# Web-Based Toolkit for Performance Simulation and Analysis of Power Line Communication Networks
## 7 Conclusions  
The usefulness of simulation and analysis tools for PLC networks is irrefutable. However, the typical complexity and learning curves of network simulators and the understanding of the networks for their analysis hinder their use. Web applications represent a gentle, portable, and scalable solutions to this problem. This paper presents three web applications developed to ease the execution of: (1) simulation using SimPRIME (simulation of NB-PLC PRIME networks), (2) simulation using SimBPL (simulation of MV-BPL cells), and (3) PRIME Analytics (analyzing and diagnosing communication problems in NB-PLC PRIME networks). Solutions (1) and (3) are based on the Python web framework Django, whereas solution (2) is based on a microservice architecture that combines different technologies for the front-end (e.g., AngularJS) and backend (e.g., Node.js, Python). Ease of development might be highlighted as the main advantage of solution (1) and solution (3), since only Python skills would be required, whereas full-stack development skills would be required for solution (2). Although both solutions incorporate technologies to boost scalability, such as RabbitMQ for queue management and Celery for task management, the higher modularity of solution (2) makes it stand out in terms of flexibility. The use of Citus in solution (3) to parallelize the workload makes it also very scalable. A clear analogy can be drawn between these web applications for PLC simulations and main Cloud service models, namely SaaS (Software as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service) and IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service). In IaaS, the cloud provider provides the computer, storage, network, and other critical computing resources. This service is generally provided to companies with powerful IT staff who are willing to configure their IT infrastructure but not host it. An example of this type of service would be virtual machines or containers. In PaaS, companies build their solutions on top of the applications developed or purchased by the cloud provider using APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), libraries, services, and other tools supported by the cloud provider. This service is usually used by companies whose main business is the development of applications or solutions. An example of this type of service would be IoT platforms, such as Microsoft Azure IoT Hub, AWS IoT, or Google Cloud IoT. Finally, in SaaS, end users use vendor applications running on cloud infrastructure. Examples of this type of service are Dropbox, Google Drive, or Microsoft Teams. Therefore, the toolkit presented in this paper, although not yet running on a cloud infrastructure, is an SaaS-wise solution in the sense that users only use the software through a user-friendly interface, but they are not aware of the underlying complexity. As in the case of SaaS, these types of web applications can dramatically increase the use of PLC simulators and PLC network analytics. They can help accelerate researchers' progress in facilitating the use of these types of tools by utility operators who are not familiar with network analyzer and simulator environments or in facilitating their use in academic settings (for example, laboratories), thus also helping to make PLC technologies more popular. The core of this work has been carried out by a research project funded by the Spanish government under contract OSIRIS (RTC-2014-1556-3), counting with the leadership of a global DSO such as UFD and the participation of several smart meters manufacturers needing to design, develop, and evaluate tools that allow detecting or evaluating communication errors in NB-PLC networks and providing design criteria for BPL deployment. Conceptualization, M.S., G.L., J.M. and J.B.; Data curation, G.L. and J.M. ; Investigation, M.S., J.M., G.L. and J.M. ; Methodology, J.M., G.L. and J.M. ; Project administration, J.I.M. ; Resources, J.I.M. and J.B.; Software, M.S., G.L. and J.M. ; Supervision, J.I.M. and J.B.; Writing--original draft, M.S. and G.L. ; Writing--review and editing, M.S., J.I.M., G.L.