Name Id

ARBAMINCH UNIVERSITY
ARBA MINCH INSTIUTE OF TECHENOLOGY
FACULTY OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGNERING

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION STREAM
FINAL YEAR PROJECT
ON
PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF LOCAL AREA NETWORK
IN
PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
BACHELER OF SCIENCE IN ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER
ENGINEERING
PREPARED
BY
NAME ID
1. WORKINEH TILAHUN RAMIT/1482/07
2. GETNET GULILAT RAMIT/670/07
3. BANTIE HIBISTU RAMIT/269/07
4. HABTAM ALEBACHEW RAMIT/700/07
5. SELAM BANTAYEHU RAMIT/1261/07
Advisor: Mr. Fraol Bekana

June/20/2019
ARBA MINCH ETHIOPIA

Project on Performance Analysis of LAN 2019
DECLARATION
We hereby declare that the thesis titled “PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF LOCAL AREA
NETWORK" is submitted to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of AMIT in
partial fulfillment of the Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering. This is our
original work and was not submitted elsewhere for the award of any other degree or any other
publication.
We hereby confirm that all the source materials used while writing this report are referenced and
acknowledged properly by our signatures:
Name Signature Date
1. Workineh Tilahun __________ 20//June//2019G.c
2. Getnet Gulilat __________ 20//June//2019G.c
3. Habtam Alebachew __________ 20//June//2019G.c
4. Bantie Hibistu __________ 20//June//2019G.c
5. Selam Bantayehu __________ 20//June//2019G.c
Advisor’s approval
As advisor, I here by certify that I have read, evaluated and checked that this report is compiled
according to the format given by the faculty and project work has been submitted for
examination with my approval as a university advisor:
Name Signature Date
1. Mr. Fraol B. __________ _______________
AMiT, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering [communication stream] Page i

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First of all, we would like to thank the almighty God for giving us the knowledge and ability to
study and finish this thesis. After having so many troubles, finally this report was successfully
done. From all the most list of people, we would like to thanks to our Advisors Mr. Fraol B for
his guidance, supporting, encouragement and his creative thinking in given idea. The idea comes
from him became our inspiration to success. Even if he is busy on his own work, he still spends
his time with us. Also we will not forget our entire friends that give us hands to complete this
project and report.
Finally, we acknowledge our sincere indebtedness and gratitude to our parents for their love,
dream and sacrifice throughout our life all that support from all our beloved people.
AMiT, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering [communication stream] Page ii

ABSTRACT
The main purpose of the LAN network is efficient resource sharing and access to information
among its users. A key issue with designing and implementing such Local Area Networks (LAN)
is its performance under ever increasing network traffic, and how this is affected by various
network metrics such as latency and end-to-end delay.
Implementation of network systems is a complex and expensive task; hence network simulation
has become essential and has proven to be cost effective and highly useful for modeling the
desired characteristics and analyzing performance under different scenarios. As well as providing
useful prognosis of future network performance based on current expansion dynamics. We
present in this paper the simulation and analysis of the Covenant LAN network in the OPNET
Modeler environment. The performance parameters like delay and throughput have been
investigated with varying transmission links.
From the obtained results, it is gathered that performance of the wired networks is good if high
speed Ethernet links like 1000 BaseX is used whereas the performance of Wireless LAN can be
improved by fine tuning and properly choosing the WLAN parameters. Computing the viability
and performance of computer networks in real can be very expensive task. The collision count,
traffic received, delay, throughput is studied.
AMiT, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering [communication stream] Page iii
Table of Contents
DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................. i
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................................. ii
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... iii
LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii
LIST OF ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................. 1
1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Background of the Project ............................................................................................ 1
1.2. Statement of problem .................................................................................................... 2
1.3. Objectives of the Project ............................................................................................... 3
1.3.1. General objective ........................................................................................................ 3
1.3.2. Specific objectives ...................................................................................................... 3
1.4. Scope of the Project ...................................................................................................... 3
1.5. Significance of the Project ............................................................................................ 3
1.6. Methodology ................................................................................................................. 4
CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................................ 5
2. LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................ 5
2.1. Networks ....................................................................................................................... 5
2.2. Local area networks ...................................................................................................... 5
2.2.1. The Internet and the world wide web ......................................................................... 5
2.3. Network Topology ........................................................................................................ 6
2.3.1. Bus Topology: ............................................................................................................ 6
2.3.2. Ring Topology: ........................................................................................................... 6
AMiT, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering [communication stream] Page iv

2.3.3. Star Topology: ............................................................................................................ 7
2.3.4. Mesh Topology:.......................................................................................................... 8
2.3.5. Hybrid Topology: ....................................................................................................... 8
2.4. Network Protocols ........................................................................................................ 9
2.5. Ethernet ......................................................................................................................... 9
2.6. Wireless Network........................................................................................................ 10
2.7. Wired Network............................................................................................................ 12
2.8. Related work ............................................................................................................... 15
2.8.1. Delay, Low throughput and Congestion: .................................................................. 16
CHAPTER THREE ...................................................................................................................... 18
3. SYSTEM DESIGN AND ANALYSIS ......................................................................... 18
3.1. Analysis of the existing network................................................................................. 18
3.2. OPNET (Optimized Network Tool)............................................................................ 18
3.3. Advantages of OPNET Simulating Tool .................................................................... 19
3.4. OPNET Simulation of Local Area Network Performance Analysis .......................... 19
3.5. Performance parameters.............................................................................................. 20
3.6. Network Modeling and Simulation............................................................................. 20
3.7. OPNET Analysis of Wired Network .......................................................................... 21
3.8. OPNET Analysis Wireless Network ........................................................................... 23
CHAPTER FOUR ......................................................................................................................... 26
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................... 26
4.1. Simulation Results for Wired LAN ............................................................................ 26
4.2. Simulation Result for Wireless LAN .......................................................................... 29
4.3. Discussion ................................................................................................................... 32
AMiT, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering [communication stream] Page v

CHAPTER FIVE .......................................................................................................................... 33
5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ............................................................ 33
5.1. Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 33
5.2. Recommendation ........................................................................................................ 34
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 35
AMiT, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering [communication stream] Page vi

