Installing NS2 and Mannasim

I was so eager to install NS2 and Mannasim so I downloaded the installer while teaching yesterday...hahaha...multitasking huh....rushed back to the office right after the class i.e. at 4pm....

Mannasim is a Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) simulation environment that works in NS2.29. This framework was developed by Manna Research Group from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil. Before the installation process starts, I had to get some packages that Kubuntu does not have in order for me to complete the installation.

1. Patch is needed to patch Mannasim into NS2.29. To install "patch", type the following command in the terminal: sudo apt-get install patch


2. Ns2.29 needs TCL/TK. To install "tcl/tk", type the following command in the terminal : sudo apt-get install tcl8.4 tk8.4

To install NS2.29 on Ubuntu, follow the instruction in http://nsnam.isi.edu/nsnam/index.php/Installing_ns2.31_on_Ubuntu7.04. This page describes the process of installing NS2.31 on Ubuntu but the procedures are similar except for some changes:

1. NS2.31 should be replaced with NS2.29
2. otcl-1.13 should be replaced with otcl-1.11
3. tcl8.4.14 should be replaced with tcl8.4.11
4. tk8.4.14 should be replaced with tk8.4.11

The process of installing NS2 with Mannasim can be found here http://www.mannasim.dcc.ufmg.br/download.htm

I tried to simulate some Mannasim scripts...Alhamdulillah it works.... :-)

Successfully installed....

Taufiq came to my office yesterday with Ubuntu 7.10 64-bit installer.....once again we failed...and the message that appeared on the screen was "Chip does not compatible, need to use 32-bit installer" arrrrrrggggggggg....again....think of other solution...

This morning I went to see Assoc. Prof. Md. Mahfudz (Linux sifu in my faculty)...talked to him about my problem in installing Linux....we tried Fedora...it works but I didn't want to install Fedora as it is basically Red Hat flavour....I had bad experience using Red Hat when I did my master's project...it froze when the NS2 simulation time reach 1000 seconds....Then we tried Ubuntu 7.10....but this time we use Live CD which I never tried in Uniten last week..with Live CD we can test whether it works on our hardware or not...Ubuntu 7.10 seems to work well but something wrong with the display...the desktop was blank and i could only see the toolbar...so we tried Kubuntu 7.10...which is Ubuntu with KDE environment...alhamdulillah it works fine...

My next step is to install NS2 .......

Linux vs Intel Core Duo

I spent my day at Uniten on 6/2/08 to install Linux in my notebook. Installing Linux in a notebook is a bit complicated compared to desktop. We tried to install Xandros but failed. Then, we tried Ubuntu as they had successfully installed Ubuntu in Compaq Presario V3000 notebook before.....again we failed...we kept on trying to look for solutions from the net...search for installing Ubuntu in Compaq Presario V3000...but we forgot about the processor till we meet Mr. Peyo...after searching in the net, it is found that Intel Core Duo processor needs 64-bit Ubuntu instead of 32-bit Ubuntu....no time to try....we had to download the installer which took about 24hrs to complete....Thus, I just downloaded the installer using a PC in the lab and leave it on....

This morning I received a call from Mr Taufiq, he had succesfully saved the installer into a CD.....we'll try to install Ubuntu from that installer...hope everything will goes well.....

Starting the Gear!

zulprog.blogspot.com (Thanks Zul) has inspired me to have a blog on my research work which I can share with people around the world. Furthermore, I could keep updating my research work online instead of having thick log book as I did during my student's days.

Let me start with my research history. I was seriously involved with the research work in the area of Data Communications in May 2002 when I met Prof. Dr. Norsheila Fisal. Beginning May 2002, I worked as a Research Officer at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) working on Provisioning Quality of Service in IPv6 Network under The Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (MOSTE) project grant. This project was lead by Prof. Dr. Norsheila Fisal who I can consider as my mentor. Prof. Dr. Norsheila is the key person that trigger the research interests in me. This is where I learn about Network Simulator (NS2), TCL/TK and Linux.

I moved to Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) in November 2003 to work with the IP QoS research group lead by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norashidah Md Din. We worked on Development of a Network Simulation Package for IP QoS Modeling and Simulation in the DiffServ-MPLS Domain under The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) project grant. In Uniten, I work as a Research Assistant and at the same time doing Master of Electrical Engineering (by research) under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norashidah who at that time was persuing her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Norsheila. My thesis topic was Enhancements of Differentiated Services (DiffServ) Domain in Provisioning Internet Protocol Quality of Service. With the support from AP Dr Norashidah and other project members, I managed to complete my Master's Research in September 2005.

After 2 years of not doing any research activities, I'm back to the field. Currently I'm looking at Wireless Sensor Network with my new colleagues in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and collaboration with my fellow researchers in Uniten. :-)