Efficient algorithms for wavelength assignment on trees of rings

A fundamental problem in communication networks is wavelength assignment (WA): given a set of routing paths on a network, assign a wavelength to each path such that the paths with the same wavelength are edge-disjoint, using the minimum number of wavelengths. The WA problem is NP-hard for a tree of rings network which is well used in practice. In this paper, we give an efficient algorithm which solves the WA problem on a tree of rings with an arbitrary (node) degree using at most 3L wavelengths and achieves an approximation ratio of 2.75 asymptotically, where L is the maximum number of paths on any link in the network. The 3L upper bound is tight since there are instances of the WA problem that require 3L wavelengths even on a tree of rings with degree four. We also give a 3L and 2-approximation (resp. 2.5-approximation) algorithm for the WA problem on a tree of rings with degree at most six (resp. eight). Previous results include: 4L (resp. 3L) wavelengths for trees of rings with arbitrary degrees (resp. degree at most eight), and 2-approximation (resp. 2.5-approximation) algorithm for trees of rings with degree four (resp. six).     

几种特殊结构全光网中多播路由的波长分配算法

研究全光WDM网络中多播请求的路由与波长分配问题.给定网络拓扑和一组多播通信请求,要求对其进行路由和波长分配,满足波长连续性和波长无冲突约束,使得所用的波长总数最少.就几类特殊网络进行了研究.首先对二分树网络进行了研究,此时问题是多项式时间可求解的.其次对树网络进行了讨论,证明了即使是星网络,问题也不存在近似比小于m1/2-ρ(0＜ρ＜1))的近似算法,除非NP=ZPP,这里m是星图的边数.随后给出了近似比为(√m 1)(log r/√m 1 1)的近似算法,此结果对一般图也成立.最后考虑了环网和树环网,给出了近似比为3.6和2△的近似算法,这里△是图的最大度.     

Approximating call-scheduling makespan in all-optical networks

We study the problem of routing and scheduling requests of limited durations in all-optical networks with restrictions on the number of available wavelengths on each link. The task is servicing the requests, assigning each of them a route from source to destination, a starting time and a wavelength with the goal of minimizing the overall time needed to serve all requests. We study the relationship between this problem and minimum path coloring and we show how to exploit known results on path coloring to derive approximation scheduling algorithms for meshes, trees and nearly-Eulerian, uniformly high-diameter graphs. We also propose different approximation algorithms for stars, trees and in trees of rings.     

A biased random-key genetic algorithm for routing and wavelength assignment

The problem of routing and wavelength assignment in wavelength division multiplexing optical networks consists in routing a set of lightpaths and assigning a wavelength to each of them, such that lightpaths whose routes share a common fiber are assigned different wavelengths. This problem was shown to be NP-hard when the objective is to minimize the total number of wavelengths used. We propose a genetic algorithm with random keys for routing and wavelength assignment with the goal of minimizing the number of different wavelengths used in the assignment. This algorithm extends the best heuristic in the literature by embedding it into an evolutionary framework. Computational results show that the new heuristic improves the state-of-the-art algorithms in the literature.     

Solving the capacitated location-routing problem by a GRASP complemented by a learning process and a path relinking

As shown in recent researches, the costs in distribution systems may be excessive if routes are ignored when locating depots. The location routing problem (LRP) overcomes this drawback by simultaneously tackling location and routing decisions. This paper presents a new metaheuristic to solve the LRP with capacitated routes and depots. A first phase executes a GRASP, based on an extended and randomized version of Clarke and Wright algorithm. This phase is implemented with a learning process on the choice of depots. In a second phase, new solutions are generated by a post-optimization using a path relinking. The method is evaluated on sets of randomly generated instances, and compared to other heuristics and a lower bound. Solutions are obtained in a reasonable amount of time for such a strategic problem. Furthermore, the algorithm is competitive with a metaheuristic published for the case of uncapacitated depots.     