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: overall project methodology............................................................................................ 4
Figure 2: bus topology .................................................................................................................... 6
Figure 3: A ring topology connecting six stations .......................................................................... 7
Figure 4: A star topology connecting four stations ......................................................................... 7
Figure 5: A fully connected mesh topology (five devices) ............................................................. 8
Figure 6: A hybrid topology: a star backbone with three bus networks Hub ................................. 9
Figure 7: system modeling flow chart .......................................................................................... 21
Figure 8: Wired local area network model ................................................................................... 22
Figure 9: wireless LAN simulation model .................................................................................... 24
Figure 10: network department LAN model ................................................................................. 24
Figure 11: server department LAN model .................................................................................... 25
Figure 12: wired LAN Ethernet delay (second) ............................................................................ 27
Figure 13: wired LAN traffic sent (packets/second)..................................................................... 27
Figure 14: wired LAN traffic received (packets/second) ............................................................. 27
Figure 15: wired LAN Ethernet collision count ........................................................................... 28
Figure 16: overall output of wired LAN network ......................................................................... 28
Figure 17: average Ethernet delay of WLAN ............................................................................... 29
Figure 18: wireless LAN throughput (bits/second) ...................................................................... 30
Figure 19: wireless LAN traffic sent (bytes/second) .................................................................... 30
Figure 20: wireless LAN traffic received (bytes/second) ............................................................. 30
Figure 21: bit error rate of wireless LAN ..................................................................................... 31
Figure 22: overall output of wireless LAN ................................................................................... 31
AMiT, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering [communication stream] Page vii
LIST OF ACRONYMS
AP Access Point
ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode
BER Bit-Error-Rate
CBR Constant Bit Rate
CSMA/CD Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection
CWmin Minimum Contention Window
DCF Distributed Coordination Function
DLC Data Link Control
FIFO First-in-First out
FTP File Transfer Protocol
FTS Fragmentation Threshold
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol
IEEE International Electrical and Electronics Engineering Association
IP Internet Protocol
LAN Local Area Network
LLC Logical Link Control
MAC Medium Access Control
MPLS Multiprotocol Label Switching
OPNET Optimized Network Tool
OSI Open System Interconnection
PCF Point Coordination Function
PQ Priority Queuing
RIFD Radio Frequency Identification
AMiT, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering [communication stream] Page viii
RTS Request to Send
RTT Round Trip Time
SIFS Short Inter-Frame Spacing
SNR Signal-To-Noise Ratio
WAPS Wide Area Protection System
Wi-Fi Wireless Fidelity
WLAN Wireless Local Area Network
AMiT, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering [communication stream] Page ix

CHAPTER ONE
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1.Background of the Project
Communication is a necessary in all settings for social or professional. For tasks to be

accomplished, people need to work together to solve problems and create resources for the
institution. For easy sharing and access of information among users, the computers involved
must be interconnected. This interconnection of computers to form a network with the objective
of information communication and optimization of resource sharing is referred to as Local Area
Network (LAN). Active and passive networking devices such as switches and hubs are deployed
as concentrators to which other networking devices are connected to form LAN. For simulation
purposes at the design stage and prior to actual network deployment, simulation software is used
to imitate real life scenarios on the LAN. An example of such software is the OPNET modeler
17.5 simulation software.
Local area network is a data communication network, typically a packet communication

network, limited in geographic scope.’ A local area network generally provides high-bandwidth
communication over inexpensive transmission media.
Since, in the last two decades the technology and the market of computing was moving from big
centralized resources main frame computer with terminals into smaller more distributed
resources personal computers. As a result of this movement resources are becoming isolated and
not efficiently utilized. On the other hand, communication is becoming more and more essential
for all business, scientific, and other tasks. The need for resource sharing and communication
capabilities was behind the evolution of computer networks. One important and commonly used
type of computer networks is the Local Area Network (LAN). LANs are characterized by limited
range, private usage, and high speeds. The local area network is categorized to either been a
wired or wireless network depending on the interconnection.
These interconnected set of computer system permits interactive resource sharing between
connected pair of systems. Rapid advances have taken place in the field of Wired and Wireless
Networks. Several network models have been modeled by various researchers, using network
simulators, to find out the most feasible ones. Investigations of these network models have been
AMiT, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering [communication stream] Page 1

performed using the simulation techniques that reduce the cost of prediction, estimation and
implementation of the network models. Among the various network simulators available like
NetSim, NS-2, GloMoSim etc., OPNET provides the industry’s leading environment for network
modeling and simulation. It allows to design and study communication networks, devices,
protocols, and applications with flexibility and scalability. It provides object oriented modeling
approach and graphical editors that mirror the structure of actual networks and network
components. It provides support for modeling both the wired and wireless LANs.
Though the wired networks have provided the high speed connectivity but due to the drawbacks
like extensive cabling and immobility the WLAN gained momentum. The computer networks
today are not only wired but wireless too, depending on the type of circumstances like need of
mobility, rough terrains, or secure networks.
Open system interconnection (OSI) reference model divides the Data Link Control (DLC) layer
into Logical Link Control (LLC) and Medium Access Control (MAC) sub layers. The LLC layer
is independently specified for all 802 LANs, wireless or wired. Like IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet),
IEEE 802.5 (Token Ring), IEEE 802.11 (WLANs) standard also focuses on the above mentioned
two layers. Our study has focused on performance analysis of IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet) based
Wired LANs and IEEE 802.11b based Wireless LANs using soft computing techniques like
network simulators.
1.2.Statement of problem
Technological advancement affects the world in general and the network settings in particular.
Constant and revolutionary changes associated with technological and scientific innovations
resulted in an increasingly complex global order. Society is driven by knowledge, and access to
information is becoming a major competitive weapon. The choice of network is a major
challenge when there is need to set up a local area network. People have ready access to more
information than at any time in the past. Network users are faced by the challenge to acquire the
abilities required to participate in a technology and knowledge driven global order. Due to
difference between the performance of local area network (wired and wireless) there is need for
network analysis; so that user will be able to make the right choice when setting up a local area
network. The major challenges include:

i. The choice of number of users

ii. Retransmission attempt
iii. Collision attempt
iv. Throughput, etc.
To overcome this, there is need for the analysis of a local area network in order to make the right
choice.
1.3. Objectives of the Project
1.3.1. General objective
The main objective of the project work is analyzing network performance within a local area
network and comparing the scenario by varying different attributes to improve the performances
of wired and wireless local area network.
1.3.2. Specific objectives
The specific objectives of the project work are stated below:
a. To highlight related literature on local area network

b. examine the issues associate with wired and wireless network
c. To determine the performance of a local area network in term of speed, throughput,
retransmission attempt, etc.
1.4. Scope of the Project
This project work is to analyze the performance of a local area network using OPNET
(Optimized Engineering Tools) which provides the industry’s leading environment for network
modeling and simulation. It allows to design and study communication networks, devices,
protocols, and applications with flexibility and scalability. It provides object oriented modeling
approach and graphical editors that mirror the structure of actual networks and network
components.
1.5. Significance of the Project
Networks have grown significantly over the past few decades providing a pace to the means of
accessing network resources. For example, the use of Internet is gaining importance with the
adoption of network technologies for purposes like education, business, banking and defense.

