APPLE: Alias Pruning by Path Length Estimation

Uncovering the Internet’s router graph is vital to accurate measurement and analysis. In this paper, we present a new technique for resolving router IP aliases that complements existing techniques. Our approach, Alias Pruning by Path Length Estimation (apple), avoids relying on router manufacturer and operating system specific implementations of IP. Instead, it filters potential router aliases seen in traceroute by comparing the reply path length from each address to a distributed set of vantage points.