TY - THES A1 - Krumke, Sven T1 - Online Optimization: Competitive Analysis and Beyond N2 - Traditional optimization techniques assume, in general, knowledge of all data of a problem instance. There are many cases in practice, however, where decisions have to be made before complete information about the data is available. In fact, it may be necessary to produce a part of the problem solution as soon as a new piece of information becomes known. This is called an \emph{online situation}, and an algorithm is termed \emph{online}, if it makes a decision (computes a partial solution) whenever a new piece of data requests an action. \emph{Competitive analysis} has become a standard yardstick to measure the quality of online algorithms. One compares the solution produced by an online algorithm to that of an optimal (clairvoyant) offline algorithm. An online algorithm is called $c$-competitive if on every input the solution it produces has cost'' at most $c$~times that of the optimal offline algorithm. This situation can be imagined as a game between an online player and a malicious adversary. Although competitive analysis is a worst-case analysis and henceforth pessimistic, it often allows important insights into the problem structure. One can obtain an idea about what kind of strategies are promising for real-world systems and why. On the other hand there are also cases where the offline adversary is simply too powerful and allows only trivial competitiveness results. This phenomenon is called hitting the triviality barrier''. We investigate several online problems by means of competitive analysis. We also introduce new concepts to overcome the weaknesses of the standard approach and to go beyond the triviality barrier. T3 - ZIB-Report - 02-25 KW - competitive analysis KW - online optimization KW - online algorithm KW - approximation algorithm Y1 - 2002 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-6925 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Bley, Andreas T1 - On the Hardness of Finding Small Shortest Path Routing Conflicts N2 - Nowadays most data networks use shortest path protocols such as OSPF or IS-IS to route traffic. Given administrative routing lengths for the links of a network, all data packets are sent along shortest paths with respect to these lengths from their source to their destination. One of the most fundamental problems in planning shortest path networks is to decide whether a given set of routing paths forms a valid routing and, if this is not the case, to find a small subset of the given paths that cannot be shortest paths simultaneously for any routing lengths. In this paper we show that it is NP-hard to approximate the size of the smallest shortest path conflict by a factor less than 7/6. T3 - ZIB-Report - 09-15 KW - shortest path routing KW - computational complexity Y1 - 2009 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-11276 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Bley, Andreas T1 - An Integer Programming Algorithm for Routing Optimization in IP Networks N2 - Most data networks nowadays use shortest path protocols to route the traffic. Given administrative routing lengths for the links of the network, all data packets are sent along shortest paths with respect to these lengths from their source to their destination. In this paper, we present an integer programming algorithm for the minimum congestion unsplittable shortest path routing problem, which arises in the operational planning of such networks. Given a capacitated directed graph and a set of communication demands, the goal is to find routing lengths that define a unique shortest path for each demand and minimize the maximum congestion over all links in the resulting routing. We illustrate the general decomposition approach our algorithm is based on, present the integer and linear programming models used to solve the master and the client problem, and discuss the most important implementational aspects. Finally, we report computational results for various benchmark problems, which demonstrate the efficiency of our algorithm. T3 - ZIB-Report - 08-30 KW - Shortest Path Routing KW - Integer Programming Y1 - 2008 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-10814 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Orlowski, Sebastian A1 - Pioro, Michal A1 - Tomaszewski, Artur A1 - Wessäly, Roland T1 - SNDlib 1.0--Survivable Network Design Library N2 - We provide information on the Survivable Network Design Library (SNDlib), a data library for fixed telecommunication network design that can be accessed at http://sndlib.zib.de. In version 1.0, the library contains data related to 22 networks which, combined with a set of selected planning parameters, leads to 830 network planning problem instances. In this paper, we provide a mathematical model for each planning problem considered in the library and describe the data concepts of the SNDlib. Furthermore, we provide statistical information and details about the origin of the data sets. T3 - ZIB-Report - 07-15 KW - telecommunication network design KW - data library KW - optimization Y1 - 2007 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-9582 ER - TY - THES A1 - Bley, Andreas T1 - Routing and Capacity Optimization for IP Networks N2 - This thesis is concerned with dimensioning and routing optimization problems for communication networks that employ a shortest path routing protocol such as OSPF, IS-IS, or RIP. These protocols are widely used in the Internet. With these routing protocols, all end-to-end data streams are