Computing call admission capacities in linear networks

We study call admission rates in a linear communication network with each c all identified by an arrival time, duration, bandwidth requirement, and ori gin-destination pair. Network links all have the same bandwidth capacity, a nd a call can be admitted only if there is sufficient bandwidth available o n every link along the call's path. Calls not admitted are held in a queue, in contrast to the protocol of loss networks. We determine maximum admissi on rates (capacities) under greedy call allocation rules such as First Fit and Best Fit for several baseline models and prove that the natural necessa ry condition for stability is sufficient. We establish the close connection s between our new problems and the classic problems of bin packing and inte rval packing. In view of these connections, it is surprising to find that B est Fit allocation policies are inferior to First Fit policies in the model s studied.