Using Video-Based Measurements to Generate a Real-Time Network Traffic Map

Yi Sun, Junchen Jiang, Vyas Sekar, Hui Zhang, Fuyuan Lin, Nanshu Wang

Abstract: We envision a real-time network traffic map for the Internet, where each network link is annotated with its capacity and its current utilization, with an interface that networked applications can query to inform their control decisions. While this goal is simple to state, it has been out of our reach due to concerns over measurement overhead and coverage. Our insight is that the rise of Internet video and the availability of measurements from video players present an unprecedented opportunity to address these issues. We outline a preliminary roadmap to build on this opportunity to realize a global traffic map.