From Simulation to Deep Learning: Survey on Network Performance Modeling Approaches

TL;DR

This survey reviews the evolution of network performance modeling methods, highlighting traditional simulation and analytical techniques, recent machine learning approaches, and their evaluation challenges.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive taxonomy of network performance modeling approaches and discusses their evolution, strengths, and evaluation complexities.

Findings

Traditional methods rely on Discrete Event Simulation and analytical models.

Recent approaches incorporate machine learning and hybrid techniques.

Evaluation methods vary, complicating model comparison.

Abstract

Network performance modeling is a field that predates early computer networks and the beginning of the Internet. It aims to predict the traffic performance of packet flows in a given network. Its applications range from network planning and troubleshooting to feeding information to network controllers for configuration optimization. Traditional network performance modeling has relied heavily on Discrete Event Simulation (DES) and analytical methods grounded in mathematical theories such as Queuing Theory and Network Calculus. However, as of late, we have observed a paradigm shift, with attempts to obtain efficient Parallel DES, the surge of Machine Learning models, and their integration with other methodologies in hybrid approaches. This has resulted in a great variety of modeling approaches, each with its strengths and often tailored to specific scenarios or requirements. In this paper, we comprehensively survey the relevant network performance modeling approaches for wired networks over the last decades. With this understanding, we also define a taxonomy of approaches, summarizing our understanding of the state-of-the-art and how both technology and the concerns of the research community evolve over time. Finally, we also consider how these models are evaluated, how their different nature results in different evaluation requirements and goals, and how this may complicate their comparison.