On the feasibility of bandwidth estimation in wireless access networks |
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Authors: | Dimitrios Koutsonikolas Y Charlie Hu |
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Affiliation: | (1) University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, NY, USA;(2) Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA |
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Abstract: | Bandwidth estimation refers to the measurement of a bandwidth-related metric over a network path, performed only by the end
hosts, without access to the intermediate routers. The problem of fast bandwidth estimation has been extensively studied in
the wired Internet. More recently, researchers have shown that tools developed for the wired Internet cannot be used in wireless
networks, due to the different characteristics of these networks which invalidate many of the assumptions made for the wired
Internet. This observation has led to new tools that take into account the different characteristics of wireless networks.
These tools have only been evaluated in controlled environments, under controlled settings and interferers, and only for 802.11
CSMA-based WLANs. In addition, no tool has been reported so far in the literature for cellular networks. This paper presents
the first study of the feasibility of fast bandwidth estimation in wireless networks “in the wild”, i.e., in deployed operational
networks. We discuss the challenges associated with bandwidth measurements in operational networks in contrast to in controlled
lab environments. We study the applicability of a state-of-the-art probe-based tool for 802.11 WLANs in a commercial 1 × EVDO
network. In addition, we evaluate the accuracy of the tool in three different WLAN environments, i.e., lab, home, and hotspot.
Our results show that bandwidth estimation using a probe-based tool can be challenging in certain WLAN environments, and practically
infeasible in EVDO cellular networks, due to the short-scale dynamics in this type of networks. |
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