Abstract | A key problem in networks that support advance
reservations is the routing and time scheduling of connections
with flexible starting time. In this paper we present a multicost
routing and scheduling algorithm for selecting the path to be
followed by such a connection and the time the data should start
so as to minimize the reception time at the destination, or some
other QoS requirement. The utilization profiles of the network
links, the link propagation delays, and the parameters of the
connection to be scheduled form the inputs to the algorithm. We
initially present a scheme of non-polynomial complexity to
compute a set of so-called non-dominated candidate paths, from
which the optimal path can be found. By appropriately pruning
the set of candidate paths using path pseudo-domination
relationships, we also find multicost routing and scheduling
algorithms of polynomial complexity. We examine the
performance of the algorithms in the special case of an Optical
Burst Switched network. Our results indicate that the proposed
polynomial time algorithms have performance that it is very close
to that of the optimal algorithm. |