Validating Simulated Networks: Some Lessons Learned

Shah Jamal Alam, Syed Muhammad Ali Abbas, Bruce Edmonds

Abstract: Checking the network generated by a simulation against network data from the system being simulated holds out the promise of a fairly-strong validation. However, this poses some challenges. The nature of this task and its attended challenges are here discussed, and the outlines of a method for doing this sketched. This is illustrated using a synthetic and target network, applying increasingly detailed methods to elucidate the structure of these networks and hence make a tougher and more revealing comparison. We end with a discussion of the prospects and further challenges.