Performance evaluation of available bandwidth estimation tools in FTTH networks

The ability to estimate the available bandwidth of an end-to-end network communication path is of paramount importance as it measures the performance of the underlying network infrastructure. Over the years, many available bandwidth estimation tools have been developed. Numerous studies have also been carried out to evaluate and compare the performance of these tools. However, most of these evaluations were done by using simplified testbed built with ordinary general purpose computers or low-end routers. The results obtained may not truly reflect the actual performance of these tools in real production environment especially in today's advanced internetworking technologies. This paper addresses this common weakness in the past studies by evaluating several prominent available bandwidth estimation tools using a realistic testbed built with commercial network equipment that resembles a typical Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) High Speed Broadband (HSBB) network. The results obtained provide a better manifestation of these tools' performance and validate their applicability in the advanced networks of today.