Abstract:
Real‐time Internet applications such as telephony, video conferencing and remote control are increasing in importance. For this to work, data packets must reach the destination in correct order with minimal delay (latency) and loss of data. Most Internet Service Providers (ISP) try to improve latency and reliability by adding bandwidth in the form of additional and redundant infrastructure (links and routers) that permits load balancing. For real‐time protocols, such upgrades are not exclusively beneficial, however. They tend to increase the number of routers (and hence router queues) a packet has to pass through, and increase the potential for out‐of‐order delivery of packets. Our project is a longitudinal study that assesses arrival quality of packet streams using objective measures. It employs an international network of automated measurement stations known as ``beacons’’. This document describes what these beacons do, and how we assess quality.