19th ITC Specialist Seminar 2008

Panel: Network Usage and Traffic: Do we need fluid mechanics or plumbing?

Do we really need to measure peta bytes of traffic data, nosily peep into any provider's network to discover its topology, stalk innocent people to plot down their mobility patterns, and dissect popular internet applications down to the bare state machine? Is it really needed for dimensioning and operating wireless and fixed networks? After all, no one thinks of measuring and modeling the patterns of toilets flushing and showers taken in order to dimension the sewage and water systems in our cities. Is network dimensioning and traffic engineering about plumbing, or is there a case for an internet physics, a fluid mechanics of internet traffic? This panel will discuss the usefulness of traffic and usage studies.

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