ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the utility maximization problems for communication networks but from a router-level bandwidth allocation standpoint. However, once wireless networks are concerned, it is more precise to use the term "the aggregate flow level bandwidth allocation". The chapter proposes a general model of utility-optimized router-level bandwidth allocation and its solution. It discusses the special cases where the routing matrix is of full row rank and where there is one single-hop flow in every link in the network. The chapter suggests a direct application to IP-based virtual private network (IP-VPN) of the latter case. It presents the mathematical models and solution procedures that lead to the utility-optimized aggregate flow rate vector and further illustrate them by numerical examples. The bandwidth allocation approach is more appropriate for deployment in communication networks than the usual solutions. The chapter also discusses the direct application of the utility-optimized aggregate flow-level bandwidth allocation model in resource allocation for the optical burst switching networks.
