nodes:
- Level ID - 103;
- Croup ID - (1,2,3 and 4 respectively);
- Peer Group Leader Priority - 20;
- LogicaI nodes:
- Level ID - 72;
- Group ID - 5 ;
- Peer Group h a d e r Priority - 0 .
In this scenario testing two experiments has been assumed:
a) All nodes have the same priority of selecting the peer
group leader PGLP = 20 (according to the values
presented above). In this case the node with the highest
ATM address will be chosen as the peer group leader.
b) For four nodes in peer groups there have' been defined
explicitly peer group leaders by setting the PGLP = 200
for WAS-7 (group 1), WAS-46 (group Z), WAS-62
(group 3) and WAS-8 (group 4) edge nodes.

RESULTS
simulation researches provided great amount of output
characteristics related to corresponding experiments. This
article presents only selected resuIts in comparison with
each other. The main simulation experiments (shown in
the conception of validation) have been taken into account:
- I - flat network - without division into groups and
levels of hierarchy 0 ;
- I1 - network divided into groups - without defining
peer group leaders 0;
- I11 - network divided into groups -with defining peer
group leaders in edge nodes 0.
In further parts of the article colours assigned to each
experiment are used to differentiate output characteristics.

Models of nodes in scenario related to the flat network

have been parameterized in the folIowing way:
- Physical nodes:
- Level ID - 103;
- Group I D - 1;
- Peer Group Leader Priority - 0;
- Logical nodes:
- none.
The most important parameter defined in communication
links was the Datu Rate, set as 8192 kbps.
The character of the processes that take place in networks
using dynamic routing (periodic sending information about
the network) indicated on necessity to carry out
simulation, which represent a few hours of system work.
The duration of the simulation for both scenarios has been
assumed to 5 hours. AI1 parameters that simplify the
simulation and limit the possibility to capture suitable
characteristics were disabled. The routing traffic was
generated during the whole time of the simulation.

Figure 4. Comparison of the network load with routing

traffic.
In Fig. 4 there has been presented network load with the
routing traffic for particular experiments as the function of
the simulation time. Although flat network is characterized

Three types of characteristics were captured during the

simulation:
- Global Statistics - Traffic Received (bps), Traffic
Sent (bps);
- Node Statistics - Traffic Received (bps), Traffic Sent
(bps), Number of PTSE Additions, Number of PTSE
Deletions, DS Size, Time Between Updates (s), Total
Number of Updates;
- Link Statistics - throughput (bps), utilization (%).
The analysis of the above statistics should enable
achieving the simulation objective.

by lower minimum load, maximum values of the network

load are more than two times higher than these captured
for the network divided into peer groups. Defmition of the
edge nodes as peer group leaders enables decreasing both
minimum and maximum values of the network load in
relation to that collected while testing network with
random leader selection. In this case quite significant is the
location of the peer group leaders, see Fig. 5. In
experiment I1 peer group leaders are nodes located inside
groups, which resulted in necessity to exchange
information about groups through a great number of nodes
and communication links. In case of defining leaders in

590

edge nodes (experiment 111) the exchange of information

loads much smaller number of network elements.

inappropriate definition of the peer group leaders can make

an average load of nodes in the network divided into peer
groups exceed the load of the flat network. The lowest
load of the node (both maximum and minimum values) has
been obtained for the experiment 111,

Experiment I1

Figure 7. WAS-8 nodes load - port connected to adjacent

peer group.

..

I
I

.
*

Fig. 7 presents comparison of the load of WAS-8 port

connected to adjacent peer group. In case of the flat
network examined port has been loaded similarly to ports
that belong to the other nodes. However in case of the
network divided into peer groups it is loaded only with the
traffic related to the cooperation between peer group
leaders. Maximum value of this traffic is several times
lower than in case of the flat network.
Experiment 111
3gure 5, Location of peer group leaders in experiments I
and 111.

Load of the links outgoing from each port is proportional

to the load of corresponding ports. In the flat nehvork all
links in the simulated model have been loaded similarly.
However in case of hierarchical network divided into peer
groups, where leaders were selected from the edge nodes
(experiment HI), maximum and average load of the links
was generally lower than for the flat network
(experiment I). Links connecting adjacent peer groups
were loaded only with the traffic related to cooperation
between peer group leaders. Maximum value of this traffic
was several times lower than for corresponding relations in
the flat network.

pFigure 6 . WAS-8 nodes load - peer group internal port.

