Traffic modeling in a reconfigurable broadband nomadic computing environment

Reconfiguring a network to counter variations in traffic is expected to greatly enhance optimal usage of network resources. But an important input to this method is the traffic fluctuations themselves. We have developed two models for this purpose to describe the time-dependent variations in traffic at a base station in a nomadic computing, wireless environment. The first model is rather simple and does not take into account details of human behavior. It takes into account the probabilities of choosing different applications. The model is also analyzed and experimented with to identify the important input parameters. The second model, a refined version of the first model, takes into account details of relevant human behavior (in the context of a wireless nomadic computing environment). Finally, we have compared the two models on the basis of their complexity and validity in different situations. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.