2012 International Conference on Education and e-Learning Innovations
Simulation-based Performance evaluation of Queuing
for E-learning real time system
shaimaa Badr, Fatma Bayoumi
Computers and system Department
National Telecommunication Institute, NTI
Cairo, Egypt
sbadr@nti.sci.eg, bayoumi@nti.sci.eg
Abstract— Electronic learning has produced a comfortable,
sophisticated, interactive and adaptable teaching model.
Moreover, the consistent technical progress in this field allows
the development of increasingly interesting applications [1]. We
chose to select those elements to create an e-learning
environment. This paper presents a model of the multi-tiered e-
learning system based on Web Services. It shows architecture for
implementing e-learning environment by taking into account
quality of service (QoS) requirements namely traffic dropped,
traffic received and packet end to end delay.
However, there exists no known simulation approach on how to
deploy a popular real-time network service such as e-learning
system. This paper offers remarkable details on how to model
and configure OPNET for such a purpose.
The study has been carried out using OPNET IT Guru on 3
scenarios are suggested first before enabling any QoS mechanism
at the routers, second apply class based weighted fair queuing
using low latency queue (CBWFQ-LLQ) for video traffic and last
scenario apply CBWFQ-LLQ for voice. The simulation results
show that CBWFQ with LLQ for Voice Traffic has a superior
quality than the other techniques. This model was tested with
different number of learners. Results indicate that improvements
caused by traffic differentiation, become more significant as the
number of users increases.
Keywords- E-Learning; CBWFQ; LLQ; QoS; Real Time
Systems; Differentiated Services (DiffServ); OPNET.
I. INTRODUCTION
This E-learning have an enormous number of clients today
and number of them increase every day. This causes many e-
learning web sites and applications receive huge number of
requests in a very short period of time. In this situation,
response time of many e-learning web sites increases and even
causes the operation of web sites in unstable state [2]. Also one
of the important features of the e-learning environment is the
collaboration. Collaboration implies the use of many different
tools, each requiring specific Quality of Service (QoS) in terms
of bandwidth, delay and jitter [3].
E-learning systems are very much dependent on various
network services like Web browsing, VOIP,
Videoconferencing and File Transfer. The biggest problems in
978-1-4673-2225-6/12/$31.00 ©2012 IEEE
Gamal Darwesh
Information Technology Department
Faculty of Computers and Information
Cairo, Egypt
gdarwish@mcit.gov.eg
a network are related to the allocation of network resources, as
buffers and band width, to different users according to users
need. A limited amount of resources has to be shared among
many different competing traffic flows in an efficient way in
order to maximize the performance and the use of the network
resources. The behavior of routers in terms of packet handling
can be controlled to achieve different kind of services [4]. So
our work aims to integrate e-learning traffic in a proactive
fashion taking into account the available network resources and
QoS sustainability, and to offer improved e-learning system
based on ultimate technology with QoS warranties.
The remainder of this paper is structured as follows: In the
next Section related works are discussed. Then the proposed
systems illustrated in Section III, which outlines a scenario for
e-learning collaborative system, and then configure the
proposed network and scenarios using OPNET. An evaluation
of the proposed solution is given in Section I V. Conclusions
and a short outline of our future research plans concludes this
paper in Section V.
II. RELATED WORK
Different works have been done to model the multi-tiered
applications. In [5], modeling of 3-tiered web application has
described. In that work, they presented analytical model for 3-
tier web services architecture, for this purpose, they used
queuing network theory to model the architecture and predict
the response time and throughput accurately. In [6], an
analytical model for multi-tiered internet services has
described. In [7], an analytical model of the 3-tiered e-learning
system on Power Line Network (PLN) based on Web Services
has presented, they modeled the proposed 3-tier e-learning on
PLN using Queuing Network Model and used the Mean Value
Analysis algorithm to predict response time of e-learning
system. The results improves the response time, the servers of
presentation and application tiers should be selected based on
topology and requests of customers to e-learning services.
While in [8], the goal of this project is to simulate video
streaming over the 802.11g WLAN to analyze their limited
bandwidth usage for video streaming and overload in data
traffic. The results show that 802.11g wireless has good
performance in controlling end-to-end delay at low video bit
rates, and it can do good job in standard definition video
streaming with 10 clients. However, to achieve high definition
(HD) video streaming, we have to reduce the number of clients
for keeping smooth video streaming. Also [9] work was to
foster practices in the Internet when using MMC's applications
in e-learning services, and it proposed system that integrates
public domain multicast applications for synchronous media
communication, being supervised by a middleware based QoS
management framework, intending to preserve the QoS of
critical parameters for e-learning session's specificity.
