The International Conference on ns-3 (ICNS3), formerly known as Workshop on ns-3 (WNS3), will be held on August 19-21, 2025 at the Ritsumeikan University, Osaka Ibaraki Campus and co-hosted by Tokushima University, Japan. The objective of the conference is to gather ns-3 users and developers, together with networking simulation practitioners and users, and developers of other network simulation tools, to discuss the ns-3 simulator and related activities.

ICNS3 2025 is planned to be an in-person event. The organizers request that an author from each accepted paper plan to attend in person. However, accommodations will be made for authors to present virtually if any hardships (such as visa issues, economic or other travel constraints) arise. Portions of ICNS3 2025 will be made available either live virtually or with archived recordings. Additional events will be planned during the same week (August 19-21), including the annual developers and maintainers meeting, and possibly training and tutorial sessions. More information on this will follow.

The conference organizers will apply to ACM to publish accepted papers in the ACM International Conference Proceeding Series (ICPS), published in the ACM Digital Library.

ACM has introduced a new open-access publishing model for the ICPS conferences. Authors based at institutions that are not yet part of the ACM Open program and do not qualify for a full waiver will be required to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) to publish their article in the ACM Digital Library.

To determine whether or not an APC will be applicable to your article, please follow the detailed guidance here. From this web page, you will also find out the exact amount of the APC.

Two types of papers may be submitted:

• Full papers (7-9 pages)
• Short papers (4-6 pages)

In addition, artifacts for reproducibility will be evaluated. Please read below for the acceptable scope for full papers, short papers, how artifacts evaluation will be handled, and submission instructions.

Full paper submission

ICNS3 invites authors to submit original high quality papers presenting different aspects of developing and using ns-3. In such papers, reproducibility and methodology will be a key reviewing criteria, as explained below.

Papers on the validation and verification of ns-3 models or simulation campaigns are especially encouraged, and may be grouped into a validation session.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• new models, devices, protocols and applications for ns-3
• using ns-3 in modern networking research
• comparison with other network simulators and emulators
• speed and scalability issues for ns-3
• multiprocessor and distributed simulation with ns-3, including use of GPUs
• validation of ns-3 models
• credibility and reproducibility issues for ns-3 simulations
• user experience issues of ns-3
• frameworks for the definition and automation of ns-3 simulations
• post-processing, visualisation and statistical analysis tools for ns-3
• models ported from other simulators to ns-3
• using real code for simulation with ns-3 and using ns-3 code in network applications
• integration of ns-3 with testbeds, emulators, and other simulators or tools
• using ns-3 API from programming languages other than C++ or Python
• porting ns-3 to unsupported platforms
• network emulation with ns-3
• using ns-3 in education and teaching

Papers submitted between 7-9 pages will be reviewed as full papers and classified as such in the proceedings.

Short paper submission

We solicit novel short papers between 4-6 pages in length, for publishing in the proceedings in a short paper track. Short papers are intended to follow a scope similar to full papers, but for work that may not be lengthy enough for a 7-9 page submission. In particular, the following topics are encouraged:

• Verification, validation, or performance of ns-3 or its models
• Use of ns-3 in industry
• Special applications of ns-3
• Educational use of ns-3
• Shorter papers that are otherwise within scope of the full paper track

Papers about ns-3 use in industry are suggested to address these questions:

• What specific R&D questions did you or do you want to answer by simulation?
• Why and how did you choose ns-3 as the appropriate tool for your application?
• What surprises did you find, in correctness/behavior? in implementation? in learning curve?
• What are the remaining barriers to addressing fully your R&D questions?
• What general capabilities would have made your work easier/faster?

Submission instructions

Authors should submit papers through EasyChair in PDF format, complying with ACM Primary article template. Submitted papers must not have been submitted for review or published (partially or completely) elsewhere. All papers must be written in English.

For those authors using Overleaf, an ACM template is available.