routed along shortest paths with respect to a metric of link lengths. The network administrator can configure the routing only by modifying this metric. In this thesis we consider the unsplittable shortest path routing variant, where each communication demand must be sent unsplit through the network. This requires that all shortest paths are uniquely determined. The major difficulties in planning such networks are that the routing can be controlled only indirectly via the routing metric and that all routing paths depend on the same routing metric. This leads to rather complicated and subtle interdependencies among the paths that comprise a valid routing. In contrast to most other routing schemes, the paths for different communication demands cannot be configured independent of each other. Part I of the thesis is dedicated to the relation between path sets and routing metrics and to the combinatorial properties of those path sets that comprise a valid unsplittable shortest path routing. Besides reviewing known approaches to find a compatible metric for a given path set (or to prove that none exists) and discussing some properties of valid path sets, we show that the problem of finding a compatible metric with integer lengths as small as possible and the problem of finding a smallest possible conflict in the given path set are both NP-hard to approximate within a constant factor. In Part II of the thesis we discuss the relation between unsplittable shortest path routing and several other routing schemes and we analyze the computational complexity of three basic unsplittable shortest path routing problems. We show that the lowest congestion that can be obtained with unsplittable shortest path routing may significantly exceed that achievable with other routing paradigms and we prove several non-approximability results for unsplittable shortest path routing problems that are stronger than those for the corresponding unsplittable flow problems. In addition, we derive various polynomial time approximation algorithms for general and special cases of these problems. In Part III of the thesis we finally develop an integer linear programming approach to solve these and more realistic unsplittable shortest path routing problems to optimality. We present alternative formulations for these problems, discuss their strength and computational complexity, and show how to derive strong valid inequalities. Eventually, we describe our implementation of this solution approach and report on the numerical results obtained for real-world problems that came up in the planning the German National Research and Education Networks G-WiN and X-WiN and for several benchmark instances. N2 - Die Arbeit befasst sich mit der Kapazitäts- und Routenplanung für Kommunikationsnetze, die ein kürzeste-Wege Routingprotokoll verwenden. Diese Art von Protokollen ist im Internet weit verbreitet. Bei diesen Routingverfahren wird für jede Verbindung im Netz ein Längenwert festgelegt, diese Längen formen die sogenannte Routingmetrik. Die Routingwege der Kommunikationsbedarfe sind dann die jeweiligen kürzesten Wege bezüglich dieser Metrik. Bei der in der Arbeit untersuchten Variante dieser Routingprotokolle wird zusätzlich verlangt, dass es je Kommunikationsbedarf genau einen eindeutigen kürzesten Weg gibt. Die Schwierigkeit bei der Planung solcher Netze besteht darin, dass sich die Routingwege einerseits nur indirekt über die Routingmetrik beeinflussen lassen, andererseits aber alle Routingwege von der gleichen Metrik abhängen. Dadurch können die Wege verschiedener Kommunikationsanforderungen nicht wie bei anderen Routingverfahren unabhängig voneinander gewählt werden. Im erstem Teil der Arbeit werden der Zusammenhang zwischen gegebenen Wegesystemen und kompatiblen Routingmetriken sowie die Beziehungen der Wege eines zulässigen eindeutige-kürzeste-Wege-Routings untereinander untersucht. Dabei wird unter Anderem gezeigt, dass es NP-schwer ist, eine kompatible Metrik mit kleinstmöglichen Routinglängen zu einem gegebenen Wegesystem zu finden. Es wird auch bewiesen, dass das Finden eines kleinstmöglichen Konfliktes in einem gegebenen Wegesystem, zu dem keine kompatible Metrik existiert, NP-schwer ist. Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit wird die Approximierbarkeit von drei grundlegenden Netz- und Routenplanungsproblemen mit eindeutige-kürzeste-Wege-Routing untersucht. Für diese Probleme werden stärkere Nichtapproximierbarkeitsresultate als für die entsprechenden Einwege-Routing Probleme bewiesen und es werden verschiedene polynomiale Approximationsverfahren für allgemeine und Spezialfälle entworfen. Ausserdem wird die Beziehung zwischen eindeutige-kürzeste-Wege-Routing und anderen Routingverfahren diskutiert. Im dritten und letzten Teil der Arbeit wird ein (gemischt-) ganzzahliger Lösungsansatz für Planungsprobleme mit eindeutige-kürzeste-Wege-Routing vorgestellt. Für die im zweiten Teil diskutierten grundlegenden Netz- und Routenplanungsprobleme werden verschiedene (gemischt-) ganzzahlige lineare Modelle vorgestellt und es wird deren Lösbarkeit und die Stärke ihrer LP Relaxierungen untersucht. Es wird auch gezeigt, wie sich starke gültig Ungleichungen aus den in diesen Modellen enthalten Substrukturen ableiten lassen. Schlielich werden am Ende der Arbeit die Software-Implementierung dieses Lösungsverfahrens für eine praxisrelevante Verallgemeinerung der Planungsprobleme sowie die damit erzielten numerischen Ergebnisse vorgestellt und diskutiert. KW - kombinatorische Optimierung KW - gemischt-ganzzahlige Programmierung KW - kürzeste-Wege