Our work based on building e-learning system model which
based on Learning Management System (LMS) and Learning
Content Management System (LCMS). The architecture of e-
learning system proposed as three tiers, namely, Presentation
tier, Business tier and Data tier. Then adjusting network QoS
parameters to offer the service quality or service level to e-
learning system users, taking account of end-to-End delay and
delay variation of packets traveling across the network, also IP
dropped packets, and received packets for different e-learning
Traffic.
III. PROPOSED SYSTEM
We can take an e-learning environment [10] which is
representative of the collaborations in the distance learning
activity. This environment presents collaborations occurring
within a group composed of one or many sets of learners and a
coordinator. The main tool used to communicate is the chat
application. Also it’s considered the possibility of restricting its
usage to a limited number or subgroup of learners. Thanks to
this tool, students can share their ideas and communicate
among themselves easily. Problems arising due to the complex
nature of distance learning can be resolved using
videoconference.
There are collections of tools used to implement actions of
users of e-learning system. The cooperation tools rate from
chat to videoconferencing applications, although they also
include less interactive applications such as exams. As for the
transport layer, depending on the characteristics of the
application, it is recommended to use transmission Control
Protocol (TCP) or User Datagram Protocol (UDP) as the main
transport protocol. As for the application layer, each
application uses its own underlying technology and protocols.
Thus, for example the virtual lab, it use HTTP, while Remote
Method Invocation (RMI) and Real Time Protocol (RTP)/Real
Time Control protocol (RTCP) are used for the chat and
videoconferencing applications, respectively.
To provide a full-range testing framework, both quality
guaranteed and non-QoS-aware test cases were included. Three
scenarios proposed in this paper for each number of
participants; our initial scenario was conducted before enabling
any QoS mechanism at the routers FIFO in order to have a
reference point for our further evaluations, the second scenario
uses CBWFQ with LLQ for video traffic to give absolute
priority over any other traffic over an interface and the third
scenario proposed the LLQ for the voice. Those scenarios are
executed for the network of Fig.1; the focus of our
performance evaluation will be on the e-learning users. We
have modeled our topology according to the client-server
model, where users are at one extremity of the system and a
server is at the other, processing the flows generated by
different users of the system.
Our performance evaluation is conducted in two steps: first
step evaluate the selected metrics (delay, traffic received, and
packet loss rate) by applying traffic generated by a 25 users to
the network before and after applying QoS; the second step,
evaluate the same metrics, but this time considering the number
of participants in the e-learning system. Hence, we evaluate
and compare the performance of our architecture with groups
of 50, 100 users.
To simulate the system three configurations are realized:
A. Network Configuration
Figure 1. Network topology
The following steps taken to configure the network:
• We added to the project workspace the following
objects: Application Configuration, Profile
Configuration, QoS Attribute Configuration, Custom
Application Task Definition, Two Sun Blade 1000
Model 2900 (2 CPU) Server, one Sun Enterprise 4500
Server, one Ethernet 16 Port switch acts as Core
Switch, Ethernet Workstation as a client number of
work stations set according to the required number of
clients in the scenario (as we increased the number of
work stations gradually through 3 steps at first we
added 25 clients, 50 clients, and at last 100 clients) and
two IP routers.
• Connect both routers together with a bidirectional
PPP_DS3 link.
• Connect the server to the routers, and the clients to the
Switch using bidirectional 10Base_T links.
• Connect the Application server s to the DB Server, and
the switches to core switch with 100BaseT Links.
• Connect the Core switch with Router 2 using
1000Base_T links
B. Application Configuration
OPNET Modeler provides standard built-in models for
software applications such as VoIP for communications of
voice over the internet, HTTP for navigation on the Web, FTP
and video, which can be easily configured to simulate
applications used in e-learning traffic. However, there are no [11]. Assured Forwarding introduces prioritization and
built-in models for multi-tier applications as Learning controlled resource sharing between traffic classes. It defines
Registration Service in e-learning system. Thus these four traffic classes with three different packet drop-priorities in
applications have to be implemented via OPNET’s Custom each of them. Expedited Forwarding ensures absolute
Application feature. We follow the methodology and design guarantees on bandwidth, transmission delay and jitter. These
the Custom Application: characteristics are suitable for real-time services. So the
configuration defines Six traffic classes: EF, AF4x (i.e., AF41,
• Identify the tiers (Client, Web Server, and Database AF42, and AF43), AF3x, AF2x, AF1x, and BE.
