Traffic engineering of tunnel-based networks with class specific diversity requirements

Tunnel-based networks such as Multi-protocol Label switching (MPLS) are suitable for providing diversity guarantees to different service classes or customers. Based on the number of active tunnels to handle, router capabilities can be taxed due to the limited amount of memory and/or processing power of these routers. In this paper, we present a mixed-integer linear program formulation for a traffic engineering problem where such tunnel restrictions are taken into account in addition to standard capacity constraints while addressing diversity requirement of services. Due to large size of the formulation, we also present an accompanied solution approach based on Lagrangian relaxation and sub-gradient optimization. We then present results towards impact of diversity constraint upon the tunneling and capacity restrictions. We observed that the networks having higher amounts of capacity and demands with higher level of survivability are much more sensitive to number of allowed tunnels in the network. The impact is even more prominent for sparsely-connected, large-sized networks.     

城市道路交通网络容量的建模

交通网络承载着具有意志行为的个体组成的交通流,交通网络容量表示道路网络的交通承载能力,与交通网络的OD结构密切相关.本文在分析城市道路交通网络OD结构特征的基础上,提出表达道路网络容量的基本思想和模型,阐明交通网络容量受到交通流特性、网络要素容量、废气排放量、服务水平和系统效率等因素的影响,基于不同的考虑方法可以建立不同的网络容量模型.基于路段容量约束的网络容量描述了道路系统承载交通流的物理极限;基于路段容量约束和交通环境约束的网络容量则描述了道路系统承载交通流的环境极限;基于服务水平的网络容量描述了系统提供某种服务水平条件下的最大交通承载能力;基于效率的网络容量描述了网络资源使用效率和用户效益同时最大化条件下的道路网络承载能力.文章深入分析了所提出的各种模型之间的关系,在实际应用中可根据交通规划和管理所追求的具体目标,采取相应的模型.     

Strategic Learning and the Topology of Social Networks

We consider a group of strategic agents who must each repeatedly take one of two possible actions. They learn which of the two actions is preferable from initial private signals and by observing the actions of their neighbors in a social network. We show that the question of whether or not the agents learn efficiently depends on the topology of the social network. In particular, we identify a geometric “egalitarianism” condition on the social network that guarantees learning in infinite networks, or learning with high probability in large finite networks, in any equilibrium. We also give examples of nonegalitarian networks with equilibria in which learning fails.     

企业网络广告的定价策略研究

网络广告的定价策略有多种,本文对一个企业在多个网站发布广告按曝光次数定价策略建立了网络优化模型,并推导出其它常用的两种定价策略的模型.然后对网络广告中点进率降低、网站数量的选择、不同定价策略的差异等问题进行了分析.最后基于变分不等式方法提出了求解优化模型的算法并给出了算例,算例结果表明了网络模型对网络广告定价策略的选择是有效的.     

Bridging the Healthcare Access Divide: A Strategic Planning Model for Rural Telemedicine Network

Balancing access to healthcare and sustaining operational efficiency is a major issue in strategic planning of rural healthcare delivery systems. In this regard, telemedicine is being adopted as a versatile and low cost mechanism for delivering rural healthcare. This article presents a strategic planning model that incorporates different operational and service elements of the rural telemedicine healthcare network. Real‐world data from the rural Black‐belt region in the United States are used in a case study. A novel statistical approach based on decision trees and logistic regression is used to estimate demand of healthcare at the county level. Key issues such as the location of telemedicine health centers, coverage of health services, configuration of medical equipment, and patient travel policies are explored in light of patient demographics, scale of health coverage, and disease prevalence patterns. Results indicate that telemedicine networks can effectively improve healthcare services in rural areas with requisite operational efficiency.     

Reliability evaluation of a multicast over coded packet networks

Network coding is a generalization of conventional routing methods that allows a network node to code information flows before forwarding them. While it has been theoretically proved that network coding can achieve maximum network throughput, theoretical results usually do not consider the stochastic nature in information processing and transmission, especially when the capacity of each arc becomes stochastic due to failure, attacks, or maintenance. Hence, the reliability measurement of network coding becomes an important issue to evaluate the performance of the network under various system settings. In this paper, we present analytical expressions to measure the reliability of multicast communications in coded networks, where network coding is most promising. We define the probability that a multicast rate can be transmitted through a coded packet network under a total transmission cost constraint as the reliability metric. To do this, we first introduce an exact mathematical formulation to construct multicast connections over coded packet networks under a limited transmission cost. We then propose an algorithm based on minimal paths to calculate the reliability measurement of multicast connections and analyze the complexity of the algorithm. Our results show that the reliability of multicast routing with network coding improved significantly compared to the case of multicast routing without network coding.     

