Performance Evaluation of Network Coding: Effects of Topology and Network Traffic for Linear and XOR Coding

Abstract

In this work we analyze performance of network coding focusing on two specific network coding schemes: XOR and random linear network coding. We have simulated different topologies and traffic patterns in order to provide better understanding of network coding behavior and its possible bottlenecks. As a part of our performance evaluation we consider also computational complexity of coding and decoding operations which influence packet latency. In particular, we indicate potential drawbacks and trade-offs of network coding when applied on specific topologies under specific circumstances by monitoring the differences in XOR and random linear network coding approaches. Finally, we apply network coding on the topology of existing research network Abilene [1] in order to evaluate network coding performance under realistic conditions.