Abstract: A method of determining traffic paths between one or more source-destination node pairs in a communications network, comprising starting from a first set of paths between said source-destination node pairs, determining a second set of paths between said source-destination node pairs while taking into account a set of constraints, such that said second set of paths emulates said first set of paths.

Abstract: There is provided a method of determining data flow in a network, the method comprising: (a) selecting a location within the network for providing a data processing means adapted to process data pertaining to the network data flow; (b) determining the expense and/or level of data capture that would result from providing the data processing means at the selected location; and (c) providing the data processing means at the selected location dependent on the determination in step (b) and predetermined expense and/or data capture targets. This method can be used to select points inside the core of a network for data capture of flows routed through them in order to construct the traffic matrix of the network. This method has a number of advantages over known methods of obtaining the traffic matrix of a data network. In particular, it can be used for different use cases, maximizing the capture level for a given investment or finding the minimal investment to achieve a given capture level.

Abstract: A method of estimating traffic values or intervals in a communications network, the network comprising a plurality of nodes being interconnected by links, the method comprising the steps of; (a) obtaining traffic data through said nodes and/or links as input data; (b) obtaining network data relating to the network topology and network behaviour; and (c) estimating the effect of a modification of said communications network and/or its behaviour by calculating traffic information between a selected first and a selected second node of said network using said input data.

Abstract: A method of calculating traffic values in a communications network (1), the communications network comprising a plurality of nodes (2,4), the nodes being connected to one another by links (24), the method comprising: (a) obtaining traffic data measurements (102) through said nodes and/or links in an initial scenario as input data; (b) deriving a traffic flow model for a modified scenario using a plurality of constraints describing the interdependency of said initial to said modified scenario (116); and (c) calculating values and/or upper and lower bounds of traffic values for said modified scenario from said traffic flow model using said input data (118).