Performance of Scheduling Policies in Adversarial Networks with Non-synchronized Clocks

In this paper we generalize the Continuous Adversarial Queuing Theory (CAQT) model (Blesa et al. in MFCS, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 3618, pp. 144–155, 2005) by considering the possibility that the router clocks in the network are not synchronized. We name the new model Non Synchronized CAQT (NSCAQT). Clearly, this new extension to the model only affects those scheduling policies that use some form of timing. In a first approach we consider the case in which although not synchronized, all clocks run at the same speed, maintaining constant differences. In this case we show that all universally stable policies in CAQT that use the injection time and the remaining path to schedule packets remain universally stable. These policies include, for instance, Shortest in System (SIS) and Longest in System (LIS). Then, we study the case in which clock differences can vary over time, but the maximum difference is bounded. In this model we show the universal stability of two families of policies related to SIS and LIS respectively (the priority of a packet in these policies depends on the arrival time and a function of the path traversed). The bounds we obtain in this case depend on the maximum difference between clocks. This is a necessary requirement, since we also show that LIS is not universally stable in systems without bounded clock difference. We then present a new policy that we call Longest in Queues (LIQ), which gives priority to the packet that has been waiting the longest in edge queues. This policy is universally stable and, if clocks maintain constant differences, the bounds we prove do not depend on them. To finish, we provide with simulation results that compare the behavior of some of these policies in a network with stochastic injection of packets

Dynamic Packet Scheduling in Wireless Networks

We consider protocols that serve communication requests arising over time in a wireless network that is subject to interference. Unlike previous approaches, we take the geometry of the network and power control into account, both allowing to increase the network's performance significantly. We introduce a stochastic and an adversarial model to bound the packet injection. Although taken as the primary motivation, this approach is not only suitable for models based on the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR). It also covers virtually all other common interference models, for example the multiple-access channel, the radio-network model, the protocol model, and distance-2 matching. Packet-routing networks allowing each edge or each node to transmit or receive one packet at a time can be modeled as well. Starting from algorithms for the respective scheduling problem with static transmission requests, we build distributed stable protocols. This is more involved than in previous, similar approaches because the algorithms we consider do not necessarily scale linearly when scaling the input instance. We can guarantee a throughput that is as large as the one of the original static algorithm. In particular, for SINR models the competitive ratios of the protocol in comparison to optimal ones in the respective model are between constant and O(log^2 m) for a network of size m.Comment: 23 page

Local Queuing Under Contention

We study stability of local packet scheduling policies in a distributed system of n nodes. The local policies at nodes may only access their local queues, and have no other feedback from the underlying distributed system. The packets arrive at queues according to arrival patterns controlled by an adversary restricted only by injection rate rho and burstiness b. In this work, we assume that the underlying distributed system is a shared channel, in which in order to get rid of a packet from the queue, a node needs to schedule it for transmission on the channel and no other packet is scheduled for transmission at the same time. We show that there is a local adaptive scheduling policy with relatively small memory, which is universally stable on a shared channel, that is, it has bounded queues for any rho= 0. On the other hand, without memory the maximal stable injection rate is O(1/log n). We show a local memoryless (non-adaptive) scheduling policy based on novel idea of ultra strong selectors which is stable for slightly smaller injection c/log^2 n, for some constant c>0

Weak models of wireless distributed computing Comparison between radio networks and population protocols

This thesis compares weak distributed computing models that are suit- able for extremely limited wireless networks. The comparison is mainly between multiple variations of radio networks and population protocols. The analysis is based on model features, computability and algorithmic complexity. The thesis analyses essential and optional model features, and organizes the models accordingly. It discusses the applicability of results from stronger models to radio network models, including impossibility results, algorithms and their runtime. It analyzes different radio network algorithms for the classical problems in terms of their features, and it discusses their applicability to other radio network models. It reviews the fundamental differences between population protocols and radio networks. Lastly, the comparative analysis summarizes fundamental differences and separating features

G-SINC: Global Synchronization Infrastructure for Network Clocks

Many critical computing applications rely on secure and dependable time which is reliably synchronized across large distributed systems. Today's time synchronization architectures are commonly based on global navigation satellite systems at the considerable risk of being exposed to outages, malfunction, or attacks against availability and accuracy. This paper describes a practical instantiation of a new global, Byzantine fault-tolerant clock synchronization approach that does not place trust in any single entity and is able to tolerate a fraction of faulty entities while still maintaining synchronization on a global scale among otherwise sovereign network topologies. Leveraging strong resilience and security properties provided by the path-aware SCION networking architecture, the presented design can be implemented as a backward compatible active standby solution for existing time synchronization deployments. Through extensive evaluation, we demonstrate that over 94% of time servers reliably minimize the offset of their local clocks to real-time in the presence of up to 20% malicious nodes, and all time servers remain synchronized with a skew of only 2 ms even after one year of reference clock outage

Survey of Consistent Network Updates

Computer networks have become a critical infrastructure. Designing dependable computer networks however is challenging, as such networks should not only meet strict requirements in terms of correctness, availability, and performance, but they should also be flexible enough to support fast updates, e.g., due to a change in the security policy, an increasing traffic demand, or a failure. The advent of Software-Defined Networks (SDNs) promises to provide such flexiblities, allowing to update networks in a fine-grained manner, also enabling a more online traffic engineering. In this paper, we present a structured survey of mechanisms and protocols to update computer networks in a fast and consistent manner. In particular, we identify and discuss the different desirable update consistency properties a network should provide, the algorithmic techniques which are needed to meet these consistency properties, their implications on the speed and costs at which updates can be performed. We also discuss the relationship of consistent network update problems to classic algorithmic optimization problems. While our survey is mainly motivated by the advent of Software-Defined Networks (SDNs), the fundamental underlying problems are not new, and we also provide a historical perspective of the subject

The robustness of stability under link and node failures

AbstractIn the area of communication systems, stability refers to the property of keeping the amount of traffic in the system always bounded over time. Different communication system models have been proposed in order to capture the unpredictable behavior of some users and applications. Among those proposed models the adversarial queueing theory (aqt) model turned out to be the most adequate to analyze an unpredictable network. Until now, most of the research done in this field did not consider the possibility of the adversary producing failures on the network structure. The adversarial models proposed in this work incorporate the possibility of dealing with node and link failures provoked by the adversary. Such failures produce temporal disruptions of the connectivity of the system and increase the collisions of packets in the intermediate hosts of the network, and thus the average traffic load. Under such a scenario, the network is required to be equipped with some mechanism for dealing with those collisions.In addition to proposing adversarial models for faulty systems we study the relation between the robustness of the stability of the system and the management of the queues affected by the failures. When the adversary produces link or node failures the queues associated to the corresponding links can be affected in many different ways depending on whether they can receive or serve packets, or rather that they cannot. In most of the cases, protocols and networks containing very simple topologies, which were known to be universally stable in the aqt model, turn out to be unstable under some of the newly proposed adversarial models. This shows that universal stability of networks is not a robust property in the presence of failures