Resource allocation for multiparty connections
Abstract This article addresses the problems of specifying complex multimedia multiparty connections and allocating resources to set up multimedia multipoint connections while efficiently using network resources in a network that includes signal converters to resolve the heterogeneity of customer/network equipment and information mixers for conference services. A notation called logical connection is proposed to capture the special resources and connectivity requirements. Given a connection request and a physical network, we consider the general resource allocation problem in which the allocation costs of special resources and links are comparable, so that neither can be neglected. The problem is shown to be NP-hard. A resource allocation software system that integrates an optimal algorithm, several heuristic algorithms, and a distributed algorithm was implemented, and the performance result of these algorithms is presented.