The amount of transmitted data in computer networks is expected to grow
considerably in the future, putting more and more pressure on the network
infrastructures. In order to guarantee a good service, it then becomes
fundamental to use the network resources efficiently. Network Utility
Maximization (NUM) provides a framework to optimize the rate allocation when
network resources are limited. Unfortunately, in the scenario where the amount
of available resources is not known a priori, classical NUM solving methods do
not offer a viable solution. To overcome this limitation we design an overlay
rate allocation scheme that attempts to infer the actual amount of available
network resources while coordinating the users rate allocation. Due to the
general and complex model assumed for the congestion measurements, a passive
learning of the available resources would not lead to satisfying performance.
The coordination scheme must then perform active learning in order to speed up
the resources estimation and quickly increase the system performance. By
adopting an optimal learning formulation we are able to balance the tradeoff
between an accurate estimation, and an effective resources exploitation in
order to maximize the long term quality of the service delivered to the users