Implementation of Equity in Resource Allocation for Regional Earthquake Risk Mitigation Using Two‐Stage Stochastic Programming

This article presents a new methodology to implement the concept of equity in regional earthquake risk mitigation programs using an optimization framework. It presents a framework that could be used by decisionmakers (government and authorities) to structure budget allocation strategy toward different seismic risk mitigation measures, i.e., structural retrofitting for different building structural types in different locations and planning horizons. A two‐stage stochastic model is developed here to seek optimal mitigation measures based on minimizing mitigation expenditures, reconstruction expenditures, and especially large losses in highly seismically active countries. To consider fairness in the distribution of financial resources among different groups of people, the equity concept is incorporated using constraints in model formulation. These constraints limit inequity to the user‐defined level to achieve the equity‐efficiency tradeoff in the decision‐making process. To present practical application of the proposed model, it is applied to a pilot area in Tehran, the capital city of Iran. Building stocks, structural vulnerability functions, and regional seismic hazard characteristics are incorporated to compile a probabilistic seismic risk model for the pilot area. Results illustrate the variation of mitigation expenditures by location and structural type for buildings. These expenditures are sensitive to the amount of available budget and equity consideration for the constant risk aversion. Most significantly, equity is more easily achieved if the budget is unlimited. Conversely, increasing equity where the budget is limited decreases the efficiency. The risk‐return tradeoff, equity‐reconstruction expenditures tradeoff, and variation of per‐capita expected earthquake loss in different income classes are also presented.     

竞争环境下的轴-辐式集装箱海运网络设计问题

针对航运企业的重组与全球扩张引起的竞争问题,提出了竞争环境下的轴-辐式集装箱海运网络设计模型。模型采用基于路径的变量作为决策变量,利用离散函数来表示航运企业与航运联盟的竞争可吸引的流量(或客户),目的在于通过设计混合轴-辐式集装箱海运网络,实现以更低的服务成本和更短的服务时间最大化可吸引的流量,建立了枢纽港口数量约束、航线连接约束、航线中转约束、流量竞争约束等,运用多点交叉遗传算法进行求解,最后结合亚欧航线的集装箱海运市场进行实例分析,对考虑客户需求多样性与航运联盟对策下的轴-辐式集装箱海运网络进行设计,并验证了算法的计算效果。     

STATE-OF-THE-ART SURVEY: OPEN QUEUEING NETWORKS: OPTIMIZATION AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION MODELS FOR DISCRETE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS

In this survey we review methods to analyze open queueing network models for discrete manufacturing systems. We focus on design and planning models for job shops. The survey is divided in two parts: in the first we review exact and approximate decomposition methods for performance evaluation models for single and multiple product class networks. The second part reviews optimization models of three categories of problems: the first minimizes capital investment subject to attaining a performance measure (WIP or lead time), the second seeks to optimize the performance measure subject to resource constraints, and the third explores recent research developments in complexity reduction through shop redesign and products partitioning.     

A joint optimization of data ferry trajectories and communication powers of ground sensors for long-term environmental monitoring

Recently, various hybrid wireless sensor networks which consist of several robotic vehicles and a number of static ground sensors have been investigated. In this kind of system, the main role of the mobile nodes is to deliver the messages produced by the sensor nodes, and naturally their trajectory control becomes a significant issue closely related to the performance of the entire system. Previously, several communication power control strategies such as topology control are investigated to improve energy-efficiency of wireless sensor networks. However, to the best of our knowledge, no communication power control strategy has been investigated in the context of the hybrid wireless sensor networks. This paper introduces a new strategy to utilize the communication power control in multiple data ferry assisted wireless sensor network for long-term environmental monitoring such that the lifetime of the sensor network is maximized. We formally define the problem of our interest and show it is NP-hard. We further prove there exists no approximation algorithm for the problem which can produce a feasible solution for every possible problem instance even though there is a feasible solution. Then, we propose heuristic algorithms along with rigorous theoretical performance analysis for both the single data ferry case and the multiple data ferry case under certain condition.     

电信社群网络用户行为特征及演化分析

通过某地移动客户的通话数据构建电信社群网络,并对其网络结构进行分析,发现电信社群网络并不满足小世界特征,而且该网络的演化是以边生长为主导。基于该结构特征,构建电信社群网的演化模型,发现网络非均匀性与节点的朋友圈数目、连接概率和新增节点边数有关。其研究结论对新运营商通过营销策略的制定,推动电信社群网络快速向小世界网络演化具有积极的现实意义。     

考虑交叉口影响的逆向路段选择优化

逆向车道作为提高路网整体通行能力的一种交通组织策略，已在疏散交通组织中得到了大量应用。以往关于逆向车道设置路段选择的研究，大多没有考虑交叉口影响。在拥挤的城市道路网中，这种忽略会导致过高的预期疏散通行能力估计。本文考虑交叉口影响，建立改进的最大流及其关键边模型，对疏散路网中逆向路段的选择进行优化。将交叉口分转向的通行能力表示为节点的方向性权重，将疏散路网抽象为方向性点权网络。定义该类网络中的最大流增流关键边，即一旦扩容会使网络最大流流值增加幅度最大的边。通过在方向性点权网络中寻找最大流增流关键边，得到考虑交叉口影响时疏散路网中对应的逆向车道设置路段。对经典最大流问题求解算法进行相应的改进，给出方向性点权网络中寻找最大流增流关键边的有效算法，并通过一个数值算例进行测试和仿真分析。结果表明，在考虑交叉口影响的情况下，得到的逆向车道设置路段更为合理，疏散时对其进行扩容能更有效地压缩总疏散时间。     

Power imbalance and value creation in joint ventures

Joint ventures (JVs) often do not create expected value due to power imbalance between partners. Despite the fact that JV partners are embedded in relational constraints, prior research has largely relied on economic reasoning by focusing on equity ownership difference between JV partners as the main source of power imbalance. We extend prior research to also consider important relational factors represented by repeated ties between partners and network openness, as well as institutional status difference and network status difference as two additional dimensions of power imbalance. Our findings indicate that ownership power imbalance by itself does not have a significant effect on value creation. However, value creation is facilitated when there is ownership power imbalance between partners with more repeated ties. In contrast, value creation may be hindered when JV partners with unequal ownership are embedded in more open interfirm alliance networks. Furthermore, value creation is facilitated if JV partners that have unequal ownership also have network status power imbalance in the same direction.     

Network Reconfiguration for Increasing Transportation System Resilience Under Extreme Events

Evacuating residents out of affected areas is an important strategy for mitigating the impact of natural disasters. However, the resulting abrupt increase in the travel demand during evacuation causes severe congestions across the transportation system, which thereby interrupts other commuters' regular activities. In this article, a bilevel mathematical optimization model is formulated to address this issue, and our research objective is to maximize the transportation system resilience and restore its performance through two network reconfiguration schemes: contraflow (also referred to as lane reversal) and crossing elimination at intersections. Mathematical models are developed to represent the two reconfiguration schemes and characterize the interactions between traffic operators and passengers. Specifically, traffic operators act as leaders to determine the optimal system reconfiguration to minimize the total travel time for all the users (both evacuees and regular commuters), while passengers act as followers by freely choosing the path with the minimum travel time, which eventually converges to a user equilibrium state. For each given network reconfiguration, the lower‐level problem is formulated as a traffic assignment problem (TAP) where each user tries to minimize his/her own travel time. To tackle the lower‐level optimization problem, a gradient projection method is leveraged to shift the flow from other nonshortest paths to the shortest path between each origin–destination pair, eventually converging to the user equilibrium traffic assignment. The upper‐level problem is formulated as a constrained discrete optimization problem, and a probabilistic solution discovery algorithm is used to obtain the near‐optimal solution. Two numerical examples are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in restoring the traffic system performance.     

An Integrated Approach for Assessing the Impact of Large-Scale Future Floods on a Highway Transport System

The negative impact of climate change continues to escalate flood risk. Floods directly and indirectly damage highway systems and disturb the socioeconomic order. In this study, we propose an integrated approach to quantitatively assess how floods impact the functioning of a highway system. The approach has three parts: (1) a multi-agent simulation model to represent traffic, heterogeneous user demand, and route choice in a highway network; (2) a flood simulator using future runoff scenarios generated from five global climate models, three representative concentration pathways (RCPs), and the CaMa-Flood model; and (3) an impact analyzer, which superimposes the simulated floods on the highway traffic simulation system, and quantifies the flood impact on a highway system based on car following model. This approach is illustrated with a case study of the Chinese highway network. The results show that (i) for different global climate models, the associated flood damage to a highway system is not linearly correlated with the forcing levels of RCPs, or with future years; (ii) floods in different years have variable impacts on regional connectivity; and (iii) extreme flood impacts can cause huge damages in highway networks; that is, in 2030, the estimated 84.5% of routes between provinces cannot be completed when the highway system is disturbed by a future major flood. These results have critical implications for transport sector policies and can be used to guide highway design and infrastructure protection. The approach can be extended to analyze other networks with spatial vulnerability, and it is an effective quantitative tool for reducing systemic disaster risk.     

基于社会资本理论的移动社区用户参与行为研究

移动社区将给企业带来巨大价值,而用户的参与是移动社区成功的关键.社会资本理论认为人们之间的社会网络是一种不可见的资源,将促进他们之间的知识和信息共享行为.基于社会资本理论,分析了影响用户参与移动社区行为的影响因素,用户参与移动社区的行为包括获取信息和发布信息两个方面,影响因素涉及到3个维度的6个因素,即结构维、认知维、关系维以及社会交互连接、共同愿景、共同语言、信任、互惠规则、认同6个因素:通过问卷调查,收集了250份有效问卷,采用usREL进行分析,结果表明在6个因素中,信任对用户获取信息动机影响较大,认同对用户发布信息动机影响较大.总的来说,信任、共同愿景、认同3个因素对用户参与行为的作用较为显著,需要引起移动社区提供商的重视.     

Designing survivable resilient networks: A stochastic hybrid genetic algorithm approach

As high-speed networks have proliferated across the globe, their topologies have become sparser due to the increased reliability of components and cost considerations. Reliability has been a traditional goal within network design optimization. An alternative design consideration, network resilience, has not been studied or incorporated into network designs nearly as much. The authors propose a methodology for the difficult estimation of traffic efficiency (TE), a measure of network resilience, and a hybrid genetic algorithm to design networks using this measure.     

Minimum cost network design in strategic alliances

Strategic alliances are established between firms to improve their competitiveness in markets and generally appear in the form of joint ventures. Such collaborative efforts require centralized planning, and the survival of the alliance largely depends on the success of joint planning processes. In this regard, we investigate the opportunities that centralized collaboration can offer to firms when designing their service networks. Apart from the classical fixed and variable costs associated with the network design, we also consider transaction costs induced by the formation of the alliance, which can broadly be defined as cost components related to the coordination and monitoring of the people, efforts and resources. We concentrate on bilateral alliances and develop alternative models for solving their associated network design problem. We also adopt a state-of-the-art heuristic to solve large-scale instances. Our findings confirm that accounting for the transaction cost in network design is vital for the alliance. These transaction costs can be high enough to even render the collaboration unattractive. Hence, careful data collection and model treatment are required before deciding whether to form an alliance.     

时变条件下追求最大效用的旅行规划问题

现有旅行规划问题的研究较少同时考虑旅行效用与网络时变两个因素,为此本文提出了一类时变条件下的旅行规划问题,考虑了三种约束:旅行者在网络节点上的驻留时间及在边上的旅行时间是时间依赖的、旅行者对网络的不同节点具有不同的偏好、旅行者的最大旅行时间是有限制的,应用时间集合图(time aggregated graph,TAG)表示旅行时空网络,建立了满足上述约束的求取最大旅行效用的旅行规划数学模型,并设计了相应的标号算法,最后进行了应用分析.与采用时间扩展图(time expanded graph,TEG)的方法相比,本方法虽然可能降低求解精度,但是大幅度地减少了计算成本.     

基于不同预期报价决策的电力市场动态演化及其混沌控制

基于市场参与者不同预期的报价决策方式,提出了考虑输电网约束的电力市场动态模型,即内嵌市场清算优化问题的差分动态模型.该模型刻画出发电方和需求方同时报价的不用决策行为,并准确反映出独立系统调度员ISO的统一市场清算过程,考虑了输电网固有物理特性所赋予电力市场的复杂约束.借助非线性互补函数,对应不同的输电网运行状态:阻塞和不阻塞,分析比较了电力市场处于Nash均衡、周期和混沌的经济表现.针对经济表现差的市场混沌态,提出电力市场状态和参数时滞反馈控制方法,给出电力市场由混沌到Nash均衡的调控措施和手段,从而为有效提高电力市场的经济效益提供了理论依据.