Resource Management and Pricing in Networks

Resource management is important for network design and deployment. Resource management and allocation have been studied under a wide variety of scenarios --- routing in wired networks, scheduling in cellular networks, multiplexing, switching, and channel access in opportunistic networks are but a few examples. In this dissertation, we revisit resource management in the context of routing and scheduling in multihop wireless networks and pricing in single resource systems. The first issue addressed is of delays in multihop wireless networks. The resource under contention is capacity which is allocated by a joint routing and scheduling algorithm. Delay in wireless networks is a key issue gaining interest with the growth of interactive applications and proliferation of wireless networks. We start with an investigation of the back-pressure algorithm (BPA), an algorithm that activates the schedule with the largest sum of link weights in a timeslot. Though the BPA is throughput-optimal, it has poor end-to-end delays. Our investigation identifies poor routing decisions at low loads as one cause for it. We improve the delay performance of max-weight algorithms by proposing a general framework for routing and scheduling algorithms that allow directing packets towards the sink node dynamically. For a stationary environment, we explicitly formulate delay minimization as a static problem while maintaining stability. We see similar improved delay performance with the advantage of reduced per time-slot complexity. Next, the issue of pricing for flow based models is studied. The increasing popularity of cloud computing and the ease of commerce over the Internet is making pricing a key issue requiring greater attention. Although pricing has been extensively studied in the context of maximizing revenue and fairness, we take a different perspective and investigate pricing with predictability. Prior work has studied resource allocations that link insensitivity and predictability. In this dissertation, we present a detailed analysis of pricing under insensitive allocations. We study three common pricing models --- fixed rate pricing, Vickrey-Clarke-Groves (VCG) auctions, and congestion-based pricing, and provide the expected operator revenue and user payments under them. A pre-payment scheme is also proposed where users pay on arrival a fee for their estimated service costs. Such a mechanism is shown to have lower variability in payments under fixed rate pricing and VCG auctions while generating the same long-term revenue as in a post-payment scheme, where users pay the exact charge accrued during their sojourn. Our formulation and techniques further the understanding of pricing mechanisms and decision-making for the operator

5GAuRA. D3.3: RAN Analytics Mechanisms and Performance Benchmarking of Video, Time Critical, and Social Applications

5GAuRA deliverable D3.3.This is the final deliverable of Work Package 3 (WP3) of the 5GAuRA project, providing a report on the project’s developments on the topics of Radio Access Network (RAN) analytics and application performance benchmarking. The focus of this deliverable is to extend and deepen the methods and results provided in the 5GAuRA deliverable D3.2 in the context of specific use scenarios of video, time critical, and social applications. In this respect, four major topics of WP3 of 5GAuRA – namely edge-cloud enhanced RAN architecture, machine learning assisted Random Access Channel (RACH) approach, Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) content caching, and active queue management – are put forward. Specifically, this document provides a detailed discussion on the service level agreement between tenant and service provider in the context of network slicing in Fifth Generation (5G) communication networks. Network slicing is considered as a key enabler to 5G communication system. Legacy telecommunication networks have been providing various services to all kinds of customers through a single network infrastructure. In contrast, by deploying network slicing, operators are now able to partition one network into individual slices, each with its own configuration and Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. There are many applications across industry that open new business opportunities with new business models. Every application instance requires an independent slice with its own network functions and features, whereby every single slice needs an individual Service Level Agreement (SLA). In D3.3, we propose a comprehensive end-to-end structure of SLA between the tenant and the service provider of sliced 5G network, which balances the interests of both sides. The proposed SLA defines reliability, availability, and performance of delivered telecommunication services in order to ensure that right information is delivered to the right destination at right time, safely and securely. We also discuss the metrics of slicebased network SLA such as throughput, penalty, cost, revenue, profit, and QoS related metrics, which are, in the view of 5GAuRA, critical features of the agreement.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Performance modelling with adaptive hidden Markov models and discriminatory processor sharing queues

In modern computer systems, workload varies at different times and locations. It is important to model the performance of such systems via workload models that are both representative and efficient. For example, model-generated workloads represent realistic system behaviour, especially during peak times, when it is crucial to predict and address performance bottlenecks. In this thesis, we model performance, namely throughput and delay, using adaptive models and discrete queues. Hidden Markov models (HMMs) parsimoniously capture the correlation and burstiness of workloads with spatiotemporal characteristics. By adapting the batch training of standard HMMs to incremental learning, online HMMs act as benchmarks on workloads obtained from live systems (i.e. storage systems and financial markets) and reduce time complexity of the Baum-Welch algorithm. Similarly, by extending HMM capabilities to train on multiple traces simultaneously it follows that workloads of different types are modelled in parallel by a multi-input HMM. Typically, the HMM-generated traces verify the throughput and burstiness of the real data. Applications of adaptive HMMs include predicting user behaviour in social networks and performance-energy measurements in smartphone applications. Equally important is measuring system delay through response times. For example, workloads such as Internet traffic arriving at routers are affected by queueing delays. To meet quality of service needs, queueing delays must be minimised and, hence, it is important to model and predict such queueing delays in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Therefore, we propose a class of discrete, processor-sharing queues for approximating queueing delay as response time distributions, which represent service level agreements at specific spatiotemporal levels. We adapt discrete queues to model job arrivals with distributions given by a Markov-modulated Poisson process (MMPP) and served under discriminatory processor-sharing scheduling. Further, we propose a dynamic strategy of service allocation to minimise delays in UDP traffic flows whilst maximising a utility function.Open Acces

