Origins of long-range dependence in variable bit rate video traffic

Recently it has been observed that variable bit rate (VBR) video traffic displays long-range dependence, which suggests that traditional Markovian models may not be suitable for performance evaluation of telecommunications networks carrying this traffic. Inspection of the bit rate profile of VBR video traffic suggests that shifting level processes might be more appropriate for this task. We show that a particular class of these processes matches the autocorrelation and bit rate distribution of real VBR video traffic, including exhibiting long-range dependent behaviour.