Th`ese de Doctorat de l'université Paris VI Pierre et Marie Curie Mlle ...

Chapter 9
Conclusion
9.1 Discussion and Concluding Remarks
Realizing flexible and efficient bandwidth allocation in communication networks is a chal-
lenging problem. This thesis has presented a number of contributions to address this
problem. We have proposed a novel service model where users subscribe for guaranteed
transmission rates, and the network periodically individuates unused bandwidth that is
re-allocated and guaranteed with short-term contracts to users who can better exploit it
according to their traffic needs and bandwidth utility functions. We have developed a set
of efficient algorithms for dynamic bandwidth allocation. These algorithms take explicitly
into account traffic statistics to increase the users perceived utility and the network rev-
enue. Further, we have introduced a novel mathematical model that optimizes the total
network revenue and provides bounds to the performance achievable by any online dynamic
bandwidth allocation algorithm.
In Chapter 2, we presented the background required for the understanding of the band-
width allocation problem, and the work related to this research. We compared our approach
to existing schemes underlying the novelty of our approach.
In Chapter 3, we presented a new service model that, first, provides a quantitative
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