Re: Another Point Of View (Round 2)

[Bill Frezza <frezza@interramp.com>]

  At 10:35 PM +0000 12/1/96, Mike Bilow wrote:
  >In effect, you are trying to assert that 20 calls each lasting one minute will
  >present less demand on the system than one call lasting 20 minutes.
  
  No, that's not at all what I am saying. I am saying that a Power Law
  distribution of mean holding time 20 minutes produces more long
  holding-time calls (and, hence, a larger total call load) than a Possion
  distribution of mean holding time of 20 minutes. It also produces a LOT
  more traffic load than a Possion distribution with a mean holding time of 3
  minutes, which is what the network was designed for.
  
  The empircal conclusion that Internet data calls approximate a Power Law
  distribution was made by Atai and Gordon. I believe you can order the paper
  from Bellcore (document number OOC 1013, call 1-800-521-CORE.)
  
  Meanwhile, let me see if I can track down an authoritative mathematical
  reference on the Power Law PDF. The problem with these technical arguments
  is that by the time we are done, there are going to be all of 3 people that
  understand what we are talking about, and all of these probably work for
  the phone company (the "bad" guys). Meanwhile, everyone else will go back
  to either religious arguments or conspiracy theory.
  
  Bill