16311820
Optimal Provisioning of Elastic Service Availability
Service availability is one of the most closely scrutinized metrics in offering network services. The network vendor can earn more revenue from the customers by guaranteeing higher service availability at the cost of higher operational expense. It is important to cost-effectively provision a managed and differentiated network with various service availability guarantees under a unified platform. In this paper, we establish the framework of provisioning elastic service availability through network utility maximization, and propose an optimal and distributed solution using differentiated failure recovery schemes. First, we develop a utility function with configurable parameters to represent the satisfaction perceived by a user upon service availability as well as its allowed source rate. Second, adopting quality of protection [1] and shared path protection, we transform optimal provisioning of elastic service availability into a convex optimization problem. The desirable service availability and source rate for each user can be achieved using a price-based distributed algorithm. Finally, we numerically show the tradeoff between the throughput and the service availability obtained by users in various network topologies. Several quantitative observations are made from this investigation. For example, indiscriminately provisioning service availabilities for different kinds of users within one network leads to noteworthy sub-optimality in total network utility. The profile of bandwidth usage also illustrates that provisioning high service availability exclusively for critical applications leads to significant waste in bandwidth resource.
15521655
An ultra-fast shared path protection scheme - distributed partial information management, part II
For pt.I see Chunming Qiao and Dahai Xu, INFOCOM'02, p.302-11, (2002). This paper describes a novel, ultra-fast heuristic algorithm to address an NP-hard optimization problem. One of its significances is that, for the first time, it is shown that a heuristic algorithm can also have better overall performance than its time-consuming, integer linear programming (ILP) based counterparts in the online case, which is non-intuitive. The proposed heuristic algorithm is useful for developing effective shared path (mesh) protection schemes that establish survivable connections in modern networks. The advantage of our heuristic algorithm over existing algorithms for finding a pair of link (or node) disjoint paths, active path (AP) and backup path (BP), comes from the following salient feature. It uses a so-called potential backup cost (PBC) function when selecting an AP in the first phase, in order to take into consideration the backup bandwidth needed by the corresponding BP yet to be chosen in the second phase. The PBC function is derived mathematically based on a rigorous statistical analysis of experimental data. While the use of PBC only requires partial aggregate information on existing connections and distributed control, it can also be applied even more effectively when complete information is available.
196020410
Distributed Partial Information Management (DPIM) schemes for survivable networks - Part I
8591259
On the complexity of and algorithms for finding the shortest path with a disjoint counterpart
Finding a disjoint path pair is an important component in survivable networks. Since the traffic is carried on the active (working) path most of the time, it is useful to find a disjoint path pair such that the length of the shorter path (to be used as the active path) is minimized. In this paper, we first address such a Min-Min problem. We prove that this problem is NP-complete in either single link cost (e.g., dedicated backup bandwidth) or dual link cost (e.g., shared backup bandwidth) networks. In addition, it is NP-hard to obtain a K-approximation to the optimal solution for any K > 1. Our proof is extended to another open question regarding the computational complexity of a restricted version of the Min-Sum problem in an undirected network with ordered dual cost links (called the MSOD problem). To solve the Min-Min problem efficiently, we introduce a novel concept called conflicting link set which provides insights into the so-called trap problem, and develop a divide-and-conquer strategy. The result is an effective heuristic for the Min-Min problem called COnflicting Link Exclusion (COLE), which can outperform other approaches in terms of both the optimality and running time. We also apply COLE to the MSOD problem to efficiently provide shared path protection and conduct comprehensive performance evaluation as well as comparison of various schemes for shared path protection. We show that COLE not only processes connection requests much faster than existing integer linear programming (ILP)-based approaches but also achieves a good balance among the active path length, bandwidth efficiency, and recovery time.
