Modeling and adaptive resource management in integrated communication networks.

Abstract

The focus of this dissertation is the development of resource management schemes for integrated networks, with the major contributions being: (i) the development of an optimal adaptive buffer management scheme for the packet-switched subsystem, (ii) the integration of a moveable-boundary hybrid switching scheme with the time assigned speech interpolation technique for implementing a congestion control mechanism for the packet-switched subsystem, and (iii) the development of an adaptive hierarchical scheme for implementing the access control and routing functions within the circuit-switched subsystem. The problem of buffer management at an integrated network node is formulated as a nonlinear programming problem with a convex objective function and an interative solution technique with fast convergence is proposed for a real-time implementation of the buffer management scheme in practical environments. In order to exercise an additional degree of control over the packet-blocking probability at each hybrid-switched link within the network, a new multiplexing scheme based on the integration of the moveable-boundary hybrid switching scheme and the time assigned speech interpolation technique is presented in this dissertation. The tradeoff between the corresponding decrease in the packet blocking probability and the increase in the circuit freezeout fraction is demonstrated by a detailed queueing analysis of the multiplexer. Specific algorithms are also presented in this dissertation for the solution of the access control and routing problems within the circuit-switched subsystem. In particular, an access control scheme is developed by solving an integer programming problem formulated using the policy of complete partitioning of the available bandwidth among the competing user classes. As an alternative to the completely partitioned approach, the problem of traffic routing is considered in a network that supports homogeneous traffic classes based on the policy of complete sharing. Finally, for the general case of networks with heterogeneous traffic classes, a hierarchical scheme is developed for the implementation of the access control and the routing functions at two functional levels, where the access control is implemented by the network supervisor who solves an appropriate linear integer programming problem periodically, and the routing function is handled by the individual nodes of the network on a distributed basis. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)