Hence this project work will be relevant in several ways as it will provide room for choice on
network and how to analyze their performances.
1.6. Methodology
Methodology is the way of something is done and it shows like a flowchart. This methodology is
done to fulfill the scope of project and finally to achieve the objectives.
This research will be done using the following methodology:
i. Study of related literature on performance analysis within a local area network.
ii. The OPNET simulation techniques will be employing to analyze the performance of both
the wired and wireless local area network.
iii. Simulation and details of results and discussion are encapsulated in the preceding
chapter.
Implementation and works of a project are summarized in a flowchart as shown in Figure

1 below.
Result & Compare the

Start
Conclusion Result
Literature
Review Run Simulation
Study about Duplicate

OPNET Scenario
Software
Simulation
Modeling Modeling Router
Design
Switch Topology
Topology
Figure 1: overall project methodology

CHAPTER TWO
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Networks
Developments towards the establishment of computer networks complemented the stand-alone

computer (Chellis, Perkins & Strebe, 2000). Traditional stand-alone computers formed the basis
for the establishment of computer networks. A computer network comprises any number of
computers that are linked together. A network can be confined to a single building, utilizing data
cables as linking devices. Where greater distances are involved, the computers that constitute a
network are linked by means of satellite links, telephone lines or fiber optic cables (Meyer &
Cilliers, 2002). When computers are linked together, information can be moved between them
swiftly and efficiently. The information moves directly between computers rather than through a
human intermediary. A network also allows for information to be backed up at a central
electronic location. It is difficult to maintain regular back-ups on a number of stand-alone
computers and important information can be lost by mistake (Chellis et al. 2000).
2.2. Local area networks
A local area network (LAN) is a number of computers connected to each other by a cable in a
single location such as a single healthcare organization or group of organizations forming one
institution (Chellis et al. 2000). This allows for data transfer and communication within an
organization or institution.
2.2.1. The Internet and the world wide web
In the late 1960’s the United States Defense Department created a network that linked military
computers together. This eventually gave rise to the establishment of the Internet (Maran, 1997).
The Internet consists of a series of relationships forming a system of communications that can
rest on a number of underlying technologies (Libicki, 1995). It is a super network that joins
together millions of computers, which are scattered, around the world. The backbone of the
Internet is a set of high-speed data lines that connect major networks all over the world. This
enables many millions of computer users to globally share and exchange information, as a
computer user is linked with computer users on the other side of the world.

2.3. Network Topology
The topology of a network is defined as the manner in which nodes are arranged and connected
[5]. In line with this definition, there are two major types of topological groups, which are the
physical and logical topology. The Physical topology of a network refers to the configuration of
cables, computers, and other peripherals. While the Logical topology refers to the method used
to pass information between workstations. There are three constrained and one unconstrained
network topologies deployed in local area networks. The three constrained topologies are known
as the bus, ring, and star configurations, while the unconstrained is called the mesh configuration
[2].
2.3.1. Bus Topology:
In bus topology, all the network nodes are connected to a common transmission medium. The
bus topology was fairly popular in the early years of networking. It is both easy and cheap to
setup. All devices on the Bus Topology are connected using a single cable. In this topology, only
one pair of users on the network can exchange a packet of information at the same time. The
breakdown of a link affects the whole network.
Figure 2: bus topology
2.3.2. Ring Topology:
In a ring topology, point-to-point links connect nodes, which are arranged to form a single closed
path. Information travels around the ring from node to node. Installation is easy in Ring topology
and Link failure can be easily identified. The Ring Topology is providing a collision-free and
redundant networking environment. In this topology, if one link fails, the whole network goes
down. However, adding a new device to an existing physical Ring network can be complicated,
as any new device needs to go in between the existing devices. Ring topology provides a

collision-free and redundant networking environment. It is not as common as other topologies

due to its high expense.
Figure 3: A ring topology connecting six stations
2.3.3. Star Topology:
One of the most popular topologies for Ethernet LANs is the star topology. Star Topology works
by connecting each node to a central device. This central connection allows us to have a fully
functioning network even when other devices fail. A Star topology gives great fault tolerance, as
any device/cable failure will not affect the rest of the network (unless the central device or server
fails). Physically adding new devices to a Star network is very simple compared to any of the
other topologies by simply running a cable from the new device to the hub/switch. Data on a star
network passes through the hub, switch, or concentrator before continuing to its destination. The
hub, switch, or concentrator manages and controls all functions of the network. This
configuration is common with twisted pair cable. However, it can also be used with coaxial cable
or optical fiber cable. Star topology cabling can be very expensive, hence the need for software
simulation before deployment.
Figure 4: A star topology connecting four stations

2.3.4. Mesh Topology:
In this topology, the nodes do not have a unique point of connection, each device or PC is
connected to every other device or PC in the network by its own cable, which means vast
amounts of cables for any standard network. This type of network topology boasts the highest
fault tolerance of all of the network topologies; it is also usually the most expensive. The Mesh
topology provides fault tolerance by having separate cables for each connection, thereby
allowing any one cable to break without interfering with the rest of the network. Adding new
clients or computer could be complicated, because every time you add a client to a mesh network
you have to run cables to each of the other devices [6]. In mesh topology, traffic is shared
between two nodes only. Error identification and isolation is easy with this topology.
In the course of this work, star topology was employed. This topology has a central switch or
node (which transmits and receives messages to and from the clients) to which other nodes are
connected. The topologies currently deployed on the Covenant University LAN are star and ring
topologies.
Figure 5: A fully connected mesh topology (five devices)
2.3.5. Hybrid Topology:
A network can be hybrid. For example, we can have a main star topology with each branch
connecting several stations in a bus topology as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: A hybrid topology: a star backbone with three bus networks Hub
2.4. Network Protocols
There exist a predefined set of rules engaged on networks, which allow for easy communication
between the different devices on the network. These set of rules are known as network protocols.
One such protocols is the
Internet Protocol (IP) – used to enable computers communicate with each other, regardless of
which operating system they are running. This protocol allows for easy information exchange
among network nodes. Higher-level network protocols like Internet Protocol (IP) use Ethernet as
their transmission medium, while data is transmitted over the Ethernet in protocol units known as
frames [2]. The advanced protocol, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP): enables information on
the Internet to be accessed from anywhere, by anyone. It is responsible for the easy migration
between webpages using the GUI.
2.5.Ethernet
Ethernet – the most widely LAN technology is usually specified in a standard, IEEE 802.3. It
was originally developed by Xerox from an earlier specification called Aloha net (for the Palo
Alto Research Center Aloha network) and then developed further by Xerox, DEC, and Intel.
Ethernet LAN typically uses coaxial cable or special grades of twisted pair wires [3]. It is also
used in wireless LANs. 10BASE-T with transmission speed of up to 10 Mbps is the most
commonly installed Ethernet system. Devices connected to this cable contend for access using a
Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) protocol [4]. Fast Ethernet
or 100BASE-T provides transmission speeds of up to 100 Mbps and is typically used for LAN
backbone systems, supporting workstations with 10BASE-T cards. Gigabit Ethernet provides an
even higher level of backbone support at 1000 Mbps.

