Integrative Communications Effects Environment

The proposed Integrative Communications Effects Environment (ICEE) enables the creation of a"mixed-mode"test environment where live, virtual, and constructive nodes can exchange data with one another during realtime test execution. ICEE bridges the mixed-mode testing capability gap, combining constructive (simulated), virtual (mostly real hardware), and live (completely real hardware) nodes. ICEE solves the problems that have traditionally plagued operational testing of mobile, wireless communications networks such as repeatability, operational realism, scalability, and spectrum interference. Traditional approaches to mobile, wireless system test/evaluation include live, virtual, and constructive experiments, but the three approaches are rarely combined; when they are, the communications effects are not handled at the physical layer, and as a result repeatability is difficult, and potential spectrum-interference issues abound. ICEE integrates the live and virtual approaches with physical-layer RF emulation, leaving the incorporation of constructive nodes to the commercial network-simulator market (e.g., OPNET, ns-3, and QualNet).