Measurement-based simulation model for TCP over ATM

Cell level analysis of ATM networks by means of simulation requires an accurate model for traffic sources. We present a simple model for TCP over ATM traffic sources in an ATM LAN, which captures the fundamental characteristics of the behaviour of TCP in this environment. The model was developed by extensive statistical analysis of numerous traffic traces recorded in an ATM testbed. Simulated traffic generated by our model has roughly the same properties observed in real traffic, even on the time scale of milliseconds. This makes it suitable for use by the analysis of various scheduling and congestion management algorithms.