AINE: An IP network emulator

AINE is emulation software to build a laboratory environment for real-time performance characterisation of networks and systems, particularly satellite communication systems. Although the AINE emulator was conceived with the specific purpose of satellite networks emulation, it is a generic IP emulation tool that can also emulate link layer algorithms. This tool was developed due to the lack of COTS emulation tools supporting the dynamic radio resource allocation schemes used in DVB-RCS networks. The paper describes the main features and development characteristics of the tool and presents results for complex techniques assessed using the emulator.