Fractional Brownian motion (fBm) emerged as a useful model for self-similar and long-range dependent Internet traffic. Approximate performance measures are known from large deviations theory for single queuing systems with fBm through traffic. In this paper we derive end-to-end performance bounds for a through flow in a network of tandem queues under fBm cross traffic. To this end, we prove a rigorous sample path envelope for fBm that complements previous approximate results. We find that both approaches agree in their outcome that overflow probabilities for fBm traffic have a Weibullian tail. We employ the sample path envelope and the concept of leftover service curves to model the remaining service after scheduling fBm cross traffic at a system. Using composition results for tandem systems from the stochastic network calculus we derive end-to-end statistical performance bounds for individual flows in networks under fBm cross traffic. We discover that these bounds grow in O(n (log n)^(1 (2-2H))) for n systems in series where H is the Hurst parameter of the fBm cross traffic. We show numerical results on the impact of the variability and the correlation of fBm traffic on network performance.
The stochastic network calculus is an evolving new methodology for backlog and delay analysis of networks that can account for statistical multiplexing gain. This paper advances the stochastic network calculus by deriving a network service curve, which expresses the service given to a flow by the network as a whole in terms of a probabilistic bound. The presented network service curve permits the calculation of statistical end-to-end delay and backlog bounds for broad classes of arrival and service distributions. The benefits of the derived service curve are illustrated for the exponentially bounded burstiness (EBB) traffic model. It is shown that end-to-end performance measures computed with a network service curve are bounded by spl Oscr (H log H), where H is the number of nodes traversed by a flow. Using currently available techniques, which compute end-to-end bounds by adding single node results, the corresponding performance measures are bounded by spl Oscr (H sup 3 ). A network calculus is developed for processes whose burstiness is stochastically bounded by general decreasing functions. This calculus is useful for a large class of input processes, including important processes exhibiting "subexponentially bounded burstiness" such as fractional Brownian motion. Moreover, it allows judicious capture of the salient features of real-time traffic, such as the "cell" and "burst" characteristics of multiplexed traffic. This accurate characterization is achieved by setting the bounding function as a sum of exponentials. 