Background

I am studying "Computer Science" at the University of Umeå and I have reached the final stage of my education. The last six months I am supposed to use the knowledge I have accumulated to do a Master thesis which is a larger project within the area of my education.

 I am going to analyze a computer network simulation-package called OPNET and try to find out if it can be used in the higher level courses in computer communication at Umeå University.

My teacher is Dr. Jerry Eriksson who will support and guide me during the project.
 
 

October 2 2000

I got an excellent idea a couple of days ago and Jerry agreed - I will try to model Norrnods network (a major ISP in our city of 100 000 inhabitants) and compare simulations with actual traffic patterns!  I have been in contact with Norrnod and they would try to help me with information about how their system is constructed etc. A really cool scenario would be if they reconstruct something during the time I am working on this project - that way I can compare before-after both in simulation and in real life! I will try to contact them again in a jiffy!

September 2000:

During this time I have read and worked through the examples in the Tutorial. I have now a fairly good understanding of the basics of Opnet Modeler, but I can't say I master the program. It is simple to create a basic scenario with preloaded equipment (3Com etc) but in more advanced settings it is quite tricky to understand how to write code in Proto-C, I think. I need to find out where to find documentation about Proto-C and all of its predefined functions/variables. I guess the thick Kernel-manual is what I need... I haven't begun writing just yet on the Thesis - I guess I should begin, but I  don't want to start writing when I haven't got anything(?) to write about... I saw a bunch of MT-presentations during 2 days and that is a good experience - most of them were really good, but there were a few things I will try to remember when I do my presentation, especially when it comes to the written report. Quality is more important than quantity.

September 8 2000:

Opnet is installed on my computer and today I am going to get started with the Tutorial-book. Johan Kristiansson is also about to do his Master Thesis on Opnet so he may come and visit me so we can help each other. I plan to start writing on the report as soon as possible.

August 2000:

The plan was to be able to start working with Opnet, but all my time was needed to pass the exam in Computer Communications 2 and the summer course in Astronomy I attended.

June-july 2000:

I have received the program-package from OPNET and will install and play around with it as much as possible. A project from Parallell computing 2 is currently occupying lots of my time, though.