Impact of Multi-access Links on the Internet Topology Modeling

Abstract

Comprehensive analyses that aim to better understand the topology of real world networks have been an important research challenge. Internet topology measurement studies provide samples of the underlying network at various levels. Although router-level Internet topology measurement systems target low level Internet infrastructure, they primarily focus on the Layer-3 connectivity and ignore the underlying multi-access links. In this paper, in addition to the thoroughly studied degree distribution, we analyze the subnet and interface distributions of major Internet topology datasets. We also investigate the impact of the higher granularity modeling at link level versus router level modeling. Our analysis establishes a foundation for the Layer-2 Internet topology generation and introduces the link layer characteristics into the network modeling.