Resource allocation for multi-class services in multipath networks

In multipath networks, multiple paths are available for each pair of source and destination and can be used to carry data packets parallelly. It has been recognized that using multipath could promote the transmission reliability and fault tolerance, and improve the performance of increasingly bandwidth-hungry multi-media applications. In this paper we propose the resource allocation model for multi-class services in multipath networks with the objective of utility maximization, which is an intrinsically difficult problem of nonconvex optimization. We firstly analyze the model for only elastic services and obtain the optimal rate allocation for them. Then we also discuss the model for inelastic services with nonconcave (sigmoidal or discontinuous) utilities which share common links with elastic ones, and obtain some sufficient conditions under which the global optimum for both elastic and inelastic services can be obtained. For the nonconvex optimization problem, we present a heuristic algorithm using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), which can lead to improved solutions over existing approaches. Finally, some numerical examples are given to verify the results obtained.