In this paper we present a game theoretic framework for obtaining a user-optimal load balancing scheme in heterogeneous distributed systems. We formulate the static load balancing problem in heterogeneous distributed systems as a noncooperativegame among users. For the proposed noncooperative load balancing game, we present the structure of the Nash equilibrium. Based on this structure we derive a new distributed load balancing algorithm. Finally, the performance of our noncooperative load balancing scheme is compared with that of other existing schemes. Our scheme guarantees the optimality of allocation for each user in the distributed system.
Daniel Grosu, Anthony T. Chronopoulos