A queueing analysis of max-min fairness, proportional fairness and balanced fairness

We compare the performance of three usual allocations (max-min fairness, proportional fairness and balanced fairness) in a communication network whose resources are shared by a random number of data flows. The model consists of a network of processor-sharing queues. The vector of service rates, which is constrained by some compact, convex capacity set representing the network resources, is a function of the number of customers in each queue. This function determines the way network resources are allocated. We show that this model is representative of a rich class of wired and wireless networks. We give in this general framework the stability condition of max-min fairness, proportional fairness and balanced fairness and compare their performance on a number of toy networks.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2006
• Where: QUESTA
• Authors: Thomas Bonald, Laurent Massoulié, Alexandre Proutiére, Jorma T. Virtamo
• Keywords: Max-min Fairness, Network Resources, Proportional Fairness, QUESTA 2006