Step 2: Create Experiment, request development session is listed as a single step in the overview diagram shown in Section 4.5. Most Users will execute these in one go, one after the other. However, for explanatory purposes, it is better broken down into three sub-steps.
Step 2a: Initial Experiment Creation is common to both Canonical and Non-canonical Experiments, and was described in Section 4.4.3.
Step 2b: Finish Experiment Creation is only applicable to Canonical Experiments, to specify the set of Testbed resources an Experiment plans to utilize.
Step 2c: Request Development Session is is also specific to the Canonical workflow.
Although Experimenters will develop their Experiments entirely in the virtual environment of the AERPAW Digital Twin, the AERPAW Platform Control Framework needs to know up-front what precise subset of AERPAW Nodes the Experiment will be designed to operate on, when it moves to the Testbed. This enables the correct virtual environment to be set up for their specific Experiment. For example, in an Experiment with two Fixed Nodes, should wireless signals at some particular band transmitted by one Fixed Node be detectable at the other? The answer may be "Yes" if the two nodes are LW1 and LW2, but "No" if they are LW3 and LW5.
Maintaining a precise one-to-one correspondence for the Experiment between the Digital Twin and the Testbed also enables seamless transfer when the Experiment is submitted for Testbed execution.
So, after initial Experiment creation, the next step is to define the set of ARN resources that your Experiment will target in Testbed execution, and save this definition.
You should select the set of AERPAW Fixed Radio Nodes on which you intend to run parts of your Experiment. These are the actual AHNs on which your code will actually run during Testbed execution (although you will develop this code in a Virtual Environment).
You should select a set of AERPAW Portable Nodes that are the same in number and functionality as the ones you intend parts of your Experiment to run on. (In AERPAW, each Fixed Node is a unique resource, due to its location; but all Portable Nodes of a given class - e.g. Large Portable Nodes - are interchangeable; your Experiment will run on some specific set of nodes that will be assigned to your Experiment at the time of Testbed execution, and that are each of the same type as the corresponding node you specified.)
For each Portable Node, you also have the option of specifying a programmable ground vehicle or air vehicle.
In selecting the set of Fixed Nodes, and specifying the set of Portable Nodes (and optionally vehicles), it is a good idea to refer to Sample Experiments (Section 6 of this User Manual), and model your Experiment initially after one of them.
Once you have completed creating a new Experiment request and saved it, you can use the Portal to "Initiate Development Session" for this Experiment.
You can also use the Portal to view all the Experiments you have either created, or are a member of, and view their states. You can request a Development session for any Experiment that is currently in "Saved" state.
Once you trigger your first Development session for a newly created Experiment, you can no longer modify the set of target resources.
Section 2.4 provides help both on managing your Experiments, and requesting a Development session.
Usage of AERPAW, and in particular the traversal of this workflow, is conditional on your acceptance of the AERPAW Usage Policy.
By traversing this workflow, and making any use of AERPAW equipment, software, or services, you are indicating that you have read and accepted the AERPAW Usage Policy.
Section 2.5 of this User Manual specifies the AERPAW Usage Policy.
Step 3 to Step 5 are now performed by AERPAW Ops/Portal/Control
At this point, a Development Mode Experiment execution environment specific to your request will be prepared in the AERPAW Virtual Environment by the AERPAW Platform Control System. This process should take only a few minutes; in rare cases it may take longer. If it is not complete for multiple hours, you should send email to AERPAW Operations <aerpaw-operations@ncsu.edu> to alert us of possible problems.