Path problems in generalized stars, complete graphs, and brick wall graphs

Path problems such as the maximum edge-disjoint paths problem, the path coloring problem, and the maximum path coloring problem are relevant for resource allocation in communication networks, in particular all-optical networks. In this paper, it is shown that maximum path coloring can be solved optimally in polynomial time for bidirected generalized stars, even in the weighted case. Furthermore, the maximum edge-disjoint paths problem is proved NP-hard for complete graphs (undirected or bidirected), a constant-factor off-line approximation algorithm is presented for the weighted case, and an on-line algorithm with constant competitive ratio is given for the unweighted case. Finally, an open problem concerning the existence of routings that simultaneously minimize the maximum load and the number of colors is solved: an example for a graph and a set of requests is given such that any routing that minimizes the maximum load requires strictly more colors for path coloring than a routing that minimizes the number of colors.     

An Incremental Procedure for Improving Path Assignment in a Telecommunications Network

A fundamental problem in the design and management of a telecommunications network is that of determining an optimal routing pattern for a given set of origin-destination demand pairs. In addition, reliability considerations may require provisioning a set of backup paths to protect the working traffic against network failures. In the literature, the problem of finding an optimal routing for a network with fixed link capacities and a list of point-to-point demands (origin-destination pairs), each with a set of candidate routing paths has been referred to as the path-assignment problem. There are three versions of this problem that correspond to the type of network protection required (no protection, dedicated protection, and shared protection). The solution to those models can be used to determine an initial design for a new network. Over time, however, changes in the demand pattern and/or upgrades to the network equipment may create a situation in which the working and/or backup paths are sub-optimal.For network managers who are reluctant to make wholesale changes to an established and reliable routing assignment, a complete modification to obtain an optimal assignment that uses fewer network resources is viewed as highly risky. This investigation presents a new procedure to take a given feasible, but sub-optimal design and improve it by making a series of incremental improvements each of which only changes a small number of path assignments. Network managers view this strategy as much less risky since only a few customers are affected by any one change. Test cases that require no protection, dedicated protection, and shared protection were examined in an empirical analysis. For all cases, near-optimal solutions were achieved irrespective of the quality of the given sub-optimal starting solutions.     

Vertex partitions of r-edge-colored graphs

Let G be an edge-colored graph.The monochromatic tree partition problem is to find the minimum number of vertex disjoint monochromatic trees to cover the all vertices of G.In the authors' previous work,it has been proved that the problem is NP-complete and there does not exist any constant factor approximation algorithm for it unless P=NP.In this paper the authors show that for any fixed integer r≥5,if the edges of a graph G are colored by r colors,called an r-edge-colored graph,the problem remains NP-complete.Similar result holds for the monochromatic path(cycle)partition problem.Therefore,to find some classes of interesting graphs for which the problem can be solved in polynomial time seems interesting. A linear time algorithm for the monochromatic path partition problem for edge-colored trees is given.     

满足路径约束的最优路算法

满足路径约束的最优路问题已被证明是NP-hard问题。本针对源点到宿点满足两个QoS(服务质量)度量的路由问题，给出一种保证时延的最小费用路由启发式算法。这个算法的优点是计算较简单、占用内存小、时间短。算法的复杂度是多项式的，表明算法是有效的。     

ATM network design for corporate networks

Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks play an important role in support of distributed applications and modern corporate systems. The applications that use these architectures transfer high volumes of data in high-speed bursts and have stringent delay requirements. To address these needs, network managers seek cost efficient network solutions that provide network capacity sufficient to support high-speed applications.In this paper we present a new formulation and solution procedure for designing ATM networks to support corporate applications. Given the locations of the application servers and multiple clients we would like to design a minimum cost ATM network by which the clients can access the servers. Most of the previous work done in this area separates the problem into a routing problem (virtual circuit routing) and an assignment (virtual path assignment) problem. Thus, the solutions tend to be sub-optimal in the combined problem. This research optimizes virtual path (VP) assignment and virtual circuit (VC) routing simultaneously. We formulate the combined problem explicitly and develop an effective solution method. The solution method provides the designer with virtual paths and virtual circuits over which the actual communication takes place. Computational results are provided.     