Routing KW - Approximationsalgorithmen KW - combinatorial optimization KW - mixed-integer programming KW - shortest path routing KW - approximation algorithms Y1 - 2007 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:83-opus-15530 SN - 978-3-86727-281-0 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Koster, Arie M.C.A. A1 - Orlowski, Sebastian A1 - Raack, Christian A1 - Bayer, Georg A1 - Engel, Thomas T1 - Single-layer Cuts for Multi-layer Network Design Problems N2 - We study a planning problem arising in SDH/WDM multi-layer telecommunication network design. The goal is to find a minimum cost installation of link and node hardware of both network layers such that traffic demands can be realized via grooming and a survivable routing. We present a mixed-integer programming formulation that takes many practical side constraints into account, including node hardware, several bitrates, and survivability against single physical node or link failures. This model is solved using a branch-and-cut approach with problem-specific preprocessing and cutting planes based on either of the two layers. On several realistic two-layer planning scenarios, we show that these cutting planes are still useful in the multi-layer context, helping to increase the dual bound and to reduce the optimality gaps. T3 - ZIB-Report - 07-21 KW - telecommunication network KW - multi-layer network design KW - mixed-integer programming KW - cutting planes Y1 - 2007 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-9641 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - THES A1 - Zymolka, Adrian T1 - Design of Survivable Optical Networks by Mathematical Optimization N2 - Abstract The cost-efficient design of survivable optical telecommunication networks is the topic of this thesis. In cooperation with network operators, we have developed suitable concepts and mathematical optimization methods to solve this comprehensive planning task in practice. Optical technology is more and more employed in modern telecommunication networks. Digital information is thereby transmitted as short light pulses through glass fibers. Moreover, the optical medium allows for simultaneous transmissions on a single fiber by use of different wavelengths. Recent optical switches enable a direct forwarding of optical channels in the network nodes without the previously required signal retransformation to electronics. Their integration creates ongoing optical connections,which are called lightpaths. We study the problem of finding cost-efficient configurations of optical networks which meet specified communication requirements. A configuration comprises the determination of all lightpaths to establish as well as the detailed allocation of all required devices and systems. We use a flexible modeling framework for a realistic representation of the networks and their composition. For different network architectures, we formulate integer linear programs which model the design task in detail. Moreover, network survivability is an important issue due to the immense bandwidths offered by optical technology. Operators therefore request for designs which perpetuate protected connections and guarantee for a defined minimum throughput in case of malfunctions. In order to achieve an effective realization of scalable protection, we present a novel survivability concept tailored to optical networks and integrate several variants into the models. Our solution approach is based on a suitable model decomposition into two subtasks which separates two individually hard subproblems and enables this way to compute cost-efficient designs with approved quality guarantee. The first subtask consists of routing the connections with corresponding dimensioning of capacities and constitutes a common core task in the area of network planning. Sophisticated methods for such problems have already been developed and are deployed by appropriate integration. The second subtask is characteristic for optical networks and seeks for a conflict-free assignment of available wavelengths to the lightpaths using a minimum number of involved wavelength converters. For this coloring-like task, we derive particular models and study methods to estimate the number of unavoidable conversions. As constructive approach, we develop heuristics and an exact branch-and-price algorithm. Finally, we carry out an extensive computational study on realistic data, provided by our industrial partners. As twofold purpose, we demonstrate the potential of our approach for computing good solutions with quality guarantee, and we exemplify its flexibility for application to network design and analysis. KW - network design KW - optical networks KW - integer programming KW - mathematical optimization Y1 - 2007 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-10408 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Idzikowski, Filip A1 - Orlowski, Sebastian A1 - Raack, Christian A1 - Woesner, Hagen A1 - Wolisz, Adam T1 - Dynamic routing at different layers in IP-over-WDM networks -- Maximizing energy savings N2 - We estimate potential energy savings in IP-over-WDM networks achieved by switching off router line cards in low-demand hours. We compare three approaches to react on dynamics in the IP traffic over time, FUFL, DUFL and DUDL. They provide different levels of freedom in adjusting the routing of lightpaths in the WDM layer and the routing of demands in the IP layer. Using MILP models based on three realistic network topologies as well as realistic demands, power, and cost values, we show that