Abstract
Given a capacitated telecommunications network with single path routing and an estimated traffic demand matrix, we aim to determine the routing path of each traffic commodity such that the whole set of paths provide an optimal network load balancing. In a recent paper, we have proposed a column generation based heuristic where, in the first step, we use column generation to solve a linear programming relaxation of the original problem (obtaining, in this way, a lower bound and a set of paths for each commodity) and, in the second step, we apply a multi-start local search with path relinking heuristic on the solution space defined by the paths of the first step. Here, we propose a hybridization approach of the metaheuristic with column generation that can be seen as an enhanced version of the previous approach: we run column generation not only at the beginning (to define the initial search space) but also during the search. These additional column generation steps consist in solving a perturbed problem defined by the incumbent solution. In the previous paper, we have shown that the first approach is efficient in obtaining near optimal routing solutions within short running times. With the enhanced version, we show through computational results that the additional paths, introduced by the additional column generation steps, either improve the efficiency of the algorithm or show similar efficiency in the cases where the original algorithm is already very efficient.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Awduche, D., Malcolm, J., Agogbua, J., O’Dell, M., & McManus, J. (1999). Requirements for traffic engineering over MPLS, RFC 2702, September.
Xiao, X., Hannan, A., Bailey, B., & Ni, L. (2000). Traffic engineering with MPLS in the Internet. IEEE Network, 14(2), 28–33.
IEEE Standard 802.1Qay (2009). Provider backbone bridge—traffic engineering.
Fortz, B., & Thorup, M. (2000). Internet traffic engineering by optimizing OSPF weights. In Proc. 19th IEEE conf. on computer communications (INFOCOM) (pp. 519–528).
Fortz, B., & Thorup, M. (2002). Optimizing OSPF/IS-IS weights in a changing world. IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, 20(4), 756–767.
Santos, D., de Sousa, A., Alvelos, F., Dzida, M., Pióro, M., & Zagożdżdon, M. (2009). Traffic engineering of multiple spanning tree routing networks: the load balancing case. In Next generation internet networks (NGI 09), IEEE Xplore, Aveiro, Portugal.
de Sousa, A., Santos, D., Matos, P., & Madeira, J. (2010). Load balancing optimization of capacitated networks with path protection. In Proc. of international symposium on combinatorial optimization, Hammamet, Tunisia.
Pióro, M., & Medhi, D. (2004). Routing, flow and capacity design in communication and computer networks. Morgan Kaufmann: San Mateo.
Ogryczak, W., Pióro, M., & Tomaszewski, A. (2005). Telecommunications network design and max-min optimization problem. Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 3, 1073–1083.
Nace, D., & Pióro, M. (2008). Max-min fairness and its applications to routing and load-balancing in communication networks: a tutorial. IEEE Surveys and Tutorials, 10(4), 5–17.
Radunovic, B., & Boudec, J.-Y. L. (2007). A unified framework for max-min and min-max fairness with applications. ACM/IEEE Transactions on Networking, 15(5), 43–56.
Dzida, M., Pióro, M., & Zagożdżon, M. (2004). The application of max-min fairness rule to bandwidth allocation in telecommunication networks. In The 3rd Polish–German teletraffic symposium (PGTS), Dresden.
Pióro, M., Dzida, M., Kubilinskas, E., Nilsson, P., Ogryczak, W., Tomaszewski, A., & Zagożdżon, M. (2005). Applications of the max-min fairness principle in telecommunication network design. In Next generation internet networks (NGI 05), IEEE Xplore, Rome, Italy.
Ogryczak, W., Milewski, M., & Wierzbicki, A. (2007). Fair and efficient bandwidth allocation with the reference point methodology. In International network optimization conference (INOC), Spa, Belgium.
Santos, D., de Sousa, A., Alvelos, F., & Pióro, M. (2010). Link load balancing optimization of telecommunication networks: a column generation based heuristic approach. In Proc. 14th int. telecommunications network strategy and planning symposium (NETWORKS), IEEE Xplore, September.
Puchinger, J., & Raidl, G. R. (2005). Combining metaheuristics and exact algorithms in combinatorial optimization: a survey and classification. In J. Mira & J. R. Álvarez (Eds.), Lecture notes in computer science: Vol. 3562. Artificial intelligence and knowledge engineering applications: a bioinspired approach (pp. 41–53). Berlin: Springer.
Danna, E., & Pape, C. L. (2005). Branch-and-price heuristics: a case study on the vehicle routing problem with time windows. In G. Desaulniers, J. Descrosiers, & M. M. Solomon (Eds.), Column generation. New York: Springer.
Alvelos, F., & Valério de Carvalho, J. M. (2007). A local search heuristic based on column generation applied to the binary multicommodity flow problem. In International network optimization conference (INOC), Spa, Belgium.
Alvelos, F., de Sousa, A., & Santos, D. (2010). SearchCol: metaheuristic search by column generation. In M. Blesa, C. Blum, G. Raidl, A. Roli, & M. Sampels (Eds.), Lecture notes in computer science: Vol. 6373. Hybrid metaheuristics, 7th international workshop (pp. 190–205). Berlin: Springer.
Ogryczak, W., & Śliwiński, T. (2003). On solving linear programs with the ordered weighted averaging objective. European Journal of Operational Research, 148, 80–91.
Resende, M., & Ribeiro, C. (2005). GRASP with path relinking: recent advances and applications. In T. Ibaraki, K. Nonobe, & M. Yagiura (Eds.), Metaheuristics: progress as real problem solvers (pp. 29–63). Berlin: Springer.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Santos, D., de Sousa, A., Alvelos, F. et al. Optimizing network load balancing: an hybridization approach of metaheuristics with column generation. Telecommun Syst 52, 959–968 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11235-011-9604-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11235-011-9604-3