Real-time traffic management by a parallel algorithm

The joint access-control and routing problem for distributed networks is formulated as an equilibrium programming problem (EPP). The strategy, for an upcoming control period, decreases call blocking and balances network load by maximizing network residual capacity, and fairly rejects at the source the source-destination demands that are expected to exceed network capacity. The EPP formulation allows for both decentralized implementation of the joint access control and routing problem and massive parallelization of the optimization procedure to satisfy real-time requirements. The computational complexity of the algorithm decreases proportionally with the number of processors used. The convergence of the decentralized algorithm to the network-wide optimum is proved. Compared to the case where subnet EPPs are solved independently by each controller, simulation results show significantly better utilization of network resources when subnet controllers jointly solve the network-wide EPP. Performance analysis of the algorithm and numerical studies show that the algorithm is well suited for real-time implementation in large networks or internetworks