• 3. Hao (Johnson) Chen (hchenj@cs.sfu.ca) and Wei Liu (wliua@cs.sfu.ca)

    Generating Network Topologies with Highly Optimized Tolerance (HOT)

    Due to the complexity of today's network, simulation tools are often used to evaluate new systems and protocols. In order to better evaluate the performance, the topology models used in these tools are required to be as realistic as possible. Recent empirical studies have shown that Internet topologies exhibit power law statistics[1]. One theory which tries to explain this phenomenon is "self organized criticality" (SOC)[2]. Jean Carlson and John Doyle proposed another theory[4], called highly optimized tolerance (HOT), which is a new mechanism used to generate power law distributions. Compared with SOC, HOT focuses on systems which are optimized, either through natural selection or engineering design, to provide robust performance despite uncertain environments. In this project, we will implement a topology generator based on HOT theory and if time permits, we will compare our computational results with some other topology generators.

    The project will be done using Java programming language, ns-2 and some other topology generators.

    References:

  • [1] M. Faloutsos, P. Faloutsos, and C. Faloutsos, "On Power-Law Relationships of the Internet Topology", In ACM SIGCOMM, Cambridge, MA, September 1999.
  • [2] R. Albert and A.-L. Barabasi, "Topology of Evolving Networks: Local Events and Universality", Physical Review Letters, vol. 85, pp5234-5237, 2000.
  • [3] Q. Chen, H. Chang, R. Govindan, S. Jamin, S.J. Shenker and W. Willinger, "The Origin of Power Laws in Internet Topologies Revisited", Proc. of IEEE Infocom 2002 (to appear).
  • [4] J. Doyle and J.M. Carlson, "Highly Optimized Tolerance: A Mechanism for Power-Laws in Designed Systems", Physical Review Letters, 1999.
  • [5] C. Jin, Q. Chen, and S. Jamin, "Inet: Internet Topology Generator", Technical Report CSE-TR-433-00, University of Michigan, 2000.