On the design problem of two-level IP networks

In this paper, we propose to tackle the design problem of two-level metropolitan Internet protocol (IP) networks with modular routers including the design of the points of presence. We first propose a model that deals with selecting the number of routers and their types to install in each point of presence, selecting the interface card types to install in each router, finding the access and the backbone networks, interconnecting the routers in each point of presence, selecting the link types and finally, routing the traffic. The objective is to find the minimum cost network. Moreover, we consider that a minimum information rate (in bps) is guaranteed between each pair of clients for the normal state of the network and for the failure scenarios of interest to the network planner. A tabu search metaheuristic algorithm is proposed to find near-optimal approximate solutions of the model. Finally, we present numerical results to assess the performance of the proposed algorithm.