Development of an Internet backbone topology for large-scale network simulations

A number of network simulators are now capable of simulating systems with millions of devices, at the IP packet level. With this ability comes a need for realistic network descriptions of commensurate size. This paper describes our effort to build a detailed model of the U.S. Internet backbone based on measurements taken from a variety of mapping sources and tools. We identify key attributes of a network design that are needed to use the model in a simulation, describe which components are available and which must be modeled, and discuss the pros and cons of this approach as compared to synthetic generation. As for attributes that we have to model, we also briefly discuss some measurement efforts that can potentially provide the missing pieces, and thus improve the fidelity of the model. Finally, we describe the resulting network model of the U.S. Internet backbone, which is being made publicly available.