ICNS3: International Conference on ns-3 University of Naples Federico II Naples, Italy, October 19-21, 2026

Conference website	https://www.nsnam.org/research/icns3/icns3-2026/call-for-papers/
Submission link	https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=icns30
Abstract registration deadline	May 24, 2026
Submission deadline	May 24, 2026
Tentative Acceptance Notification	July 1, 2026

Call for Papers

The International Conference on ns-3 (ICNS3) formerly known as Workshop on ns-3 (WNS3) will be held on October 19-21, 2026 at the University of Naples Federico II, Italy. The objective of this conference is to bring together ns-3 users and developers, networking simulation practitioners, and developers of other network simulation tools, together with an increasing number of industrial users, to discuss the ns-3 tool and related activities. Industry participation has become an important driver of ns-3’s evolution, providing practical feedback that helps steer the simulator toward greater real-world relevance. 

ICNS3 2026 is planned to be an in-person event. The organizers request that an author from each accepted paper plan to attend in person.  Additional events will be planned during the same days (October 19-21), including the annual developers and maintainers meeting, and possibly training and tutorial sessions. More information on this will follow.

As in past years, the conference organizers will apply to ACM to publish accepted papers in the ACM International Conference Proceeding Series (ICPS).

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.

Papers must be written in English and must not exceed 9 pages. Every paper will be peer-reviewed. At least one author of each accepted paper must register and present the work at the conference. 

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 key reviewing criteria, as explained below.

Papers on the validation and verification of ns-3 models or simulation campaigns are especially encouraged and will 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, visualization, 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
• Using ns-3 as a digital twin

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 the learning curve?
• What are the remaining barriers to fully addressing 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. 

Acceptance Criteria

Every paper will be peer-reviewed by the technical program committee. Papers will be accepted based on the relevance, novelty, and impact of the contribution, as well as the quality of writing and presentation.

Authors presenting new ns-3 models, frameworks, integration setups, etc. are encouraged to include all traditional parts of a scientific paper: introduction, motivation, related work, assumptions, verification and validation, conclusions, and references. As a general rule, papers that only document source code will be rejected.

Authors presenting networking research using ns-3 are encouraged to follow best simulation practices and focus particularly on the credibility and reproducibility of simulation results. We strongly encourage authors of all papers to include links to relevant source code and instructions on how to use it. This will make contributions more useful for the ns-3 community. If code has been submitted through the ns-3 merge request process, or published as a module in the ns-3 app store, please list the link(s), this will be considered a plus. Published, high-quality artifacts will be a consideration in the Best Paper evaluation, and in the awarding of ACM artifacts badges (see below).

Please do not hesitate to contact the ICNS3 TPC Co-chairs if you are uncertain whether your submission falls within the scope of the conference.

Artifacts Evaluation

Accepted papers will be reviewed by the technical program committee for consideration of the awarding of ACM artifacts badges, according to the criteria listed on the WNS3 2024 artifacts page, and exemplary papers will be noted on the program page.

For an example of a paper from WNS3 2022 that produced high-quality artifacts enabling the easy reproduction of all paper figures, please see the paper by Nicolas Rybowski and Olivier Bonaventure, Evaluating OSPF convergence with NS3-DCE. paper; video; slides

Four examples from WNS3 2023 were listed as exemplary by the artifacts evaluation committee:

1. Eduardo Nuno Almeida, Helder Fontes, Rui Campos and Manuel Ricardo, Position-Based Machine Learning Propagation Loss Model Enabling Fast Digital Twins of Wireless Networks in ns-3
2. Shengjie Shu, Wenjun Yang, Jianping Pan and Lin Cai, A Multipath Extension to the QUIC Module for ns-3
3. Wesley Garey, Tanguy Ropitault, Richard Rouil, Evan Black and Weichao Gao, O-RAN with Machine Learning in ns-3
4. Juan V. Leon Rosas, Thomas R. Henderson and Sumit Roy, Verification of ns-3 Wi-Fi Rate Adaptation Models on AWGN Channels

Copyright Policy

Accepted papers will be published in the ACM Digital Library, which will require copyright transfer to ACM under their normal terms and conditions. In the spirit of open source, we encourage authors of published papers to exercise their right to publish author-prepared versions on their respective home page, on a publicly accessible server of their employer, or on a pre-print server. Upon request, we will provide links from the ICNS3 program on the ns-3 website to the author-prepared version.

Plagiarism Policy

We follow the ACM standards and conduct regarding plagiarism.

Use of generative AI

ACM has updated its policy on authorship regarding the use of generative AI. Please review this and note that the use of generative AI tools and technologies and create content is permitted but must be fully disclosed.

Reviewing Process Conflict of Interest Policy

Reviewers will follow the IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking Conflict-of-Interest Guidelines. Authors are requested to identify potential conflicts of interest among the conference’s technical program committee.

Posters, Demonstrations and Lightning  Talks

In addition to the published paper track, we will organize an exhibition-style posters, demonstrations and lightning talk session. The aim is to foster interactive discussions on work-in-progress, new problem statements, and ideas for future development related to ns-3, and display innovative prototypes.

Accepted posters, demo abstracts, and lightning talks  will be published on the ns-3 website. At least one author of each accepted poster, demo or a  lightning talk must register and present the work at the conference. Please send an email to the TPC Co-chairs if you are interested in presenting a poster, giving a demonstration or delivering a lightning talk by September 18, 2026.

Awards

One Best Paper will be selected by the TPC Co-chairs and will be announced at the conference.

Registration

Registration information will be posted at a later date. At least one author of each accepted paper must register and present the work at the conference.

Technical Program Co-Chairs

• Tommaso Pecorella, University of Florence, Italy
• Vivek Jain, NVIDIA, USA

Proceedings Chair

• Abhijith Anilkumar, Salesforce, USA​​​​​​​
• ​​​​​​​Pasquale Imputato, University of Naples Federico II, Italy

General Chairs

• Stefano Avallone, University of Naples Federico II, Italy

Important Dates 

Paper Submission Deadline: May 24, 2026

Tentative Acceptance Notification: July 1, 2026

Conference: October 19-21, 2026