Is Network Traffic Self-Similar or Multifractal?

This paper addresses the question of whether self-similar processes are sufficient to model packet network traffic, or whether a broader class of multifractal processes is needed. By using the absolute moments of aggregate traffic measurements, we conclude that measured local-area network (LAN) and wide-area network (WAN) traffic traces, with the sample means subtracted, are well modeled by random processes that are either exactly or asymptotically self-similar.