Sampling Telecommunication Networks: A Review and a New Approach

The telecommunications industry has been experiencing a phenomenal growth in recent years. Telecommunication services are now an integral part of the everyday life of a modern society. In this paper, the problem of sampling telecommunication networks for estimating the performance characteristics is addressed, and its importance is emphasized. A brief review of the techniques used in network sampling for performance characterizations and quality comparisons is described. A new approach is proposed and its merits are demonstrated. Directions for further research in this area are also presented.