Avoiding the Braess paradox in non-cooperative networks

The exponential growth of computer networking demands massive upgrades in t he capacity of existing networks. Traditional capacity design methodologies , developed with the single-class networking paradigm in mind, overlook the non-cooperative structure of modem networks. Consequently, such design app roaches entail the danger of degraded performance when resources are added to a network, a phenomenon known as the Braess paradox. The present paper proposes methods for adding resources efficiently to a no n-cooperative network of general topology. It is shown that the paradox is avoided when resources are added across the network, rather than on a local scale, and when upgrades are focused on direct connections between the sou rces and destinations. The relevance of these results for modem networks is demonstrated.