Utility-Based Buffer Management for Networks

Abstract

User satisfaction from a given network service or resource allocation can be viewed as having two aspects, a state and a degree. The state defines whether the user is happy or unhappy. A user is happy when its expectations are met. The degree defines the level of happiness or unhappiness. We present the use of perceived knowledge of the state and degree of user satisfaction in managing router resources and functions and examine whether such knowledge could help a router improve local resource allocation decisions. We describe our formulation, Value-Based Utility (VBU) that incorporates both aspects of user satisfaction. We establish a framework of VBU use and demonstrate its application to buffer management. We propose a FIFO scheme that uses VBU and evaluate its success in meeting user expectations. The main conclusion we draw from this work is that the VBU framework offers a different perspective of performance definition and analysis and allows for the effective distribution of resources especially in times of high demand and low resource availability. Its adoption into existing traffic management schemes is further motivated by the improved performance of our proposed scheme over its non-VBU aware counterpart.

This work is supported by research grants from University of the Philippines (UP), UP Engineering Research and Development Foundation Inc. (UPERDFI) and Diliman Computer Science Foundation (DCSF).