A survey of network traffic generation

Network traffic generation is very important for testing network equipment, network services, and security products. The paper firstly introduces the significance and the classification of network traffic generation. Then, the paper chronologically categorizes the research activities of network traffic generation into three different methods: 1) traffic generation based on network traffic model; 2) traffic generation based on traffic characteristics; 3) traffic generation based on application protocol. Thorough reviews of the major research achievements of each kinds are conducted. Finally, the paper identifies some open research issue and points out possible future research directions in traffic generation area.