Network protocol developers typically go through a tedious and error-prone process of testing and debugging their protocol implementation for various settings. They perform a number of tasks manually such as configuration of numerous network settings, controlled reproduction of unexpected protocol behavior, and traffic capture and analysis. We present a Protocol Testing and Evaluation System (PTES) to assist developers in transparently testing their protocol implementations. PTES enables a protocol developer to construct and execute various controlled and repeatable testing scenarios. The developer can use simple iptables- like rules to specify various local and distributed network events and actions. During protocol execution, PTES triggers these events and actions in a coordinated manner and records the protocol responses to these events which can later be examined by the developer. We present the design and implementation of three variants of PTES for native, simulated, and emulated platforms for both wired and wireless networks. We demonstrate the utility of PTES by automating the testing of TCP/IP and Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR) protocols.

The proliferation of wireless-enabled portable computing devices has spurred a growing need for efficient and powerful networking protocols. The key challenge in the development of robust wireless networking protocols is an ability to conduct effective and efficient evaluation of the protocol in order to ensure its successful working in real-world settings. We proposed MiNT-2, a fresh re-design of the original MiNT framework developed at Stony Brook University. One of the fundamental requirements of MiNT-2 is to provide location awareness of all the nodes within the network. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology in order to carry out localization of the mobile nodes within the system. We also demonstrate the application of the localization system of constructing different scenarios for wireless protocols evaluation.