Cougar WaveGUI Demo

WaveGUI Demo Info

More information about the COUGAR project can be be found at the main COUGAR website.

WaveGUI Demo Guide

Java Setup

The Cougar Online Demo is a Java applet that connects to a Microsoft SQL Server database. Java 1.3 and above is required for running the demo. It is recommended that you download and install the latest Java Plugin.

Loading Scenarios

The first embedded Java window is for loading scenarios.

1. Initial screen will display with an empty list of scenarios.
2. Click on 'Refresh List' button to retrieve list of scenarios from database.
3. Browse through the scenarios listed. It may be useful to resize the window or columns in the table (especially the 'Algorithm' column).
4. Parameters that vary and are of particular note include 'Algorithm', 'Views', 'Messages', 'EmptyCells'.
5. Highlight one of the scenarios from the list.
6. Click on 'Open new scenario' button.

Adding Displays

Each scenario opens in a new window.

1. The list of possible displays appears in the upper left box.
2. Highlight a display and then click on the '>' arrow to move the display to the selected box.
3. Use the '<' arrow to remove selected displays.

Static Display Types

Static displays do not involve running a timer to simulate the network:

• Node Ids - Show the assigned node-id for each cell. Can be combined with other displays, though the text may block out other display text.
• Grid Coordinates - Show the grid location (x,y). Can be combined with other displays, though the text may block out other display text.
• Routing Tables - After selecting 'Routing Tables', you must highlight a view node on the map. Arrows will display the routing path from each node to the selected view node.

Dynamic Display Types

Dynamic displays must run the timer or manually adjust the time index to see changes over the lifetime of the network:

• Consumed Energy - Show total energy usage as a numeric value and scaled red background color. Start timer and see the results on map.
• Message Queues - Show message queue length as a numeric value and scaled green background color. Start timer and see the results on map.
• Message Sources - Show the source nodes of received messages. After selecting 'Message Sources', you must choose a node from the map. Start timer and the message sources of each message received at the selected node in the past step size will be displayed.
  
  There are two different numbers for the message sources. You can toggle between the two by clicking on the selected node. The number of messages from each source node will appear with the red background. The average delay of each message will display with the blue background. The path each message took from the source node to the selected node will also be displayed with arrows.
  
  You cannot change the selected node in the middle of a timer simulation. If you want to test another node, you must stop the timer completely before highlighting another node.
• Wave Schedule - Shows when nodes are sending and receiving. Do not use the timer with the Wave schedule. The timer will stop at a particular point and it is not possible to predict if any nodes will be sending at each step size. Use the 'Next Tuple' button to slowly go through the various scheduling of nodes. Red nodes are sending in the direction of the arrow. Green nodes are receiving. In most cases, the schedule follows:
  1. node_1 sends
  2. node_2 receives
  3. node_1 turns off
  4. node_2 turns off

Timer Controls

The bottom of the window has the timer controls (left to right):

1. Step size - size of timer steps (in seconds?) (total simulation time is 5000)
2. Refresh rate - how long to display each step before refreshing the map (in seconds). Bigger values mean more time to see the results of each step.
3. Play button - Start the timer.
4. Pause button - Pause the timer so it can be restarted later.
5. Next Tuple button - Process next tuple only. Can only be used if timer is paused or stopped.
6. Next Step button - Process next step. Similar to what happens during Play, except the user manually refreshes the window instead of the timer automatically refreshing.
7. Stop button - Stops and resets the timer.

Notes

1. Message Queues Displays - query for this display is very slow and initial results may take some time to appear.
2. When switching between displays, you MUST stop the timer completely. Do NOT try to change the selected displays while the timer is still running or on pause.
3. Some of the displays can be selected at the same time, but it is not recommended. For best results, only have one display selected at any time.
4. You must always select (click on) a node for the Message Sources or Routing Tables displays. Even if you highlighted a node from a previous display, you have to re-select a node.