A network packet routing simulator built in C — visualizing Minimum Spanning Trees and shortest path algorithms through an animated, browser-based frontend.
netroute-sim is a college project that simulates how network packets are routed across a graph of routers and connections. It models real-world internet infrastructure concepts — finding the cheapest way to connect all routers (MST) and the fastest path to deliver a packet (shortest path).
All core algorithms are implemented in pure C and compiled to WebAssembly, powering a live animated frontend that visualizes both approaches side by side in real time.
- Graph-based network modeling — routers as nodes, connections as weighted edges
- Kruskal's Algorithm — builds MST by sorting and greedily picking cheapest edges
- Prim's Algorithm — builds MST by expanding from a starting node
- Dijkstra's Algorithm — finds the shortest/fastest packet delivery path
- Union-Find (Disjoint Set) — with path compression and union by rank
- Packet Transmission Simulator — simulate sending data from any router to any other
- Topology File Loader — load custom network graphs from
.txt/.csvfiles - Side-by-side comparison — MST cost vs Shortest Path, animated simultaneously
- Browser-based visualization — runs entirely in the browser via WebAssembly
- Complexity Analyzer — live display of time complexity for each algorithm run
flowchart TD
A["C Backend (Core Logic)
graph.c
union_find.c
kruskal.c
prim.c
dijkstra.c
simulator.c
loader.c"]
B["WebAssembly (.wasm)
C functions exposed to JavaScript"]
C["Frontend (HTML / CSS / JS)
Canvas Renderer
Animation Engine
Stats Panel
Topology Loader UI"]
A -->|Emscripten| B
B -->|JS calls C| C
netroute-sim/
│
├── src/ # All C source files
│ ├── graph.c / graph.h # Graph data structure (adjacency list)
│ ├── union_find.c / .h # Disjoint Set with path compression
│ ├── kruskal.c / .h # Kruskal's MST algorithm
│ ├── prim.c / .h # Prim's MST algorithm
│ ├── dijkstra.c / .h # Dijkstra's shortest path
│ ├── min_heap.c / .h # Min-Heap / Priority Queue
│ ├── simulator.c / .h # Packet transmission simulation
│ ├── loader.c / .h # Load topology from file
│ └── main.c # CLI entry point + WASM export bridge
│
├── web/ # Frontend
│ ├── index.html # Main page
│ ├── style.css # Styling
│ ├── visualizer.js # Canvas animation engine
│ ├── wasm_bridge.js # JS <-> WASM interface
│ └── netroute.wasm # Compiled WebAssembly binary
│
├── topologies/ # Sample network topology files
│ ├── small_network.txt # 6-node test graph
│ ├── medium_network.txt # 20-node graph
│ └── large_network.txt # 100-node stress test
│
├── tests/ # Unit tests for each module
│ ├── test_graph.c
│ ├── test_union_find.c
│ ├── test_kruskal.c
│ ├── test_prim.c
│ └── test_dijkstra.c
│
├── docs/ # Documentation & report
│ ├── report.pdf
│ └── complexity_analysis.md
│
├── Makefile # Build system
└── README.md
| Algorithm | Strategy | Time Complexity | Space Complexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kruskal's | Sort edges, Union-Find to avoid cycles | O(E log E) | O(V + E) |
| Prim's | Greedy expansion via Min-Heap | O(E log V) | O(V + E) |
| Algorithm | Strategy | Time Complexity | Space Complexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dijkstra's | Min-Heap based greedy relaxation | O((V + E) log V) | O(V) |
| Structure | Used In | Key Operations |
|---|---|---|
| Union-Find | Kruskal's | find() O(α(n)), union() O(α(n)) |
| Min-Heap | Prim's, Dijkstra's | insert() O(log n), extract_min() O(log n) |
| Adjacency List | All | add_edge() O(1), traversal O(V+E) |
Network graphs are loaded from plain text files in this format:
# netroute-sim topology file
# FORMAT: ROUTER_A ROUTER_B WEIGHT
NODES 6
EDGES 9
0 1 4
0 2 3
1 2 1
1 3 2
2 4 5
3 4 2
3 5 6
4 5 1
2 5 8
- GCC (for running the CLI)
- Emscripten (
emcc) — for compiling to WebAssembly - A modern browser — for the frontend
# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/Shaurya-Dwivedi/netroute-sim.git
cd netroute-sim
# Build
make
# Run with a topology file
./netroute-sim topologies/small_network.txt
# Example output
./netroute-sim topologies/medium_network.txt --algo kruskal
./netroute-sim topologies/medium_network.txt --algo dijkstra --src 0 --dest 15# Make sure Emscripten is installed and activated
source /path/to/emsdk/emsdk_env.sh
# Compile C to WASM
make wasm
# Serve the frontend locally
cd web/
python3 -m http.server 8080
# Open http://localhost:8080netroute-sim.github.io (hosted on GitHub Pages)
The live demo lets you:
- Generate random graph
- Watch Kruskal's and Prim's build the MST edge by edge, animated
- Simulate a packet delivery and watch Dijkstra's trace the shortest path
- Project planning & architecture design
- Graph data structure (
graph.c) - Union-Find with path compression
- Min-Heap / Priority Queue
- Kruskal's Algorithm
- Prim's Algorithm
- Dijkstra's Algorithm
- Packet Simulator
- Topology File Loader
- WASM bridge & Emscripten build
- Frontend Canvas visualizer
- Side-by-side animation comparison
- Host on GitHub Pages
- Weighted undirected graphs
- Greedy algorithms
- Minimum Spanning Trees
- Disjoint Set / Union-Find with path compression & union by rank
- Min-Heap (Priority Queue) from scratch in C
- Shortest path routing
- Dynamic memory management in C
- WebAssembly via Emscripten
- Real-time canvas-based animation
Shaurya Dwivedi B.Tech ES | Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur Github Profile
Ankit Kumar Goyal B.Tech ME | Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur Github Profile
Harshal Joshi B.Tech CI | Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur Github Profile
Mridupawan Kalita B.Tech ES | Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur Github Profile
This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.
Built as a college project exploring advanced graph algorithms and real-world network simulation.