A pricing methodology for resource allocation and routing in integrated-services networks with quality of service requirements

Abstract. We present an approach to the admission control, resource allocation and routing problem in connection-oriented networks that offer multiple services to users. Users' preferences are summarized by means of their utility functions, and each user is allowed to request more than one type of service. Each requested service may be delivered over one of many possible routes. Multiple types of resources are allocated at each link along the path of a connection. We assume that the relation between Quality of Service (QoS) and resource allocation is given, and we incorporate it as a constraint into a static optimization problem. The objective is to determine the amount of required resources and route for each type of service to maximize a welfare function that is equal to the sum of the users' utilities. We describe a competitive market economy that achieves the objective and satisfies the informational constraints imposed by the nature of the decentralized resource allocation and routing problem.

[1]  Liam Murphy,et al.  Distributed Pricing For Embedded ATM Networks , 1994 .

[2]  Jeffrey K. MacKie-Mason,et al.  Pricing Congestible Network Resources (Invited Paper) , 1995, IEEE J. Sel. Areas Commun..

[3]  Scott Jordan,et al.  The Role of Price in the Connection Establishment Process , 1995 .

[4]  Deborah Estrin,et al.  Pricing in computer networks: motivation, formulation, and example , 1993, TNET.

[5]  Jeffrey K. MacKie-Mason,et al.  A Market-Based Approach to Optimal Resource Allocation in Integrated-Services Connection-Oriented Networks , 2002, Oper. Res..

[6]  Andrew Whinston,et al.  A Stochastic Equilibrium Model of Internet Pricing , 1997 .

[7]  Francesco Mallegni,et al.  The Computation of Economic Equilibria , 1973 .

[8]  C. Parris,et al.  A RESOURCE BASED PRICING POLICY FOR REAL-TIME CHANNELS IN A PACKET-SWITCHING NETWORK , 1992 .

[9]  Jeffrey K. MacKie-Mason,et al.  Some FAQs about Usage-Based Pricing , 1995 .

[10]  A. Mas-Colell,et al.  Microeconomic Theory , 1995 .

[11]  C. Parris,et al.  A Framework for the Study of Pricing in Integrated Networks , 1992 .

[12]  Kim C. Border,et al.  Fixed point theorems with applications to economics and game theory: References , 1985 .

[13]  Liam Murphy,et al.  Bandwidth Allocation By Pricing In ATM Networks , 1994, Broadband Communications.

[14]  Frank Kelly,et al.  Rate control for communication networks: shadow prices, proportional fairness and stability , 1998, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[15]  Frank Kelly,et al.  On tariffs, policing and admission control for multiservice networks , 1993, Oper. Res. Lett..

[16]  Rahul Simha,et al.  A Microeconomic Approach to Optimal Resource Allocation in Distributed Computer Systems , 1989, IEEE Trans. Computers.

[17]  Gustavo de Veciana,et al.  Resource Allocation in Multi-Service Networks via Pricing: Statistical Multiplexing , 1998, Comput. Networks.

[18]  Jeffrey K. MacKie-Mason,et al.  Some FAQs about Usage-Based Pricing , 1995, Comput. Networks ISDN Syst..

[19]  Frank P. Kelly,et al.  Measurement-Based Usage Charges in Comminucations Networks , 2000, Oper. Res..

[20]  Israel Cidon,et al.  Connection establishment in high-speed networks , 1993, TNET.

[21]  L. Hurwicz.  The Design of Mechanisms for Resource Allocation , 1973 .

[22]  David Tse,et al.  Optimal sequences, power control, and user capacity of synchronous CDMA systems with linear MMSE multiuser receivers , 1999, IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory.

[23]  Herbert E. Scarf,et al.  The Computation of Economic Equilibria , 1974 .

[24]  Demosthenis Teneketzis,et al.  An approach to service provisioning with quality of service requirements in ATM networks , 1997, Proceedings of the 36th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control.

[25]  Jon M. Peha,et al.  Optimal pricing for integrated services networks , 1997 .

[26]  Pravin Varaiya,et al.  Correction to "A new approach to service provisioning in ATM networks" , 1993, TNET.