NetAnalyzer: Analyzing Dynamic Network Topologies

An Unmanned Aerial Ad hoc Network (UAANET) is a special type of Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET). For these networks, researchers rely mostly on simulations to evaluate their proposed networking protocols. One major component of such simulation studies is the movement pattern of the UAVs. In this paper, we first show that mobility models affect the performance of UAANET/MANET routing protocols. To study the reasons behind these performance differences, we developed and present a new tool, called Net Analyzer, which calculates a range of static and dynamic metrics that capture the impact of mobility models on the network topology. Using the case study presented here, we show how the knowledge of some of these metrics can help differentiating different mobility models and to provide insights into the noticed performance differences.