AVENS - A Novel Flying Ad Hoc Network Simulator with Automatic Code Generation for Unmanned Aircraft System

Abstract

The wireless communication has played a significant impact on our daily lives introducing simplicity and making life more comfortable. \ As a result of faster technological advances in electronics and communications, the development of different types of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has become possible. \ Recently, many efforts have been made to develop more efficient inter- and intra-vehicle communication protocols introducing new challenges, e. g. multiple-UAV communication and Flying Ad Hoc Networks (FANETs). \ However, most of the experiments using real prototypes or systems are not feasible due to the costs and risks involved. \ Thus, simulating network protocol behavior in FANET scenarios is increasingly required to evaluate the applicability of developed network protocols. \ Thereby, we have been developing AVENS, a hybrid aerial network simulation framework, which merges LARISSA Architectural Model, X-Plane Flight Simulator and OMNeT++ Discrete Event Simulator. \ In a proof-of-concept study, we highlighted its advantages. \ Using AVENS, we can advance in the state-of-the-art concerning performance evaluation of intelligent aerial vehicles and provide means to evaluate the development of protocols, codes and systems more accurately.