环形全光WDM网络的波长分配

我们考虑的问题来自于基于波分复用技术(WDM)的全光环形网络．给定环形网络中一个路(通讯请求)的集合，将每一条路分配一个波长，使得经过相同连接的路必须分配不同的波长我们的目标就是找一个波长分配方案使所需的波长数目最小．令ω表示为路集中最大两两相交路的个数．本文我们设计了一个可以保证指派到路集的波长数目不超过1．5ω的近似算法．因为ω是路集所需波长最小数目的一个下界，所以该算法的近似比不超过1．5．     

Optimal paths in bi-attribute networks with fractional cost functions

An important routing problem is to determine an optimal path through a multi-attribute network which minimizes a cost function of path attributes. In this paper, we study an optimal path problem in a bi-attribute network where the cost function for path evaluation is fractional. The problem can be equivalently formulated as the “bi-attribute rational path problem” which is known to be NP-complete. We develop an exact approach to find an optimal simple path through the network when arc attributes are non-negative. The approach uses some path preference structures and elimination techniques to discard, from further consideration, those (partial) paths that cannot be parts of an optimal path. Our extensive computational results demonstrate that the proposed method can find optimal paths for large networks in very attractive times.     

Nash equilibria in all-optical networks

We consider the problem of routing a number of communication requests in WDM (wavelength division multiplexing) all-optical networks from the standpoint of game theory. If we view each routing request (pair of source-target nodes) as a player, then a strategy consists of a path from the source to the target and a frequency (color). To reflect the restriction that two requests must not use the same frequency on the same edge, conflicting strategies are assigned a prohibitively high cost.Under this formulation, we consider several natural cost functions, each one reflecting a different aspect of restriction in the available bandwidth. For each cost function we examine the problem of the existence of pure Nash equilibria, the complexity of recognizing and computing them and finally, the problem in which we are given a Nash equilibrium and we are asked to find a better one in the sense that the total bandwidth used is less. As it turns out some of these problems are tractable and others are NP-hard.     

Model-hierarchical column generation and heuristic for the routing and wavelength assignment problem

The routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) problem typically occurs in wavelength division multiplexing optical networks. Given a number of available wavelengths, we consider here the problem of maximising the number of accepted connections with respect to the clash and continuity constraints. We first propose a new strategy which combines two existing models. This leads to an improved column generation scheme. We also present two heuristics to compute feasible solutions: a hybrid heuristic and the integer solution at the root node of the column generation. Our approaches are compared with the best existing results on a set of classic RWA instances.     

On the Hardness of Equal Shortest Path Routing

In telecommunication networks packets are carried from a source s to a destination t on a path that is determined by the underlying routing protocol. Most routing protocols belong to the class of shortest path routing protocols. In such protocols, the network operator assigns a length to each link. A packet going from s to t follows a shortest path according to these lengths. For better protection and efficiency, one wishes to use multiple (shortest) paths between two nodes. Therefore the routing protocol must determine how the traffic from s to t is distributed among the shortest paths. In the protocol called OSPF-ECMP (for Open Shortest Path First-Equal Cost Multiple Path) the traffic incoming at every node is uniformly balanced on all outgoing links that are on shortest paths. In that context, the operator task is to determine the “best” link lengths, toward a goal such as maximizing the network throughput for given link capacities.In this work, we show that the problem of maximizing even a single commodity flow for the OSPF-ECMP protocol cannot be approximated within any constant factor ratio. Besides this main theorem, we derive some positive results which include polynomial-time approximations and an exponential-time exact algorithm. We also prove that despite their weakness, our approximation and exact algorithms are, in a sense, the best possible.     