2.6. Wireless Network
A wireless communication is flexible data communication system implemented as an extension

to or as an alternative for a wired communication. It has overshadowed the wired technology
over a span of time and is a rapidly growing segment of the communications industry, with a
potential to provide high-speed, high quality information exchange between the portable devices
located anywhere in the world, (Hasham, 2008).
Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) have been developed to provide users in a limited
geographical area with high bandwidth and similar services supported by the wired Local Area
Network (LAN). Unlike wired networks, WLANs, uses IEEE 802.11 standards, to transmit and
receive radio waves through the air medium between a wireless client and an Access Point (AP),
as well as among two or more wireless clients within a certain range of each other, (Song, 2008).
A WLAN basically consists of one or more wireless devices connected to each other in a peer-to-
peer manner or through APs, which in turn are connected to the backbone network providing
wireless connectivity to the covered area. Mohammed, (2006), the authors worked on improving
the performance of WLANs using Access points. They investigated and estimated the traffic load
on an access point, which can help determine the number of access point to be employed in a
network. The effect of enabling Point Coordination Function (PCF) on network stations and also
the number of PCF stations that can be deployed per access point was also investigated.
Correctly setting the number of PCF stations will help tune the performance of these nodes as
well as the overall network performance. Also the author introduced a wireless LAN design
framework for optimal placements of access points at suitable locations to satisfy the coverage
and capacity requirements of the users. Optimal planning of WLANs can result in improved
Quality of Services, efficient use of resources, minimizing interference and reduced deployment
cost. The performance of WLANs depends on the RF conditions in which they operate.
Randomized optimization algorithms were used, to solve the AP placement and channel
allocation problems like coverage, traffic, Redundancy, channel interference and wiring cost.
Then the output of this algorithm was validated using OPNET.
Another important issue is the Bandwidth of wireless networks. The bandwidth of wireless local
area networks is limited as compared to that of wired local area networks which provide a large
bandwidth. This limitation is due to the error prone physical medium (air), (Hua, 2008). The

methods like tuning the physical layer related parameters, tuning the IEEE 802.11 parameters
and using enhanced link layer (media access control) protocol were used to improve the
performance of WLANs. The throughput performance of WLANs is affected by the mobility of
the users. The wireless data connections have high bit error rates, low bandwidth and long
delays. The physical and MAC layer were fine tuned to improve the performance of WLAN.
IEEE 802.11 is a recent standard developed for wireless local area networks (WLANs). IEEE
802.11 is a multiple access protocol in which stations in the network must compete for access to
the shared communications medium to transmit data. IEEE 802.11 uses a carrier sensing
capability to determine if the communications medium is currently being used. If two or more
stations in the network transmit at the same time (i.e., a collision occurs), stations retransmit their
data after random periods of time as in Ethernet. Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) Technology, referred
as the 802.11 communications standard for WLAN is the popular wireless networking
technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed Internet and network
connections. The 802.11 data link layer is divided in two sub layers: Logical Link Control (LLC)
and Media Access Control (MAC). LLC is the same as in 802 LAN allowing for very simple
bridging from wireless to wire networks. MAC is different to WLANs. The first method in MAC
is CSMA with collision avoidance protocol. This protocol is to ask each station to listen before
action. If the channel is busy, the station has to wait until channel is free. Another method in
MAC is called RTS/CTS to solve Hidden-Node problem.
The IEEE 802.11 standard operates far from theoretical throughput limit depending on the
network configuration. An analytical model was proposed to achieve maximum protocol
capacity (theoretical throughput limit), by tuning the window size of the IEEE 802.11 back-off
algorithms. The main reason why the capacity of the standard protocol is often far from
theoretical limit is that during the overload conditions, a station experiences a large number of
collisions before its window has a size which gives a low collision probability, (Cali, 2000). It
was cited that proper tuning of the back-off algorithm can derive the IEEE 802.11 protocol close
to the theoretical throughput limit.
The identification time is another critical indicator for the performance enhancement of RIFD in
wireless systems, (Hafiz, 2007). The authors proposed a Rician fading channel model to
highlight the fading effect in Radio Frequency Identification (RIFD) System, using the statistics

of Bit Error Rate (BER) and Signal-to-noise Ratio (SNR). This model was employed in addition
to the existing RIFD system and was used to calculate the identification time to reflect the
influence of channel situation on tag identification. The simulation showed that the Fading
channel effect increased the Identification time as BER varies. It was also analyzed that the
wireless channel has strong effect on the identification time.
The throughput performance of WLANs is affected by the mobility of the users. The wireless
data connections have high bit error rates, low bandwidth and long delays. The physical and
MAC layer were fine tuned to improve the performance of WLAN. The performance metrics
like slot time, short Inter-frame spacing (SIFS), minimum contention window (CWmin),
Fragmentation Threshold (FTS) and Request to send (RTS) thresholds were focused upon to
reduce collisions and media access delay. Hence an increase in throughput and channel
utilization occurs, which can improve the performance of Wireless networks under heavy load
conditions (high BER values). The effectiveness of optional RTS/CTS handshake mechanism on
the performance of IEEE 802.11 based wireless local area networks (WLANs) using OPNET
was also evaluated in. The impact of parameters like throughput, packet loss rate, round trip time
(RTT) for packets, retransmission rate and collision count on the performance metrics like
retransmissions, throughput, media access delay was presented, (Balaji, 2009). It was cited that
handshake mechanism is useful where hidden node problem exists, but the unnecessary use of
RTS/CTS mechanism increases the overhead of RTS/CTS packets. The parameters like
RTS/CTS threshold, fragmentation threshold and data rate impact the performance of wireless
LAN. Also the authors proposed the wireless network performance optimization using OPNET
Modeler. The model was simulated and the results indicated that fine tuning of these parameters
can help to improve the performance of WLANs.
2.7. Wired Network
A wired network on the other hand is the transmission of signal via the use of cable, (Bansal,
2010). The following analysis the issues with wired network; In order to deal with burst data
transmission, the 100Mbps Ethernet is preferable to ensure communication performance. The
features of conventional protection system, including current differential protection and distance
protection were analyzed by the author. The disadvantages of complex power systems were
pointed out. The comparative investigation of three wide area protection System (WAPS)