already a simple monitoring of the lightpath utilization in order to deactivate empty line cards (FUFL) brings substantial benefits. The most significant savings, however, are achieved by rerouting traffic in the IP layer (DUFL), which allows emptying and deactivating lightpaths together with the corresponding line cards. A sophisticated reoptimization of the virtual topologies and the routing in the optical domain for every demand scenario (DUDL) yields nearly no additional profits in the considered networks. These results are independent of the ratio between the demand and capacity granularities, the time scale and the network topology, and show little dependency on the demand structure. T3 - ZIB-Report - 10-07 KW - network design KW - energy efficiency KW - power consumption KW - multi-layer KW - multi-hour KW - multi-period Y1 - 2010 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-11692 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Poss, Michael A1 - Raack, Christian T1 - Affine recourse for the robust network design problem: between static and dynamic routing N2 - Affinely-Adjustable Robust Counterparts provide tractable alternatives to (two-stage) robust programs with arbitrary recourse. We apply them to robust network design with polyhedral demand uncertainty, introducing the affine routing principle. We compare the affine routing to the well-studied static and dynamic routing schemes for robust network design. All three schemes are embedded into the general framework of two-stage network design with recourse. It is shown that affine routing can be seen as a generalization of the widely used static routing still being tractable and providing cheaper solutions. We investigate properties on the demand polytope under which affine routings reduce to static routings and also develop conditions on the uncertainty set leading to dynamic routings being affine. We show however that affine routings suffer from the drawback that (even totally) dominated demand vectors are not necessarily supported by affine solutions. Uncertainty sets have to be designed accordingly. Finally, we present computational results on networks from SNDlib. We conclude that for these instances the optimal solutions based on affine routings tend to be as cheap as optimal network designs for dynamic routings. In this respect the affine routing principle can be used to approximate the cost for two-stage solutions with free recourse which are hard to compute. T3 - ZIB-Report - 11-03 KW - robust optimization KW - network design KW - recourse KW - affine adjustable robust counterparts KW - affine routing Y1 - 2011 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-12122 ER - TY - THES A1 - Schweiger, Jonas T1 - Application of Multistage Stochastic Programming in Strategic Telecommunication Network Planning N2 - Telecommunication is fundamental for the information society. In both, the private and the professional sector, mobile communication is nowadays taken for granted. Starting primarily as a service for speech communication, data service and mobile Internet access are now driving the evolution of network infrastructure. In the year 2009, 19 million users generated over 33 million GB of traffic using mobile data services. The 3rd generation networks (3G or UMTS) in Germany comprises over 39,000 base stations with some 120,000 cells. From 1998 to 2008, the four network operators in Germany invested over 33 billion Euros in their infrastructure. A careful allocation of the resources is thus crucial for the profitability for a network operator: a network should be dimensioned to match customers demand. As this demand evolves over time, the infrastructure has to evolve accordingly. The demand evolution is hard to predict and thus constitutes a strong source of uncertainty. Strategic network planning has to take this uncertainty into account, and the planned network evolution should adapt to changing market conditions. The application of superior planning methods under the consideration of uncertainty can improve the profitability of the network and creates a competitive advantage. Multistage stochastic programming is a suitable framework to model strategic telecommunication network planning. We present mathematical models and effective optimization procedures for strategic cellular network design. The demand evolution is modeled as a continuous stochastic process which is approximated by a discrete scenario tree. A tree-stage approach is used for the construction of non-uniform scenario trees that serve as input of the stochastic program. The model is calibrated by historical traffic observations. A realistic system model of UMTS radio cells is used that determines coverage areas and cell capacities and takes signal propagation and interferences into account. The network design problem is formulated as a multistage stochastic mixed integer linear program, which is solved using state-of-the-art commercial MIP solvers. Problem specific presolving is proposed to reduce the problem size. Computational results on realistic data is presented. Optimization for the expected profit and the conditional value at risk are performed and compared. Y1 - 2010 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-12206 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Eisenblätter, Andreas A1 - Schweiger, Jonas T1 - Multistage Stochastic Programming in Strategic Telecommunication Network Planning N2 - Mobile communication is nowadays taken for granted. Having started primarily as a service for speech communication, data service and