Standardizing large-scale measurement platforms

Abstract

Over the last few years, we have witnessed the deployment of large measurement platforms that enable measurements from many vantage points. Examples of these platforms include SamKnows and RIPE ATLAS. All told, there are tens of thousands of measurement agents. Most of these measurement agents are located in the end-user premises; these can run measurements against other user agents located in strategic locations, according to the measurements to be performed. Thanks to the large number of measurement agents, these platforms can provide data about key network performance indicators from the end-user perspective. This data is useful to network operators to improve their operations, as well to regulators and to end users themselves. Currently deployed platforms use proprietary protocols to exchange information between the different parts. As these platforms grow to become an important tool to understand network performance, it is important to standardize the protocols between the different elements of the platform. In this paper, we present ongoing standardization efforts in this area as well as the main challenges that these efforts are facing.