Optimum Multi-Dimensional Interval Routing Schemes on Networks with Dynamic Cost Links

One of the fundamental tasks in any distributed computing system is routing messages between pairs of nodes. An Interval Routing Scheme (IRS) is a~space efficient way of routing messages in a network. The problem of characterizing graphs that support an IRS is a well-known problem and has been studied for some variants of IRS. It is natural to assume that the costs of links may vary over time (dynamic cost links) and to try to find an IRS which routes all messages on shortest paths (optimum IRS). In this paper, we study this problem for a~variant of IRS in which the labels assigned to the vertices are $d$-ary integer tuples ($d$-dimensional IRS). The only known results in this case are for specific graphs like hypercubes, $n$-dimensional grids, or for the 1-dimensional case. We give a complete characterization for the class of networks supporting multi-dimensional strict and linear (no cyclic intervals) interval routing schemes with dynamic cost links

Matroids are Immune to Braess Paradox

The famous Braess paradox describes the following phenomenon: It might happen that the improvement of resources, like building a new street within a congested network, may in fact lead to larger costs for the players in an equilibrium. In this paper we consider general nonatomic congestion games and give a characterization of the maximal combinatorial property of strategy spaces for which Braess paradox does not occur. In a nutshell, bases of matroids are exactly this maximal structure. We prove our characterization by two novel sensitivity results for convex separable optimization problems over polymatroid base polyhedra which may be of independent interest.Comment: 21 page

Interval Routing Schemes for Circular-Arc Graphs

Interval routing is a space efficient method to realize a distributed routing function. In this paper we show that every circular-arc graph allows a shortest path strict 2-interval routing scheme, i.e., by introducing a global order on the vertices and assigning at most two (strict) intervals in this order to the ends of every edge allows to depict a routing function that implies exclusively shortest paths. Since circular-arc graphs do not allow shortest path 1-interval routing schemes in general, the result implies that the class of circular-arc graphs has strict compactness 2, which was a hitherto open question. Additionally, we show that the constructed 2-interval routing scheme is a 1-interval routing scheme with at most one additional interval assigned at each vertex and we an outline algorithm to calculate the routing scheme for circular-arc graphs in O(n^2) time, where n is the number of vertices.Comment: 17 pages, to appear in "International Journal of Foundations of Computer Science

The complexity of the characterization of networks supporting shortest-path interval routing

AbstractInterval Routing is a routing method that was proposed in order to reduce the size of the routing tables by using intervals and was extensively studied and implemented. Some variants of the original method were also defined and studied. The question of characterizing networks which support optimal (i.e., shortest path) Interval Routing has been thoroughly investigated for each of the variants and under different models, with only partial answers, both positive and negative, given so far. In this paper, we study the characterization problem under the most basic model (the one unit cost), and with the most restrictive memory requirements (one interval per edge). We prove that this problem is NP-hard (even for the restricted class of graphs of diameter at most 3). Our result holds for all variants of Interval Routing. It significantly extends some related NP-hardness result, and implies that, unless P=NP, partial characterization results of some classes of networks which support shortest path Interval Routing, cannot be pushed further to lead to efficient characterizations for these classes

Towards a System Theoretic Approach to Wireless Network Capacity in Finite Time and Space

In asymptotic regimes, both in time and space (network size), the derivation of network capacity results is grossly simplified by brushing aside queueing behavior in non-Jackson networks. This simplifying double-limit model, however, lends itself to conservative numerical results in finite regimes. To properly account for queueing behavior beyond a simple calculus based on average rates, we advocate a system theoretic methodology for the capacity problem in finite time and space regimes. This methodology also accounts for spatial correlations arising in networks with CSMA/CA scheduling and it delivers rigorous closed-form capacity results in terms of probability distributions. Unlike numerous existing asymptotic results, subject to anecdotal practical concerns, our transient one can be used in practical settings: for example, to compute the time scales at which multi-hop routing is more advantageous than single-hop routing

Network Information Flow in Small World Networks

Recent results from statistical physics show that large classes of complex networks, both man-made and of natural origin, are characterized by high clustering properties yet strikingly short path lengths between pairs of nodes. This class of networks are said to have a small-world topology. In the context of communication networks, navigable small-world topologies, i.e. those which admit efficient distributed routing algorithms, are deemed particularly effective, for example in resource discovery tasks and peer-to-peer applications. Breaking with the traditional approach to small-world topologies that privileges graph parameters pertaining to connectivity, and intrigued by the fundamental limits of communication in networks that exploit this type of topology, we investigate the capacity of these networks from the perspective of network information flow. Our contribution includes upper and lower bounds for the capacity of standard and navigable small-world models, and the somewhat surprising result that, with high probability, random rewiring does not alter the capacity of a small-world network.Comment: 23 pages, 8 fitures, submitted to the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, November 200