In
Stochastic Networks: Theory and Applications
(Editors F.P. Kelly, S. Zachary and I.B. Ziedins)
Royal Statistical Society Lecture Notes Series, 4.
Oxford University Press,
1996. 141-168.
Available as postscript
or
pdf.
This paper presents a personal view of work to date on effective bandwidths, emphasising the unifying role of the concept: as a summary of the statistical characteristics of sources over different time and space scales; in bounds, limits and approximations for various models of multiplexing under quality of service constraints; and as the basis for simple and robust tariffing and connection acceptance control mechanisms for poorly characterized traffic. The framework assumes only stationarity of sources, and illustrative examples include periodic streams, fractional Brownian input, policed and shaped sources, and deterministic multiplexing.