12991047
The Application of Adaptive Partitioned Random Search in Feature Selection Problem
Feature selection is one of important and frequently used techniques in data preprocessing. It can improve the efficiency and the effectiveness of data mining by reducing the dimensions of feature space and removing the irrelevant and redundant information. Feature selection can be viewed as a global optimization problem of finding a minimum set of M relevant features that describes the dataset as well as the original N attributes. In this paper, we apply the adaptive partitioned random search strategy into our feature selection algorithm. Under this search strategy, the partition structure and evaluation function is proposed for feature selection problem. This algorithm ensures the global optimal solution in theory and avoids complete randomness in search direction. The good property of our algorithm is shown through the theoretical analysis.
16362067
A federated approach to distributed network simulation
We describe an approach and our experiences in applying federated simulation techniques to create large-scale parallel simulations of computer networks. Using the federated approach, the topology and the protocol stack of the simulated network is partitioned into a number of submodels, and a simulation process is instantiated for each one. Runtime infrastructure software provides services for interprocess communication and synchronization (time management). We first describe issues that arise in homogeneous federations where a sequential simulator is federated with itself to realize a parallel implementation. We then describe additional issues that must be addressed in heterogeneous federations composed of different network simulation packages, and describe a dynamic simulation backplane mechanism that facilitates interoperability among different network simulators. Specifically, the dynamic simulation backplane provides a means of addressing key issues that arise in federating different network simulators: differing packet representations, incomplete implementations of network protocol models, and differing levels of detail among the simulation processes. We discuss two different methods for using the backplane for interactions between heterogeneous simulators: the cross-protocol stack method and the split-protocol stack method. Finally, results from an experimental study are presented for both the homogeneous and heterogeneous cases that provide evidence of the scalability of our federated approach on two moderately sized computing clusters. Two different homogeneous implementations are described: Parallel/Distributed ns (pdns) and the Georgia Tech Network Simulator (GTNetS). Results of a heterogeneous implementation federating ns with GloMoSim are described. This research demonstrates that federated simulations are a viable approach to realizing efficient parallel network simulation tools.
18488788
A preference aggregation method through the estimation of utility intervals
In this paper, a preference aggregation method is developed for ranking alternative courses of actions by combining preference rankings of alternatives given on individual criteria or by individual decision makers. In the method, preference rankings are viewed as constraints on alternative utilities, which are normalized, and linear programming models are constructed to estimate utility intervals, which are weighted and averaged to generate an aggregated utility interval. A simple yet pragmatic interval ranking method is used to compare and/or rank alternatives. The final ranking is generated as the most likely ranking with certain degrees of belief. Three numerical examples are examined to illustrate the potential applications of the proposed method.
9746543
Design an Interoperable Mobile Agent System Based on Predicate Transition Net Models
Mobile agents provide an effective and flexible style to develop advanced distributed systems. In order to promote interoperability and ensure the quality of mobile agent systems, it is necessary to formalize software architecture of mobile agent systems. In this paper, we not only define the software architecture of interoperable mobile agent systems using predicate transition nets, but also analyze the interoperability between agents. In addition, a formal model-driven design method to develop mobile agent systems is described with examples. Our method naturally integrates formal methods and practical approaches in the agent system design phase. The method can be used to develop other complex software systems as well.
14141173
Distributed network simulations using the dynamic simulation backplane
Presents an approach for creating distributed, component-based simulations of communication networks by interconnecting models of sub-networks drawn from different network simulation packages. This approach supports the rapid construction of simulations for large networks by reusing existing models and software, and fast execution using parallel discrete event simulation techniques. A dynamic simulation backplane is proposed that provides a common format and protocol for message exchange, and services for transmitting data and synchronizing heterogeneous network simulation engines. In order to achieve plug-and-play interoperability, the backplane uses existing network communication standards and dynamically negotiates among the participant simulators to define a minimal subset of required information that each simulator must supply, as well as other optional information. The backplane then automatically creates a message format that can be understood by all participating simulators and dynamically creates the content of each message by using callbacks to the simulation engines. We describe our approach to interoperability as well as an implementation of the backplane. We present results that demonstrate the proper operation of the backplane by distributing a network simulation between two different simulation packages, ns2 and GloMoSim. Performance results show that the overhead for the creation of the dynamic messages is minimal. Although this work is specific to network simulations, we believe our methodology and approach can be used to achieve interoperability in other distributed computing applications as well.