Modeling and measurement techniques in packet communication networks

Considerable advances in the modeling and measurements of packet-switched networks have been made since this concept emerged in the late sixties. In this paper, we first review the modeling techniques that are most frequently used to study these packet transport networks; for each technique we provide a brief introduction, a discussion of its capabilities and limitations, and one or more representative applications. Next we review the basic measurement tools, their capabilities, their limitation, and their applicability to and implementation in different networks, namely land based wire networks, satellite networks, and ground packet radio networks; we also show the importance of well-designed experiments in satisfying the many measurement goals. Finally we discuss briefly some open problems for future research.