An Optimization-based Framework for Route Selection in Communication Networks

This paper introduces a new approach for routing in telecommunication networks. In this approach some theoretical foundations from mathematical modeling theory and integer programming have been exploited to develop a framework for routing problems. Some binary variables are assigned to the network links and for each link the corresponding binary variable shows the presence of the corresponding link on a specified route. The optimal route is determined in the source router per connection request by optimization of an objective function. An estimate of the residual bandwidth of network links is maintained in the source router. This information is used in the optimization problem to select the best available route from the source router to the destination router based on the selected metric. Required characteristics of a route are specified as logical constraints on the optimization variables. By using some tools from mathematical modeling theory, these logical constraints are transformed into equivalent integer linear inequalities. This technique results in a well-defined integer linear programming optimization problem