In the quest of higher wireless data-rates, Terahertz (THz)-band (0.1-10 THz) communication is envisioned as a key wireless technology of the next decade. In parallel to the development of THz transceivers and antennas, simulation tools are needed to expedite the development of communication and networking protocols tailored to this novel networking paradigm, at a fraction of the cost. The few simulation platforms developed to date for THz communication networks do not capture the peculiarities of the THz channel or the capabilities of THz devices. In this paper, TeraSim, i.e., an open source network simulation platform for THz communication networks is presented. TeraSim is built as an extension for ns-3, which is one of the most widely used teaching and education network simulation software. The simulator has been developed considering two major types of application scenarios, namely, nanoscale communication networks (average transmission range usually below one meter) and macroscale communication networks (distances larger than one meter). The simulator consists of a common channel module, separate physical and link layers for each scenario, and two assisting modules, namely, THz antenna module and energy harvesting module, originally designed for the macroscale and nanoscale scenario, respectively. The structure, relations and content of each module are presented in detail. Extensive simulation and test results are provided to validate the functionalities of the implemented modules. TeraSim is expected to enable the networking community to test THz networking protocols without having to delve into the channel and physical layers.

为了追求更高的无线数据速率，太赫兹（THz）频段（0.1-10 THz）通信被视为下一个十年的关键无线技术。在开发THz收发器和天线的同时，还需要仿真工具来加快开发针对这种新型联网范例的通信和联网协议的过程，而成本却只有一小部分。迄今为止，为太赫兹通信网络开发的少数​​仿真平台无法捕获太赫兹信道的特殊性或太赫兹设备的功能。在本文中，提出了TeraSim，即用于THz通信网络的开源网络仿真平台。TeraSim被构建为ns-3的扩展，它是使用最广泛的教学网络模拟软件之一。该模拟器的开发考虑了两种主要的应用场景，即纳米级通信网络（平均传输范围通常低于一米）和宏级通信网络（距离大于一米）。该模拟器包括一个公共通道模块，每种情况的单独物理层和链路层，以及两个辅助模块，分别是THz天线模块和能量收集模块，最初分别是为宏观和纳米级情况设计的。详细介绍了每个模块的结构，关系和内容。提供了广泛的仿真和测试结果，以验证所实现模块的功能。