Packet Loss Modelling

This page describes some work on packet loss models developed for real-time traffic over residential ADSL and Cable networks. This involved evaluating the performance of existing widely used models for Internet packet loss (Markov chains and Hidden Markov Models with varying numbers of states) in terms of their ability to represent the packet loss patterns seen on residential networks.

This evaluation made use of the residential broadband network dataset, showing that existing models are not adequate to capture the bursty nature of packet loss during periods of network congestion. This prompted the development of a new two-level modelling scheme, which aims to classify network conditions according to the delay experienced by packets in addition to their loss characteristics. The model parameters for the ADSL/Cable dataset, as well as the scripts to use them to generate synthetic packet loss traces are also provided for reference.

For more information on the evaluation of existing loss models (e.g., the Simplified Gilbert model and the Gilbert-Elliott model), their weaknesses, and my proposal for an improved two-level model, see the following papers and my thesis.

Martin Ellis, Dimitrios P. Pezaros, Theodore Kypraios, and Colin Perkins. A two-level Markov model for packet loss in UDP/IP-based real-time video applications targeting residential users. Computer Networks, Volume 70, September 2014. DOI: 10.1016/j.comnet.2014.05.013
Martin Ellis, Dimitrios P. Pezaros, Theodore Kypraios, and Colin Perkins. Modelling Packet Loss in RTP-based Streaming Video for Residential Users. In LCN 2012: Proceedings of the 37th Annual IEEE Conference on Local Computer Networks, Clearwater, FL, USA, October 2012. DOI: 10.1109/LCN.2012.6423613