The cumulative probability distribution of sparseness time interval in the Internet is studied by the method of data analysis. Round-trip time between a local host and a destination host through ten odd routers is measured using the ping command, i.e., doing an echo experiment. The data are found to be well described by q-exponential distributions, which maximize the Tsallis entropy indexed by q less or larger than unity, showing a scale-invariant feature of the system. The network is observed to itinerate over a series of the nonequilibrium stationary states characterized by Tsallis statistics.

• Received 9 June 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.67.016106