Comparison of the network load with routing traffic has
been performed while considering WAS-% node, peer
group leader in Experiment 111. In Fig. 6 there has been
presented comparison of the load of one of the WAS-8
ports (the one connected to the node that belong to the
same peer group) in three examined experiments,
Presented in the Fig. 6 characteristics show that maximum
nodes load in the flat network is more than two times
greater than the load in hierarchical networks. However

In Fig. 8 there has been presented the size of WAS-8

database that stores information about the network
topology. Carried out analysis showed the flat network
databases in every node have the same size. The size of the
databases in networks divided into peer groups is several
times smaller than in the flat network and dependent on the
size of the peer group.
Performed simulation experiments enabled evaluating the
dynamic routing operation in different network
configurations. Analysis of achieved results had taken into
consideration output characteristics captured for all the
nodes and links in the simulation object. In order to

591

exchange of information between leaders does not occur.

From the other hand, maximum value of carried routing
traffic reaches quite a high level, what is caused by
sending PTSE packets to all nodes in the topology. Load
of every node and link in the flat network is similar as
result of sending and receiving the same amount of
information about all the nodes that belong to the network
(PTSE packets). Databases in this case store almost the
same content in every node of the topology.

illustrate results of particular experiments there have been

presented comparative graphs for selected network
elements.

In the network divided into peer groups, maximum load

with routing traffic decreases significantly in relation to
the flat network load. The degree of utilization of nodes
and links is not equal and depends on the location in
network topology. The biggest load of the elements in
hierarchical network occurred in the peer group in the
shape of the ring (No. 4 peer group) since it is necessary to
transfer routing information inside every group, also
between distant nodes (routing packets must then be
transmitted through a big number of communication nodes
and links). The size of nodes databases in hierarchical
network is proportional to the number of elements that
belong to the peer group, Links that connect adjacent peer
groups are loaded only with the traffic related to
cooperation of the peer group leaders of different groups.

Figure 8. The size of the WAS-8 database.

CONCLUSIONS
The performed analyses result in the statement that in
tactical communication systems, which are characterised
by specific requirements, and are based on ATM
technoiogy in the backbone network, static routing is very
difficult to be applied. That is why in this case it is
necessary to use dynamic path selecting mechanisms and
switching mode.

Maximum degree of utilization of links in all the carried

out experiments was below 0.1 %. It must be noted
however that the topology subject to simulation did not
contain models of system users, so that values of the load
with the routing traffic must be perceived as illustrating
only relations between flat network and network divided

The experiments resulted in defining the amount of routing

information transferred through the network in proposed
topology without fragmentation into peer groups as well as
with declared fragmentation into groups and levels of
hierarchy. Collected results proved that appropriate
definition of the systems division into routing domains
and accurate promotion of the peer group leaders enable
limiting the amount of non-user information transferred
through the network.

into groups.

In the future it is foreseen to carry out further researches

related to the influence of the modification of PNNI
protocol parameters on the network load as well as
definition of the influence of faiIures or mobility on the
dynamic routing operation.

In case of dividing the topology into four peer groups and

declaration of the edge nodes as peer group leaders, the
maximum routing trafTic cartied through the
communication network was reduced almost three times in
relation to values obtained for the flat network. There has
been also decreased the maximum load of particular
communication nodes and links. While declaring priority
of selecting peer group leader in communication nodes it is
necessary to follow the rule of setting the highest values of
the PGLP parameter in the edge nodes.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
[ 11 ATM Forum - af-sig-006 1.OOO - ATM User-Network
Interface (UNI) Signalling Specification (UN1 v.4.0).

[Z]ATM Forum - af-pnni-0055.000 - Private NetworkNetwork Interface Specification (PNNI v. 1.0).

[3] MCI team. The conception of the broadband
communication system for Polish Land Forces.

The highest level of the PNNI routing traffic has been

generated at the beginning of network operation and
during periodic sending (every 30 minutes) of PTSE
packets. During analyses of the network load, the highest
level of generated traffic is crucial.

141 MCI team. The analysis of the PNNI protocol in

relation to the possibility of its application in broadband
communication system for Polish Land Forces.

Flat network is characterized by low minimum network

load with routing traffic since in this case processes related
to selecting peer group leaders do not take place and

[ 5 ] TACONE. Documentation developed in terms of

TACOMS Post 2000 project.

592