architectures, i.e. centralized, distributed and networked using OPNET, revealed that networked
structure is considered to be best due to its fast response time in terms of lesser delay or transfer
time. The architecture and communication network of WAPS was investigated to utilize global
information instead of local information to achieve better performance, (Ikram, 2009).
The load on the network server increases with increase in the user activity. An increased number
of users increase the network load and degrades the performance. An effort was made to improve
the performance by load balancing. Various probabilistic methods to study network performance
had been proposed during the research. The significance of using discrete-event simulation, as a
methodology to confront network design and fine-tuning its parameters was also highlighted,
(Jia, 1999).
Another major problem exists in the form of network congestion. To overcome the problem of
congestion, Fiber Distributed Data Interface and Asynchronous Transfer Mode type high-
performance networks along with the bucket congestion control mechanism were modeled and
simulated, (Ali, 2009). The effect of variation in attributes like traffic load on the performance
metrics like end-to-end delay and throughput was analyzed.
The increase in traffic load affects the network performance in a network model with switched
Ethernet subnets and Gigabit Ethernet backbone under typical load conditions and also for time-
sensitive applications such as voice over IP was modeled and simulated. The simulations were
carried out to study the impact of increase in traffic load on the performance metrics like delay.
The type of routing technique used in the network is an important consideration to study the
network performance. Three technologies Internet protocol (IP), Asynchronous Transfer Mode
(ATM) and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) were compared in terms of their routing
capability. Different performance metrics like end-to-end Delay, throughput, Channel
Utilization, FTP download response time and normalized delivered traffic were analyzed using
OPNET simulator. The results indicated that ATM and MPLS outperform IP (without
modification) in terms of delay and response time to the exposed data. Another comparison of
the performance of Gigabit Ethernet and ATM network technologies using modeling and
simulation was done. Real-time voice and video conferencing type traffic were used to compare
the network technologies in terms of response times and packet end-to-end delays. While ATM
is a 53-byte frame connection-oriented technology, Gigabit Ethernet is a 512-byte frame
(minimum) connectionless technology. The performance analysis indicated that the performance

of ATM network is still very good. But it does not keep up with the Gigabit Ethernets small
delay time. Hence Gigabit Ethernet provides better performance than ATM as a backbone
network, even in networks that require the transmission of delay sensitive traffic such as video
and voice.
A new operational model called AMP model‖ and an improved ack-regulation scheme called
SAD to explain and improve the performance of TCP/IP over wireless networks was presented.
The use of link –sharing schedulers with just two queues (ack and packet queues, with SAD
implemented on ack queues) to support bidirectional traffic was also proposed, (Yang, 2009).
The authors analyzed TCP performance in asymmetric networks, where throughput significantly
depends on the reverse direction and packet loss.
The queuing disciplines are implemented for resource allocation mechanisms. The queuing
disciplines used are First-in-first out (FIFO) queuing, priority Queuing (PQ) and weighted Fair
Queuing (WFQ). A comparison of different queuing disciplines for different scenarios using
simulation was presented for performance evaluation. By varying the queuing disciplines, the
parameters like End-to-End Delay and Traffic received for live streaming video were presented.
The use of network connecting devices plays an important role in the network design. Various
network scenarios were designed by changing the network devices like Hub, Switch and Ethernet
cables using the network simulation software – OPNET. The performance of the network was
analyzed using various performance metrics like Delay and collision count, Traffic sink, Traffic
source and packet size. It was observed that the throughput improved and collisions decreased
when the packet size is reduced, (Chandra, 2009).
The choice of network simulator is very important for accurate simulation analysis. A
comparative study of two network simulators: OPNET Modeler and NS-2 for packet level
analysis was presented in both discrete events and analytical simulation methods were combined
to check the performance of simulator in terms of speed while maintaining the accuracy. For
performance testing of the network, different types of traffic like CBR (constant Bit Rate) and an
FTP (File transfer protocol) were generated and simulated. Though both the simulators provide
similar results, the freeware‖ version of NS-2 makes it more attractive to a researcher but OPNET
Modeler modules gain an edge by providing more features. So, OPNET can be of use in
academia i.e. advanced networking education. Various scenarios like VoIP, WLAN or video
Streaming were designed, simulated and also analyzed analytically to check accuracy. This

illustrated the broader insight the OPNET software can offer in the networking technologies,
simulation techniques and its impact of applications on the network performance.
2.8. Related work
An important issue related to the network performance is congestion which may occur in a
network when the number of packets sent to the network is greater than the number of packets
that the network can handle. The intermediate devices like routers and switches in a network
have buffers where the packets wait in a queue before and after processing. Depending on the
packet arrival rate and the packet departure rate which may be higher or lesser than the packet
processing rate, the size of input or the output queue may increase or decrease. This increase in
queue size may lead to congestion. A key issue in designing any good network is to use
congestion control mechanism. The congestion control involves two factors that measure the
performance of a network: delay and throughput. Efforts have been made to analyze the effect of
various parameters on the performance of both wired and wireless networks.
Wired local area networks includes several technologies like Ethernet, token ring, token bus,
Fiber distributed data interface and asynchronous transfer mode local area networks. The
Ethernet is a contention media access method. In its purest form, contention means that the
computers are contending for use of the transmission medium. Any computer in the network can
transmit at any time (first come, first serve).
IEEE 802.3 standard specifies CSMA/CD as the access method for first-generation 10-Mbps
Ethernet, a protocol that help devices share the bandwidth evenly without having the two devices
transmit at the same time on the network medium. When the two devices transmit at the same
time the collision can occur. This collision generates a jam signal that causes all nodes on the
segment to stop sending data, which informs all the devices that a collision has occurred. The
collision also invokes a random back off algorithm (which determines when the colliding
stations can retransmit). Each device on the Ethernet segment stops transmitting for a short time
until the timers expires. Thus the collisions are overcome. This CSMA/CD protocol was created
to overcome the problem of collisions that occur when the packets are transmitted
simultaneously from different nodes over the same medium. The CSMA/CD network sustaining
heavy collisions causes following effects:

2.8.1. Delay, Low throughput and Congestion:
The evolutions of Ethernet to bridged LAN lead to the division of larger LAN into smaller
networks and then connecting them by using multi-port Bridges. This provided an advantage of
separate collision domains. The evolution from bridged LAN to switched LAN lead to
technology of connecting multiple workstations using a device called switch. This causes the
bandwidth to be shared between switch and workstation (5 Mbps each) leading to a faster
switched Ethernet like 10 Base2 and 10 Base 5 Ethernets which provide half-duplex
communication. But evolution from switched Ethernet (half-duplex) to full-duplex switched
Ethernet increased the capacity from 10 to 20 Mbps.
Due to the various drawbacks of wired LANs like extensive cabling and immobility etc., the
wireless technology gained momentum. Wireless local area networks (WLAN) enabled people
on the move to communicate with anyone, anywhere, at any time, using range of multimedia
services. The tremendous growth of cellular telephone and mobile systems coupled with
spreading of laptop and palmtop computers indicates a bright future for such networks, both as
standalone and as part of large networking infrastructure. The next stage of this development will
be complementing or replacing the traditional wired network. Wireless communication
technologies employ infrared, spread spectrum and microwave radio transmission techniques
with varying data rates.
The demand of wireless LAN has increased over a span of time because of its comparative
simplicity, flexibility, high rate access and low cost. The wireless network infrastructure is useful
to provide accessibility in rough terrains and even rural areas where establishing wired
infrastructure is difficult. Wireless local area networks (WLANs) based on the IEEE 802.11
standard are one of the fastest growing wireless access technologies in the world today. They
provide an effective means of achieving wireless data connectivity in homes, public places and
offices. Like IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet) and IEEE 802.5 (Token Ring), the 802.11 standard focuses
on the two lower layers (1 and 2) of the Open System Interconnection (OSI) reference model.
Wireless LAN protocol is based on IEEE 802.11 standard. This standard defines a medium
access control (MAC) sub layer and three physical (PHY) layers. This protocol describes a
wireless LAN that delivers services commonly found in wired networks, e.g. throughput, reliable
data delivery and continuous network connections. The architecture of IEEE 802.11 WLAN is

designed to support a network where a number of mobile stations are involved. Within the MAC
layer, DCF (Distributed Coordination Function) is used as fundamental access method while
Point Coordination Function (PCF) is known as Carrier Sense Multiple Access with collision
avoidance (CSMA/CA) protocol. It is an asynchronous access method based on the contention
for the usage of shared channels.

