SENDIM

A Simulation, Emulation, aNd Deployment Integration Middleware for cloud networks.

Prerequisites

To build and run SENDIM, you need the following dependencies installed:

• Java JDK 8 or 21: The project targets Java 1.8 for compatibility with OpenDaylight Beryllium.
• Apache Maven: Used for multi-module project management and building OSGi bundles.
• xSDN Simulator: The core simulation engine. Clone it from https://github.com/kathiraveluLab/xSDN and install it locally using mvn clean install.

Note on OpenDaylight Integration

Note

OpenDaylight MD-SAL binary integration is currently represented via a modular SendimProvider interface due to the sunsetting of legacy Beryllium Nexus repositories. The architectural integration points remain fully documented and ready for deployment in a live ODL environment.

• Infinispan 7.0.0.Final: Required by xSDN for distributed state management.
• OpenDaylight Beryllium: The default SDN controller for MD-SAL integration.

Build Instructions

1. Clone and Install xSDN:

   git clone https://github.com/kathiraveluLab/xSDN xsdn-core
   cd xsdn-core
   mvn install -DskipTests
   cd ..

2. Build SENDIM:

   mvn install -DskipTests

Usage

1. Running the SENDIM Middleware

SENDIM acts as an orchestrator that takes a topology descriptor and synchronizes it across simulation, emulation, and deployment layers.

To run the core orchestration logic:

mvn exec:java -pl core -Dexec.mainClass="org.sendim.core.Main"

By default, it uses the sample topology located at sdnsim/src/test/resources/sample-topology.xml. You can specify a custom topology file as an argument:

mvn exec:java -pl core -Dexec.mainClass="org.sendim.core.Main" -Dexec.args="/path/to/your-topology.xml"

2. Emulation with Mininet

One of the primary outputs of SENDIM is a Mininet topology script (sendim_topology.py). This allows you to transition from simulation to emulation seamlessly.

To run the generated emulation:

sudo python sendim_topology.py

3. Simulation State & Persistency

SENDIM uses Infinispan for distributed state management. When you run the middleware:

• The xSDN engine is initialized.
• The topology is parsed and stored in the experiments/ directory.
• Snapshots are saved as .ser files (e.g., experiments/state_default-v1.ser), allowing for state recovery across runs.

4. OpenDaylight Integration

The middleware automatically detects if an OpenDaylight (ODL) environment is present.

• Standalone Mode: If ODL jars are not in the classpath, SENDIM runs in a "No-Op" mode for the controller layer, while still performing simulation and generating emulation scripts.
• Integrated Mode: When deployed as an OSGi bundle within ODL Beryllium, the SendimProvider synchronizes the topology with the ODL MD-SAL Inventory.

Citing SENDIM

If you use SENDIM in your research, please cite the following papers:

• Kathiravelu, P. and Veiga, L., 2016, April. SENDIM for incremental development of cloud networks: Simulation, emulation and deployment integration middleware. In 2016 IEEE International Conference on Cloud Engineering (IC2E) (pp. 143-146). IEEE.

• Kathiravelu, P. and Veiga, L., 2016, October. Software-defined simulations for continuous development of cloud and data center networks. In OTM Confederated International Conferences" On the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems" (pp. 3-23). Cham: Springer International Publishing.