Output Traffic Characterization of Policers and Shapers with Long-Range Dependent Input Traffic

Long-range dependence (LRD) is a largely verified property of Internet traffic, which severely affects network queuing An approach for guaranteeing performance requirements is controlling the statistical profile of input traffic by policing or shaping regulators. In this paper, it is investigated by simulation how the 1/f^alpha spectrum of LRD traffic is altered when this is regulated by either policers or shapers. Traffic spectral analysis is carried out mainly by the Modified Allan Variance, a time-domain quantity with demonstrated superior accuracy in fractional-noise parameter estimation. The queuing behaviour of LRD regulated traffic in FIFO schedulers is also investigated. Conditions under which service level agreements based on delay bounds can be violated, by varying alpha in input LRD traffic, are examined.