Research On Techniques Of Pricing-based Network Resource Allocation

Higher performance of network service is demanded as the Internet applications develop quickly. Users even would like to sign contracts with ISPs in terms of the service level. To meet this goal, a number of difficult questions need to be solved. Firstly, more and more broadband-based applications appear. Such applications require much more bandwidth resource than before, which most of often exceeds the supply by the network resource. Hence more effective congestion control schemes for resource allocation are needed. Secondly, the switch from university-oriented networks to the public networks brings more complex users. Effective users incentive schemes are needed to prevent users from viciously destroying network. Thirdly, a totally new priority service model should be provided because of both more and more different types of network applications and increasing large amounts of demand from users. It would be a great challenge for the present Internet.To deal with these problems, a new network resource allocation scheme is expected. It should be able to support different priorities of service, gain enough to balance the cost for providing network service, and encourage users more actively to involve in the network management. A novel idea emerged from recent research is to put network users in a more active decision making position. Given this, a new priority pricing scheme is designed. Underlying such a scheme the quality of transmission is associated with the price users prefer. As such, network service providers are able to adjust the traffic volume by means of network pricing.In this paper, the application of the utility model in network control is first addressed. Such a model is originally used in microeconomics. Now we use it in network control to introduce some economic factors such as the price users are willing to pay, the degree users are satisfied and so on. In this way, we aim to get the best network performance and thus satisfy the users best, using the pricing adjustment schemes and the interplay between demand and supply etc. They are also borrowed from microeconomics.The utility model is introduced into network control in order to bring about effective users incentive schemes. It is the same with pricing-based network resource allocation schemes. A detailed survey is given on the corresponding research in this area, including the economic models, pricing schemes and the corresponding communication protocols. Through...