A new switched beam smart antenna model for supporting asymmetrical communications extending Inet Omnet++ framework

Directional antennas are largely employed in wireless networks due to their capability of increasing spatial reuse of the wireless channel with respect to the classical omnidirectional systems. In this context. the use of Smart Antenna Systems (SAS) are providing a strong increasing impact in digital wireless communication systems. Because of their many benefits, this kind of systems are extremely used especially in pervasive network environments such as Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANET). However, almost of the whole of existing network simulators use omnidirectional antennas on nodes, and in many cases, do not provide a support for asymmetrical and directional communications. In view of this, we intend to enhance Omnet++ network simulator features by designing a new switched beam smart antenna model for providing a support for directional communications. Our proposed model simulates the basic operation of a Phased Array System also exploiting a very simple algorithm for modeling power management in the channel in order to provide an asymmetrical communication behavior.