ABMQ: An Agent-Based Modeler and Simulator for Self-Organization in MANETs using Qt

Abstract

Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation (ABMS) is a simple and yet powerful method for simulation of interactions among individual agents. Using ABMS, different phenomena can be modeled and simulated without spending additional time on unnecessary complexities. Although ABMS is well-matured in many different fields such as economic, social, and natural phenomena, it has not received much attention in the context of mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs). In this paper, we present ABMQ, a powerful Agent-Based platform suitable for modeling and simulation of self-organization in wireless networks, and particularly MANETs. By utilizing the unique potentials of Qt Application Framework, ABMQ provides the ability to easily model and simulate self-organizing algorithms, and then reuse the codes and models developed during simulation process for building real third-party applications for several desktop and mobile platforms, which substantially decreases the development time and cost, and prevents probable bugs that can happen as a result of rewriting codes.