WDM网络中的一个改进的最优半光通道路由算法

本文在一个限定的条件下，提出了一个WDM网络中的寻找最优半光通道算法，使时间复杂度从O（k^2n km knlog(kn))提高到O（k^2n km nlogn)。     

Solving the vehicle routing problem with time windows and multiple routes exactly using a pseudo-polynomial model

In this paper, we address a variant of the vehicle routing problem called the vehicle routing problem with time windows and multiple routes. It considers that a given vehicle can be assigned to more than one route per planning period. We propose a new exact algorithm for this problem. Our algorithm is iterative and it relies on a pseudo-polynomial network flow model whose nodes represent time instants, and whose arcs represent feasible vehicle routes. This algorithm was tested on a set of benchmark instances from the literature. The computational results show that our method is able to solve more instances than the only other exact method described so far in the literature, and it clearly outperforms this method in terms of computing time.     

An N-path user equilibrium for transportation networks

The traditional trip-based approach to transportation modeling has been employed for the past decade. The last step of the trip-based modeling approach is traffic assignment, which has been typically formulated as a user equilibrium (UE) problem. In the conventional perspective, the definition of UE traffic assignment is the condition that no road user can unilaterally change routes to reduce their travel time. An equivalent definition is that the travel times of all the used paths between any given origin–destination pair are equal and less than those of the unused paths. The underlying assumption of the UE definition is that road users have full information on the available transportation paths and can potentially use any path if the currently used path is overly congested. However, a more practical scenario is that each road user has a limited path set within which she/he can choose routes from. In this new scenario, we call the resulting user equilibrium an N-path user equilibrium (NPUE), in which each road user has only N paths to select from when making route choices in the network. We introduce a new formulation of the NPUE and derive optimality conditions based on this formulation. Different from traditional modeling framework, the constraints of the proposed model are of linear form, which makes it possible to solve the problem with conventional convex programming techniques. We also show that the traditional UE is a special case of an NPUE and prove the uniqueness of the resulting flow pattern of the NPUE. To efficiently solve this problem, we devise path-based and link-based solution algorithms. The proposed solution algorithms are empirically applied to networks of various sizes to examine the impact of constrained user path sets. Numerical results demonstrate that NPUE results can differ significantly from UE results depending on the number of paths available to road users. In addition, we observed an interesting phenomenon, where increasing the number of paths available to road users can sometimes decrease the overall system performance due to their selfish routing behaviors. This paradox demonstrates that network information should be provided with caution, as such information can do more harm than good in certain transportation systems.     

A bicriterion shortest path algorithm

Among the network models, one of the more popular is the so called shortest path problem. This model is used whenever it is intended to minimize a linear function which represents a distance between a predetermined pair of nodes in a given network.Often a single objective function is not sufficient to completely characterize some real-world problems. For instance, in a road network two parameters - as cost and time - can be assigned to each arc. Clearly the fastest path may be too costly. Nevertheless the decision-maker must choose one solution, possibly not the best for both criteria.In this paper we present an algorithm for this problem. With this algorithm a special set of paths (the set of Pareto optimal paths) is determined. One objective for any Pareto optimal path can not be improved without worsening the other one.     

Vertex partitions of r -edge-colored graphs

Let G be an edge-colored graph. The monochromatic tree partition problem is to find the minimum number of vertex disjoint monochromatic trees to cover the all vertices of G. In the authors’ previous work, it has been proved that the problem is NP-complete and there does not exist any constant factor approximation algorithm for it unless P = NP. In this paper the authors show that for any fixed integer r ≥ 5, if the edges of a graph G are colored by r colors, called an r-edge-colored graph, the problem remains NP-complete. Similar result holds for the monochromatic path (cycle) partition problem. Therefore, to find some classes of interesting graphs for which the problem can be solved in polynomial time seems interesting. A linear time algorithm for the monochromatic path partition problem for edge-colored trees is given. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, PCSIRT and the “973” Program.