Comparative studies of algorithms for switchport allocation

Michael L. Littman and David H. Ackley

Bell Communications Research

Technical Report TM ARH-018713, Bellcore, Morristown NJ, February 1991

Abstract

Efficient assignment of incoming requests for phone service depends
upon effective pre-allocation of spare switchports into customer
categories.  In simulation studies, we compared several possible
strategies for performing allocation.  Some simple-minded allocation
algorithms are worse than no allocation at all, resulting in reduced
efficiency compared to random assignment.  On the other hand, a
``distribution balancing'' algorithm based on the techniques used in
COSMOS was found to improve efficiency.  We also developed a new
algorithm based on ``usage balancing'', and found that it consistently
outperformed all other methods tested in our simulations.