Through the Diversity of Bandwidth-Related Metrics, Estimation Techniques and Tools: An Overview
Fatih Abut · International Journal of Computer Network and Information Security · 2018
The knowledge of bandwidth in communication networks can be useful in various applications.Some popular examples are validation of service level agreements, traffic engineering and capacity planning support, detection of congested or underutilized links, optimization of network route selection, dynamic server selection for downloads and visualizing network topologies, to name just a few.Following these various motivations, a variety of bandwidth estimation techniques and tools have been proposed in the last decade and still, several new ones are currently being introduced.They all show a wide spectrum of different assumptions, characteristics, advantages and limitations.In this paper, the bandwidth estimation literature is reviewed, with focus on introducing four specific bandwidth-related metrics including capacity, available bandwidth, achievable throughput and bulk transfer capacity (BTC); describing the main characteristics, strengths and weaknesses of major bandwidth estimation techniques as well as classifying the respective tool implementations.Also, the fundamental challenges, practical issues and difficulties faced by designing and implementing bandwidth estimation techniques are addressed.