A fixed-point approximation for a routing model in equilibrium

Abstract

We use a method of Luczak (arXiv:1212.3231) to investigate the equilibrium distribution of a dynamic routing model on a network. In this model, there are $n$ nodes, each pair joined by a link of capacity $C$. For each pair of nodes, calls arrive for this pair of endpoints as a Poisson process with rate $\lambda$. A call for endpoints $\{u,v\}$ is routed directly onto the link between the two nodes if there is spare capacity; otherwise $d$ two-link paths between $u$ and $v$ are considered, and the call is routed along a path with lowest maximum load, if possible. The duration of each call is an exponential random variable with unit mean. In the case $d=1$, it was suggested by Gibbens, Hunt and Kelly in 1990 that the equilibrium of this process is related to the fixed points of a certain equation. We show that this is indeed the case, for every $d \ge 1$, provided the arrival rate $\lambda$ is either sufficiently small or sufficiently large. In either regime, we show that the equation has a unique fixed point, and that, in equilibrium, for each $j$, the proportion of links at each node with load $j$ is strongly concentrated around the $j$th coordinate of the fixed point.