CHAPTER THREE
3. SYSTEM DESIGN AND ANALYSIS
3.1.Analysis of the existing network
Networks (Wired and Wireless) have grown like weed over the past few decades providing a
pace to the means of accessing network resources. Therefore, it is vital to have an accurate and a
reliable generic platform to enable network. The wired Networks provide a secure and faster
means of connectivity. The performance of the wired Ethernet is very sensitive to the number of
users, offered load, transmission links while wireless is also very sensitive to the number of
users, offered load as well as physical characteristics, data rate, packet size and so on. We can
compare wired and wireless networks in the area of installation, cost, reliability, performance,
security, mobility. As networks are being upgraded from scratch all over the word, network
planning is becoming most important. Computing the viability and performance of networks in
real can be very expensive and painstaking task. To ease and comfort the process of estimating
and predicting a network techniques are widely used and put into practice. The method used in
this sense for the performance analysis of local area network is not effective enough because of
the following challenges;
i. The choice of number of users
ii. Retransmission attempt
iii. Collision attempt
iv. Throughput, etc.
3.2.OPNET (Optimized Network Tool)
OPNET is the registered commercial trademark and the name of product presented by OPNET
Technologies incorporation. It is one of the most famous and popular commercial network

simulators by the end of 2008. Because of it has been used for a long time in the industry, it
become mature and has occupied a big market share. Among the various network simulators
OPNET provides the industry’s leading environment for network modeling and simulation. It
allows to design and study communication networks, devices, protocols, and applications with
flexibility and scalability. It provides object oriented modeling approach and graphical editors
that mirror the structure of actual networks and network components. The analysis helped to
estimate and optimize the performance of wired and wireless networks using proposed
optimization techniques.
3.3.Advantages of OPNET Simulating Tool
OPNET's software environment is specialized for network research and development. It can be
flexibly used to study communication networks, devices, protocols, and applications. Because of
the fact of being a commercial software provider, OPNET offers relatively much powerful visual
or graphical support for the users. The graphical editor interface can be used to build network
topology and entities from the application layer to the physical layer. Object-oriented
programming technique is used to create the mapping from the graphical design to the
implementation of the real systems. We can see all the topology configuration and simulation
results can be presented very intuitively and visually. The parameters can also be adjusted and
the experiments can be repeated easily through easy operation through the GUI.
3.4.OPNET Simulation of Local Area Network Performance Analysis
OPNET simulator is a tool to simulate the behavior and performance of any type of network. The
main difference with other simulators lies in its power and versatility. This simulator makes
possible working with OSI model, from layer 7 to the modification of the most essential physical
parameters. This section describes the performance analysis of wireless and wired computer
networks using simulation. The simulation was done using the network simulator OPNET.
First, comparison was done by varying the types of transmission links (Ethernet links) used in
the wired networks for communication between the server and the clients. Secondly, a load
balancing mechanism has been used to balance traffic load in the wired network. In this,
different load balancing policies were used. Investigations were done to find the policy using

which the traffic sent/ received can be balanced to improve the performance. The performance
metrics evaluated are delay, throughput, traffic sent and traffic received.
Second: the performance analysis of the wireless computer networks has been illustrated by
tuning the Wireless local area network parameters. Performance metrics measured in wireless
computer networks are: Wireless LAN- Delay (sec), Wireless LAN- Media Access Delay (sec),
Wireless LAN- Retransmission Attempts (packets), and Wireless LAN- Throughput (bits/sec).
3.5.Performance parameters
Some of the Performance metrics focused on the literature review are:
1. Collision count: Total number of collisions encountered by this station during packet
transmissions.
2. Delay: This statistic represents the end to end delay of all packets received by all the
stations and forwarded to the higher layer.
3. Load: Total number of bits received from the higher layer. Packets arriving from the
higher layer are stored in the higher layer queue. It may be measured in bits/sec or
packets/sec.
4. Media access delay: Total time (in Seconds) that the packet is in the higher layer queue,
from the arrival to the point when it is removed from the queue for transmission.
5. Queue Size: Represents the total number packets in MAC's transmission queue(s) (in
802.11e capable MACs, there will be a separate transmission queue for each access
category).
6. Throughput: Total number of bits sent to the higher layer from the MAC layer. The data
packets received at the physical layer are sent to the higher layer if they are destined for
this destination.
3.6.Network Modeling and Simulation
The current generation of network modeling and simulation software is capable of modeling
networks up to whatever scale or detail that may be necessary. Simulation is a term sometimes
used as a synonym of imitation modeling [7]. Models incorporate stochastic features, which
allow for mimicking the random events occurring in real-time. Simulation is a widely accepted

research methodology used for evaluating network performance. It is mostly used for networks
that contain a very large number of nodes and services, which would be too much time
consuming and costly to deploy and evaluate. The use of simulation in networking helps save
time and also helps control the scale of the network. The advantages of simulation in terms of
cost, student involvement and learning outcomes, utility in distance learning, the ability to give
practical experiences about expensive real network technologies of a wide range are so
impressive that simulation as a veritable means of network analysis cannot be over-emphasized.
Create a new project
Create/edit scenario
(model)
Select statistics to
collect
Simulation setup
Duplicate scenario New hypothesis (what-if)
Run simulation
Results analysis
Figure 7: system modeling flow chart
3.7.OPNET Analysis of Wired Network
Wired local area networks include several technologies like Ethernet, token ring, token bus,
Fiber distributed data interface and asynchronous transfer mode local area networks. Ethernet
has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies. The Ethernet is a working example of
the more general Carrier Sense, Multiple Access with Collision Detect local area network
technology. The Ethernet is a multiple-access network, meaning that a set of nodes sends and

receives frames over a shared link. When the two devices transmit at the same time the collision
can occur. This collision generates a jam signal that causes all nodes on the segment to stop
sending data, which informs all the devices that a collision has occurred. The carrier sense means
that all the nodes can distinguish between an idle and a busy link. The collision detect means that
a node listens as it transmits and can therefore detect when a frame it is transmitting has
interfered (collided) with a frame transmitted by another node. The Ethernet is said to be a 1-
persistent protocol because an adaptor with a frame to send transmits with probability 1
whenever a busy line goes idle.
In the simulation scenario shown in Figure8, comparison has been done by varying the types of
transmission links (Ethernet links) used in the networks for communication between the server
and the clients in a wired local area network.
Figure 8: Wired local area network model
Figure8 shows the wired network being modeled and simulated for performance analysis using
OPNET. The comparison was made for same number of users but different types of links like 10
Base T, 100 Base T and 1000 Base X. The analysis of performance metrics like Ethernet – Delay
illustrates that the maximum delay occurs for 10 Base T. The performance analysis shows the
impact of varying types of links on the Ethernet traffic received. The traffic received using 100
Base T and 1000 base X is maximum because of the reduction in delay.

