Traffic analysis for high speed networks

A description is presented of the use of time series analysis techniques to characterize aspects of traffic patterns in high-speed wide-area communication networks. One aspect relates to the possible periodic behavior of the traffic; another aspect relates to the bursts or spikes characteristic of traffic approaching the maximum load. It is found that a time-of-day periodicity exists at several levels of network traffic and should be considered regardless of the analytical technique used to estimate traffic load. The authors have confirmed that a composite or average day model is not precise enough for modeling network traffic in their environment