Server).
We assume that the EF represents VOIP traffic to give this
• Breaking down the application into tasks, phases and traffic high priority over all other applications in the 3rd
requests/responses. We toke Login and Logout tasks as scenario while in the 2nd scenario EF represents video Traffic,
an example. We modeled Logout task consists of only AF4x represents video conferencing, AF2x represents HTTP
one phase “Disconnect”, While the Login Task via traffic as it is low latency data, AF1x represents FTP as it is
three basic phases: (Connect phase to connect the user high throughput data, and any other traffic considered as best
to the web server, Authenticate phase send message effort traffic.
from web server to database server to authenticate e-
learning user, Reply phases to reply to the connect
request from e-learning system actor. IV. SIMULATION RESULTS
OPNET has to be configured to obtain graphed results for
The rest of e-learning traffic generated in the network
numerous network components which include voice and video
consists of the following protocols: VoIP for communications
traffic, router, switches, and links. Three simulations have been
of voice over the internet, FTP for file transfer, HTTP for
executed for every queuing scheme for each scenario in terms
navigation on the Web and video.
of delay, jitter, traffic received and traffic dropped etc and it is
tested for Video Conferencing, voice traffic, FTP, E-learning
C. Queuing Configuration Custom application and Http.
Change the queuing schemes of the router interfaces so that
priority is taken into account as queuing is one of the very vital Fig. 2 focus on IP traffic dropped; the dropped packets in
mechanisms in traffic management system. Each router in the the LLQ for video were the highest and the LLQ for voice
network must implement some queuing discipline that governs introduced the lowest drop as the difference with FIFO equal to
how packets are buffered while waiting to be transmitted. 56% improvement of overall performance. This high drop in
video LLQ scenario due to starvation of bandwidth as video
Different queuing discipline in the routers can affect the traffic served first without considering other traffic, it is
performance of the applications and the utilization of the obvious at Fig. 4, 5, 7, 9.
network resources; also can be used to control which packets
get transmitted and which packets which packets get dropped.
In this step we applied QoS configuration to the network.
According to the concept of Differentiated Services (DiffServ),
traffic evaluation and marking are realized at the network
edges. The incoming traffic is sorted into these traffic classes
immediately at the edges of the DiffServ domain and the
corresponding DiffServ Code Point (DSCP) is assigned to the
packets. For this purpose, we activated CBWFQ on the routers.
The queuing disciplines used in the three scenarios of our
simulation with different number of clients are:
• First-in-first-out (FIFO) queuing: This expression
describes the principle of a queue or first-come first
Figure 2. IP drop (packets/sec)
serve behavior: what comes in first is handled first,
what comes in next waits until the first is finished. Fig. 3 Shows the queuing delay between the two routers it
• Class Based Weighted-Fair queuing (CBWFQ): This is is clear that the LLQ for video scenario was the highest and the
WFQ with Low Latency Queue (LLQ) for voice. In LLQ for voice introduced the lowest delay.
CBWFQ we use LLQ to give absolute priority over
any other traffic over an interface. This scenario uses
CBWFQ with LLQ for voice traffic
• The third scenario Class Based Weighted-Fair queuing
(CBWFQ) with Low Latency Queue (LLQ) for video.
As there are two standardized packet treatment
technologies, so called per hop behaviors (PHB) for DiffServ:
Assured Forwarding (AF) and Expedited Forwarding (EF)
 Figure 3. Point-to-Point queuing delay (sec)
Fig. 4 shows the FTP Traffic received in the three
scenarios, it is clear that in the second scenario LLQ video
most FTP traffic was dropped (99% of the traffic was
dropped).
Figure 4. FTP traffic received (bytes/sec)
Fig. 5 shows the HTTP Traffic received in the three
scenarios, it is clear that in the second scenario LLQ video
most Http traffic 70 % was dropped so it give lowest page
response time. FIFO scenario have highest http traffic as it treat
all traffic equally as no priority given so Http traffic can be
queued before real time traffic but still the response time is
better (56% improvement of overall performance) in LLQ
voice scenario as shown in Fig. 6.
