Inet-3.0: Internet Topology Generator

TLDR

Internet topology modeling is rapidly evolving, highlighting gaps in synthetic topology generation and underscoring the need for improved connectivity understanding. The paper introduces Inet‑3.0, an AS‑level Internet topology generator that addresses Inet‑2.2’s weaknesses and better approximates real Internet AS topology. Inet‑3.0 generates synthetic AS‑level topologies by modeling degree distributions and minimum vertex covers to produce more realistic networks. Inet‑3.0 yields topologies with more accurate degree distributions and minimum vertex covers, better matches many Internet AS metrics, yet still falls short on maximum clique size and clustering coefficient.

Abstract

In this report we present version 3.0 of Inet, an Autonomous System (AS) level Internet topology generator. Our understanding of the Internet topology is quickly evolving, and thus, our understanding of how synthetic topologies should be generated is changing too. We document our analysis of Inet2.2, which highlighted two shortcommings in its topologies. Inet-3.0 improves upon Inet-2.2’s two main weaknesses by creating topologies with more accurate degree distributions and minimum vertex covers as compared to Internet topologies. We also examine numerous other metrics to show that Inet3.0 better approximates the actual Internet AS topology than does Inet-2.2. Inet-3.0’s topologies still do not well represent the Internet in terms of maximum clique size and clustering coefficient. These related problems stress a need for a better understanding of Internet connectivity and will be addressed in future work.