On reducing the degree of second-order scaling in network traffic

While it is well known that second order scaling in network traffic can lead to larger queueing delays, higher drop rates and extended periods of congestion, reducing the scaling exponents has remained an open problem. In this paper we evaluate some techniques to reduce the degree of scaling in TCP traffic, specifically by reducing two related causes: (1) timeouts and exponential backoffs; and (2) burstiness and ACK compression. We propose a simple modification to the RED algorithm, and show that it can lead to significant reductions in both multi and mono fractal properties of TCP traffic as compared to the currently implemented active and passive buffer management policies. We then evaluate TCP pacing and show that it too can reduce the multi and mono fractal scaling of traffic. We also show that though our techniques are aimed at small time-scale TCP related causes of scaling, they are also effective in reducing the degree of self-similarity in traffic even when application and user level causes are also present, as long as TCP is used as the underlying transport protocol.