Figure 5. HTTP traffic received (bytes/sec)
Figure 6. HTTP Page Response Time (sec)
Fig. 7, voice traffic received using LLQ voice scenario
higher than the default queuing FIFO and LLQ Video scenario.
It improved the FIFO performance with 33% for voice traffic.
Note that the End-to-End delay for voice in Fig.8 for LLQ for
voice is very small compared to FIFO queuing. While the End-
to-End delay in the second scenario is lower than LLQ with
voice as it dropped about 95% of the default queuing for voice
traffic.
Figure 7. Voice traffic received (bytes/sec)
Figure 8. Voice packet end-to-end delay (sec)
Fig. 9, video traffic received using LLQ for video scenario
higher than the received traffic using LLQ voice scenario and
FIFO scenario, although that it is not much higher (only 11%)
than LLQ for voice scenario.
 Scenarios for 100 Users
Measures FIFO WFQ with LLQ WFQ with LLQ
Queuing for voice for video
IP drop
13055 12566 16637
(packets/sec)
FTP traffic received
(byte/sec) 682 77684 787
HTTP traffic
received (byte/sec) 24453 35684 11256
Http response time
7.1 7.01 0.33
(sec)
Video conferencing
traffic received 1052982 1210072 1214206
(byte/sec)
Voice traffic
received (byte/sec) 57747 394209 13542
Figure 9. Video conferencing traffic received (bytes/sec) Voice packet End-
1.9 0.15 0.07
to-End delay (sec)

V. CONCLUSION
Table 1 emphasizes the differences between an application
running in QoS and non-QoS modes, respectively and the best In this paper our concern was to design a flexible
results highlighted according to number of users architecture to support real-time service in an e-learning
system, and then a model for enabling QoS in a multi-tiered e-
learning real-time system was proposed. We have presented a
TABLE I. COMPARISON BETWEEN APPLICATIONS RUNNING
IN PRIVILEGED AND NON-PRIVILEGED MODES set of experiments and techniques that apply QoS at layer 3.
We have described how the routers’ configuration can be
Scenarios for 25 Users altered so as to provide marked flows of traffic.
Measures FIFO WFQ with LLQ WFQ with LLQ
Queuing for voice for video We proposed 3 scenarios in this paper, one without any
IP drop QoS i.e. FIFO and the other 2 scenarios us WFQ-LLQ as each
(packets/sec) 1031 446 2601 class of traffic have its own bandwidth and one of the queues
FTP traffic received has its strict priority over all traffic in 2nd scenario LLQ
2585 16371 56
(byte/sec)
HTTP traffic applied for Video conferencing traffic while the 3rd scenario
4770 6336 1900 applied LLQ for voice. To validate our implementation, we
received (byte/sec)
Http response time have carried out a series of simulations, involving different
3.5 1.5 0.23
(sec) number of users and different kind of traffic.
Video conferencing
traffic received 1559571 1704641 1888506 The created scenarios for simulation of layer 3
(byte/sec) infrastructures show up benefits from the implementation of
Voice traffic QoS in their policies, and the obtained results are clear sign of
147215 196797 8347
received (byte/sec)
the type of improvement as video seems to be smoother and the
voice is not chopped due to their strictly priority over all traffic
Voice packet End- types. It is clear from results that the 3rd scenario gives better
0.15 0.061 0.062
to-End delay (sec)
performance to all types of traffics, while 2nd scenario give
better performance to video traffic only while it starves all
Scenarios for 50 Users other traffic as it use all of the available bandwidth. Results
Measures FIFO WFQ with LLQ WFQ with LLQ indicate that improvements caused by traffic differentiation
Queuing for voice for video
IP drop
become more significant as the number of users increases.
7111 4070 7590
(packets/sec) Our future plans to enhance our QoS model to use L2 QoS
FTP traffic received
(byte/sec)
2452 10781 72 and use congestion management techniques (traffic policing
HTTP traffic and shaping) to improve overall performance and using this
4397 8659 3402 scenario recreating real traffic of e-learning applications traffic;
received (byte/sec)
Http response time
15 5.7 0.43
our tests come close to reality, showing up that our QoS model
(sec) can be successfully applied into a real world while obtaining
Video conferencing benefits close to the ones that we got here.
traffic received 1193618 1202360 1203726
(byte/sec)
Voice traffic REFERENCES
received (byte/sec) 48984 304310 8736
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