A device-independent router model

Several popular simulation and emulation environments fail to account for realistic packet forwarding behaviors of commercial switches and routers. Such simulation or emulation inaccuracies can lead to dramatic and qualitative impacts on the results. In this paper, we present a measurement-based model for routers and other forwarding devices, which we use to simulate two different Cisco routers under varying traffic conditions. The structure of our model is device-independent, but requires device-specific parameters. We construct a profiling tool and use it to derive router parameter tables within a few hours. Our preliminary results indicate that our model can approximate the Cisco routers. The compactness of the parameter tables and simplicity of the model makes it possible to use it for high-fidelity simulations while preserving simulation scalability.