Inferring traffic shaping and policy parameters using end host measurements

The increasing adoption of high speed Internet connectivity in homes has led to the development of bandwidth hungry applications. This, in turn, induces ISPs to protect their core networks by deploying traffic shaping devices. End users, ISPs and regulators need to better understand the shaping policies that are enforced by the network. The paper presents a method for inferring flow discrimination and shaping parameters in the presence of cross traffic using active probing. The key concept is a stochastic comparison of the inter-arrival times of packets and measured bandwidth of a base-line flow and the measured flow. We present Packsen, a framework designed to provide high detection accuracy by sending interleaved flows at a very precise bandwidth, and used it for measurements on a local testbed and on PlanetLab. Evaluation shows the accuracy and robustness of the proposed method for detecting traffic shaping and inferring its parameters.