SIFRAN: Evaluating IoT Networks with a No-Code Framework based on ns-3
Résumé
With the tremendous ascension of the Internet of Things over the recent years, ns-3 has consolidated its position in terms of popularity among the research community. Indeed, it has become one of the most used open-source network simulators, with an important community of users and contributors. However, the growth of this community is constrained by the networking and programming skills required to use ns-3. This reduces the ns-3 traction within the industrial community, since many IoT specialists lack these skills. In this paper, we present SIFRAN, a no-code framework for IoT networks simulation using ns-3. The main objective of SIFRAN is to extend the use of ns-3 to a community of non-programmers by making them able to benefit from its features without writing a single line of code, and to encourage network experts to contribute to this effort. We show how the framework can be used via a simple web interface for simulating Wi-Fi-and LoRaWAN-based IoT setups, and how the programmers' community of ns-3 can contribute to the framework by adding more IoT network technologies.