Multi-level application-based traffic characterization in a large-scale wireless network

With the increasing deployment of wireless networks, network management and configuration of wireless Access Points (APs) has become one of the main concerns of network operators. While statistics and measurements regarding the overall usage of individual APs are readily available, the limited knowledge of the wireless traffic demand in terms of the type of application hinders efficient network provisioning. This paper provides an extensive application-based characterization of a large-scale wireless network, going beyond the port-number limitation, across three levels, namely, network, clients, and APs. We found that the most popular application types, in terms of the number of flows, bytes, and clients, are web and peer-to-peer; and while the majority of APs is dominated by them, APs of the same building type have large differences in their traffic mix. File transfer flows, such as FTP and P2P, are heavier in wired than in wireless networks. Finally, an interesting dichotomy among APs, in terms of their dominant application type and downloading and uploading behavior was observed.