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Title: Inferring regional access network topologies: methods and applications
Using a toolbox of Internet cartography methods, and new ways of applying them, we have undertaken a comprehensive active measurement-driven study of the topology of U.S. regional access ISPs. We used state-of-the-art approaches in various combinations to accommodate the geographic scope, scale, and architectural richness of U.S. regional access ISPs. In addition to vantage points from research platforms, we used public WiFi hotspots and public transit of mobile devices to acquire the visibility needed to thoroughly map access networks across regions. We observed many different approaches to aggregation and redundancy, across links, nodes, buildings, and at different levels of the hierarchy. One result is substantial disparity in latency from some Edge COs to their backbone COs, with implications for end users of cloud services. Our methods and results can inform future analysis of critical infrastructure, including resilience to disasters, persistence of the digital divide, and challenges for the future of 5G and edge computing.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1724853 1901517
PAR ID:
10351118
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Proceedings of the 21st ACM Internet Measurement Conference (IMC '21)
Page Range / eLocation ID:
720 to 738
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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