An Open Framework for Analyzing and Modeling XR Network Traffic

TL;DR

This paper introduces an open-source framework and traffic model for analyzing XR network traffic, supported by real application traces, to improve simulation and transmission algorithms for XR data flows.

Contribution

It presents a novel open-source traffic model, mathematical formulation, and real application traces, along with a roadmap for an end-to-end XR traffic analysis framework.

Findings

Collected real XR application traces from Minecraft VR, Google Earth VR, and Virus Popper.

Provided a mathematical model and open-source code for XR traffic analysis.

Outlined a roadmap for developing a comprehensive XR network traffic framework.

Abstract

Thanks to recent advancements in the technology, eXtended Reality (XR) applications are gaining a lot of momentum, and they will surely become increasingly popular in the next decade. These new applications, however, require a step forward also in terms of models to simulate and analyze this type of traffic sources in modern communication networks, in order to guarantee to the users state of the art performance and Quality of Experience (QoE). Recognizing this need, in this work, we present a novel open-source traffic model, which researchers can use as a starting point both for improvements of the model itself and for the design of optimized algorithms for the transmission of these peculiar data flows. Along with the mathematical model and the code, we also share with the community the traces that we gathered for our study, collected from freely available applications such as Minecraft VR, Google Earth VR, and Virus Popper. Finally, we propose a roadmap for the construction of an end-to-end framework that fills this gap in the current state of the art.