A histogram-based model for video traffic behavior in an ATM multiplexer

The authors introduce a model based on arrival rate histograms for characterizing the behavior of an ATM buffer when it is carrying variable bit rate video traffic. Traffic smoothing on a frame-by-frame basis allows a quasistatic approximation that accurately predicts results such as buffer occupancy distributions and cell loss rates to be made. Convolving individual source histograms allow prediction of the queueing performance of a multiplexed stream. The approximation is investigated in more detail by modeling video as a Markov modulated Poisson process. It is shown that the multiplexer system is nearly completely decomposable (NCD). NCD systems have a well-known approximate solution, which is identical to the histogram approximation. Error bounds for the NCD approximation are also known and are reasonably tight. Results indicate that while the presence of strong correlations is an important characteristic of video traffic, the actual form of that correlation is not