simulation - Simulating multiple android devices -

i'm in process of creating android application allows host device take on 1 of many roles in gathers, shares, or processes information. given nature of application, necessary not test roles independently, simulate interaction among components. there exist platform allows simulation of multiple android devices in network?

i've had trouble finding meaningful search results, majority of results seem geared toward testing multiple types of devices, not simulating multiple, communicating devices concurrently.

as suggested here, possible run multiple instances of android studio emulator communicate through sockets, not seem suitable strategy simulating large numbers of devices.

my advisor has requested find platform allows simulation of thousands of devices, happy find suitable hundreds

if have budget in tens of thousands of dollars, buy bunch of android devices , network them.

if have budget in thousands of dollars, buy bunch of computers , run handful of emulators on each.

if have fair amount of experience in systems administration , android development, renting boatload of amazon ec2 instances, perhaps 1 headless android emulator apiece. limits up-front expense not going trivial manage.

the best solution, imho, ignore android time being. abstract code such "many roles in gathers, shares, or processes information" implemented in plain java (or plain c/c++, if that's you're working in). can test code on regular pc hardware, rather stuck android hardware or emulators , intrinsic. creating test cases hundreds or thousands of interacting "devices" difficult, result should able run on single pc, albeit perhaps beefy one. then, perform smaller-scale interaction testing of android apps use code. seems outside scope of single student project, it's closer alternatives outlined above.