An optimization based approach for QoS routing in high-bandwidth networks

In this paper, we propose an optimization based approach for quality of service routing in high-bandwidth networks. We view a network that employs QoS routing as an entity that distributively optimizes some global utility function. By solving the optimization problem, the network is driven to an efficient operating point. In earlier work, it has been shown that when the capacity of the network is large, this optimization takes on a simple form, and once the solution to this optimization problem is found, simple proportional QoS routing schemes will suffice. However, this optimization problem requires global information. We develop a distributed and adaptive algorithm that can efficiently solve the optimization online. Compared with existing QoS routing schemes, the proposed optimization based approach has the following advantages: (1) The computation and communication overhead can be greatly reduced without sacrificing performance; (2) The operating characteristics of the network can be analytically studied; and (3) The desired operating point can be tuned by choosing appropriate utility functions.