AS path inference: From complex network perspective

Abstract

AS-level end-to-end paths are of great value for ISPs and a variety of network applications. Although tools like traceroute may reveal AS paths, they require the permission to access source hosts and introduce additional probing traffic, which is not feasible in many applications. In contrast, AS path inference based on BGP control plane data and AS relationship information is a more practical and cost-effective approach. However, this approach suffers from a limited accuracy and high traffic, especially when AS paths are long. In this paper, we bring a new angle to the AS path inference problem by exploiting the metrical tree-likeness or low hyperbolicity of the Internet, part of the complex network properties of the Internet. We show that such property can generate a new constraint that narrows down the searching space of possible AS paths to a much smaller size. Based on this observation, we propose two new AS path inference algorithms, namely HyperPath and Valley-free HyperPath. With intensive evaluations on AS paths from real-world BGP Routing Information Bases, we show that the proposed new algorithms can achieve superior performance, in particular, when AS paths are long paths. We demonstrate that our algorithms can significantly reduce inter-AS traffic for P2P applications with an improved AS path prediction accuracy.