3.8.OPNET Analysis Wireless Network
IEEE 802.11 is a recent standard developed for wireless local area networks (WLANs). IEEE
802.11 is a multiple access protocol in which stations in the network must compete for access to
the shared communications medium to transmit data. IEEE 802.11 uses a carrier sensing
capability to determine if the communications medium is currently being used. If two or more
stations in the network transmit at the same time (i.e., a collision occurs), stations retransmit their
data after random periods of time as in Ethernet. Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) Technology, referred
as the 802.11 communications standard for WLAN is the popular wireless networking
technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed Internet and network
connections. The 802.11 data link layer is divided in two sub layers: Logical Link Control (LLC)
and Media Access Control (MAC). LLC is the same as in 802 LAN allowing for very simple
bridging from wireless to wire networks. MAC is different to WLANs. The first method in MAC
is CSMA with collision avoidance protocol. This protocol is to ask each station to listen before
action. If the channel is busy, the station has to wait until channel is free. Another method in
MAC is called RTS/CTS to solve Hidden-Node problem.
In this case the wireless local area networks were simulated using OPNET as shown in figure9.
The performance analysis of wireless networks can involve the following considerations like
physical Characteristics, Data Rate and buffer size (bits).
In this section an insight has been provided on the variations occurring due to the change in
physical characteristics and Buffer size. Various scenarios were modeled to estimate the
performance of wireless networks at a constant data rate of 2 Mbps but varying physical
characteristics like Frequency Hopping, Direct Sequence, Infra-red and Extended Rate PHY
(IEEE 802.11g).

Figure 9: wireless LAN simulation model
Figure 10: network department LAN model

Figure 11: server department LAN model

CHAPTER FOUR
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
An extensive literature review on wireless and wired networks using simulation has been
investigated for their performance comparison by varying the attributes of network objects such
as traffic load, file size, RTS/CTS, customizing the physical characteristics to vary BER, slot
time, SIFS time or the contention window, to determine their impact on throughput & delay. It is
observed that as the number of user increases, more traffic is generated. Also, Throughput can be
increased by increasing the buffer size because on increasing the buffer size, the packet drop may
be reduced.
Though Wireless networks, in contrary to wired networks, are relatively a new field of research,
there exist some simulators to develop and test the effect of change in the input/other attributes
parameters on various performance metrics.
4.1.Simulation Results for Wired LAN
In the simulation scenario shown in Figure 8, comparison has been done by varying the types of
transmission links Ethernet links used in the networks for communication between the server and
the clients in a wired local area network. Figure 8 shows the wired network being modeled and
simulated for performance analysis using OPNET. The comparison was made for same number
of users but different types of links like 10 Base T, 100 Base T and 1000 Base X. The analysis of
performance metrics like Ethernet – Delay and average as shown in figure illustrates the
maximum delay occurs or 10 Base T. The performance analysis of network model shown in
figure below illustrates the impact of varying types of links on the Ethernet throughput (bits/sec)
for link variation. The traffic received using 100 Base T and 1000 base X is maximum because
of the reduction in delay.

Figure 12: wired LAN Ethernet delay (second)
Figure 13: wired LAN traffic sent (packets/second)
Figure 14: wired LAN traffic received (packets/second)

Figure 15: wired LAN Ethernet collision count
Figure 16: overall output of wired LAN network
In the simulation scenario shown in Figure, comparison has been done by varying the types of
transmission links (Ethernet links) used in the networks for communication between the server
and the clients in a wired local area network. The analysis of performance metrics like Ethernet –
Delay illustrates that the maximum delay occurs for 10 Base T. The performance analysis shows
the impact of varying types of links on the Ethernet traffic received. The traffic received using
100 Base T and 1000 base X is maximum because of the reduction in delay.
The investigations present that while average traffic received or sent (in bytes/sec) with the
number of connections policy is more than others, the average traffic received or sent (in
bytes/sec) with the server-load policy is lesser than others.

4.2.Simulation Result for Wireless LAN
In this case the wireless local area networks were simulated using OPNET as shown in figures
below. The performance analysis of wireless networks can involve the consideration of physical
Characteristics, buffer size (bits). In this section an insight has been provided on the variations
occurring due to the change in physical characteristics and Buffer size. Various scenarios were
modeled to estimate the performance of wireless networks at a constant data rate of 2 Mbps but
varying physical characteristics like Frequency Hopping, Direct Sequence, Infra-red and
Extended Rate PHY (IEEE 802.11g).
The performance analysis for media access delay has been illustrated in figure below. The figure
10 showing delay characteristics, figure 11 showing the throughput and figure 12 shows traffic
sent and figure 13 shows traffic received. For each packet the delay is recorded when the packet
is sent to the physical layer for the first time.
Simulation results:
Figure 17: average Ethernet delay of WLAN

Figure 18: wireless LAN throughput (bits/second)
Figure 19: wireless LAN traffic sent (bytes/second)
Figure 20: wireless LAN traffic received (bytes/second)

Figure 21: bit error rate of wireless LAN
Figure 22: overall output of wireless LAN
The investigations show that the network attains the maximum throughput using IR layer. The
worst results are achieved when IEEE 802.11 protocol uses FHSS layer. But an important thing
to focus on is, that the throughput may vary according to the type of the network modeled, the
network objects variation may occur in terms of number of stations, data rate and type of
network load too among certain other parameters. The effect of change in physical characteristics
on throughput i.e. on the bit rate sent to the higher layer as shown in the above figures17_22.

4.3.Discussion
It was observed that the sent packet across the network at a particular point in time is equivalent
to the received packets. This implies that there was neither packet loss nor any significant
collision on the network at that particular instant. Simulation results suggest that the delay on the
Ethernet network is less when only switch is used compared to when hubs and switch or only
hub is used. Simulation results show that the Ethernet delay increases over the first few minutes
as the traffic from the nodes being switched on increase network load. It then steadies out at
around 0.000050 seconds as the average time a packet takes to traverse the network. The import
of network modeling and simulation becomes apparent as it helps in determining accurately the
precise specifications for various network devices, as well as their anticipated performance after
deployment in real-life scenarios.

