Name
Abstract | ||
|---|---|---|
Mapping the Internet generally consists in sampling the network from a limited set of sources by using traceroute-like probes. This methodology, akin to the merging of different spanning trees to a set of destination, has been argued to introduce uncontrolled sampling biases that might produce statistical properties of the sampled graph which sharply differ from the original ones. In this paper, we explore these biases and provide a statistical analysis of their origin. We derive an analytical approximation for the probability of edge and vertex detection that exploits the role of the number of sources and targets and allows us to relate the global topological properties of the underlying network with the statistical accuracy of the sampled graph. In particular, we find that the edge and vertex detection probability depends on the betweenness centrality of each element. This allows us to show that shortest path routed sampling provides a better characterization of underlying graphs with broad distributions of connectivity. We complement the analytical discussion with a throughout numerical investigation of simulated mapping strategies in network models with different topologies. We show that sampled graphs provide a fair qualitative characterization of the statistical properties of the original networks in a fair range of different strategies and exploration parameters. Moreover, we characterize the level of redundancy and completeness of the exploration process as a function of the topological properties of the network. Finally, we study numerically how the fraction of vertices and edges discovered in the sampled graph depends on the particular deployements of probing sources. The results might hint the steps toward more efficient mapping strategies. |
Year | DOI | Venue |
|---|---|---|
2006 | 10.1016/j.tcs.2005.12.009 | Theoretical Computer Science - Complex networks |
Keywords | DocType | Volume |
traceroute,network model,underlying network,different strategy,topology inference,traceroute-like probe,simulated mapping strategy,statistical analysis,different topology,original network,statistical property,statistical accuracy,exploring network,internet exploration,efficient mapping strategy,limit set,spanning tree,betweenness centrality | Journal | 355 |
Issue | ISSN | Citations |
1 | Theoretical Computer Science 355 (2006) 6 | 51 |
PageRank | References | Authors |
4.55 | 8 | 5 |
Name | Order | Citations | PageRank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luca Dall'Asta | 1 | 493 | 39.53 |
| Ignacio Alvarez-Hamelin | 2 | 58 | 5.43 |
| Alain Barrat | 3 | 1401 | 87.12 |
| Alexei Vázquez | 4 | 95 | 7.85 |
| Alessandro Vespignani | 5 | 1647 | 109.55 |