Untangling hotel industry’s inefficiency: An SFA approach applied to a renowned Portuguese hotel chain

The present paper explores the technical efficiency of four hotels from Teixeira Duarte Group - a renowned Portuguese hotel chain. An efficiency ranking is established from these four hotel units located in Portugal using Stochastic Frontier Analysis. This methodology allows to discriminate between measurement error and systematic inefficiencies in the estimation process enabling to investigate the main inefficiency causes. Several suggestions concerning efficiency improvement are undertaken for each hotel studied.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2017, nr 4

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Managed access dependability for critical services in wireless inter domain environment

The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry has through the last decades changed and still continues to affect the way people interact with each other and how they access and share information, services and applications in a global market characterized by constant change and evolution. For a networked and highly dynamic society, with consumers and market actors providing infrastructure, networks, services and applications, the mutual dependencies of failure free operations are getting more and more complex. Service Level Agreements (SLAs) between the various actors and users may be used to describe the offerings along with price schemes and promises regarding the delivered quality. However, there is no guarantee for failure free operations whatever efforts and means deployed. A system fails for a number of reasons, but automatic fault handling mechanisms and operational procedures may be used to decrease the probability for service interruptions. The global number of mobile broadband Internet subscriptions surpassed the number of broadband subscriptions over fixed technologies in 2010. The User Equipment (UE) has become a powerful device supporting a number of wireless access technologies and the always best connected opportunities have become a reality. Some services, e.g. health care, smart power grid control, surveillance/monitoring etc. called critical services in this thesis, put high requirements on service dependability. A definition of dependability is the ability to deliver services that can justifiably be trusted. For critical services, the access networks become crucial factors for achieving high dependability. A major challenge in a multi operator, multi technology wireless environment is the mobility of the user that necessitates handovers according to the physical movement. In this thesis it is proposed an approach for how to optimize the dependability for critical services in multi operator, multi technology wireless environment. This approach allows predicting the service availability and continuity at real-time. Predictions of the optimal service availability and continuity are considered crucial for critical services. To increase the dependability for critical services dual homing is proposed where the use of combinations of access points, possibly owned by different operators and using different technologies, are optimized for the specific location and movement of the user. A central part of the thesis is how to ensure the disjointedness of physical and logical resources so important for utilizing the dependability increase potential with dual homing. To address the interdependency issues between physical and logical resources, a study of Operations, Administrations, and Maintenance (OA&M) processes related to the access network of a commercial Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)/Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) operator was performed. The insight obtained by the study provided valuable information of the inter woven dependencies between different actors in the delivery chain of services. Based on the insight gained from the study of OA&M processes a technological neutral information model of physical and logical resources in the access networks is proposed. The model is used for service availability and continuity prediction and to unveil interdependencies between resources for the infrastructure. The model is proposed as an extension of the Media Independent Handover (MIH) framework. A field trial in a commercial network was conducted to verify the feasibility in retrieving the model related information from the operators' Operational Support Systems (OSSs) and to emulate the extension and usage of the MIH framework. In the thesis it is proposed how measurement reports from UE and signaling in networks are used to define virtual cells as part of the proposed extension of the MIH framework. Virtual cells are limited geographical areas where the radio conditions are homogeneous. Virtual cells have radio coverage from a number of access points. A Markovian model is proposed for prediction of the service continuity of a dual homed critical service, where both the infrastructure and radio links are considered. A dependability gain is obtained by choosing a global optimal sequence of access points. Great emphasizes have been on developing computational e cient techniques and near-optimal solutions considered important for being able to predict service continuity at real-time for critical services. The proposed techniques to obtain the global optimal sequence of access points may be used by handover and multi homing mechanisms/protocols for timely handover decisions and access point selections. With the proposed extension of the MIH framework a global optimal sequence of access points providing the highest reliability may be predicted at real-time

Safety and Reliability - Safe Societies in a Changing World

The contributions cover a wide range of methodologies and application areas for safety and reliability that contribute to safe societies in a changing world. These methodologies and applications include: - foundations of risk and reliability assessment and management - mathematical methods in reliability and safety - risk assessment - risk management - system reliability - uncertainty analysis - digitalization and big data - prognostics and system health management - occupational safety - accident and incident modeling - maintenance modeling and applications - simulation for safety and reliability analysis - dynamic risk and barrier management - organizational factors and safety culture - human factors and human reliability - resilience engineering - structural reliability - natural hazards - security - economic analysis in risk managemen