How can I use my multiprocessor machine to speed up radio and wireless simulations?

How can I use my multiprocessor machine to speed up radio and wireless simulations?

Please note that this FAQ applies only to OPNET releases 9.1 and previous. If you are using OPNET 10.0 or higher, refer to FAQ-1291.OPNET products support parallel simulation to help speed up wireless simulations. This allows you to see performance benefits when running discrete-event simulations (DES) on computers with multiple processors.Parallel wireless simulation was first made available in OPNET 7.0 as an add-on to the Radio (Wireless) module. As of 8.0 PL13 and later, the wireless parallel simulation capability is included free with the Radio Module.The simulation kernel performs its operations in parallel only when processing the radio transmission of a packet. A radio transmission involves five stages of the Transceiver Pipeline: transmission delay, link closure, channel match, tx antenna gain and propagation delay. Without parallel simulation, the simulation kernel processes one packet through the stages and the moves on to the next. With Parallel Simulation, the simulation kernel can process multiple packets through the stages in parallel.NOTE: In the transmission stages, the transmission delay is computed once. Once this occurs, the outbound packet is copied and each copy is processed by the remaining stages.To execute simulations in parallel, specify the number of processors on which the simulation will run. You can do this on a local (per scenario) basis or a global (OPNET-wide) basis by checking the parallel simulation option and specifying the number of processors in the Configure Simulation dialog box (Simulations / Configure Simulation) . You can also enable parallel simulation by setting the parallel_sim.num_processors preference.For more information, please visit www.opnet.com and click on Products then Product Modules then Parallel Simulation. Extensive documentation is also available in the OPNET product documentation.For information about the effects of multiple processors......on non-wireless discrete event simulations, see FAQ#415....on Flow Analysis simulations, see FAQ#993.

Protocols->Wireless LAN,Installation & Configuration