[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Faisal) wrote: > when we talk of Bursty traffic over the internet. Then is it correct > that the bursts which occurs over a period of time resembles all prior > bursts that why we say that the bursty traffic is self similar > traffic. Correct me if I am wrong
In general self-similarity means that if you look at different scales of measurement, you'll see the same sort of structure. Sometimes there is exact self-similarity, but in the case of network traffic, mountains, waves, etc., it's self-similarity "on the average". Specifically self-similar network traffic would mean that if you look at a burst of traffic, it will have smaller bursts and calm intervals within it, and if you look at a smaller burst it will have milli-bursts and micro-bursts, and so on, ad infinitum. A real network signal cannot have such structure at all scales; usually there is some range of scales over which self-similarity more or less works, and at the shortest and longest scales, the self-similar model isn't really a good description. B. Mandelbrot's book "Fractal Geometry of Nature" can help you get a feel for the intuitive ideas. For what it's worth, Robert Dodier -- ``All models are wrong but some are useful.'' -- George E. P. Box . . ================================================================= Instructions for joining and leaving this list, remarks about the problem of INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES, and archives are available at: . http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ . =================================================================
