A Modeling Method for ISP Topologies Based on Network-Cost Optimization

Measurement studies of Internet topologies show that the degree distribution of the topologies exhibits the power- law attribute. However, it is apparent that only degree distributions do not determine the structure of ISP topologies, where ISP designs router-level topologies based on their own design policies. Other structural properties rather than degree distribution are important to generate realistic Internet topologies. In this paper, we propose a modeling method for generating realistic ISP Internet topologies that obey the power-law degree distribution and have similar structural properties observed in the measurement studies. Our modeling method adds nodes one by one, and each node connects to optimal nodes in terms of minimizing the overall network-cost. Then, we try to answer a following question: what design factors are important to form realistic Internet topologies? Our results show that node locations and traffic demands are important to form the realistic Internet topologies.