CHAPTER FIVE
5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1.Conclusion
The aim of the paper is to highlight the research going on in the field of Wireless and wired
Computer Networks. Various simulation studies were done using different types of network
simulators, to study their performance comparison. An extensive literature review on wireless
and wired networks using simulation has been investigated for their performance comparison by
varying the attributes of network objects such as transmission link, customizing the physical
characteristics to vary BER to determine their impact on throughput & delay.
The impact of various network configurations on the network performance was analyzed using
the network simulator- OPNET. It has been investigated that performance of the wired Networks
is good if high speed Ethernet links are used under heavy network loads. This lowers the
response time to access server. In addition, performance analysis of wireless computer networks
has been done for improving the performance of wireless LAN. The investigations of physical
characteristics reveal that the infrared type is best in terms of throughput. The variation in buffer
size varies the queue size and hence optimizes the throughput.
The overall performance of the IEEE 802.11 Wireless Local area networks has been analyzed in
detail with the help of OPNET Modeler. These different parameters reveal the different methods
to optimize the performance of wireless local area networks such as by increasing the data rate
the performance can be optimized in terms of throughput, media access delay and the number of
Retransmission attempts or by incorporating the RTS/CTS exchanges the number of
retransmission attempts can be reduced or by increasing the buffer size the number of dropped
data packets can be reduced and the infrared coding at the physical layer proves to be the best if
performance criteria is defined in terms of throughput, the media access delay and the number of
retransmission attempts while the frequency hopping is not preferred coding method at the
physical layer for the above performance parameters.

5.2.Recommendation
This thesis mainly focused on the performance analysis of wired local area networks and
infrastructure based wireless local area networks. We recommended that to improve the overall
performance of the system it is better to use hybrid network which is the combination of both
wired and wireless network.
In future the work may be extended by including the schemes and techniques to:
 Optimize the security of the wired and wireless computer networks by using firewalls.
 Study Infrastructure less (Ad Hoc) Networks.
 Study the impact on performance by varying transmission powers of nodes.

REFERENCES
[1] Hesham M.El et.al, (2008), Performance Evaluation of the IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN
Standards, in the Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering, 2008 , vol. I, July 2-4.
[2] Sameh H. Ghwanmeh, (2000), Wireless network performance optimisation using Opnet
Modeler, Information Technology Journal, vol. 5, No 1, pp. 18-24.
[3] Ranjan Kaparti, ―OPNET IT Guru: A tool for networking education,‖ REGIS University.
Opnet_Modeler_Manual,‖ available at http://www.opnet.com.
[4] Ikram Ud Din, et.al (2009), Performance evaluation of different Ethernet LANs connectedby
Switches and Hubs, European Journal of Scientific Research.
[5] Opnet_Modeler_Manual,‖ available at http://www.opnet.com
[6] Chang, ―Network simulations with OPNET,‖ Proceedings of the 1999 Winter Simulation
conference, pp.307-314, 1999.
[7] Schreiber, M K Joopari and M.A. Rashid, ―Performance of video and video conferencing
over ATM and Gigabit Ethernet backbone networks,‖ Res. Lett. Inf. Math. Sci., vol. 7, pp.
19-27, 2005.
[8] Gilberto Flores Lucio, Macros Paredes-Farrera, Emmanuel Jammeh, Martin Fleury, Martin J.
Reed, ―OPNET Modeler.
[9] Puneet Rathod, Srinath Perur and Raghuraman Rangarajan, ―Bridging the gap between the
reality and simulations.
[10] Data Communications and Networking, Fourth Edition by Behrouz A. Forouzan.
[11] OPNET technologies, Inc., "Wireless LAN Model Description" and various OPNET
online help file and documents. At
http://www.opnet.com/products/library/WLAN_Model_Guide1.pdf.
[12] Luciano Bononi , Marco Conti , Lorenzo Donatiello "Design and performance evaluation
of a distributed contention control(DCC) mechanism for IEEE 802.11 wireless local area
networks" Proceedings of first ACM international workshop on Wireless mobile multimedia
October 1998 ‘

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ARBAMINCH UNIVERSITY

ARBA MINCH INSTIUTE OF TECHENOLOGY

FACULTY OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGNERING

Advisor: Mr. Fraol Bekana

ARBA MINCH ETHIOPIA

Name Signature Date

1. Workineh Tilahun __________ 20//June//2019G.c

2. Getnet Gulilat __________ 20//June//2019G.c

3. Habtam Alebachew __________ 20//June//2019G.c

4. Bantie Hibistu __________ 20//June//2019G.c

5. Selam Bantayehu __________ 20//June//2019G.c

1. Mr. Fraol B. __________ _______________

AMiT, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering [communication stream] Page i

AMiT, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering [communication stream] Page ii

ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... iii

LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii

LIST OF ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................... viii

CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................. 1

1.1. Background of the Project ............................................................................................ 1

1.2. Statement of problem .................................................................................................... 2

1.3. Objectives of the Project ............................................................................................... 3

1.3.1. General objective ........................................................................................................ 3

1.3.2. Specific objectives ...................................................................................................... 3

1.4. Scope of the Project ...................................................................................................... 3

1.5. Significance of the Project ............................................................................................ 3

1.6. Methodology ................................................................................................................. 4

CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................................ 5

2. LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................ 5

2.1. Networks ....................................................................................................................... 5

2.2. Local area networks ...................................................................................................... 5

2.2.1. The Internet and the world wide web ......................................................................... 5

2.3. Network Topology ........................................................................................................ 6

2.3.1. Bus Topology: ............................................................................................................ 6

2.3.2. Ring Topology: ........................................................................................................... 6

AMiT, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering [communication stream] Page iv

2.3.3. Star Topology: ............................................................................................................ 7

2.3.4. Mesh Topology:.......................................................................................................... 8

2.3.5. Hybrid Topology: ....................................................................................................... 8

2.4. Network Protocols ........................................................................................................ 9

2.5. Ethernet ......................................................................................................................... 9

2.6. Wireless Network........................................................................................................ 10

2.7. Wired Network............................................................................................................ 12

2.8. Related work ............................................................................................................... 15

2.8.1. Delay, Low throughput and Congestion: .................................................................. 16

CHAPTER THREE ...................................................................................................................... 18

3. SYSTEM DESIGN AND ANALYSIS ......................................................................... 18

3.1. Analysis of the existing network................................................................................. 18

3.2. OPNET (Optimized Network Tool)............................................................................ 18

3.3. Advantages of OPNET Simulating Tool .................................................................... 19

3.4. OPNET Simulation of Local Area Network Performance Analysis .......................... 19

3.5. Performance parameters.............................................................................................. 20

3.6. Network Modeling and Simulation............................................................................. 20

3.7. OPNET Analysis of Wired Network .......................................................................... 21

3.8. OPNET Analysis Wireless Network ........................................................................... 23

CHAPTER FOUR ......................................................................................................................... 26

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................... 26

4.1. Simulation Results for Wired LAN ............................................................................ 26

4.2. Simulation Result for Wireless LAN .......................................................................... 29

1. Mr. Fraol B. _____