mobile Internet access are now driving the evolution of network infrastructure. Operators are facing the challenge to match the demand by continuously expanding and upgrading the network infrastructure. However, the evolution of the customer's demand is uncertain. We introduce a novel (long-term) network planning approach based on multistage stochastic programming, where demand evolution is considered as a stochastic process and the network is extended as to maximize the expected profit. The approach proves capable of designing large-scale realistic UMTS networks with a time-horizon of several years. Our mathematical optimization model, the solution approach, and computational results are presented in this paper. T3 - ZIB-Report - 11-06 KW - UMTS KW - Network Evolution KW - Multistage KW - Stochastic Programming Y1 - 2011 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-12232 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Betker, Andreas A1 - Kosiankowski, Dirk A1 - Lange, Christoph A1 - Pfeuffer, Frank A1 - Raack, Christian A1 - Werner, Axel T1 - Energy efficiency in extensive multilayer core and regional networks with protection N2 - Energy-efficient operation of large telecommunication networks is an important issue today and in the near future. Given that the energy consumption rises with the ever increasing demand for capacity and network speed, there is a growing interest in strategies for a sustainable network management. It is a well-known fact that traffic demands vary significantly over time, most notably in day/night- and in weekly cycles. This provides the main potential for energy-saving strategies. We study the question of how much power is necessary to operate a network with state-of-the-art hardware during peak or low-traffic times. The study respects realistic side constraints, such as protection requirements and routing schemes, and takes the special structure of an extensive nation-wide optical network, including backbone and regional sections, into account. We formulate mixed integer programming models for the corresponding optimization problems using predictions for traffic matrices, as well as state-of-the-art hardware and power models. We address questions as the following: How much energy is spent in the core and in metro regions of the network and how big are the savings in low-demand scenarios if we always assume the system power-minimum in these situations? What is the influence of different hardware on the overall energy consumption? How much do different routing schemes or protection scenarios restrict potential energy savings? T3 - ZIB-Report - 12-45 KW - telecommunications KW - network design KW - routing KW - energy efficiency Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-17154 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Menne, Ulrich A1 - Raack, Christian A1 - Wessäly, Roland A1 - Kharitonov, Daniel T1 - Optimal Degree of Optical Circuit Switching in IP-over-WDM Networks N2 - In this paper, we study the influence of technology, traffic properties and price trends on optimized design of a reference IP-over-WDM network with rich underlying fiber topology. In each network node, we investigate the optimal degree of traffic switching in an optical (lambda) domain versus an electrical (packet) domain, also known as measure of \emph{node transparency}. This measure is studied in connection to changes in traffic volume, demand affinity, optical circuit speeds and equipment cost. By applying variable design constraints, we assess the relative roles of the two distinct equipment groups, IP routers and optical cross-connects, with respect to resulting changes in cost-sensitive network architectures. T3 - ZIB-Report - 11-50 KW - IP-over-WDM KW - Circuit Switching KW - Opacity Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-14843 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Koster, Arie M.C.A. A1 - Kutschka, Manuel A1 - Raack, Christian T1 - Robust Network Design: Formulations, Valid Inequalities, and Computations N2 - Traffic in communication networks fluctuates heavily over time. Thus, to avoid capacity bottlenecks, operators highly overestimate the traffic volume during network planning. In this paper we consider telecommunication network design under traffic uncertainty, adapting the robust optimization approach of Bertsimas and Sim [2004]. We present three different mathematical formulations for this problem, provide valid inequalities, study the computational implications, and evaluate the realized robustness. To enhance the performance of the mixed-integer programming solver we derive robust cutset inequalities generalizing their deterministic counterparts. Instead of a single cutset inequality for every network cut, we derive multiple valid inequalities by exploiting the extra variables available in the robust formulations. We show that these inequalities define facets under certain conditions and that they completely describe a projection of the robust cutset polyhedron if the cutset consists of a single edge. For realistic networks and live traffic measurements we compare the formulations and report on the speed up by the valid inequalities. We study the "price of robustness" and evaluate the approach by analyzing the real network load. The results show that the robust optimization approach has the potential to support network planners better than present methods. T3 - ZIB-Report - 11-34 KW - robust network design KW - cutset inequalities Y1 - 2011 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-13890 SN - 1438-0064 ER -