Network Emulation for the Study and Validation of Traffic Models,
Congestion and Flow Control in TCP/IP Networks: Cheryl Pope

One of the difficulties in developing scheduling mechanisms, traffic
models and protocols for the Internet is the problem of accurately
evaluating their performance.  Both simulation and testing on live
networks are limited as accurate evaluation environments.  Simulation
relies on capturing all of the possible interactions with the
underlying protocols and traffic and leads only to an approximation of
the actual network.  This approximation has often been shown to be
flawed when compared to actual Internet data traces.  Testing on live
networks, while accurate, is difficult to control and to introduce new
protocol behaviour into.

Network emulation is a more recent approach that combines the control
of simulation with the accuracy of live network testing by inserting
simulation control (delay, bandwidth, etc) into the actual protocol
stack code.  We are currently in the planning stages of developing an
IPv6 emulation environment for the testing and validation of Internet
protocols and traffic models.  This talk will review current work in
TCP/IP emulation and the design goals of the IPv6 emulation project.