GMA: A Pareto Optimal Distributed Resource-Allocation Algorithm

To address the rising demand for strong packet delivery guarantees in networking, we study a novel way to perform graph resource allocation. We first introduce allocation graphs, in which nodes can independently set local resource limits based on physical constraints or policy decisions. In this scenario we formalize the distributed path-allocation (PAdist) problem, which consists in allocating resources to paths considering only local on-path information -- importantly, not knowing which other paths could have an allocation -- while at the same time achieving the global property of never exceeding available resources. Our core contribution, the global myopic allocation (GMA) algorithm, is a solution to this problem. We prove that GMA can compute unconditional allocations for all paths on a graph, while never over-allocating resources. Further, we prove that GMA is Pareto optimal with respect to the allocation size, and it has linear complexity in the input size. Finally, we show with simulations that this theoretical result could be indeed applied to practical scenarios, as the resulting path allocations are large enough to fit the requirements of practically relevant applications

Hummingbird: A Flexible and Lightweight Inter-Domain Bandwidth-Reservation System

The current Internet lacks a bandwidth-reservation infrastructure that enables fine-grained inter-domain reservations for end hosts. This is hindering the provisioning of quality-of-service guarantees for real-time applications like video calls and gaming, cloud-based systems, financial transactions, telesurgery, and other remote applications that benefit from reliable communication. This paper introduces Hummingbird, a novel lightweight inter-domain bandwidth-reservation system that addresses several shortcomings of previous designs. Hummingbird supports flexible and composable reservations and enables end-to-end guarantees without requiring autonomous systems to manage reservations for their endhosts. Previous systems tied reservations to autonomous-system numbers or network addresses, which limits the flexibility of reservations. In contrast, our system decouples reservations from network identities and, as a result, the control plane from the data plane. This design choice facilitates multiple co-existing control-plane mechanisms and enables innovative approaches, such as a control plane based on blockchain smart contracts that offers tradeable bandwidth-reservation assets and end-to-end guarantees. The data-plane design ensures simplicity for efficient processing on border routers, which streamlines implementation, deployment, and traffic policing while maintaining robust security properties.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure