Exact and approximation algorithms for joint routing and flow rate optimization

Abstract

This paper addresses the comparison of algorithms for a version of the Network Utility Maximization (NUM) problem. The joint formulation of routing and transmission rate control within the multiuser and single-path setting is assumed within the NUM. Since the problem is NP-hard, the efficient heuristics are designed, implemented and compared experimentally with other existing heuristics and exact linear programming solver. The linear approximation is applied for a nonlinear utility function. The results of the experiments demonstrate a trade-off between computing time and precision of goal value.