# ViTool-BC: Visualization Tool Based on Cooja Simulator for WSN
## 2 Related Works
Some research has focused on extending the functionality of the Cooja simulator [37; 38]. Taking advantage of the potential of this, they extract information and metadata to achieve other analysis objectives as described in [39], and research which plugins and APIs available to Cooja are used to compile relevant information about weather and surface data. A graphical view is available to show the results of the simulations. In [40], a tool is defined that integrates Cooja with an application based on TinyOS to deploy cyber-physical devices in management and industrial monitoring. Similarly in [37], the implementation of a graphical environment is described, allowing Cooja to run the simulation of a smart house and operate the protocol on closed environments (building, house, etc.). Additionally, software that model WSN behavior or capabilities are used to extend simulation possibilities. This is the case of [41], where the authors present Viptos, which is a visualization tool for TinyOS nodes related to the TOMSSIM simulator. This tool employs the options presented in VisualSense [42], that at same time is based on the software Ptolemy II [43], where it is offered different kinds of classes and methods for sensor control and communication emulations. Viptos, through the nesC language and PtinyOS [44] framework, integrates VisualSense and TOMSSIM for the running of TinyOS programs (also in hardware devices), allowing the packet-level simulation, the models' additions for building architecture, and so on. In [45], the NetTopo tool is presented, a Java-based visualization/emulator tool oriented for network algorithm implementations and evaluations. It provides a GUI to show routing algorithms steps, path discovery, and network organization, among other processes. NetTopo is an independent software, meaning that is not based on other simulations' tools, but its implementation contains all the logic for simulating WSN. With the same approach of independency, Netviewer [46] is described. This tool supports the topology and management of communication protocols. Additionally, in different types of environment scenarios this tool presents packets analysis such as volcanic activities and forest analysis, among others. Netviewer is constituted with a replay module for historical review with the visualization of topology and log files of the simulation. In [47], authors define WiseObserver as WSN visualization tool written in C# and oriented primarily into the results and interpretation of the data generated through a simulation. This tool supports the functionalities of charts by node, interpolation maps, evolution videos, and reports. Among the diversity of state-of-the-art tools and simulators available, ViTool-BC, a Cooja-based tool, is presented to display the information, data, and results of a WSN simulation for the analysis of routing protocols. In addition, this tool allows the extraction and monitoring of Cooja simulations, in terms of the metrics and parameters of interest based on energy estimation models, topology construction visualized step by step, heat maps of energy consumption, and latency calculation, among others. A comparison of different solutions proposed in the literature are described in Table 1.