To use network bandwidth more efficiently, an available bandwidth estimation (ABE) algorithm has been extensively studied. An ABE system injects probe packets into networks with defined attributes such as inter-packet gaps (IPGs). Then comparing them in both the sender and receiver provides available bandwidth after analytical processes. Our goals are to construct an useful ABE system for high-speed networks where giga-bit-per-second-class traffic flows. To easily take advantage of the ABE results, we built an ABE system on an off-the-shelf PC to work closely with applications in the same system. An off-the-shelf PC architecture; however, lacks performance required for precise ABE analysis. To break such performance limitations, we implemented hardware assistance, which is useful for accurately controlling probe packet attributes and fine-resolution ABE analysis, in a 10-Gbps network interface card. We evaluated our ABE system in experimental networks with background traffic of Gbps-class video streaming. The results gave an accurate estimation, although there was a tradeoff between accuracy and probe packet disturbance to video streaming.
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