Synchronized performance evaluation methodologies for communication systems

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Researchers and developers often use analytical techniques, network simulations, or real-world experiments to evaluate the performance of communication systems. Simulations are effective for large-scale virtual experiments, while real-world evaluations provide the highest level of realism and detail. Analytical techniques, on the other hand, abstract the technical environment, allowing for general conclusions. However, each method has significant shortcomings. Complex communication protocols can be difficult to analyze analytically, network simulations may overlook system-specific effects, and real-world evaluations are costly and subject to uncontrollable environmental factors. Hybrid performance evaluation methodologies, such as network emulation, aim to address these challenges by merging the scalability of simulations with the credibility of real-world evaluations. This work discusses various contributions to hybrid performance evaluation, focusing on methodological enhancements for improved network emulation applicability. It also explores the use of similar concepts in developing a hardware-software co-design framework and demonstrates the extension of emulation technology for establishing a distributed debugging framework.