A light-weight available bandwidth inference methodology in a queueing analysis approach

End-to-end available bandwidth estimation is important in understanding network congestion and enhancing service quality. In this paper, we investigate a light-weight probing method for available bandwidth measurement in a queueing analysis approach. Unlike the self-congestion based measurement approach, a light-weight probing technique infers the available bandwidth along a path without congesting the routers along the path. Of particular interest in our investigations, is the squared coefficient of variation (SCV) of the inter-departure process of a periodic probing stream. We analyze approximately the departure process of this probing stream. Simulation results indicate that the proposed hybrid approximation can provide good estimates of the SCV of the probing stream regardless of the stochastic behavior of the arrival process of the cross traffic. Given a measured SCV, inverting this approximation infers the load of the cross traffic on the congested link.